Can organics be as simple as ...

t33to · Jan 11, 2012

Just adding in some kind of organic fertilizer to soil and water the plant accordingly?

If so would it be possible for me to mix up some sunshine mix #4, penlite and mushroom fertilizer? And would I be able to reuse the soil just by adding more mushroom fertilizer next time I need to use the soil?

grapeman · Jan 11, 2012

t33to said:
Just adding in some kind of organic fertilizer to soil and water the plant accordingly?

If so would it be possible for me to mix up some sunshine mix #4, penlite and mushroom fertilizer? And would I be able to reuse the soil just by adding more mushroom fertilizer next time I need to use the soil?

If you add some earthworm castings and some dolomite lime to balance the PH of the peat based Sunshine mix, you should be able to grow whatever you want. Your plants may lack a bit of food with just a mushroom fertilizer but your eyes will tell you.

t33to · Jan 11, 2012

grapeman said:
If you add some earthworm castings and some dolomite lime to balance the PH of the peat based Sunshine mix, you should be able to grow whatever you want. Your plants may lack a bit of food with just a mushroom fertilizer but your eyes will tell you.

Wow that sounds fantastic. Why would I bother purchasing expensive liquid organic fertilizer that I would be adding to my water all the time?

Would I also have to add in more worm castings on the next grow?

somniferum420 · Jan 11, 2012

its as simple as a carbon molecule.

indianajones · Jan 11, 2012

mushroom compost from manure based substrates usually has a high pH, so be sure to check it instead of just adding lime. lowes and home depot sell espoma brand ferts for very inexpensive, and the bio tone starter works just fine at a rate of 1 cup per 5g bucket.

VerdantGreen · Jan 11, 2012

it can be that simple - as long as you make sure you have the right ingredients in your soil in the first place to give the plant the nutrition it needs. its worth spending a little extra time on this preparation - you only have to do it once per grow.

mushroom compost (if thats what you are talking about) will not feed your plants a great deal, but it can be a good addition to your mix.

the other thing you should do with a 'water only' mix is watch your plants and have something handy to feed them with if they start to look hungry. EWC can easily be top-dressed for example.

VG

t33to · Jan 11, 2012

VerdantGreen said:
it can be that simple - as long as you make sure you have the right ingredients in your soil in the first place to give the plant the nutrition it needs. its worth spending a little extra time on this preparation - you only have to do it once per grow.

mushroom compost (if thats what you are talking about) will not feed your plants a great deal, but it can be a good addition to your mix.

the other thing you should do with a 'water only' mix is watch your plants and have something handy to feed them with if they start to look hungry. EWC can easily be top-dressed for example.

VG

Christ. I feel like such a tard for doing petro-chemical fertilizers for so long. This seems so god damn obvious now.

As for EWC being top dressed. I presume that top dressed means to just mix with water and water on top of the soil layer?

t33to · Jan 11, 2012

grapeman said:
If you add some earthworm castings and some dolomite lime to balance the PH of the peat based Sunshine mix, you should be able to grow whatever you want. Your plants may lack a bit of food with just a mushroom fertilizer but your eyes will tell you.

Are you saying that the PH of Sunshine mix isn't 7.0 :O

t33to · Jan 11, 2012

indianajones said:
mushroom compost from manure based substrates usually has a high pH, so be sure to check it instead of just adding lime. lowes and home depot sell espoma brand ferts for very inexpensive, and the bio tone starter works just fine at a rate of 1 cup per 5g bucket.

Is Espoma organic? Will it cause salt build ups?

The only reason I'm doing organic is so that I don't have to throw my soil out every time.

Nader · Jan 11, 2012

Get some insect frass (the ONFrass.com brand was the only kind I was able to source) as it's hands-down one of the simplest and most effective single-ingredient things you can add to your soil. I've been talking about this stuff nonstop lately because i've been so impressed by it as of late.

Use worm castings in the transplanting hole and the insect frass mixed throughout the soil (1 cup per gallon) and you will see wonderful things! To take it a step further, incorporate benefical bacteria (I use Humbolt Nutrients Mayan Microzyme... great stuff, worth every penny, the only HN product I use) and mycorrhizal fungi (I use great white, but it's severely overpriced. Mykos from xtreme gardening works very well, and costs a hell of a lot less)

Oh yeah, throw in some rock dust for good measure.

P.S., You'll grow organically for more reasons than that once you smoke the finished product.

t33to · Jan 11, 2012

Nader said:
Get some insect frass (the ONFrass.com brand was the only kind I was able to source) as it's hands-down one of the simplest and most effective single-ingredient things you can add to your soil. I've been talking about this stuff nonstop lately because i've been so impressed by it as of late.

