epsoma bio tone and other products

[mostnonymouse]

I'm doing my first (mostly) organic outdoor grow this year and I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. I finally decided on Espoma because I won't have to purchase and mix a bunch of guanos and seaweeds and other amendments, It's VERY easy to get a hold of, it's cheap, and I haven't heard one person on the forums or elsewhere speak negatively about it yet. (still most people seem to prefer to empty their wallets to the colorful hydro-store nutes. Nothing wrong with that but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with Espoma either!)

I'm going with Roots organic soil, extra perlite, and some dolomite lime topped with EWC. I'm mixing 1.5-2 cups of Biotone starter plus into each 10 gallon pot because roots already has quite a few nutrients in it off the shelf and I just want to be careful. Transplants will receive some endo mycorrhizae on the roots. After that I'll either continue feeding with biotone or switch to plant tone for veg, and then flower-tone for flowering. I'll probably add their kelp into the mix as well. Bi-weekly compost teas, weekly waterings with molasses, and that's about it. We'll see how it goes. If anyone sees any shortcomings in my plan feel free to point them out.

 

[foescan]

Pelletized lime is better. It's just more expensive.

But for sure it disperses more evenly with less mixing.

I find it to be a poor choice. You're wasting money on clay pellets with a thin coating of lime. Why add that to a soil mix? Container space is valuable when growing indoors in a small space. I'd rather choose my own clay source rich in humus and trace minerals over clay pellets of questionable value.

I have to disagree that it's easier to incorporate as well. What could be simpler to mix in than finely pulverized dolomite lime? I add it along with all my other amendments, many of which are granulated or powdered as well. Being a powder it's easy to measure, and for those following specific soil recipes, it will remove some guesswork. I use a modified cement mixer for big batches, and roll a trash can for small ones. Pulverized lime suspends in water too if you get one of the finer mesh grades, readily available.

When mixing small test batches of soil to find the perfect ratios of ingredients, I like being able to accurately measure my amendments. And I also don't want pockets of lime interspersed in the mix, I'd rather have it uniformly spread through the mix.

With powdered lime widely available, the only reason to buy pelletized lime is if you're using a broadcast spreader outdoors.

 

[ijimunot]

Espoma products

Espoma products

Espoma Bio Tone works very well. The price is right and you can buy it at most large national chains that sell garden supply's.
I start with the recommended amounts and then play with doses.
I mix 50 gallons of mix when I put my current grow in flower then let it cook until my next run. You have to mix regularly or else the mix will get hot on the bottom. That's when you know you have a good bio mass living and working.

 

[jcj77d]

must just be in my area, lowes, HD, ace, etc, & even the stores listed on their site dont have any of their products around, except online, which is a bummer, b/c ive been looking for bio-tone, & others too.

 

[feral]

products are great. I use the lime and plan on using the bio-tone with myco this season as well. They have also started making potting mixes that also have myco in it which should be great to use instead of the costly 'alternatives' that everybody seems to use. I'm using Farfards mix at the moment which is great but if the Espoma mix is in the area I def. want to try it.

 

[Biatchzxz]

Frigging sux ah sorry dude. Well they have some by Home Depot in my area only a few epsoma at home depot but at AcE hardware they have the whole line. But guess what since the only one I really wanted to get which was the Kelp Meal they don't happen to have it. I mean give me a break you literally have every single epsoma product on your shelves with overload and Not ONE F'n Kelp meal. Just my luck though. That's how it works I guess. Well "Murphy" I guess your 100%. "Whatever can go wrong , will go wrong". Shit happens.

 

[ijimunot]

must just be in my area, lowes, HD, ace, etc, & even the stores listed on their site dont have any of their products around, except online, which is a bummer, b/c ive been looking for bio-tone, & others too.

Lowes, Walmart and my local farmers co op carry's it also. Nutrients are regulated by individual states. That may be your problem.

 

[Marcellas]

Hey guys, I've decided to use Espoma's products for my outdoor guerilla grow this year. I dig holes, and put my plants right in the ground with light potting soil..

I'm almost positive on getting the Biotone (4-3-3), but I'm stuck between that and the PlantTone (5-3-3), because it says on the website PlantTone has Biotone in it anyways?? Any advice, guys?
And if I go with Biotone, should I get the regular, or the Biotone Plus?
...... I will most likely go with Biotone, and maybe one other Espoma ammendment..

