organic hydro?

I winged the meters my first grow and got 1.t5oz off one plant and .5oz of the runt. The big one grew to be just over 18". Definatly doin scrog next time. Aquaponics does it call for the fish to be in the res. I have acces to atleast 2500 gal of fish farm water as I am a "fish farmer". Water my grass and flower beds with it and it works great. Some many diff options of growing it is unreal. MJ is an amazing plant. I'm pretty sure that my plants like two weeks before harvest did the lockout that you speak of and I add 1 cap full of white vinegar to the res the last 2-3 weeks of their time on earth did it I don't know. I like most newbies jumppedd the gun and harvested a lil early. Thabk you all for the help and looking forward to the next

i haven't read the replies, and dont plan to, so someone may have already stated this...

but you can put coco liners in your mesh pots in hydro, fill them with soil, and water from the top with nutrients when you want to feed. DO NOT water so much that the water drains through to the resevoir.

Agricultural organics makes a nute line named Bloom. They are all organic and have amazing results. A lot of dispensaries use those nutes. They are from australia. Good luck!

Canna thank you.
I'm really looking into the aquaponics as it is readily avalible. With that being said would I want to pull water from the top where it is clean or would it be better to pull from the bottom and get all the shit and what have. As it would make sense that the plants would break down the waste and use it. Has anyone done this before?

blazingrngras said:

Canna thank you.
I'm really looking into the aquaponics as it is readily avalible. With that being said would I want to pull water from the top where it is clean or would it be better to pull from the bottom and get all the shit and what have. As it would make sense that the plants would break down the waste and use it. Has anyone done this before?

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Wow, you have to understand that aquaponics is probably a more refined form of hydroponics. You are talking about the fish waste and it is handled in several different ways before the nutrient water gets to the plants. This way you get the advantage of the nutrients dissolved without the solid matter. The goal of aquaponics is to have a balance of nutrients produced by the fish and consumed by the plants. This is tricky but not impossible and just requires some practice and basic knowledge. This would create the totally organic grow but you would have to be limited to only giving your plants the nutrients that the fish produced and I can tell you that fish crap is not a perfect food for plants. The plants still need supplements such as Cal-Mag, Silica, and the beneficials.
You are better off learning more about Hydroponics and understand the concepts of it than taking on Aquaponics. I don't mean that in a bad way its just that Aquaponics is considerably more tedious and, at times, temperamental. Remember, with Aquaponics you not only have to deal with plant problems you are adding fish problems and insect problems associated with the fish and fish-poop side of this.
Hydroponics is much simpler. If you still want to learn about aquaponics you can contact me.

Know this is a bit old, but you can run AACT in hempy buckets, as well as using hydro-organic nutrients (all basically what polyarcturus said earlier, water soluble organic nutes) like Earth Juice or the others mentioned. definitely doable, i'm doing it now! be easy
Dr.J

Dr.J20 said:

Know this is a bit old, but you can run AACT in hempy buckets, as well as using hydro-organic nutrients (all basically what polyarcturus said earlier, water soluble organic nutes) like Earth Juice or the others mentioned. definitely doable, i'm doing it now! be easy
Dr.J

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I was gonna recommend something similar only I was going to suggest coco coir in some 3 or 5 gallon pots. I ran DWC for a few years and its awesome but I really dont know how successful you would be running organics in DWC, sure it can be done but sounds too messy in my opinion. I would just do " passive hydroponics" like a hempy bucket or coco coir. Or you can do what I did.. Ditch the hydro stuff all together and get your self some soil and run organics that way... Trust me you wont look back. It's cheap and easy and you will always have better tasting higher resin producing buds when you go organic.

Dwc does not have enough surface area for sufficient microbes to hangout. Its possible to do organics in ebb n flow and coco as there is sufficient pores and media that encourage bacteria. I tried organic in Dwc. Did not work well at all. Ended up transferring the plant to a coco container. You want to add compost tea as a supplement to encourage bacteria.

blazingrngras said:

Thank you for the link. Looks interesting. Pretty cheap. Is that a red flag when it comes to this kind of thing. Iknowad thanks for the advice. Quick question for the experienced. Is it worth the trouble growing organic or should one just opt for the easy way(chem) I mean this as in yeild. Was looks at a 600hps but I can eaisly fit 600-800watt cfl if it come to it. I have 433w cfl actual watts now

