Down to Earth products

[raygun]

Ok so I picked up a 5lb box of Bio-Live from Down to Earth. It is listed as a 5-4-2 with Mycorrhizal Fungi, 18 strains of beneficial Bac. and 4% Humic Acid derived from Humic Shale Ore.
Ingredients: Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Langbeinite, Humic Shale Ore, Acadian Kelp Meal and Root Zone with Beneficial Bacteria.

100% natural, don't know why they can not call it organic but it was highly recomended by the employee there and said that they had nothing but good commets from customers about this product. They even commented about using this with molasses and it just boosting the lants performance. We will see what it does.

If any one else is using there product line please feel free to post here.
This is my first time even seeing this product on the shelves so don't know anything about it other than what I read and was recomended.

I'm growing in a recirc coco system and for $12 for 5lbs i could not pass it up.

Safe growing
~raygun~

 

[raygun]

no one? Really?

 

[barletta]

Yo, Ray
I haven't used their stuff, but I've been eyeballing the pulverized oyster shell to replace my lime. Only down side is that I can't find it local, and it was buck$ to $hip.

I'm POSITIVE I saw a killer grow on here somewhere that was using the down to earth products. I looked a lil, and couldn't find it again.

 

[raygun]

Thanks Barletta,
I looked before I posted for anything on this product or product line and did not find anything on the surface. I guess I'll have an opinion on it soon enough. I added just under a tbl spoon full to all my flowering plants and will be using it when I transplant my vegging clones to larger cups for further veg.

The only place I found this was in a small feed and garden store. I just stoped by the other day to check it out for some good draining top soil for my outdoor veggie garden and litterally stumbled across it as it was on the floor in the isle I was walking down.

Keep it comming if you know anything.

Safe Growing
~raygun~

 

[raygun]

Ok well back with an update and this stuff is great! The benis took hold in just a couple of days and the white growth of them was visable on the surface of the coco in about 3 days after application. Plants seem to like it growth has be enhanced, over all I like this product so far. I think it will be a staple of my garden for a source of benifitals.

$12 for 5lbs and will probably last me a whole year using a tbl spoon per plant when transplanting to flower and tsp when transplanting from clone to veg cup.

A whole 5lb box should cover a 100-150 sq ft area in an outdoor garden from what the box says. I will be using this on my veggie garden this year as well.

I give it an A+ so far.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Ok so I picked up a 5lb box of Bio-Live from Down to Earth. It is listed as a 5-4-2 with Mycorrhizal Fungi, 18 strains of beneficial Bac. and 4% Humic Acid derived from Humic Shale Ore.
Ingredients: Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Langbeinite, Humic Shale Ore, Acadian Kelp Meal and Root Zone with Beneficial Bacteria.

100% natural, don't know why they can not call it organic but it was highly recomended by the employee there and said that they had nothing but good commets from customers about this product. They even commented about using this with molasses and it just boosting the lants performance. We will see what it does.

If any one else is using there product line please feel free to post here.
This is my first time even seeing this product on the shelves so don't know anything about it other than what I read and was recomended.

I'm growing in a recirc coco system and for $12 for 5lbs i could not pass it up.

Safe growing
~raygun~

Raygun

Down-To-Earth is a company based in Eugene, Oregon. The actual mycorrhizal that they use comes from Mycorrhizal Applications based in Grants Pass, Oregon.

This is the exact same product used by Fox Farms, ROOTs, Kelloggs, Dr. Earth, Pennington Seeds, E.B. Stone, Monrovia, Garden-Ville, Fungi-Perfecti and several other manufacturers.

Almost all of the 'straight fertilizers' packed by Down-Too-Earth are sourced from the huge wholesale company, Wilbur-Ellis which is one of the largest in North America. Very high quality products.

Down-To-Earth chooses the best products for their mixes. For example they use Acadian Seaplants kelp meal out of Nova Scotia. They could opt for the less expensive products out of China & India but they don't.

I have found all of their mixes to be of the highest quality. I use their 'Bio-Fish' mix that you might want to take a look at.

They are also one of the very few fertilizer company which is packing need seem meal (aka neem seed cake).

Good people with a huge range of products and a qualified staff. Their compost mix is some of the best around, IMHO

HTH

CC

 

[HellaFella420]

Down to Earth is great, ive only ever used their regular innoculant products, no complaints!

How do you use a "hard" fertilizer in a hydro setup?

I know the answer to this, but I mean more like, why would you?



it dosent dissolve, it releases inconsistently, weird hydro pH buffering impact, etc

 

[raygun]

I use it just for the benifitals. I went with bricked botanicare coco and it does not have any benis it. Since I'm not really hydro adding to the coco is easy and works well for me. If I was going to use this in lets say my old bio-bucket system I would probably use a nylon and dump the "hard" ferts in there and make a tea with them for use in my hydro set up.

Now as to why you would I don't know other than ease of purchase? I don't have to go to a hydro store to buy my nutrients. Other than that I don't know why some one who was going true hydro would use ferts like this.

 

[HellaFella420]

"not really hydro"?

thought u said "recirc coco" sounds hydro to me!

Well coco comes with naturally occuring trichoderma usually, but i feel yah


I like the Down to earth innoculant line, add humates and all those other goodies, it aint gonna be hurting!

 

[raygun]

^^^ True kinda it's a "hybrid" since the coco is like soil I can top dress the coco with it and it will stay mainly in the substrate. I did a little experiment and did not add any to one plant and it did take a few more days but did develop visual benifitals blooming in the coco. So they will be taken in to the rez and spread out among the ladies eventually but the ones I added it to directly went crazy with growth. Acutally all the plants I added this product to showed benis growing with in days after application.

