Beginner Tea Question

I am on my second grow. In both grows, I used plagron and biobizz packaged soil since I have not yet gotten to making my own soil since I grow in a clandestine tent grow in an apartment for myself since cannabis is illegal here and I have no garden.

I fed with general organics liquid organic fertilizers and both in the first grow and now, I am facing multiple types of deficiencies, pink leaves, brown crumbly leaves, sand colored crumbly leaves, yellowing, all kinds of fuckery. I ph every feeding but since I do not know very much about soil life and what affects ph, I cannot fix this problem.

I have been feeding phd plain water for a while now since the soil was filled with enough nutrients for 6 weeks. The problems still persist. The plants are in fabric pots and I am soon going to transplant into 10 gallon bigger final pots.

I will fill the rest with the same soil, but this time I will water it with phd water before planting until the runoff is 6.5. Is that advisable?

The root ball is nearly all over the current pots, so the added soil will be on the sides of the pot. I thought maybe I should buy some compost and mix it in with the soil I am going to add but since it wont be added to the current rootball, will it do any good?

Other than that, I thought maybe some compost or worm casting top dressings (? is that even a thing) and teas would help inoculate the soil and fi the ph balance a bit. I guess I will have to not feed with liquid organic nutes since it will kill the bacterial life, is that correct?

If I am not going to feed, I must introduce some nutrients for the soil life to break down and give the plant, hence the idea to add compost or ewc to the top and hoping it will make its way into soiğl with waterings?

My 4 pots are in a tent under a led light, and I read the biggest soil life is at the surface but whenever I water, the surface dries really fast while it takes a while for the lower layers to dry so I have to wait to water again. Dry surface = bad for soil life, so should I put some kind of mulch? I am worried about introducing pests, so what material would be ideal?

For making tea to inoculate soil, is worm castings as good enough as compost? I really am a noob to evaluate a compost I am going to buy , I dont want to buy bad compost. I would like to buy bacterially dominated full of life compost with no antibiotics or anything you know. And in my country generaolly any kind of quality standards are loose so that makes it harder to make sure what I am buying is quality compost. But I can buy worm castings from companies that produce it here. They sell bagged in stores. Lets say I am going to buy packaged, will it have soil life still after sitting in that container for a while? What other easy to find ingredients are really advised? I do not mean to make a great tea at the beginning but if some of the ingredients you list are accessible to me, I will add that to the tea. So to summarize: if I make tea with ewc and no compost, (kelp etc added maybe), will it be acceptably as good as a tea with compost also? Are packaged ewc acceptable?

Thank you

I can also buy some worms but will they be ok in this soil and 10 gal fabric pots?

Hey man, what's up. I'll tell you what I know of this growing in soil thing.

When growing in soil, you are trying to develop microbial life inside your pot, that way the bacteria and fungi will be the ones in charge of your plants nutrition., And also they will help with your plants health. So there are some conditions for the soil to meet in order for it to be a proper environment.
It has to be sandy, airy to allow water and air flow (which is why the soil mixes add coco, peat spraghum and perlite), but also it has to retain water and has nutrients (which is why compost and ewc are added to the mix, plus nutrients like bone meal, fish meal,etc.)

The ewc and compost will provide and feed microorganisms with organic matter for them to break down and later transform into food accesible for your plants. There for topdressing ewc or compost is possible and will indeed help your microbial life, for exemple I like to use topdress my plants with whatever it's left inside the suck I use for compost tea and they love it. Btw a compost tea with no compost and only ewc will work, but it's way better if you add the compost and sugars like molasses, because with compost tea what you are doing, apart from giving macro and micro nutrients to the soil, is you are maintaining and increasing the good microbial life inside the pot, and aired teas with compost and molasses in the mix are great at doing that.

This rule it's from the book "tramming up with microbes" and that is: Bottled nutrients are bad for microbial life, they are salt based and they kill microorganisms, there for if you are growing organically you shouldn't add bottled fertilizers.

