GreenShadows
Member
I've also had FFOF be too hot for some plants. Depended on the strain.
-
Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
-
Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!
HOT FFOF
- Thread starter Hammerhead
- Start date
Ive had problems with FFOF
it almost killed my plants.....I had enough time so I nursed them back to health. PH was a big problem too while using the same bag that burned my plants.
The experience was so bad that I will never use FFOF. Ive used Happy frog with excellent results but something was really wrong with FFOF. Im not sure if it was sitting there for a long time or if the dirt just sucked that bad. Paranoia set in and I even thought something was done to the dirt in order to kill plants (by hydro store where I bought the dirt)
I hear people need to rinse the soil before the first use but I dont see why that would be necessary for any store bought soil.
it almost killed my plants.....I had enough time so I nursed them back to health. PH was a big problem too while using the same bag that burned my plants.
The experience was so bad that I will never use FFOF. Ive used Happy frog with excellent results but something was really wrong with FFOF. Im not sure if it was sitting there for a long time or if the dirt just sucked that bad. Paranoia set in and I even thought something was done to the dirt in order to kill plants (by hydro store where I bought the dirt)
I hear people need to rinse the soil before the first use but I dont see why that would be necessary for any store bought soil.
I've always been under the impression that FFOF was a really hot mix. Everyone I know who use it either cut it with happy frog/planting mix or they start in a weaker mix and then move to ocean when they pot up..
Some cats say they put freshly rooted cuts into ocean, but the few times I've done that they've done poorly/fried em'
That is pretty paranoid man... sabotaged hydro shop dirt. lol. They probably brush mites onto their customers too..
Some cats say they put freshly rooted cuts into ocean, but the few times I've done that they've done poorly/fried em'
That is pretty paranoid man... sabotaged hydro shop dirt. lol. They probably brush mites onto their customers too..
Ya I do that. I use HF.. Unfortunately I ran out and only had 1 bag of OF.. I used it not thinking it would screw me up like that.. We learn by our mistakes. I still love the stuff it just needs to be cut down before its used or it needs to be semi flushed before you use it..
I'm not sure if it was a recipe in a high times or on here but I know a few folks that run a mix of foxfarm soil with good results..
something like 1 bag of ocean, 1 bag of happy, 1 bag of planting mix.. 8 qt perlite and 1 cup of fruit and flower formula (now happy frog.was piece of mind).
Might have been more to it....
something like 1 bag of ocean, 1 bag of happy, 1 bag of planting mix.. 8 qt perlite and 1 cup of fruit and flower formula (now happy frog.was piece of mind).
Might have been more to it....
I use 1 bag of FFOF and 2 bags of FFHF. Give it a good mix and use it.. after the first 3-4 weeks of veg I start using PBP Bloom.....Weeks 3-5 of flower I give a PK boost
rmccinc719
Member
Iv'e ben using ffof for years and dont seen to have very many problems. alot of people say it's a really hot soil but i guess i just dont see it. i cut my ffof with some mediun silica rock at about 2 qts per bag of soil and i use nothing but ph water with a little sm-90 for the first 4 weeks of veg no nutes at all. only once i flip inmto flower do i start using nutes and i alway's start out my transition with just a light feeding around 400 ppm. I put my fresh clones straight into ffof no issuses ever. ben doing it this way for several years now with great result's
my last run
my last run
I layer mine with napa 8820 small size d.e
2-3 in. d.e on the bottom then big layers of ocean forest alternating with smaller layers of d.e
kitty litter pans to hold runoff
this mix can let me water every week to week and a half in veg
I give em ph'd water the first time then nutes almost every water
rmcc those plants look perfect! maybe i should back off the nutes
2-3 in. d.e on the bottom then big layers of ocean forest alternating with smaller layers of d.e
kitty litter pans to hold runoff
this mix can let me water every week to week and a half in veg
I give em ph'd water the first time then nutes almost every water
rmcc those plants look perfect! maybe i should back off the nutes
I've used ocean Forrest since I began growing when soil is used. But about a year ago I had some girls that thought it was too hot. My guy at the hydro store said that happy frog was ocean Forrest without the nutes. So since then I have been doing 50/50 mix of those two and then once that is mixed I match that volume with a brick of coir and throw some perlite in there. No issues since.
