Plant tone

[master shake]

I'm looking on espoma website and see the Bio-tone Starter Plus...basically looks like the plant-tone with mycorrhizae. Anyone know the difference between the two? I'm thinking about possibly using that with fox farm happy frog next time I veg.

And the flower tone...3-4-5, that seems like a lot of N, does it usually get used up at the end of flowering giving the plant a nice yellowing flushed leaves?? It says "promotes and prolongs blooming"...prolongs, that doesn't sound appealing to me.

 

[barletta]

I use the Bio-tone as my AP fert. It is .75 soluble N and 3.25 insoluble, so I don't topdress with it in flower, though. Bio-tone and Cottonseed meal (also from espoma) are my N sources, Guano and rock phosphate (also espoma) for P, and kelp and greensand (yup, espoma g.sand) for the K.

Espoma rules. The big bags can be had at the agway for cheap

 

[Guest]

i was reading it and it has some good stuff in it .so i am going to do a run with some mixed into my soil mix. i will have to find a good happy medium for the mix like 4 cups per 3.8 cub ft of soil.

 

[BurnOne]

i was reading it and it has some good stuff in it .so i am going to do a run with some mixed into my soil mix. i will have to find a good happy medium for the mix like 4 cups per 3.8 cub ft of soil.

Please post your results and recipe when finished.
Burn1

 

[Lt. Herb]

I found the Bio-tone starter plus at my local Lowe's this year, they had the plant/flower/holly/bulb tones too. Also ammended with Black Kow composted cow (.5-.5-.5) and chicken (2-3-2) manures. I'm sure none of these pass the pure organic test, but at least I'm not mixin' up the MG blue water this year I'm hopin' the bed will support all of veg with nothing but water and that I can just topdress with more chicken poop or maybe even some bulb-tone for a kick into flower.

Glad to hear good things about Espoma and their products in general.

 

[bakelite]

I'm looking on espoma website and see the Bio-tone Starter Plus...basically looks like the plant-tone with mycorrhizae. Anyone know the difference between the two? I'm thinking about possibly using that with fox farm happy frog next time I veg.

And the flower tone...3-4-5, that seems like a lot of N, does it usually get used up at the end of flowering giving the plant a nice yellowing flushed leaves?? It says "promotes and prolongs blooming"...prolongs, that doesn't sound appealing to me.

master shake,

You are right about Bio-tone being basically Plant Tone with mycorrhizae. Plant Tone contains more stuff (corn gluten, dried blood, sunflower seed meal, kelp meal and rock phosphate) PT is a little more well rounded with short and long term release nutrients. I've used both and haven't seen much of a difference myself between them.

One thing I have been doing is grinding them in a coffee grinder before throwing it in the soil to compost. This speeds up the rate of decomposition making the nutes more readily available to the plant.
-bakelite

 

[bakelite]

I found the Bio-tone starter plus at my local Lowe's this year, they had the plant/flower/holly/bulb tones too. I went with the Bio-tone myself for the mycorhizae. Also ammended with Black Kow composted cow (.5-.5-.5) and chicken (2-3-2) manures. I'm sure none of these pass the pure organic test, but at least I'm not mixin' up the MG blue water this year I'm hopin' the bed will support all of veg with nothing but water and that I can just topdress with more chicken poop or maybe even some bulb-tone for a kick into flower.

Glad to hear good things about Espoma and their products in general.

Lt Herb, that sounds like an awesome combination :smile: Let us know how it works out!

 

[master shake]

How many TBS/gallon do you all use of these products? They don't really telll you on their website...Would following the same rates in the beginners thread be about right?

I'm looking forward to trying these products, they seem cheap, good quality and I wouldn't have to go to a hydro shop to get them.

 

[bakelite]

How many TBS/gallon do you all use of these products? They don't really telll you on their website...Would following the same rates in the beginners thread be about right?

I'm looking forward to trying these products, they seem cheap, good quality and I wouldn't have to go to a hydro shop to get them.

MS,
I wrote Espoma a few years ago and they recommended using Plant Tone at 1 part to 25 parts soil which comes out to around 4% or just under 2/3 cup per gallon of soil. Myself I generally add around 3% or so of organic ferts(~1/2 cup per gallon of soil). I like to use it with bone meal to boost the phophorus (1/4 cup PT, 1/4 BM per gallon).
-bakelite

 

[Guest]

BurnOne i am book marking it right now and do a report on my findings. sounds promising.
i just ask because i got this packet with a order i made from burpee . i ordered some vegetables to plant this spring in my garden and they recommend adding 2 tbs around my tomato plants as i plant them.