Use worm castings in the transplanting hole and the insect frass mixed throughout the soil (1 cup per gallon) and you will see wonderful things! To take it a step further, incorporate benefical bacteria (I use Humbolt Nutrients Mayan Microzyme... great stuff, worth every penny, the only HN product I use) and mycorrhizal fungi (I use great white, but it's severely overpriced. Mykos from xtreme gardening works very well, and costs a hell of a lot less)

Oh yeah, throw in some rock dust for good measure.

P.S., You'll grow organically for more reasons than that once you smoke the finished product.

Wow thanks for the tips man!

Montana · Jan 11, 2012

It doesn't take much......you can recycle your dirt but even with organics you still need to be aware of disease build up and add some new stuff each time.......like new compost or ewc or whatever.........ideal situation have a hot compost pile where your used dirt goes.......and another compost pile of mature ready-to-use compost.......out with the old....and in with the new.........it is possible to grow in just compost if you know how to build a nutritionally balanced pile..........

pinecone · Jan 11, 2012

t33to said:
As for EWC being top dressed. I presume that top dressed means to just mix with water and water on top of the soil layer?

Just sprinkle it on top of the soil - or better yet - sprinkle it on top of your mulch.

t33to said:
Is Espoma organic? Will it cause salt build ups?

The Epsoma stuff is organic. No worries about salt built up in an organic grow. Some of us have been running containers without drainage holes for a long time without any issues.

The only reason I'm doing organic is so that I don't have to throw my soil out every time.

Good reason to make the switch. I've been using the same soil mix in the same container continuously for over a year.

Montana said:
It doesn't take much......you can recycle your dirt but even with organics you still need to be aware of disease build up and add some new stuff each time.......like new compost or ewc or whatever

I can be really easy. This is how I do it:
(1) Chop the old plants at the base - leaving a stump and a roots.
(2) Cut-dig holes for the new plants.
(3) Plant new plants in the holes and water.
(4) Observe over the next week. If they look needy top dress some guano and castings and apply a ACT.

I also return all plant material back to the soil. Stems and fan leafs get used as mulch immediately after harvest. The sugar leafs and popcorn buds will get used for mulch after bubble hash extraction. Check out the recycling thread in my signature for more information.

Pine

grapeman · Jan 11, 2012

t33to said:
Are you saying that the PH of Sunshine mix isn't 7.0 :O

I'm saying that you need to add dolomite lime to sunshine mix. Yep, that's what I'm saying. Been there done that.

follow the ratios at the "Organics for Beginners" thread. It's right there on the first post.

After many problems using Sunshine over many grows, they all disappeared once I started using the correct ratio of powdered dolomite lime.

supermanlives · Jan 11, 2012

i have yet to find a water only soil mix that dont need a boost.

h.h. · Jan 11, 2012

Don't let them bull shit ya. It is not easy sitting around watching the crops grow.

VerdantGreen · Jan 11, 2012

supermanlives said:
i have yet to find a water only soil mix that dont need a boost.

i think it depends on the pot-size, the genetics and how hard you drive your plants - but yes i find it hard to go all the way through with some of my hungry bigger yielders - having said that i sometimes get approaching and ounce per gallon of soil.

VG

t33to · Jan 11, 2012

Montana said:
It doesn't take much......you can recycle your dirt but even with organics you still need to be aware of disease build up and add some new stuff each time.......like new compost or ewc or whatever.........ideal situation have a hot compost pile where your used dirt goes.......and another compost pile of mature ready-to-use compost.......out with the old....and in with the new.........it is possible to grow in just compost if you know how to build a nutritionally balanced pile..........

Ok, so the hot compost pile is where I put my recently used dirt? Could this just be a big container like a food safe plastic garbage can. Does it need air? turning? is 8 weeks long enough for it to "sit" till it's good to go again.

I have no idea how to build nutritionally balanced compost. That sounds tough and I'll attempt it later.

t33to · Jan 11, 2012

grapeman said:
I'm saying that you need to add dolomite lime to sunshine mix. Yep, that's what I'm saying. Been there done that.

follow the ratios at the "Organics for Beginners" thread. It's right there on the first post.

After many problems using Sunshine over many grows, they all disappeared once I started using the correct ratio of powdered dolomite lime.

So dolomite lime is alkaline right? So the PH of SS#4 must be acidic? I'll check out that thread you mentioned, but in case I can't find the details how much dolomite lime do you add per gallon of soil and what brand/type of dolomite lime do you add? (sorry for the questions, I don't know if dolomite lime is a powder, sand, liquid etc)

t33to · Jan 11, 2012

supermanlives said:
i have yet to find a water only soil mix that dont need a boost.

What do you boost with? I was just thinking about doing a nice compost tea every week or so.

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