And as a last note you don't need to take much care of pH, nature is beautiful and regulates itself (of course as long as you don't put in water in extreme conditions, that is too acid or too alcaline, regular water with no chlorine is good tho, hell microorganisms will live even if you give them tap water which has chlorine in it and kills them, because they are resilient, but they will be happier if you take care of them).

I hope this helps you.

You should do yourself a favor and buy some ewc instead of adding the worms, well I have no experience with worms but you don't need worms in the pot, just their poop. And yes microbes go dormant when they are living in a dry environment like the ewc inside a bag, but as soon as you add water to the mix, they will wake up!

DoobieDoobs said:

Hey man, what's up. I'll tell you what I know of this growing in soil thing.

When growing in soil, you are trying to develop microbial life inside your pot, that way the bacteria and fungi will be the ones in charge of your plants nutrition., And also they will help with your plants health. So there are some conditions for the soil to meet in order for it to be a proper environment.
It has to be sandy, airy to allow water and air flow (which is why the soil mixes add coco, peat spraghum and perlite), but also it has to retain water and has nutrients (which is why compost and ewc are added to the mix, plus nutrients like bone meal, fish meal,etc.)

The ewc and compost will provide and feed microorganisms with organic matter for them to break down and later transform into food accesible for your plants. There for topdressing ewc or compost is possible and will indeed help your microbial life, for exemple I like to use topdress my plants with whatever it's left inside the suck I use for compost tea and they love it. Btw a compost tea with no compost and only ewc will work, but it's way better if you add the compost and sugars like molasses, because with compost tea what you are doing, apart from giving macro and micro nutrients to the soil, is you are maintaining and increasing the good microbial life inside the pot, and aired teas with compost and molasses in the mix are great at doing that.

This rule it's from the book "tramming up with microbes" and that is: Bottled nutrients are bad for microbial life, they are salt based and they kill microorganisms, there for if you are growing organically you shouldn't add bottled fertilizers.

And as a last note you don't need to take much care of pH, nature is beautiful and regulates itself (of course as long as you don't put in water in extreme conditions, that is too acid or too alcaline, regular water with no chlorine is good tho, hell microorganisms will live even if you give them tap water which has chlorine in it and kills them, because they are resilient, but they will be happier if you take care of them).

I hope this helps you.

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Right now I have not been feeding when watering because the soil I planted in was fertilized bagged soil. If I topdress with ewc and compost, when will those nutrients be available to plants? I am afraid of the plants not getting enough until they are available since I will have stopped giving liquis fertilizers

I fed with general organics liquid organic fertilizers and both in the first grow and now, I am facing multiple types of deficiencies, pink leaves, brown crumbly leaves, sand colored crumbly leaves, yellowing, all kinds of fuckery. I ph every feeding but since I do not know very much about soil life and what affects ph, I cannot fix this problem.

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So you've over fed them.I would flush all that out.
Theyll be more experience people a long shortly.Provide pics and more details of the grow.

Well, is she looking hungry? Yeah, some pictures might help. Topdressing ewc or compost does help your overall microbial life. You might also want to buy some organic fertilizers like down to earth rose and flower, I don't know many soil brands, but some brands like fox farms has soils that will last around a month then you have to topdress some fertilizers. You should look for what your soil brand says how long will the nutrients inside last. Maybe let's wait for someone who has such experience with biobizz soils.

Photos?

myke said:

I fed with general organics liquid organic fertilizers and both in the first grow and now, I am facing multiple types of deficiencies, pink leaves, brown crumbly leaves, sand colored crumbly leaves, yellowing, all kinds of fuckery. I ph every feeding but since I do not know very much about soil life and what affects ph, I cannot fix this problem.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
So you've over fed them.I would flush all that out.
Theyll be more experience people a long shortly.Provide pics and more details of the grow.

Click to expand...

I will be transplanting into their final pots in 2 days, when I do I will flush the ones with problems.

DoobieDoobs said:

Well, is she looking hungry? Yeah, some pictures might help. Topdressing ewc or compost does help your overall microbial life. You might also want to buy some organic fertilizers like down to earth rose and flower, I don't know many soil brands, but some brands like fox farms has soils that will last around a month then you have to topdress some fertilizers. You should look for what your soil brand says how long will the nutrients inside last. Maybe let's wait for someone who has such experience with biobizz soils.