couchlockd
Active member
the guy at the hydro store told you the happy frog was the same as ocean forrest with out the nutes. you mean there is no guano, ewc, compost, etc in happy frog? well i can tell ya there is the happy frog is a more economic alternative to ocean forrest.
jsut read the bag. most hydro store guys are morons. how can i know more about the new products they sell than they do?
same with gun store guys, plain old dumb asses.
i use ffof for years, mix in 10-15% EWC, some mineral mix (cc's mix) and no extra perlite what so ever. no need to stretch the mix for nothing. my mix drains well. then maybe at half way point in flower, i give them a teaspoon per pot of POM or HF fruit and flower.
sometimes in the third week i give them a shot of big blooms, no were near the bottle rec. just a table spoon or two per gallon.
great results. though you should mix the ocean forrest up a good bit. i never had not mixed it up before using it. never, i read too many threads a few years ago about guys who didnt mix it up had bad plant problems, some were getting fried while others were getting starved. the growers would treat the entire crop from that bag of FFOF as one nute def, or over fert and no consider the plants starving got the shit end of the stick and the plants burning got the fuel end of the stick.
mix it up good, mix her up real good.
jsut read the bag. most hydro store guys are morons. how can i know more about the new products they sell than they do?
same with gun store guys, plain old dumb asses.
i use ffof for years, mix in 10-15% EWC, some mineral mix (cc's mix) and no extra perlite what so ever. no need to stretch the mix for nothing. my mix drains well. then maybe at half way point in flower, i give them a teaspoon per pot of POM or HF fruit and flower.
sometimes in the third week i give them a shot of big blooms, no were near the bottle rec. just a table spoon or two per gallon.
great results. though you should mix the ocean forrest up a good bit. i never had not mixed it up before using it. never, i read too many threads a few years ago about guys who didnt mix it up had bad plant problems, some were getting fried while others were getting starved. the growers would treat the entire crop from that bag of FFOF as one nute def, or over fert and no consider the plants starving got the shit end of the stick and the plants burning got the fuel end of the stick.
mix it up good, mix her up real good.
I'd say that if it has enough nutrition to last you a month of veg without anything else its pretty hot compared to most other soils.
couchlockd,
I believe what the hydro shop dude was saying is that happy doesnt have near the nutrition as the ocean. ..and he is right.
Ocean has fish meal, shrimp meal, crab meal, & norweigan kelp meal... happy frog does not.
couchlockd
Active member
yes but the guano is what "burns" and the happy frog has it in there also
I guess I've jus been lucky, because I've used a fuck TON of it over the years, and I've rooted literaly thousands of clones in it. I don't remember one time them ever being burnt? as in crispy leaf edges, or super dark green leaves and a stunted plant? no signs of any of that...
Hey, knock on wood, huh!?!
BC
Hey, knock on wood, huh!?!
BC
I guess I've jus been lucky, because I've used a fuck TON of it over the years, and I've rooted literaly thousands of clones in it. I don't remember one time them ever being burnt? as in crispy leaf edges, or super dark green leaves and a stunted plant? no signs of any of that...
Hey, knock on wood, huh!?!
Ive been using it for 2rys now, never a prob even with seedlings and they go onto straight into OF w/perlite
I'm sure a bag rolls off the line hot enuff that burns seedlings every now and then..
it happens I'm sure
but nearly all probs related to hot OF is due to other things imo.
and strain also plays a part but haven't run across one yet that can't handle OF
I dont agree with that my issues was 100% caused from a bag of FFOF no question.. With all these other complaints there's more to it then blaming it on the grower or something else.. Most of us are not newbie growers... Like I said before If I would have used my normal mix I never had a problem in the past with FFOF.. Im not going to stop using it. I will just take some precautions if I ever use a single bag of FFOF again...
I dont think its just one or 2 bags. I think they have batches that get fuked up and dont even know.. Another thing it could be is settling. If the bags sit for a long time some of the Organics could break down and settle in the bottom. Taking the bag and doing a really good mix would probably fix the issues as well. All of the people that have never had any issues I dont see them using straight FFOF. They mix in something even perlite will cut the soil and make the problem less noticeable.
