Organics for noobs

Ok so...forgive me as I may sound like a total noob but I learned the hard way with hydro so I figure no question is ever thst bad. I've grown in coco for the past few years and been using general hydroponics nutes. Just the basics...bloom and micro. Very few additives if any. I can grow some killer bud but I feel like the taste from coco just isn't there. I want to learn how to grow organically in the worst way but in the way hydro was for me, everything seems so overwhelming. I see some media recipes that are as simple as worm castings...then I see some that are 6 pages long. What would be a good mix to start with? And do any of you know of any good threads I should read? I want some good tasting shit. It's no longer about yield for me. I have a bunch of og #18's, koshers, super lemon haze, and gsc's sitting here waiting. I don't wanna put them in coco or bubble buckets. Help!

By far the easiest method I've found are earthboxes.

I use two Rubbermaid totes, 18gal for the bottom one as the reservoir and a 14gal for the soil, and a black 6" nursery pot as the foot (wick). I use promix for the soil medium and mix compost in the top 4 inches or so. I use water with no nutrients in the reservoir and Happy Frog 5-5-5 mixed with high P guano in the fertilizer trenches.

I think using the compost in conjunction with the fertilizer trenches gives this style an edge, both feeding the soil (compost)and feeding the plants (fertilizer trenches). I also brew compost teas once or twice a cycle.

Look up earthboxes on YouTube, bunch of good videos. But use a double tote system, 14gal inside an 18gal, it is much stronger than zip tied lids as the base.

I've had great success, with less labor and less cost, you won't be disappointed.

Good luck.

GonjaLove said:

Ok so...forgive me as I may sound like a total noob but I learned the hard way with hydro so I figure no question is ever thst bad. I've grown in coco for the past few years and been using general hydroponics nutes. Just the basics...bloom and micro. Very few additives if any. I can grow some killer bud but I feel like the taste from coco just isn't there. I want to learn how to grow organically in the worst way but in the way hydro was for me, everything seems so overwhelming. I see some media recipes that are as simple as worm castings...then I see some that are 6 pages long. What would be a good mix to start with? And do any of you know of any good threads I should read? I want some good tasting shit. It's no longer about yield for me. I have a bunch of og #18's, koshers, super lemon haze, and gsc's sitting here waiting. I don't wanna put them in coco or bubble buckets. Help!

Click to expand...

The best place to start is the organics for beginners thread in the stickies. it's a huge thread, maybe read the first couple pages for recipes and the last 20-30 to get a feel for things. Most all rookie questions have been addressed there.

Most of us use peat based mixes, and there are a ton out there. Or google "coot's mix".

For feeds, I like alfalfa meal, kelp meal and neem meal. Good neem meal (neem resource) is expensive but adds a bit of sulfur. Sulfur in small amounts can enhance taste. There are many many more organic inputs but these will get you started.

If money is an issue I recommend espoma brand tone fertilizers. It is a dry pellet fertilizer you can use in the mix, as a top dress or in teas. It is made from organic meals and works well.

You only need the very first post in the Organics for beginners thread. Select the options and follow it to the T and you're guaranteed success. Better than what you're going to expect. Deviating is experimenting, and there's a potential for failure.

While your getting that under your belt you can read and read.

That said if you feel the itch to go "crazy" only make enough mix for one pot. Don't be surprised if the plants from that very first post outperform.

We've lost count on how many times we've seen the old "what's wrong with my plant?" Only to find out that they've added this this and that, substituted this for that and so on. You've done hydro. It's like reading about someone replacing water with orange juice...yeah lol, it gets that bad.

A word of advice. DONT DEVIATE, not on your first run. A good example is people using calcitic limestone in place of dolomitic limestone.

PS. Out of everything on that first post in the Organics for beginners thread, I haven't seen anything there out perform that guano nutrient tea recipe.

It's a lot of work, but damn if does not deliver the goods. It's changed, I remember liquid karma being in it.

Lose the GH nutes and get some botanicare PBP and plant those in the coco. The difference in taste will be profound.

Or hit up the organics for beginners thread.

Basic mix:

1 part potting mix (promix, happy frog, ocean forest, roots, etc)
1 part earth worm castings
1 part perilte

Then use the Botanicare to feed when the plants look like they are hungry. Or start to experiment with compost teas as feed. A five gallon bucket and an air pump is all you need. Earthworm castings are a good start for teas.

Good luck!

GonjaLove it might seem a bit imposing at first, but there are several threads worth reading on the topic. Some basic mixes are easy to make.

In a pinch you could just use the first part of the following recipe. 1:1:1, but you might want a larger container to allow your plants to feed freely.

