Tutorial Organics for Beginners

[atullemas]

Just make it simple

40 % of worming cast

20 % of perlite

20 % of vermiculite

20 % of spagnum

and add some 2 pounds of bone powder of each 40 pounds of compound

after gather the all ingredients mix it very well.

This is the best compound you can have and it's very simple to make it.

Hope this help

Cheers

 

[de145]

Pretty simple really.

...

That's pretty much it.

Easy peasy! <grin>

Seriously, that sounds uber complicated compared to the original recipe which seems to indicate only water required for the full growing season.

What do you feel all those extra things you add accomplish over the base recipe for lc2?

 

[twrex]

Just make it simple

40 % of worming cast

20 % of perlite

20 % of vermiculite

20 % of spagnum

and add some 2 pounds of bone powder of each 40 pounds of compound

after gather the all ingredients mix it very well.

This is the best compound you can have and it's very simple to make it.

Hope this help

Cheers

Are those percentages by volume or weight? And why did you switch from percentages to weight for the bone meal? Do you use 2lbs of bonemeal to bring the mix up to 40lbs or do you add 2 to 40 to make 42lbs?

Your 'making it simple' confused me.

 

[grapeman]

Easy peasy! <grin>

Seriously, that sounds uber complicated compared to the original recipe which seems to indicate only water required for the full growing season.

What do you feel all those extra things you add accomplish over the base recipe for lc2?

I added a few things that had some N in small quantities because I felt I needed a bit more N. Alfalfa for it's natural bloom booster. From my experiences in farming other crops, it is next to impossible to get P toxicity, and I have a hard time relying on bone meal as the single most important source of P. So I add in small quantities, phosphites via foliar. P is key for flowering plants. We use it on other crops to promote healthy flowering, since healthy flowering promotes a better fruit set. Azomite, while not critical, contains some 80 or 90 trace minerals that while never all present in all soils, are all usable trace minerals. I don't think I would ever add more Azomite when reusing and conditioning my soil for a second grow. No way IMO, would that be necessary. I think it is a 1 time amendment.
Sul-Po-Mg for a bit extra K & Mg in the soil, mostly Mg, since i add more K later. Just using kelp and molasses in my first grows, I still had slight mg deficiencies. I don't see much mg problems anymore. Sulfate of Potash because in my experience K gives weight and is key to sugar formation in all fruits in farming, which equates to weight. K is soluble in most all usable forms (I suppose greensand would help here) and can easily leach beyond the root zone. I therefore add S of P in small amounts during the mid to late flowering stages, since the fruit we are harvesting is the flower itself. If you look at all the 'bloom boosters" on the market, most all have some P with a larger dose of K as their main ingredients, along with something like molasses (carbs), which we already use with almost every watering. Sulfer, IMO is THE most overlooked element in the soil and plant. Not only does it help lower the PH, it is elemental to flavor, taste and aroma. I find it key to flavor and soil health in grapes. Since I am adding some extra sulfer (S of P is a ph down) I compensate a bit by giving slightly more dolomite in the mix to begin with to help buffer the soil towards 7.

The folks that have used my blue dream have all informed me that it was the densest, most aromatic and smooth product of it's strain they have had.

I've done full House & Garden grows in soil and hydro and the one thing that irked me was the cost. I always look at the ingredients and for a bottle that costs $50 to $100, I know there is about $6 worth of nutrients in the bottle, or less.

I don't think I am overdoing this thing. I'm just trying to improve. The one thing that I could probably drop is my occasional use of Neptune's Harvest Fish ferts. But I use it so infrequently and in such small quantities in veg and early flower only.

I am so happy I found this thread. B1 with V's help have laid out a framework for a great working soil that lives. I think you can make small adjustments according to your needs, wants and experience.

I never consider this work, and what I am learning here I hope will be applicable to other farming endeavors.

But most of all, this is just a hobby and I enjoy fucking around.

 

[grapeman]

Just make it simple

40 % of worming cast

20 % of perlite

20 % of vermiculite

20 % of spagnum

and add some 2 pounds of bone powder of each 40 pounds of compound

after gather the all ingredients mix it very well.

This is the best compound you can have and it's very simple to make it.

Hope this help

Cheers

Best for what?

 

[HoodiB]

Im a first time grower using fox farms soil, leaves on a couple of m plants have been curling up and looking deformed, after researching I believe it may be a nute problem. The only thing I have used thus far is bat guano, I just picked up a soil Ph tester. Does anyone have any experience with soil and bat guano???

 

[cjensen11]

from what your saying i have no clue. do you have pics? i mean people can guess at what could be wrong. but if you want help your gonna need more than that. i have a question tho also. since you dont have to ph organics you shouldnt have to ph the water when your not giving nutes right?

 

[de145]

I am so happy I found this thread. B1 with V's help have laid out a framework for a great working soil that lives. I think you can make small adjustments according to your needs, wants and experience.