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Man, organics is the ONLY way to grow pot, IMHO. And if you are gonna grow in soil, it makes no sense to use chemical ferts. Organics and soil are reliant on the mycorrhizae and beneficial bacteria that do the work breaking down organic matter into a plant usable form of nutrients. I can't seem to get my mind around how one could culture mycos and bennies in a hydroponic environment.
Hydroponics has come into it's own in recent times as a means to grow crops/food in hostile environments (Antarctica, Space Stations, the moon, etc) where it would otherwise be impossible to grow anything. Somewhere along the line cannabis cultivators latched onto it (I think it's the "Mad Scientist" appeal) and it became the norm for indoor growing. Organics is arguably the best way to grow anything. Biology tells us that the symbiotic relationship that developed 400 million years ago between terrestrial plants and mycorrhizal fungi was the single most important evolutionary step plants have taken since they started colonizing land. Many scientists believe that it is impossible to achieve the full potential of the plants genetics without that symbiosis.
There are many products that say they are organic, but that doesn't mean anything. OMRI certification is for shit. Most of everything I see that's organic formulated for hydroponics are really only derived from organic sources, not necessarily organic themselves. You have to understand the soil food web, and how the fungi and bacteria work. "Teeming with Microbes" is a "must read" for any organic gardener. If you can't find it, hit me up and I can see to it you get a copy.
All that being said, growing anything in soil, organically, is about as difficult as falling off a log. No pH worries, nutrient issues, equipment failures etc. Water the plants, supplement your feeding schedule with AACT, and you're good to go.
As for yield and potency, I have yet to find anything that compares to what I get. It is MOST DEFINITELY worth the effort growing organically. In fact, if you aren't careful, it can become an obsession. I willingly go thru more shit (literally) for these plants. Most of it is completely unnecessary for the average personal grower, and certainly isn't being done by any sane commercial grower, but I'm learning, and that's the journey. And the smoke is pretty good too! LOL

Yes it can be done. Coco run-to-waste using organic nutrients. Water 4-6 times a days with minimal runoff and it will be as fast as most hydro setups with the taste of organic. More reliable, too. I've been doing it for about 8 years.

Thats fucking gorgeous Man!! What nutrients did you use?

I use Canadian Xpress. It's actually a hybrid formula. Part B is an organic tea containing most NPK requirements, amino acids, humic and fulvic acids, microbes and other organic boosters (root stimulants like seaweed extract etc), while part A contains micronutrients in a more chemical formula. I also add a bit of fish emulsion during veg (extra N, Mg) and use Monsta Bud in flowering, which contains most of the above, but has a higher PK to N ratio and naturally-occuring hormones to promote flower production. I basically use it as an organic PK booster. All are made in Australia.

While not strictly 100% organic, it's easier on my pump and lines, as it doesn't contain big clumps of organic mass that can block them.

Prawn Connery said:

I use Canadian Xpress. It's actually a hybrid formula. Part B is an organic tea containing most NPK requirements, amino acids, humic and fulvic acids, microbes and other organic boosters (root stimulants like seaweed extract etc), while part A contains micronutrients in a more chemical formula. I also add a bit of fish emulsion during veg (extra N, Mg) and use Monsta Bud in flowering, which contains most of the above, but has a higher PK to N ratio and naturally-occuring hormones to promote flower production. I basically use it as an organic PK booster. All are made in Australia.

While not strictly 100% organic, it's easier on my pump and lines, as it doesn't contain big clumps of organic mass that can block them.

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That is impressive. What size are those pots? What coco base do you use?

Pots are 8 litres (2 gallons). I have grown haze plants that yielded 15oz in one of those pots, though usually I go by the pot-size rule: "1 litre for every ounce". On average, I pull 8-12oz per pot, depending on strain (I don't monocrop, otherwise my yields would be higher).

I'm using Legro coco at the moment, but Canna is good- it's probably the benchmark in coco coir, though is more expensive. You can use almost any coco as long as you are aware of a couple of things:

It needs to be evenly shredded - you don't want stringy or clumpy bits in it. The size of the coco granules is important, because the smaller they are, the more they compact and the less room for air-pockets between each granule. NEVER use coco powder - it's just too fine and compact, like very fine dirt.

You generally want your coco pre-flushed to remove all the salts. Coconut trees grow by the sea, and nearly all coco comes from Sri Lanka where it is processed near the ocean, so unflushed coco has a lot of sea salt in it - which you obviously don't want. If in doubt, flush it yourself using warm water. That's what I do when I am unsure of the source, or using cheap expanded coco bricks.

Some coco is pre-buffered with calcium and magnesium (and sometimes other micro-elements) which binds to coco, but I prefer the straight flushed stuff, because then I know what's in it (nothing!). That way I can add my own nutrient. I usually add a bit of epsom salts to a fresh coco pot to give it a bit of magnesium. My water is already calcium-rich, as it comes from lime-stone-based groundwater.

Hydro is difficult to be 100% organic. I have seen it done in aquaponics with vegetables, but it is my understanding that it is difficult to bloom in these setups.