 

[Guest]

look i am in a pinch i have 11 c99 in the red cups and i am using plain peat with no fertilizers
they are getting yellow and i top dressed with Mexican bat guano. and its been 2 days and nothing .so i need the micro organisms in the plant -tone so i put very little on the top as a dressing . do you think it will help. the soil is hard on top it feels like a sponge.i might have to transplant and then mix the tone in at that point. smoking some kalimist if i screwed up the spelling you know why.

 

[Lt. Herb]

Lt Herb, that sounds like an awesome combination :smile: Let us know how it works out!

So far so good. I sprouted my seeds in 1:9 bio-toneotting soil mix or 10%, which after re-reading the thread seems a little high, as I'm sure I was when I did it . Can't complain yet though, seedlings doing fine, even the ones I abused are picking back up (snapped a cotyledon off one before it even sprouted leaves ).

 

[master shake]

bump

Ok guys, I can get the Bio-tone locally and I'm hoping to start an outdoor grow very soon (can't grow indoors because of a security issue/paranoia). The plot I've found is sort of a flood plain, close to a creek, but I don't think it will flood this year. The soil looks dark with lots of rollie-pollies and other little bugs around; probably a little alkaline (lots of limestone around), and other plants grow like crazy..

So, how would you all recommend I use the bio-tone? Can I just plant the seeds in the dirt and topdress the soil or would I be better off digging a big ass hole and mix it in?

 

[Ulysses]

Mix the Biotone in with the soil. Do this well before the grow- at least a month...

The roots are not on top of the soil, so topdressing with Biotone is a waste of product. By the time the Biotone breaks down with a topdress, your buds will be already be harvested (with luck).

Biotone is basically an outdoor proposition. Indoors there are much better choices in the nute department like Pure Blend Pro or Earth Juice which are 'pre' broken down for availability... You could 'pre' breakdown Biotone by mixing it with earthworm castings then wetting with kelp weeks in advance of use- this will also 'bloom' the mychs and the earthworm castings will begin to stick together in 'clumps' or webs of mychorrizae...

I've never had results planting a seed directly into soil outdoors. In fact, the larger I can veg a plant before I transplant it outdoors, the better success I've had- find a way of sprouting indoors and transferring out!

Good Luck!

 

[moonymonkey]

hey bakelite,wanted to know wat u think about this,i got a wick system,draws from the bottom,i use only 5gallons of promix insted of 25 gallons the system holds,cuz indoor location..they recommend 3 cups of organic ferts. to 25 gallons of soil....the only reason i cud see for just using 3 cups of organic ferts. to 25 gallons is cuz of type of system? maybe how long the soil is staying wet?....

 

[bakelite]

hey bakelite,wanted to know wat u think about this,i got a wick system,draws from the bottom,i use only 5gallons of promix insted of 25 gallons the system holds,cuz indoor location..they recommend 3 cups of organic ferts. to 25 gallons of soil....the only reason i cud see for just using 3 cups of organic ferts. to 25 gallons is cuz of type of system? maybe how long the soil is staying wet?....

Good question, honestly idk. 3 cups to 25 gallons works out to 0.75% fertilizer on soil which to me is on the low side. Unless they are assuming that liquid nutes would be used to supplement later during the grow. Make sense?

-bakelite

 

[bakelite]

Mix the Biotone in with the soil. Do this well before the grow- at least a month...

The roots are not on top of the soil, so topdressing with Biotone is a waste of product. By the time the Biotone breaks down with a topdress, your buds will be already be harvested (with luck).

Biotone is basically an outdoor proposition. Indoors there are much better choices in the nute department like Pure Blend Pro or Earth Juice which are 'pre' broken down for availability... You could 'pre' breakdown Biotone by mixing it with earthworm castings then wetting with kelp weeks in advance of use- this will also 'bloom' the mychs and the earthworm castings will begin to stick together in 'clumps' or webs of mychorrizae...


Good Luck!

Ulysses, I usually grind my Plant Tone before using it for that very reason. Increase availability to the microbes by making the particle size smaller.

I've wondered myself about doing what you mentioned (mixing Plant Tone or whatever into EWC and let the microbes pre-digest it for a while). In addition to using it as a top dressing, it may work well as a tea. One would have to be careful as it may be pretty strong and could burn the plants.

-bakelite

 

[moonymonkey]

bakelite,thnx,yes makes perfect sense...i think im gonna check with he manufactures....call them out on this one...they saidant organic ferts, with a 5% nitrogen...ull post it once i make the call...see wats up....they never said anything about addin liquid food....but we both know thats not normal...thnx again bl...peace

 

[magiccannabus]

It really sucks, around here nobody sells it fast enough that they have the new bags, which contain bio-tone as well. I just bought a bag of flower-tone last night and I'm brewing tea with it right now. I'll just have to find some bio-tone separately. The newer bags should definitely have it all in one.

 

[moonymonkey]

thnx mc,good to know,heads up++ peace