I have used it straight but felt it was too heavy so I add perite and lime, never a prob.
thats it unless i want to do organic.
and when i do organic I'm making it even hotter amending with blood, bone and kelp meals and have never had probs with it that way either.
again, not disputing you got a hot load
but someone has to get the end/bottom of the pile batch,
unfortunately your number was pulled up.
guess i'm lucky i haven't yet had that experince
thats it unless i want to do organic.
and when i do organic I'm making it even hotter amending with blood, bone and kelp meals and have never had probs with it that way either.
again, not disputing you got a hot load
but someone has to get the end/bottom of the pile batch,
unfortunately your number was pulled up.
guess i'm lucky i haven't yet had that experince
There's just to many reported issues to think that a grower did something to cause the problems we see. If you mix it before you use it that could have prevented many from seeing the problem. By mixing I mean just turning the soil in a tote... I have used Happy Frog from the bag with no problems ever. I have to say this is the first time I have had a issues with FFOF since starting to use it about 8 years ago... I have used it in the past with seeds no problem. I use Light Warrior now for seedlings. Anyway I happy you and others have never had to deal with it. I hope to never see it again. I lost 2 GDP plants to it..
nukklehead
Active member
I have used pretty much straight FFOF for 5+ years.. occ amended with perlite etc. As Hammer and a few others I have always been able to drop MATURE clones in its mix with some perlite. I have a grow partner (we rotate grows.. by the times hes harvesting Im flowering vice versa you get the pic) He is not as anal/in tune with his as I am with mine. We buy our ffof locally and as the cycle goes, he probably gets a different "load" then I. He bought FFOF aprox 5 weeks ago for
his recent grow. As I said, he is a set it and forget it dude. Over the years there has been some variation of FFOF but nothing I havent been able to tweek in my grow.. he doesnt tweek.. As friendly competion goes I outgrow him MOST of the time. Occasionally he gets lucky and outgrows me. Every once in a while I say hey your girls are N starved and I throw some N on them just to give them a boost. ( alas he dont care ) and in flower Occ. I dump some PK on em if they look like they need it. Of course for mine I am always micro managing which sometimes is good, sometimes bad. Back to the subject... this grow of his has some of the most luscious green
plants I have ever seen him grow in veg. We put very mature clones in 5 gal. containers, veg for 10 days then flip. Hes got a severe hard on that these are the most beautifull plants he has ever grown ( I agree). Should be interesting to see how this turns out. Obviously if he has some of this hot FFOF this is the reason for the beautiful green he is seeing early on in his grow. What that will do towards the end I dont know (delay flowering etc. due to excess N)
Bottom line is this.. sounds like the consensus is that there are some hot batches of FFOF going around.
Im going to cut my next batch with HF or LW to be safe.. and.......
One mans junk is another mans treasure ( that SOB friend of mine.. if it turns out well for him.
BTW FWIW clones are SS BBG, AK 47, and FMS GF
Nice info/posting of all
his recent grow. As I said, he is a set it and forget it dude. Over the years there has been some variation of FFOF but nothing I havent been able to tweek in my grow.. he doesnt tweek.. As friendly competion goes I outgrow him MOST of the time. Occasionally he gets lucky and outgrows me. Every once in a while I say hey your girls are N starved and I throw some N on them just to give them a boost. ( alas he dont care ) and in flower Occ. I dump some PK on em if they look like they need it. Of course for mine I am always micro managing which sometimes is good, sometimes bad. Back to the subject... this grow of his has some of the most luscious green
plants I have ever seen him grow in veg. We put very mature clones in 5 gal. containers, veg for 10 days then flip. Hes got a severe hard on that these are the most beautifull plants he has ever grown ( I agree). Should be interesting to see how this turns out. Obviously if he has some of this hot FFOF this is the reason for the beautiful green he is seeing early on in his grow. What that will do towards the end I dont know (delay flowering etc. due to excess N)
Bottom line is this.. sounds like the consensus is that there are some hot batches of FFOF going around.
Im going to cut my next batch with HF or LW to be safe.. and.......
One mans junk is another mans treasure ( that SOB friend of mine.. if it turns out well for him.
BTW FWIW clones are SS BBG, AK 47, and FMS GF
Nice info/posting of all
