FFOF seems too hot, should I try another medium?
- Thread starter papa canna
- Start date
Dr. Who
Well-Known Member
If I recall correctly, FFOF did change by location of it's "mining" operations for the base.....More easterly ??
I like a 2 stage water only organic style......I build a veg soil from scratch and for bloom.....Sometimes when lazy, if I need a cubic yard fast I'll use the old "Moonshine Mix" and run RareDanks updated MS Mix recipe....The old one called for 1 bag of OF and half of Happy Frog and half of Black Gold.....The new one is simply the OF and the HF flipped by amounts....You do add 2 cups FF Fruit and Blossom organic fert and 1 cup Dolo too, 1 cup Greensand.....(I add 1/2 cup of gypsum also) not to mention 2 lbs of fresh EWC and 5 gallons of coarse perlite and 1 small coco brick....for each batch and I'll do 2 batch's at a time till I have my yard...(4 batch run total)...
Normally I would not use Greensand or coco,,,,,,But have found this to be easy peasy when in a rush for time as it can be ready in 10 days if watered and turned properly......I do like the greensand for "down the road" as I recycle this and all my built soils for reuse.
So the change in OF to HF is due to the hotter OF pushing the soil NPK away from the desired availability rates...
To put a seedling in the OF is asking for trouble ..... A nice lightly built soil for seedlings in a solo cup till roots are beginning to fill the bottom of the cup and transplanting into a 1 or 2 gallon for veg is going to work far better..
Doc
I like a 2 stage water only organic style......I build a veg soil from scratch and for bloom.....Sometimes when lazy, if I need a cubic yard fast I'll use the old "Moonshine Mix" and run RareDanks updated MS Mix recipe....The old one called for 1 bag of OF and half of Happy Frog and half of Black Gold.....The new one is simply the OF and the HF flipped by amounts....You do add 2 cups FF Fruit and Blossom organic fert and 1 cup Dolo too, 1 cup Greensand.....(I add 1/2 cup of gypsum also) not to mention 2 lbs of fresh EWC and 5 gallons of coarse perlite and 1 small coco brick....for each batch and I'll do 2 batch's at a time till I have my yard...(4 batch run total)...
Normally I would not use Greensand or coco,,,,,,But have found this to be easy peasy when in a rush for time as it can be ready in 10 days if watered and turned properly......I do like the greensand for "down the road" as I recycle this and all my built soils for reuse.
So the change in OF to HF is due to the hotter OF pushing the soil NPK away from the desired availability rates...
To put a seedling in the OF is asking for trouble ..... A nice lightly built soil for seedlings in a solo cup till roots are beginning to fill the bottom of the cup and transplanting into a 1 or 2 gallon for veg is going to work far better..
Doc
papa canna
Well-Known Member
everyone seems to prefer moving small plants into small pots to veg. is there any harm in putting a small plant into a bigger pot for veg and bloom?
Dr. Who
Well-Known Member
No not at all......You'll need to feed it at some point, if your doing a SS.....The plant will use the available nutrition up where you'll need to feed - That's for large plants.......
If your going to feed synthetics - you'll have no problem at all!
MrStickyScissors
Well-Known Member
I use roots organic and it's bad ass. they were out of it so I bought 15 bags of fox farm. had the same problem. you will burn them if you feed them anything on top of the soil. gotta just water with phed water only for a while
papa canna
Well-Known Member
I didn't feed them until about week 2 or 3 of FLOWER, and as far as i can tell the soil burned them just a little in veg. Not much, not big brown spots, but the leaves to all of my Yoda OG's were... how you might say, cripsy?
How would you compare the roots organic to ocean forest? I'm either going to be buying roots, or mixing in fox farm with some light warrior to lighten it up a little. still undecided.
MrStickyScissors
Well-Known Member
roots organic is wayyyyy better. it drains really good. it feels like sand to me. I have been using it for years
papa canna
Well-Known Member
Am I going to have to feed more often with roots than ocean forest? I'm not really use to looking for deficiency. I suppose i'll have to start learning to spot that. Other than the crispiness and some yellow/brown nutrient burn, all of my leaves have been a nice deep green, never showing signs of deficiency.
Tim Fox
Well-Known Member
Same issues for me right now, I am growing in FFOF and in week 3 of flower I started adding light nutes 1/4 strength and the nute burn nitrogen tox came on, freaky hooked leaf tips here and there, went back to straight water from the tap 6.5 ph , and today they were turning back around
Edit, I would like to find a good soil mix to just whip up for the next go,
Edit, I would like to find a good soil mix to just whip up for the next go,
papa canna
Well-Known Member
Well i've done a lot of googling, and a lot of reading over the past week, and the general consensus seems to be, if you don't prefer foxfarm soil, you should try roots. I think thats what i'll go with and see what I end up with.
papa canna
Well-Known Member
the ingredients look good, do local hydroshops usually carry these?
papa canna
Well-Known Member
I'm in michigan, i'll see if the local shop has it next time i go there.
Cobnobuler
Well-Known Member
When I did that one time, right away I got a very light green color that I just didn't like so I switched back to FF after one bag of Roots. ( The 707) I'd like to try the Vermisoil but I dunno of its availability in the Northeast.
Aeroknow
Well-Known Member
I start rooted cuts in black gold natural and organic(the vermisoil works good too, not too hot) I find it to be best. In 3"x3" pots, i only give them water for about 10 days. After that time, i pot up into vermisoil. I choose to give them about .5 EC of nutrient solution, but I guarantee you that you could still use water only for a while longer. I'm up to 1.6-1.7 Ec over the next 4-5 weeks. I pretty much treat it like dirt, but it has all those goodies in it. Plus, it's ammended with coco. Open a bag. You will love it rite then and there
Budzbuddha
Well-Known Member
Never had FFOF burn anything. Seedlings or cuts. I also use the layers of moonshine mix ( now ) but have NEW germ seeds in FFOF ONLY . No problems .
papa canna
Well-Known Member
you can check the website, it has a retail finder, there are 2 in my area in michigan.
Would you recommend the vermifire if im a newb and might not be that good at spotting deficiencies and treating? I'm worried because I know one of the 3 strains i have coming are going to be nutrient sensitive, it did well in the ocean forest though, and i've heard thats even hotter than vermifire. Also, how is the aeration and drainage? I have a huge bag of perlite that I could add some into, but im not sure how to spot if it needs it. I'm transplanting into fabric pots, and I wish i would've put perlite into the ocean forest.I start rooted cuts in black gold natural and organic(the vermisoil works good too, not too hot) I find it to be best. In 3"x3" pots, i only give them water for about 10 days. After that time, i pot up into vermisoil. I choose to give them about .5 EC of nutrient solution, but I guarantee you that you could still use water only for a while longer. I'm up to 1.6-1.7 Ec over the next 4-5 weeks. I pretty much treat it like dirt, but it has all those goodies in it. Plus, it's ammended with coco. Open a bag. You will love it rite then and there