Here is one more straightforward recipe from a very good organic grower:

"Equal parts of Sphagnum peat moss, some aeration deal (pumice, rice hulls, lava rock - whatever is sitting in the garage) and finally some mix of humus - my compost, worm castings some black leaf mold I bought from the local 'worm guy'

To each 1 c.f. of this mix I add the following:

1/2 cup organic Neem meal
1/2 cup organic Kelp meal
1/2 cup Crab meal (or Crustacean meal when available - it has Shrimp meal with the Crab meal. It's a local product from the fisheries on the Oregon & Washington Coasts)

4 cups of some minerals - rock dust

After the plant is in the final container I top-dress with my worm castings at 2" or so and then I hit it with Aloe vera juice and Comfrey extract. Or Borage. Or Stinging Nettle. Or Horsetail ferns. Whatever is ready.

That's it.

To recycle I've just been letting the root ball breakdown and I remove it. I dump the potting soil into an extra large SmartPot container (50 gallons) and add some new potting soil mix as above. I water it down with Kelp meal and Comfrey tea and let it sit until I need it.

Ain't rocket science......

CC
ClackamasCootz"

Here are some threads of interest as well:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=241964

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=268468


May your efforts and intent reward your endeavors.

I used to rock earthboxes when they first came out...theres several soil recipes and nutes like from buildasoil cc mix...yeehaw..you can also use espoma stuff ,Kellogg stuff and earth juice rainbow dry mix usually all at home depot now too ..well the last one I went to had em all here in california..

TheyCallMeJJay said:

You only need the very first post in the Organics for beginners thread. Select the options and follow it to the T and you're guaranteed success. Better than what you're going to expect. Deviating is experimenting, and there's a potential for failure.

While your getting that under your belt you can read and read.

That said if you feel the itch to go "crazy" only make enough mix for one pot. Don't be surprised if the plants from that very first post outperform.

We've lost count on how many times we've seen the old "what's wrong with my plant?" Only to find out that they've added this this and that, substituted this for that and so on. You've done hydro. It's like reading about someone replacing water with orange juice...yeah lol, it gets that bad.

A word of advice. DONT DEVIATE, not on your first run. A good example is people using calcitic limestone in place of dolomitic limestone.

Click to expand...

I learned my lessons with coco about keeping it simple. Fried a whole crop basically my first go. Wasn't feeding enough. Then I went crazy and fed all kinda shit. Made things worse. So yea I've Learned simple is usually the best. Thanks for all your info guys. Been reading like crazy. Will I get the yields from organics that I get from coco? I'm guessing not quite. But if the quality is there then I don't mind a little loss. My environment is dialed. That I know for sure. I was pulling around 1.5g per watt in coco. Obviously not with any og's but around 1g per watt with the og's. I watched a few youtube vids on making soil which probably helped me understand it the most. First run I'll prolly just do a few plants in soil and the rest in coco just to get the swing of it. Just found a little sample pack of Florida lemons...only 2 beans...but the stuff looks amazing. I'll prolly run those 2 in soil and the rest I think I'll go with coco and give botanicare pure blend pro a shot. When I get started I'll make sure to post a link in here to my journey. Right now I'm thinking about hiring an electrician as I've also stepped up the wattage game. Was running 2 600's. Just bought 4 solis tek 1000 watters. Pretty big jump. Very excited for this new journey. Thanks again for all the responses!

pure blend is a good fert for starters ,but remember it aint all organic if you care about that...one of the better reasonably priced ferts out there with an organic tastin quality end product..yeehaw

My soil is organic I gleaned the recipe from some dear folks that I know from other forums, that roam here as well, and tweaked it a bit to my own liking.... I use premier peat the stuff from HD for 10 bucks a bale, I break off a half a bale into a 30 gal bin and dump 4 gal of water on it close the lid and come back a day or 2 later....

then I mix up the pure peat so the moistur is uniform before i start adding amendments

I start by adding a 2 gal smart pot full of earth worm castings, then i add a couple yogurt cups of Calcium carbonate (crushed oyster shell) I mix it in real good, and before I add the perlite so I know it gets mixed good, actually save the perlite for last, for the same reason...

then I add some glacier rock dust (1 yogurt cup), crab meal (1 yogurt cup), maybe a couple tablespoons of d-lime and rock phosphate,maybe some soluble humic... mix that up real good ..... if I'm not tired as hell from all that I'l add the perlite, if not I'll let it sit for a while... I wear a dust mask for all of this too....

when its all mixed I try to let it sit for a while.. I try for 2 weeks.. though i have waited a few days, and been fine with that too...

Sometimes If i'm running low and need to transplant I'll recycle some soil from an old pot.. thos plants have been kicking much ass so I'm planning to add recycled soil to the normal soil rotation....

After that I use raw salts for nutes... and I do a bunch of other stuff that would prolly make an organics guy cringe... but the weed is damn good... Hope this helps