FOXFARM: The Best Organic Mix for Beginners and Pros

[reddy1]

Big box stores like HD/Lowes?

It is cheap to run, but you get what you pay for. I spend double or triple now on Canna for my coco set up, but at least we end on a green note and not yellow like the FF.

that's what i heard, they're going to sell it for 12 a bag cause they're dealing in bulk. it costs local shops more than that to purchase it themselves. talk about stabbing the shops in the back. they built their brand.

yellow is good at the end. that means less nutes and chlorophyll in your buds and more of it's true flavor. some indicas stay green no matter how long you flush them. coco and hydro in general flushes cleaner and gives your meds a much purer, cleaner taste. good taste comes from genetics not bat turds.

how much are you paying for Canna coco? i see it 20 a bag and FFOF is 16-20/bag last time i checked. lately i get bales of compressed coco, $9 for 18 gallons of medium and it's reusable! pretty economical way to grow in my book. i use drip clean too, so no run off, i save lots on nutes and water that could be wasted.

roots organics is the only company i know of that uses coco coir in their soil mixes. their root pots kick ass too, pay for themselves 10x over regular pots.

 

[NSPB]

Well I wasn't going to comment in this thread, as I usually keep to the organics forums.
However, seeing how what I like to call the "organics super crew" (vonforne, jaykush, VerdantGreen, Clackamas Coot) is not paying attention to this thread, I figured I should come in and put and end to some of this information being spread around in here.

My philosophy on growing:

You DO NOT and CAN NOT grow the plants. They are genetically predisposed to behave a certain way, and as such they only react to the environmental stimuli present. Forget "growing" the plant...you are chasing your tail with that mindset. There are only two major factors to consider: the environment surrounding the foliage and the environment surrounding the root zone. If you learn how to control these two environments, you are going to produce the best medicine possible. WHY? Because when a plant is given the very best, it "triggers" the very best of the genetic information present in the plant.

With that concept in the forefront of your mind, why then should we as a grower TELL the plant what to eat and when to eat it? Why not let the plant dictate to itself what its desires are. If everything the plant could ever possibly want is present in the soil food web, available and ready for the plant to have it when the plant wants it in the quantity the plant wants it...well, the plant can make itself happier by its own choices than I ever personally can by attempt to guess at such factors by methods of various observation. Now, grow a plant for many years, and yes...you will figure out EXACTLY what the plant needs...this is what growers refer to as "dialing in" a particular strain. I personally see no reason as to why the plant can not be optimized in a growers first or second attempt with any given strain....IF you get your environmental factors correct.

Now my focus is on the environment surrounding the root zone. Now you understand my approach...and why it is my intent to fully amend my soil mixes so all I have to do, is simply add water for the entire life cycle of the plant. This is entirely possible to achieve in literally thousands and thousands of different ways. The different combinations of organic compounds that can be used is endless....I kid you not. Do not ever think there is only one way to "skin a cat"...

It has taken me three years of very dedicated and focused work to achieve this result in a way that I truly believe gives other commercially available feeding programs (Gen. Hydro, Botanicare, Advanced Nutrients, Fox Farm, etc) a run for their money. Yes, it is possible to never use a single bloom booster, flavor enhancer, ripening agents...and all that garbage. Let the plant be what the plant is...quit injecting steroids!

It is really all about balance. I use 18 different fertilizers / amendments to my base soil mix. This allows me to simply water the plants through their entire life cycle.

My current mix I've listed on this site many times utilizes 16. However, it is only growing approx. 85-90% of strains without zero deficiency. This means it's still not quite "PERFECT", as the goal is to achieve 100%. It has taken me nearly 3 years to fine tune this formula.

I truly believe using multiple sources for each of the macro (N, P, K) secondary (Ca, S, M) micro (Fe, Zn, Mn, Co, Cu, Cl, Mo) nutrient requirements...you are allowing the plant to essentially pick and choose what it wants to feed on. Not only this, but you will impart a MUCH more accurate flavor which is more representative of genetics rather than a particular feeding regimen. The more complete the soil food web is, the better you end result will be .

The key to this is fully understanding what each various organic compound is contributing to the whole. For example, using alfalfa not for its N content, but rather for its high levels of triacontanol, which is an amazing growth stimulating hormone. Now understanding, for a lack of a better term, the solubility or availability of each compound once it is actually in your soil becomes important. Many factors affect this, the largest of which is the health and concentration of the micro-organisms in the soil. If the organisms that "break down" organic matter into usable forms of plant nutrition are not happy and well nurtured, your entire organic experience will be less than satisfactory.

As stated it is all about balance and understanding on an imitate level the ENTIRE soil food web and how various compounds affect it....

When just starting out, it is often useful to start off with less, as suggest by VG...the man knows his organics. However, that is no longer the only option to those wanting the fullness of what organics can offer. SOON...very soon...THERE WILL BE A SOLUTION... for newbies and experts alike.



NSPB

 

[NSPB]

Now...to address the entire Fox Farm issue.

