Tutorial Organics for Beginners
- Thread starter BurnOne
- Start date
I think that's the biggest problem with watering...common sense varies among people.
Success or failure determines a lot.
Learningfirst
Member
This is a posting that makes me laugh aloud;
Gardening is a bit tricky at times no matter what your intellect; or "common sense'.
I bought a soil meter reader today - just to Gage what my estimation with my finger is compared to what the plant actually needs. I did make some mistakes that precluded these errors - such as the most obvious * I x-planted to a hanging basket container* duh.
So - twice they've wilted & come back to life quickly with some water. Fortunately they're forgiving plants *and they're my bag-seeds which were meant to teach me what not to do*.
I bought a 90 Liter's of organic potting soil; 30 liter's of composted cow manure and some perlite today. So I've some of the mix & will get some more tomorrow. My babies which are in 4" pots will be transplanted when ready to this new organic blend. I look forward to the ease of organics. This is a fantastic way to relieve stress - not as much as relieving it by smoking one though :/.
Anyway, I sure hope I get this shit right this time. I also wonder though if going from a very basic potting soil to an organic blend will be okay. I presume that the babies will thank me by growing lusciously - hope so. Any advice is much appreciated.
Peace.
Gardening is a bit tricky at times no matter what your intellect; or "common sense'.
I bought a soil meter reader today - just to Gage what my estimation with my finger is compared to what the plant actually needs. I did make some mistakes that precluded these errors - such as the most obvious * I x-planted to a hanging basket container* duh.
So - twice they've wilted & come back to life quickly with some water. Fortunately they're forgiving plants *and they're my bag-seeds which were meant to teach me what not to do*.
I bought a 90 Liter's of organic potting soil; 30 liter's of composted cow manure and some perlite today. So I've some of the mix & will get some more tomorrow. My babies which are in 4" pots will be transplanted when ready to this new organic blend. I look forward to the ease of organics. This is a fantastic way to relieve stress - not as much as relieving it by smoking one though :/.
Anyway, I sure hope I get this shit right this time. I also wonder though if going from a very basic potting soil to an organic blend will be okay. I presume that the babies will thank me by growing lusciously - hope so. Any advice is much appreciated.
Peace.
Last edited:
V
vonforne
Watering 101
Watering 101
OK, here we go........
Watering your plants IS very important in many ways.
1. Water each and every time EVENLY. Now a good way to do this with out the water running through like we run red lights is to `Scratch`the top of the soil first. Water a little (1\2 liter or so) to moisten the soil. Wait another 15 minutes and water as normal but SLOWLY. You will notice the water passes slower through the medium and thus being more effective. I will usually water in two stages. It works for me well.
2. NEVER let the soil dry out! Not even on the surface. The reason being that the soil microbes will die or go dormant and the process of the micro organisms are broken. And not to mention root damage to the plant. The roots will develop faster if the medium is kept moist.....evenly moist. Not wet or sopping but MOIST. It is hard to say how much is too much. Everyone has a slightly different soil make up as far as materials go s using your best judgment comes into play.
How to keep the soil surface moist......... I keep a pump and spray bottle in the grow room. Each day I will mist the surface of the soil to maintain an even moistness.
IF I do not have time to do this each day, I MULCH the surface of the containers. The mulch material will dry out first leaving the soil surface and the micro organisms intact doing their duty.
And another point to remember is that if you top dress your containers and you let them dry out the the material meant for the plant just sits there and is not processed by the soil organisms. If it is not processed by the soil organisms then it will not become available to the plants in the ionic form. Yes, I know that some of the material we use are water soluble but only in a small percentage.
It takes a while to learn YOUR containers weight. Like I said before it is slightly different for us all. So, use your best judgment.
1 Scratch the surface.
2. Water lightly and wait 15 minutes.
3 OR mist the surface and scratch.
4. Water as normal but in 2 stages. If you use 1 gallon then apply half and wait and then apply the other half.
5. You should have a small amount of water run out the bottom. I use a catch pan and leave the containers sit in them for a period of time to absorb.