Click to expand...

insomnia65 said:

Photos?

Click to expand...

The one on the bottom right was not perfect, I just trimmed the damaged leaves but except the veins being darker than the leaves, (which I dont know what it signifies) it seems ok.


The nitrogen deficient one on top right was probably nitrogen lockout, the yellowing seems to have stopped by then:


The one on the top left:

Wow is this girl doing bad. The leaves on the middle first became pink streaks then it turned yellow and crumbly. The sets of leaves one level above them seem ok but started to turn pinkish. Worried about this one

** Bottom Left:




This is the same strain as the previous plant. This is the purple pink streak I was talking about.

I suspect molybdenum lockout but I have been watering at 6.6 ph for weeks now and the runoff (although little comes out) isnt very off.

I also suspect it might be just cold maybe? Because the two green cracks seem to get purple and the 2 gelatos have different sympoms than the first two, similar between themselves. Since green cracks look a bit more sativa ish, I thought maybe it was getting too cold at lights off. Usually when lights on it is 23-25 C and when off, 17-18.

Im inclined to think your plants need food,The organic stuff you have mix some up and feed them.If your pots are full of roots water to a good runoff.Continue feeding at a low dose i think is better then one heavy feed.
I dont know if your soil was good to begin with but you've fed them weeks ago so there bottle fed plants now.

General organics line of bottled nutes are not the same as typical salt based ferts and wont kill our soil as much. They contain phosphoric acid which isnt too good for microbes but that's it. Not the same as adding salts to the soil.

Hey dude,

got a few questions for ya how old are your plants? How long have they been in soil or when were they last transplanted? How do you check and decide when they need to be watered? Did you amend the soil at all? If so what did you use?
The hardest thing I have found to be in organic gardening was watering and knowing when to do it. In organic soil yes you do want the soil to always be moist and as for your top layer where things break down use, straw or some type of mulch. Check out BuildaSoil.com. They have excellent amendments and Barley straw that you can use as a mulch. You can add worms, which is a great idea, but use straw as a mulch if you do. They increase fungal activity. If you use Worm Castings it’s best to have the freshest non-commercial castings, don’t settle for less. If you have local vermiculture places hit them up. Good castings are a big deal, and if you can’t find any local hit up Build a soil. They also have premade soil mixes-Clackamas Coot’s revipe

Another hard part about growing is a lot of deficiencies have the same symptoms. So it’s important locking down soil recipes and watering. I stopped using fabric pots, but it works for others. Mine would dry out incredibly fast, then my soil became hydrophobic... it was a bitch man. Switched over to bag pots and haven’t looked back. I’m going to try an Earthbox so we’ll see how that goes.

Good luck dude, keep us up to date

DankTankerous said:

Hey dude,

got a few questions for ya how old are your plants? How long have they been in soil or when were they last transplanted? How do you check and decide when they need to be watered? Did you amend the soil at all? If so what did you use?
The hardest thing I have found to be in organic gardening was watering and knowing when to do it. In organic soil yes you do want the soil to always be moist and as for your top layer where things break down use, straw or some type of mulch. Check out BuildaSoil.com. They have excellent amendments and Barley straw that you can use as a mulch. You can add worms, which is a great idea, but use straw as a mulch if you do. They increase fungal activity. If you use Worm Castings it’s best to have the freshest non-commercial castings, don’t settle for less. If you have local vermiculture places hit them up. Good castings are a big deal, and if you can’t find any local hit up Build a soil. They also have premade soil mixes-Clackamas Coot’s revipe

Another hard part about growing is a lot of deficiencies have the same symptoms. So it’s important locking down soil recipes and watering. I stopped using fabric pots, but it works for others. Mine would dry out incredibly fast, then my soil became hydrophobic... it was a bitch man. Switched over to bag pots and haven’t looked back. I’m going to try an Earthbox so we’ll see how that goes.

Good luck dude, keep us up to date

Click to expand...