Phillthy, in my opinion, one of the most consistent and noted gardeners on this site, uses this to produce his garden:

1/2 bale Pro-Mix Bx
1 bag FFOF
1 bag NSPB: FLF (my personal mix)

This makes roughly 30g of fully amended medium. He simply adds water the entire life cycle of the plant.

I personally use:

4g local organic potting soil (Lowes)
1.5g peat moss (Lowes)
1.5g coir
3g chunky perlite
1g EWC

To this base soil mix, I add one bag of my own fertilizer mix. It makes 1 cu. ft. of FULLY amended medium, so the only thing ever left to add, is water.

There are many ways to use many different products in the world of organics. You have to find what works for you. But I can assure you...the mixes listed previously in the beginning of this thread, are going to lead you down a path of frustration and aggravation when you don't understand the deficiency you are experiencing.

READ THIS POST and get on the path of saving yourself a bit of money...and making your OWN mixes:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=53792

Burnone, has helped more gardeners achieve independence with this singular thread than many could EVER hope to do in their lifetime. I am honored to walk in his footsteps.


NSPB

 

[Iron_Lion]

Fox Farm makes good products but it took me years to learn how to use them correctly, and all soil mixes will suck if you dont know how to fertilize them properly.

@ grapeman, dude you don't know what you are talking about.



For the haters

100% organic goodness.

 

[SmokinErb]

Well everything has pretty much already been said, but I haven't seen anything about ProMix said, so I'll opt for that. I'll be using Roots Organic, but ProMix would be my 2nd choice.

 

[CANNATOPIA]

I use Fox Farm & Absolutely love their products, everyone has an opinion & every other grower has his/her own Formula to growing with set products. Whatever they may use.I have seen many "Organic" & "Non-Organic" Set ups. Both of which have the potential to produce great results. To me Organic or Non there is something far more important to consider and that is often over looked by many growers. Clean Rooms! Clean Fans! & Clean AIR! Many will grow good cannabis but end product is Dirty with all kinds of pollutants from the air. Pet hair etc, collecting in the buds as the plant grows ultimately resulting in poor taste. My advice is find a product that you like & that works best for you personally. Then focus more attention to keeping the plants clean from all possible Air pollutions and Taste/End results will improve. Anyways im done rambling.

 

[HueJass]

that's what i heard, they're going to sell it for 12 a bag cause they're dealing in bulk. it costs local shops more than that to purchase it themselves. talk about stabbing the shops in the back. they built their brand.

yellow is good at the end. that means less nutes and chlorophyll in your buds and more of it's true flavor. some indicas stay green no matter how long you flush them. coco and hydro in general flushes cleaner and gives your meds a much purer, cleaner taste. good taste comes from genetics not bat turds.

how much are you paying for Canna coco?

roots organics is the only company i know of that uses coco coir in their soil mixes. their root pots kick ass too, pay for themselves 10x over regular pots.

Yeah, should've said yellow prior to flush. I just find it extremely difficult to keep many varieties 100% healthy at once on the FF - 5 more or is a PITA. It works though and no real complaints about yield, flavor, or looks. Just knew I could do better and easier too w/out the solubles.

I pay 23$ bag on the coco. And, yes, I like the roots too. They make good stuff.

I guess I'm indifferent on the HD/FFOF deal, but some folks may be happy cuz that's def cheap.

 

[Nomad]

It really doesn't matter, I didn't notice any difference from flushing the plants as far as the quality. Frankly I hate having to clean up the watery mess after i flush plants so I gave that up and just plucked em without flushing.

 

[Nomad]

I have to thoroughly disagree. I started out with fox farm and liked it, but it is lacking. Last time I used it, which was last year I got a horrible batch along with a lot of people I knew. A lot of us got root rot so I switched to Roots Organic. Now that is a mix! If growing in soil, i will never use anything else. It just works and is very consistent unlike Fox Farm ocean forest and the hot burning happy frog.

If you only use one component (like ocean forest) and grow your plants, you won't get good results. I used to use ocean forest during veg and when i switched to flower i used a bag of ocean forest, dusty perlite, budswell bat guano, bone meal and blood meal.. the results were not great at all. This new kind of blood and bone meal i was using made the product taste like SHIT. So i switched to the FoxFarm Trifecta: Ocean Forest, Light Warrior, Bat Guano & Earthworm Castings. The weed tastes better, grows bigger, smells better. This stuff is made for weed! I'm guessing you didn't use these 3 together.

 

[Nomad]

If you use only one component like FFOF for your grows you are going to hate it.

If you use all three FoxFarm components you won't go back to anything else!

Trust me I've been growing for years and years, I'm lazy, I hate mixing different shit and measuring etc. Buying 3 bags for a grow is just so simple, and it creates excellent product and all you need is water. simple as that. Just don't overwater, if you think you will add some more lightwarrior.

 

[Nomad]

If you're concerned about nutes all 3 give the plant enough nutes to last throughout the flowering stage, the girls will let you know when they are ready to die.

If you want you can add the old BOG method using Foxfarm's Big Bloom liquid nutes the very first day of flowering, which is what he recommends.