my soil mix is too "hot"...how can i solve it ??

[sicoltiva]

hi growers , i think i made a soil mix that is turning to be too hot for the plants.
1.5 cubic feet of fox farm ocean forest= 11 gal of soil
1.5 gal of perlite
3 gal EWC
10 TBS kelp meal (0.6 cups)
20 TBS dolomite lime powder
1 Cup rock phospate
5 TBS epsom salt
15 Oz rare earth
10 TBS jamaican guano...

I planted in this mix. Plants are now 10 day to 2 week old , under 400w mh with temp 68-77 F.
They are showing signs of over fertilization. Leaf fringes are standing up/curling with big ridges between veins.
The general look of the leaves is weak.
There aren't burned or brown spot and leaf tips are not burned either.
I notice also on few of them a slow growth.

I realized, after reading some posts here, that other people had found ffof soil too hot and had to dilute it.
I understood that my mix was too rich to start plants and that i also added amends to an already very rich soil.
All wrong.

I'm planning to transplant into 5 gal pots but i'm worried to repot in the same soil i'm using now.
They are now in small 6" pots.
I thought to dilute to soil mix with plain spaghnum peat moss and/or coco fiber because i don't want to throw away the mix i prepared.
Anyboby can give me an advice please?

 

[C21H30O2]

ditch the ffof its acid for cannabis plants

 

[Clackamas Coot]

^^^^^^^^

Agreed - the only asshole factor in your mix is the FFOF. There is absolutely nothing in your mix that could cause problems at the amounts you noted as using.

Real shame - your other ingredients are 'spot on' (to quote Chef Gordon Ramsay)

CC

 

[humble1]

so your plants are getting burned or you suspect they will.
if it's not too late you could add some filler to your mix, like coco.
"the solution to pollution is dilution"

 

[ArcticBlast]

can "flushing" or soaking your soil help at all?

ArcticBlast

 

[VerdantGreen]

yes, just dilute it with some straight peat or coco or topsoil. add extra lime for the extra soil but nothing else.

V.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

can "flushing" or soaking your soil help at all?

ArcticBlast

ArcticBlast

Good question actually.

I have a theory (you might call it an opinion) that soil not amended with agents (chemical, organic, whatever) that a plant can take up directly aren't so much 'hot' as they are 'anaerobic'

The reason that I say that is potting soil companies marketing their products to pot growers ship their products wetter than professional potting soil mixes like Sunshine, etc.

Contrary to popular urban legend there is nothing special about any potting soil mix and especially FFOF. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. Meaning that this product is loaded at origin into dry vans (vs. temperature controlled trailers) for shipment to the huge players in the so-called 'indoor garden store' industry like National Garden Warehouse

Sealed plastic bags filled with wet potting soil sitting outside a warehouse during much of the year is a recipe for creating anaerobic conditions.

It's been my experience helping out new medical growers (aka WPF) who immediately buy FFOF because it's the 'only good soil for growing medicine' according to 'the experts' that applying a good aerobic aerated compost tea resolves all of the problems. Getting the aerobic herd to dominate the soil over the anaerobic - basic stuff.

HTH

CC

 

[sicoltiva]

some pics>>

 

[sicoltiva]

thankx a lot for the answers !!

ok so no i need to do some math now ...

I used as base 1.5 cubic feet bag of ffof. I won't consider the amends in the volume count now.
How much peat and/or coco should i add to diluite it ?
My guts says half of the initial ffof bag so about 0,75 cbf.

For the seedlings..... i guess that i will water them plain water until i move them to the lighter soil and into bigger pots.
I'm worried to add more salt into the soil through watering.
I left the soil to dry properly then i watered abundantly draining away the water in excess. But i cant do this every time so i hope they will keep up and adjust a little to the actual enviroment until i can give them a better bed.

new mix new recipe.....i'll probably try to start with peat moss.
I still have a couple of ffoc bags though so i think i might need to throw it in the mix.
And use a light soil to start seedlings...

sicoltiva

 

[VerdantGreen]

hang on, if you put seedlings in that mix then that may have been your mistake as seedlings need a much lighter mix than bigger plants. you may find that bigger plants are ok in it.

always use unferted soil for seedlings or you will burn them up sometimes. some seedlings seem to be able to take hot soil but most will not like it

V.

 

[sicoltiva]

hang on, if you put seedlings in that mix then that may have been your mistake as seedlings need a much lighter mix than bigger plants. you may find that bigger plants are ok in it.

always use unferted soil for seedlings or you will burn them up sometimes. some seedlings seem to be able to take hot soil but most will not like it

V.

yes i realized that too late.
next round i'll start seedlings on something lighter....i hope the soil they are innow won't compromise them too much.
I never used fox farm light warrior, what do you think about that ?

thank x

sicoltiva

 

[VerdantGreen]

im from UK so FFOF, Light warrior, happy frog - none of those names mean anything to me lol.

i prefer to use the base materials to mix soil like peat, coco, perlite - and then add my own ferts and amendments. i think many people make a mistake by buying ready ferted media and then add a load more ferts to it

the seedlings dont look too bad - they should bounce back

V.

 

[sicoltiva]

im from UK so FFOF, Light warrior, happy frog - none of those names mean anything to me lol.

i prefer to use the base materials to mix soil like peat, coco, perlite - and then add my own ferts and amendments. i think many people make a mistake by buying ready ferted media and then add a load more ferts to it

the seedlings dont look too bad - they should bounce back

V.

ok i see..thankx anyway.
When i moved to us i had to start to get used to new products, new measurments units etc....
also my past experience is 100 % outdoor guerrilla where sometimes you have to adapt to the enviromental situations for soils and amends..
I'm at my second indoor....

sicoltiva

 

[humble1]

light warrior is fine for seedlings
i'd add a 1/3 more perlite for extra drainage..... but that's just me.