6. AFTER you have watered pick the container up and note the weight. Do this each time until you water next. Do it every time until you know it instantly.
HTH gang. That is the way I do it.
V
Watering 101
OK, here we go........
Watering your plants IS very important in many ways.
1. Water each and every time EVENLY. Now a good way to do this with out the water running through like we run red lights is to `Scratch`the top of the soil first. Water a little (1\2 liter or so) to moisten the soil. Wait another 15 minutes and water as normal but SLOWLY. You will notice the water passes slower through the medium and thus being more effective. I will usually water in two stages. It works for me well.
2. NEVER let the soil dry out! Not even on the surface. The reason being that the soil microbes will die or go dormant and the process of the micro organisms are broken. And not to mention root damage to the plant. The roots will develop faster if the medium is kept moist.....evenly moist. Not wet or sopping but MOIST. It is hard to say how much is too much. Everyone has a slightly different soil make up as far as materials go s using your best judgment comes into play.
How to keep the soil surface moist......... I keep a pump and spray bottle in the grow room. Each day I will mist the surface of the soil to maintain an even moistness.
IF I do not have time to do this each day, I MULCH the surface of the containers. The mulch material will dry out first leaving the soil surface and the micro organisms intact doing their duty.
And another point to remember is that if you top dress your containers and you let them dry out the the material meant for the plant just sits there and is not processed by the soil organisms. If it is not processed by the soil organisms then it will not become available to the plants in the ionic form. Yes, I know that some of the material we use are water soluble but only in a small percentage.
It takes a while to learn YOUR containers weight. Like I said before it is slightly different for us all. So, use your best judgment.
1 Scratch the surface.
2. Water lightly and wait 15 minutes.
3 OR mist the surface and scratch.
4. Water as normal but in 2 stages. If you use 1 gallon then apply half and wait and then apply the other half.
5. You should have a small amount of water run out the bottom. I use a catch pan and leave the containers sit in them for a period of time to absorb.
6. AFTER you have watered pick the container up and note the weight. Do this each time until you water next. Do it every time until you know it instantly.
HTH gang. That is the way I do it.
V
V
vonforne
Tap water.........filter it. Most municipal water supplies suck. Chlorine, calcium etc. must be filtered. It will build up in the soil and cause an imbalance. Example.....to much calcium will lock out oter nutrients and micro nutrients.
To burn of chlorine....bubble it wt a fish tank aerator. For at least 24 hours.
PH.......the humates in the soil substrate will buffer a lot of the PH. OK, example if the tap water is in the 7´s I do not adjust. Higher than that I will add Apple Cider or White Vinegar. Both are acidic and will lower the PH.
Distilled water is OK.
Spring water from a bottle? Read first where it comes from and what they have ADDED to it.
I like to collect rain water. PH is about 6.3 (perfect in my book) so if you have the chance go with that one OR filter your tap water. Take the tap water unfiltered and test the PH. If you can you can send you tap water to the local county facility and have it tested for dissolved solids etc. and it will tell you what you need to do to avoid problems. But to be safe filter it, bubble it and adjust the PH into the 6´s.
Filters.....there are many on the market. The best I had was a large canister from Home Depot. Filled with charcoal. It was in the Hardware section if I remember correctly. Not in the little house filter section. It was 99.00 then and well worth the money if you choose to go that way. If you need a smaller one shop around or read up on the Hydro guys for the latest ones being used. LOL that is about all we organic guys can learn from the Hydro Gods. J\K guys.
HTH
V
growclean
Grow Clean.... Go Fast!
Quick question: We have been using the soilless mix from the first page of this thread along with guano teas. We just sold some already vegged plants to a patient and now he wants to transplant them again, but does not want to mix soil. He just wants to buy something prebagged from the hydro shop that is similar. I don't know anything about the prebagged mixes. Any quick help on what he could use?
Zendo
Member
I know people buy the roots organic soil, that comes in it's own 'grow bag' that you literally just open and use..
Never tried it, but know people that have..