I never consider this work, and what I am learning here I hope will be applicable to other farming endeavors.

But most of all, this is just a hobby and I enjoy fucking around.

Thanks Grapeman, I appreciate you taking the time to fill us all in on what you're doing and your reasoning. I too am happy I found this thread and like you I'm excited about it beyond cannabis.

In fact this is one of the best sources of information about organic soil there is anywhere on the internet that I could find not to mention all the info you learn when you take the time to read through all the messages.

 

[twrex]

Im a first time grower using fox farms soil, leaves on a couple of m plants have been curling up and looking deformed, after researching I believe it may be a nute problem. The only thing I have used thus far is bat guano, I just picked up a soil Ph tester. Does anyone have any experience with soil and bat guano???

This is precisely what the infirmary is for.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/forumdisplay.php?f=83

Fill out the form in the common sense sticky and post it with pics and a full description.

 

[vonforne]

What is a good organic bud hardener?

Genetics.

 

[vonforne]

A side effect of growing tomatos outside a screened window of my mother room was that a few whiteflies have made it thru the screen and are living nicely on some mother plants (funny how they have a choice of strains and some strain they apparently don't like - they love the Afgan most).

Anyway, I'm getting ready to leave my hobby for a few months to harvest the crops and I was wondering what some of you fellas are using to kill the little bastards. I have plenty of products that I can use, but in an effort to keep this organic, I thought I'd ask here before I use the nuclear option which I know works 100% but would draw the hisses and boos from the crowd.

A side note on this thread. I've done several grows and have what I believe a pretty well dialed in system. I must give credit to B1, V, CC and others. I do believe I have accomplished what i set out to do, and that is to properly mix a soil that can virtually just take water (tea, kelp & molasses) for the entire grow. It has made the leaving of instructions fairly simple in my absence.

some strain they apparently don't like - they love the Afgan most).

I have an Afghan hybrid in flower and it has spider mites.......rubbing leaf to leaf and it has 0 spider mites.....it is a Landrace Afghan. She is so course that bugs do not bother her. Th other I have to spray with Neem oil......her.....not one drop.

Neem oil.....used once a week and maybe top dress with so stinging Nettles just to see if you could boost the immune system of the plants.

 

[grapeman]

Thanks V. I forgot I had a bottle of Azatrol (neem) on the shelf and I hit them with a 1% solution last night. I got my Afgan from a grower in San Luis Obispo last year in exchange for a blue dream cut. I've been trying to find out exactly what kind of Afgan cut this is but have been unsuccessful in re-establishing contact again.

So, as I'm walking out the door to head to the central valley and the harvest, I checked this morning and there is no trace of the whitefly. Thanks for all your help and input in getting my soils put together so any caretaker can just add water in my absence.

I'll let you know if we send any fruit to the UK and to what retailer so you can make fun of our "sour" grapes.

 

[SecretGardener]

I have two seedlings @ 10 days old in LC's soilless mix. They have produced their cotodylon's, first set of single bladed leaves, second set of 3 bladed leaves and the next set is on the way. The single bladed leaves are beginning to fade to a light green starting from their leaf tips. Besides that the seedlings are healthy. I started brewing a seedling tea recipe (EWC+Molasses) last night, would applying this team improve things or should I transplant them into a 'hot' soil? I'd post pictures but I am at work and do not trust the packet transmission.

Mix Details:

6 parts ProMix HP
3 parts Chunky Perlite
1 part Earth Worm Castings
1 Tbs pulverized Dolomite Lime per gallon of mix
Mixed up 5/19/2010

 

[Cannasseur]

SecretGardener,
Whether you keep them in the medium they are in now or transplant them into something with nutrients more readily available, incorporating microbes (through Compost tea) is going to be a good starting point in any grow. Personally, If they are content ATM, I would let them establish themselves a bit more in their current planting before moving them up.

 

[grapeman]

Genetics.

LOL

 

[Clackamas Coot]

What about using Viagra to make the buds hard?

 

[Cannasseur]

I knew my regimen has been missing something, will cialis suffice as a substitute?

 

[SecretGardener]

SecretGardener,
Whether you keep them in the medium they are in now or transplant them into something with nutrients more readily available, incorporating microbes (through Compost tea) is going to be a good starting point in any grow. Personally, If they are content ATM, I would let them establish themselves a bit more in their current planting before moving them up.

Yeah I will definitely wait a bit before transplanting, dont want to hurt the delicate root system at this point, thats why I was thinking about going with a light tea.

I just want to know that it is normal for seedlings in a soilless LC mix? Why would they fade so quick? I've grown in crappy off the shelf unfertilized potting mix and never had to feed for a good 3 weeks (and even then half strength)!

 

[Zendo]

What about using Viagra to make the buds hard?

hahahaha.. I was going to suggest a low lit room, some candles, and maybe some Al Green on vinyl..

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Anything but Barry White.....................