5 weeks old I think haha dont judge me I am a stoner I sometimes lose track of things.
They were germinated in jiffy things for a week, and the last 4 weeks were in those pots.
If I see it wilt, if the pot is light and the tip if my finger is dryish I water. Approx every 3 days until juust a little runoff.
Nope, equal parts of plagron bat mix, royalmix and lightmix. No added anything. Only fed bottle organic nutrients a little bit in the past. Started feeding 1/3 dose last week again.
I live in a country where weed is illegal and only a few grow shops operate and they do not have many options.

growkent.com

Those pots are 20 liters (5.2 gals). I will transplant into bigger final fabric pots, 10 gal tomorrow. I found somewhere who makes vermicompost and will go buy fresh. As you can see the pots right now are not full, I approximate the total volume of soil in 4 pots is 75 liters. I have another 75 liters of those 3 soil bags sitting there. As I will transplant into 4x 40 liter pots, I will need 150 ish liters. Instead of putting in the rest of those bagged soils I am thinking of = 75 existing mix in pots + 30 liter vermicompost + 40 liters compost. Is that good or should I put in some of the soils and less of the compost and vermicompost? I can also buy worms there so I will put some in the pots. How many whould I introduce into 10 gal pots? I will try and find some barley straw for mulch. Is there any process I can put the straw through that will recude the chance of introducing pests with it, is that even a problem?


Now, since I am a noob I am more prone to overwater rather than underwater so I prefer fabric pots but I must say the soil right now, especially the rootball are in the middle is so tight and hydrophobic when I water. How can I fix that?

The "compost" these guys are selling are "fermented organic worm food" which is scraps, cow dung and some brown material fermented. He says it has a gummy texture but if I aerate it and turn it for a few days it will turn crumbly like a soil texture and will be suitable. Any idea what this is and if it good? This is my only immediately available compost option right now.

Also, will any type of straw do? The guy at the vermicompost place says there is a small ranch nearby and the farmer there can give me a sack of "straw".

Bump

DoobieDoobs said:

Well, is she looking hungry? Yeah, some pictures might help. Topdressing ewc or compost does help your overall microbial life. You might also want to buy some organic fertilizers like down to earth rose and flower, I don't know many soil brands, but some brands like fox farms has soils that will last around a month then you have to topdress some fertilizers. You should look for what your soil brand says how long will the nutrients inside last. Maybe let's wait for someone who has such experience with biobizz soils.

Click to expand...

insomnia65 said:

Photos?

Click to expand...

myke said:

I fed with general organics liquid organic fertilizers and both in the first grow and now, I am facing multiple types of deficiencies, pink leaves, brown crumbly leaves, sand colored crumbly leaves, yellowing, all kinds of fuckery. I ph every feeding but since I do not know very much about soil life and what affects ph, I cannot fix this problem.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
So you've over fed them.I would flush all that out.
Theyll be more experience people a long shortly.Provide pics and more details of the grow.

Click to expand...

Be patient hopefully someone will come and give advice.

NightSpider said:

Also, will any type of straw do? The guy at the vermicompost place says there is a small ranch nearby and the farmer there can give me a sack of "straw".

Click to expand...

Yes any straw will work.Id be soaking it first to kill anything that maybe living in it.

Lmao, I bought the worm castings, mixed it with the bagged soil, added that to existing pot while transplanting into bigger 10 gallon pot. I watered, the runoff was 9 ec. I watered more, now it was more than 10 so the pen just said error lol. I kep flushing. Spent 20 liters of 6.6 ph water flushing a pot with 35 liters of soil. At the end it was 5. Shall I keep flushing? What have I done wrong again hahaha

NightSpider said:

Lmao, I bought the worm castings, mixed it with the bagged soil, added that to existing pot while transplanting into bigger 10 gallon pot. I watered, the runoff was 9 ec. I watered more, now it was more than 10 so the pen just said error lol. I kep flushing. Spent 20 liters of 6.6 ph water flushing a pot with 35 liters of soil. At the end it was 5. Shall I keep flushing? What have I done wrong again hahaha

Click to expand...

You could have a smoke and chill, overthinking can be a killer.