For my other ammendment, should I get the Plant Tone (5-3-3) I mentioned before, Garden Manure (4-2-2), Compost Starter (no NPK), Dried Blood (12-0-0), or EarthWormCastings??

Or maybe I should scrap the Biotone idea since it's in the PlantTone anyways, and get the PlantTone, and maybe Garden Manure? Dried Blood is probably bad because it will get dug up by an animal outside. So many decisions..

Help me!!

 

[greenman04]

Not to complicate this issuie for you, but , Garden tone also has bio-tone in at as well. I would like to know as well , which work best or is it a matter of preference .

 

[Scrappy4]

I have used both bio tone and plant tone, and i have a friend that uses garden tone. To me there was no detectable difference. I would not get hung up on the bio tone just for the extra mico's, I doubt there is enough to make much of a diference. Both work well, and I seem to remember plant tone is the cheaper of the two. If you do decide to use the tones, remember your supposed to top dress once a month or something like that (it's on the label). And if you go by the recommended rate of one cup tone to 25 cups soil, it is a hot mix. I get some twisted leaves untill the plants get used to it a bit, and my mixes stay under the recommended rates.

All in all, the tones work well, and it is nice not to have to add so many seperate things for a mix. Plus, I'm almost out of the meals, bone/blood/kelp. I'll probably buy more kelp meal for teas though.

My next mix has bio tone as half the nutrient ingredients, the other half is neem cake, crab meal, mex bat guano, with soft rock phosphates, azamite, dolomite lime, and small amount of fermented bakashi. My thinking for adding extra stuff was I wanted some things the tone did not have and since i have a high % of homemade oak leaf compost (even though it looks and feels great) I wanted the extra N for more fuel to further break down the compost. Plus this mix will sit untill sept. so it has plenty of time to break down. I'll keep it damp with left over teas......scrappy

 

[mad librettist]

epsoma bio tone and other products

actually, garden tone now has all the same microbes as biotone plus.

 

[Marcellas]

I was interested in the Plant Tone over Garden Tone because it has a higher Nitrogen value, to keep my girls happy outside throughout veg.

 

[Marcellas]

But I've heard from others that PlantTone has blood/bone meal in it, which will definately get DUG UP OUTDOORS.. So I guess I'll stick with the Biotone, possibly with some GardenManure or CompostStarter to add with it, to the soil

 

[mad librettist]

biotone has bone meal

 

[Marcellas]

Well I've decided to use the Biotone Starter Plus to mix into my light potting soil, for when I plant my girls in the ground outside!! Should I use GardenTone, TomatoTone, Compost, Manure, or PlantTone in addition?

Most likely Biotone and GardenTone for my mix

 

[Marcellas]

Or should I just pick 1 tone for my soil mix instead of Biotone, since the others have Biotone in it?

 

[mad librettist]

biotone and garden tone are pretty much the same thing.

get compost.

 

[Marcellas]

So I stuck with JUST the BioTone Starter Plus (4-3-3) to add to my potting soil before I put my plants outside this weekend!! I didn't want to overdo it and add PlantTone or GardenTone, they both have Biotone anyways and run the risk of my plants getting dug up.. I wish I had time to let it "cook" though!!

...And I was really close to buying the Espoma Garden Manure to add also!! I'll be fine with just the Biotone, maybe some EWC tea or other tea's later on, right?? I also have FoxFarm's Grow Big, Big Bloom, and Tiger Bloom. What do you guys think??

 

[3rdEye]

I've been using a custom made blend of the Garden Tone 3-4-4 alongside a little bit of 10-2-1 mexican guano, some of the Espoma Garden Lime, agricultural lime,greensand, soft rock phosphate, and kelp for this last round. For my base i use a local organic potting, some perlite -soon to be replaced/superseded by crushed lava rock or pumice, very well composted sweet smelling cow manure, and earth worm castings So far all the plants look spectacular. I'll be adding comfrey and dandelion as mulch and FPE's and a few other odds and ends.

Marcellas i think you should be just fine with what you have proposed. I don't think i'll have to add all this stuff once i start recycling my soil. FF Grow big is not organic and i don't think Tiger bloom is either. I'd check to see if any of their products contain EDTA. EDTA is a microbe killer. Bad for soil.

 

[ijim]

Espoma products can be found almost anywhere. And are priced sensably. They are simple and they work. Just make sure you mix your soil about three weeks before you need it. Keep it moist with water and a little black strap molasses to feed all of them little critters. Then the organic ingredients are broken down and immediately available to your plants.