CC thanks for the info and good news. l would give you rep but I must spread it around...
I'll look in to more of there products for my Veggie garden this year and if they work well may have to incorporate them in to the coco cab. I would really like to get down to just using a really light base hydro mix in my rez and try to go more organic in the coco mix for specific needs of each plant. Since I am growing perpetually with multiple strains.

Safe Growing
~raygun~

 

[HellaFella420]

You do refill/water with deCHLORINATED water yes? I was using benificials for liek 3 years, never fixing my water first, it may not have STERILIZED things, but it couldnt have HELPED the micro-herd either...

Interesting.... [I just cleaned out a closet a few weeks ago and found Hightimes back issues from the mid 90's been rereading them [GAWD have we come SO far SO fast] one today was actually talking about "organic hydroponics" {which is always interesting if you ask me lolz}]
and they were doing kinda what it sounds like you are [mebbe?] they used teas, guanos, etc and top fed them, the res, [the "hydro"] part was jsut plain water, and they just used it for flood & drain

Not really "organic hydro" if oyu ask me, just convient/lazy watering!

 

[raygun]

Hella I use well water and have a pre-rez that hold 5 gals and is constantly recirculated with a small fountain pump. It is hooked up to an auto topper that feeds in to my main rez to keep that consistantly at ~6 gals. Even if I used tap water it will declor befor it gets to my main rez. I can use this pre-rez to counter ballence any pH drifts by adjusting the pH of the pre-rez to compensate. Takes a couple of days to get it dialed in but works like a charm once all ballenced.

I'm not using just plain water I consider it a "live" rez as I try to keep from doing rez changes if not needed except once every 2 months. Much like with a fish tank you do'nt want to change out the water all the time because of the benifitals that are built up keeping it healthy. When I do change typically I will keep a half gal or so of the old stuff to jump start the new water. I use the full line of flora nova/licious/plus, some Kool Bloom, LK, Molassas, hygrozyme. This is my "standard" for the last few years. Now that I am growing multiple strains and phenos of strains I needed some additional supplimentation for the Sativas that needed more N at the begining or adding some additional bloom boosters mid way in flower directly to the plant. So that got me top dressing my coco and I backed off the EC in my main rez.

I thought about going with all the nutes in the coco and just watering with just plain water but no sence in having a rez then as you will need to go drain to waste as I don't think you would want your runoff going back to your rez for future use. It just was not practical for my cab.

 

[HellaFella420]

Ahhhhhh, nice


Do you use the venturi adapter on your pump to introduce atmospheric air to the water?

Does your pH move that much? I havent ever used such a small res, [I know the larger the res the smaller the swing]

Try adding a "float bag" to your res as a place for the benificials to live and multiply, also they stay there with res changes

get some cheap pantyhose, stuff some coco down in a leg and tie it off float that bitch in your res and it will harbor all the goodies you like, it works like a "Sourdough starter" kinda and will reinnoculate your liquid nutrient with every change, just make sure to add carbs [ ie. molasses] as they need sugars to multiply and thrive

Hygrozyme is an interesting product, It to expensive for what it claims it does, im sure it dosent hurt, but ive never seen anything amazing from it... I mainly use it for organic solids control when i did... try fossil fuel instead of LK waaay cheaper and more concentrated!

How does your well water test? [jsut curioius]

 

[raygun]

I don't have a venturi and never used one. The air pump with the air stone gets enough air in the main rez. The pre-rez is the only one with a fountain pump.

My pH use to not move much when I had harder tap water to mix with my RO water. Now I'm on a well and that water is so clean I'm experiencing pH rise. However I had a few factors that could have been contributing to this issue.

1. my pH pen was broke and I was not adjusting the pH of the pre-rez or water out of the well which I thought was down near 5 was actually ~7.8. So I was using a high pH water to start with for a few months not knowing it.
2. Re-using really old coco with probably to much old root matter in it.

So now I have new coco, my pH pen fixed and can pH my water before hand so in the last few weeks I have not had any issues.

I actually do have a "float bag" but its actually a "filter bag" that I have slipped over the drain outlet from my drain table. So it hangs in the water an catches any coco or leaves that may fall on the drain table and down the drain in the bag and not in the rez. Same principle just duel function for me as a filter to catch debris from draining in to the rez. I also have a large foam filter over the inlet that is in the rez to help with more benes.

Hygrozyme is expensive but I think that it helps keep my rez healthy. I'll keep my eye out for the fossil fuel thanks for the heads up.

My well water tastes great. I still run it through an RO filter as I am in an old house and don't really trust the plumbing.

 

[raygun]

Ok so I am officially sold on this product. Not only does it deliver the benifitals but it also has just enough N to keep my ladies greener further along in flower as I needed. As you can see below in the first pic, the right side had been dressed with Bio-Live either shortly after going in to flower or upon transefer. There is some yellowing of the lower leave on the far right I believe is from the higher humidity right above the coco. Most of those leaves would be removed by week 3 anyways durring routine trimings.​

More importantly is the 2nd row on the right has not gone yellow 1/2 way or more up the plant like I was having happen as you can see in the left two older rows. The far left row had been in flush for 7-8 days but you can see its just as yellow as the ones next to it and they are just now getting flushed about 2 weeks later.​

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The other picts are from Veg where I top dressed all of my plants and they are looking as healthy as can be! The last two are of my Sour bubble x [grapefruit x c99 from wally] and I am really excited about this one

If any one else is using these products please share and lets see some picts.

Safe growing
~raygun~​