What's new
  • 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"!

3 Way SbS, Amazon Bloom, Black Gold, and Ocean Forest Soils

S

SooperSmurph

Fafard FOF 30 has been officially culled from the trial, its results were instantly negative and plants did not show any signs of recovery over time.

Among the first group, in terms of size, the Ocean Forest example is still slightly ahead, with the Black Gold in 2nd place and the Amazon in 3rd. All are equally healthy and green, however.

The staggering has been completed, with plants of relatively equal size and health among each variety, comparisons using size in this generation will have to be done using corresponding timeframe images, ie, pics of week 1 group 1 against week 1 group 2, rather than current images of both.

I'll start snapping a lot more images of individual generations from this point on so we have more complete data for comparison.
 
S

Seal-Clubber

I liked blackgold and amazon. I believe both need more perlite.
 
S

SooperSmurph

The first group has been repotted into 10g containers :)

Ocean Forest is still in first, while Amazon Bloom remains the healthy second, and Black Gold relatively equivalent in size with the Amazon example but displaying yellowing which is not present in either of the other examples.

Data compilation for the remaining 2 plants in each set is daunting, but goes on.
 
smoooth

smoooth

Active member
3 Way SbS, Amazon Bloom, Black Gold, and Ocean Forest Soils

Interesting....
I will be keeping an eye on this
 
S

Seal-Clubber

SooperSmurph said:
I like having between 1/4 and 1/3 of the total mix as perlite, depending on what other amendments are being added.
Click to expand...


I`ve tried them without perlite.. they compact into a mud-rock but still makes fat-bats.. I was worried the perlite would act like chalk on the organic compost of the HQ soils. 1/4, 1/3 is good? thanks :)
 
S

SooperSmurph

Seal-Clubber said:
I`ve tried them without perlite.. they compact into a mud-rock but still makes fat-bats.. I was worried the perlite would act like chalk on the organic compost of the HQ soils. 1/4, 1/3 is good? thanks :)
Click to expand...
Just can't argue with Ph neutral aeration and drainage, while i've known people who have sworn by lava rocks, hydroton, those polystyrene cubes, etc as an aerator, I find myself liking perlite more and more as the years go on.
 
S

SooperSmurph

The trial continues, although slower than originally hoped, here are a few progress shots.

These help show the difference in development speed between the different soil types. The Ocean Forest and Amazon Bloom examples are both maturing faster and have more nodes than their counterparts in the Black Gold.
 
S

SooperSmurph

Here are the examples after transplant, again, clearly showing the difference in maturity, with the Ocean Forest examples growing the fastest, and the Black Gold examples the slowest.
 
the gnome

the gnome

Active member
Veteran
nice to see this side x side being done SS

ive been using OF for 3 yrs since my 1st grow, cut it 3 or 4 to 1 w/perite
and it rocks! that last few months Ive tarted adding 25% promix bx to it.
undecided if its worth it at this point but I think theres benefit in using it.
 
S

SooperSmurph

the gnome said:
nice to see this side x side being done SS

ive been using OF for 3 yrs since my 1st grow, cut it 3 or 4 to 1 w/perite
and it rocks! that last few months Ive tarted adding 25% promix bx to it.
undecided if its worth it at this point but I think theres benefit in using it.
Click to expand...
I've thought about the promix bx but in the end decided that granular mykos alone probably provide the same benefit as mixing in mykologically active soil.

You feel even the Ocean Forest needs more Perlite? Personally I had thought of adding vermiculite, if anything.
 
smoooth

smoooth

Active member
3 Way SbS, Amazon Bloom, Black Gold, and Ocean Forest Soils

Looking good. Interesting that black gold is the slowest....
 
S

SooperSmurph

smoooth said:
Looking good. Interesting that black gold is the slowest....
Click to expand...
Not sure what exactly could be the cause of this, except perhaps that Black Gold carries the lowest nutrient level of the three soils.
 
smoooth

smoooth

Active member
3 Way SbS, Amazon Bloom, Black Gold, and Ocean Forest Soils

Well it's been almost 10 years since I used it so I'm guessing it's changed a little bit but I remember it being similar to ffof. Always seemed like it was a dark rich soil similar to the OF.....
 
S

SooperSmurph

smoooth said:
Well it's been almost 10 years since I used it so I'm guessing it's changed a little bit but I remember it being similar to ffof. Always seemed like it was a dark rich soil similar to the OF.....
Click to expand...
The current mix for Black Gold is very simplistic, out of curiousity, could you be referring to Black Jack soil? I've used Black Jack in the remote past, can't find it anymore though, and it had a similar composition to Ocean Forest.

Both Ocean Forest and Amazon Bloom include a variety of organic fertilizer sources, while Black Gold only uses earthworm castings, at least in today's formula.
 
smoooth

smoooth

Active member
3 Way SbS, Amazon Bloom, Black Gold, and Ocean Forest Soils

Now that you mention it, i think black gold made another soil that was for exotic plants or something and I think that might have been what I used. I'm gonna check it out online
 
the gnome

the gnome

Active member
Veteran
SooperSmurph said:
I've thought about the promix bx but in the end decided that granular mykos alone probably provide the same benefit as mixing in mykologically active soil.

You feel even the Ocean Forest needs more Perlite? Personally I had thought of adding vermiculite, if anything.
Click to expand...

straight OF just seems to heavy to me.
when I repot from 16oz cup to 1 gallon bags or going from 1gal to 3 gallon bags I see very aggressive growth with roots popping out the drain holes in 2-3 days.
I prefer a more airy soil
 
S

SooperSmurph

the gnome said:
straight OF just seems to heavy to me.
when I repot from 16oz cup to 1 gallon bags or going from 1gal to 3 gallon bags I see very aggressive growth with roots popping out the drain holes in 2-3 days.
I prefer a more airy soil
Click to expand...
How is it physically possible for bottom end roots after 3 days transition from 16oz to 1g? Just talking about seeing taproots reaching? I usually don't transplant without serious root mass, because it greatly lowers the chance of the soil breaking apart and seriously damaging my plant's root structure. A lighter substrate will generally give roots less to stand in their way, but also less to nourish and sustain them, when using your amended ocean forest, how long are you comfortable giving them only water?
 
S

SooperSmurph

Some selective topping has evened out our candidates, and now we're just over a week from flowering them, i'll add current pics to this post later tonight after the wife and I figure out dinner.
 
silverhazefiend

silverhazefiend

"Aint no love in the heart of the city"
Veteran
+1 for fox farm being to Heavy ..Idk if they changed the formula but a few yrs ago it was pretty light and airy ..still heavy tho ..after my last run ..I practically had mud leftover ..I like my soil airy so 30% perlite is a must for me ..maybe 40% depending on how big the plant might get and how many waterings it's gonna get ..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top