I'm sure if I bought it, I would still amend with EWC, perlite, and other stuff, but the word is this can be used out of the bag.
Ingredients: Coco fiber, peat moss, perlite, pumice, premium worm castings, bat guano, kelp, fish bone meal, soy bean meal, feather meal, greensand, leonardite, and alfalfa meal.
Tip: Comes in a 10 gallon ready to use grow bag. Just cut or poke holes and plant directly in the bag.
C
Carl Carlson
V, I see that you live in Europe and have no idea where the person that asked you that question lives, but here in the U.S. the tap water is quite good for growing in many parts of the country.
dev0n
Member
It is pretty decent unless you're using compost tea, in which case I would add to VF's advice about aerating chlorine from the water by suggesting one of a few ways of removing chloramine from water. Chloramine does not evaporate the way chlorine does.
In any case I would pick aerated/dechloraminated tap water over distilled or RO water, because the former has a lot of beneficial trace minerals that plants like, whereas the latter would need cal-mag added at a minimum if it were used on a regular basis.
Zendo
Member
great post V. A lot of our methods seem similar.
After 'roughing' up the surface with my fingers,
I take an equal size bowl and dump that much on each plant. By the time I'm finished doing that, I can then go back to plant #1 and water in full.
Works great for me..
I also spray my soil surface between waterings if the surface looks too dry.. I've never been a soak with water, wait till bone dry, then rewater kind of guy though..
After 'roughing' up the surface with my fingers,
I take an equal size bowl and dump that much on each plant. By the time I'm finished doing that, I can then go back to plant #1 and water in full.
Works great for me..
I also spray my soil surface between waterings if the surface looks too dry.. I've never been a soak with water, wait till bone dry, then rewater kind of guy though..
V
vonforne
I use my finger sometimes but I like to keep a fork on hand. Seriously! One of my wifes old forks and a spoon. I hide them when she comes in.
If I have plants drying out to fast....like right before transplant, I will put a catch pan under and water until the pan is full and leave it. Come back in 2 hours and it is bone dry.
I would rather under water than over water. What I mean by that is not totally soak the soil. You might have to water a day earlier is all.
V
When I did a couple semesters of horticulture,my teacher pushed the idea to water from the drainage trays. She had some good points about it,one being that it encourages roots to grow downward. However,she wasn't growing herb,and I don't do that. I water much like vonforne does. After a while you start to developing techniques that work,like observing the way the drainage gets sucked back up and allowing that variable to work for you.
Zendo
Member
C- Von's been on both sides of the pond, and I have to agree with his statement.
Many municipalities do 'suck' and using the water directly on plants is not wise.. My tap water needs bubbling before use, and just 20 miles away, my parents tap water is so clorinated, you can actually smell it coming out of the tap.Almost smells like pool water, and dries out skin and hair.
I personally would bubble any water before using for the benefits, but I always bubble tap water for at least 12 hours before adding compost and nutrients.
my 2 euros..
V
vonforne
Thanks Z, I was getting to him. but Thanks
And yes I am from America.....lived in Florida. Water sucks there. Out of the well is smells like rotten eggs.......high sulfur content. And the city water smell like chlorine for 2 blocks away. >Like Zs parents. Now here in Germany where I live the is sooooo much Kalk (calcium) that we have to use a special cleaner for the coffee machine. I capture rain water. It is very common here and does not look out of ordinary even in town.
And no matte where I am at.......I bubble even the rain water.
I am anal about some things. And that is one of them. I learned everything the hard way.
V
And yes I am from America.....lived in Florida. Water sucks there. Out of the well is smells like rotten eggs.......high sulfur content. And the city water smell like chlorine for 2 blocks away. >Like Zs parents. Now here in Germany where I live the is sooooo much Kalk (calcium) that we have to use a special cleaner for the coffee machine. I capture rain water. It is very common here and does not look out of ordinary even in town.
And no matte where I am at.......I bubble even the rain water.
I am anal about some things. And that is one of them. I learned everything the hard way.
V
