Grow Mediums After two grows using FF, wanting to switch to Roots Organic. How do you like them?

[ItzSticky]

Hey AFN!

I started growing with Fox Farm Ocean Forest, and Happy Frog. My only two grows have been with Fox Farm. I'm looking to change soils and since my local hydro store consistently carries them it seems like a sound change.

From my understanding Roots Organic is a coco-coir soil base, so that will be new to me, as FF is organic and the only thing I've grown in.
Most of my nutes are Fox Farm but I did get some sample nutes from Root Organics.


Do you guys recommend Root Organics?
Have you noticed any drawbacks with Root Organics specific soil?
Can you give me some tips regarding growing in coco-coir?

Thank you!

 

[durbanpoisoner]

I don't know about root organics but I love coco. It's more work if you're manually watering but you can see problems immediately and correct them and the growth has been explosive for me.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

My 2 cents:
Root Organics is ok. Ive used their bottled nutes and soil before. I still use their micro greens seedling mix for certain things..Their nutes are expensive and not particularly effective and you really need to use their whole line for it to really shine. And at 15 dollars a bottle and using a tablespoon per feeding practically of each, it adds up fast.. You also have to get it into the soil weeks in advance and at the right ratios so it can become available so you have to stick to their feeding schedule and get it all in as directed.... kind of similar to the fox farms bottles. This is more important the more you are relying solely on the bottles to feed your plants and not amending with anything else. Some advice would be to stop using bottled nutes and order some buildaflower and craft blend from buildasoil.com and learn to amend your soil with it via top dress etc. Ive been using the same ocean forest for about 3 years now with a few things added back between and during grows and its pretty easy. When Im done with one run, I dump the soil back into a bin, add some craft blend and whatever else and let the worms pig out for a while.. The soil gets a bit heavy after a few runs from all the worm poo being generated, so occasionally I will dump another bag of ffof and some rice hulls into the bin to lighten it up. Simple and organic.




If youre interested and have any questions about it all, pm me and ill try to clarify.
GL

 

[ItzSticky]

I don't know about root organics but I love coco. It's more work if you're manually watering but you can see problems immediately and correct them and the growth has been explosive for me.

I'd like to see how that works for me. Watering at least once a day would be more achievable for me, anymore than that and I think it'll be too much for me personally. I'm on the fence to go either coco or organic my next grow. I'm hearing good things about both besides coco being a little more hands on.

 

[ItzSticky]

My 2 cents:
Root Organics is ok. Ive used their bottled nutes and soil before. I still use their micro greens seedling mix for certain things..Their nutes are expensive and not particularly effective and you really need to use their whole line for it to really shine. And at 15 dollars a bottle and using a tablespoon per feeding practically of each, it adds up fast.. You also have to get it into the soil weeks in advance and at the right ratios so it can become available so you have to stick to their feeding schedule and get it all in as directed.... kind of similar to the fox farms bottles. This is more important the more you are relying solely on the bottles to feed your plants and not amending with anything else. Some advice would be to stop using bottled nutes and order some buildaflower and craft blend from buildasoil.com and learn to amend your soil with it via top dress etc. Ive been using the same ocean forest for about 3 years now with a few things added back between and during grows and its pretty easy. When Im done with one run, I dump the soil back into a bin, add some craft blend and whatever else and let the worms pig out for a while.. The soil gets a bit heavy after a few runs from all the worm poo being generated, so occasionally I will dump another bag of ffof and some rice hulls into the bin to lighten it up. Simple and organic.
Here is some results I get from such a simple process:
View attachment 1443261View attachment 1443255


If youre interested and have any questions about it all, pm me and ill try to clarify.
GL

Hey Tom! Thanks for sharing.
Organic is definitely something I've been hearing a lot, and its got me thinking.
I just have a lot of bottled nutes that I'd like to use before placing them all on the top shelf.

Its no different if I use the Fox Farm Nutes with the Roots Organic soil? As that's what i have an abundance of and would like to run through it.
In the long run I'd like switch to organics, maybe some bokashi. If I have any questions regarding organics I'll definitely shoot you a PM.
Thanks.

 

[durbanpoisoner]

I switched from soil to coco. Did two grows in soil and now running coco. I've been watering once a day which has been fine so far but I'm only 33 days in and already the girls are drinking a lot. So I have been mixing 5 gallons of nutrient solution at a time. Not too difficult tbh but you definitely go through the nutes in a way that you don't with soil. I've been good with the liquid nutes (canna A+B) and an oral syringe but I get why people would do dry nutes like megacrop as well. I actually have megacrop 2 part so if I run out of canna A+B I will switch to MC by the end of the grow.

 

[ItzSticky]

I switched from soil to coco. Did two grows in soil and now running coco. I've been watering once a day which has been fine so far but I'm only 33 days in and already the girls are drinking a lot. So I have been mixing 5 gallons of nutrient solution at a time. Not too difficult tbh but you definitely go through the nutes in a way that you don't with soil. I've been good with the liquid nutes (canna A+B) and an oral syringe but I get why people would do dry nutes like megacrop as well. I actually have megacrop 2 part so if I run out of canna A+B I will switch to MC by the end of the grow.

Yeah I'm two grows into soil now and looking for a switch up. I have a good $100+ invested into Fox Farms bottled nutes, so I don't mind running through them as eventually i'd like to switch to organics, I really just don't want to waste all of my bottled nutes tbh.
What size pots are you in?
I have 5 gal. plastic pots I was going to use.
I'm assuming I'm okay using the FF nutes as it sound like coco + salt based nutes go hand-in-hand.

Have you encountered gnats in your coco grows?

 

[durbanpoisoner]

I haven't. I'm running 3gal fabric pots in my 36x20, and I really would've been better off with 2 as the tent is feeling full. You can certainly use FF nutes, but I'm really not a fan of them personally. I would just recommend you use syringes to measure so you can be consistent. I have no doubt FF trio will work just fine. You'll notice if you do coco that if you have a deficiency or a toxicity it will show up immediately (like the next day) at which point you can correct it. You can correct it by flushing the medium with PH'd water and then watering the next day with your nutrient solution.

Here's where my girls were yesterday at day 32: https://www.autoflower.org/threads/durbanpoisoners-first-ever-coco-grow.87221/#post-2578447

 

[GreenBean]

I run coco as well. I make my own mix with coco bales. Then I add some perlite and vermiculite. To that I add maybe 20% soil. I use Floraflex nutrients. It retains the benefits of coco, I generally get pretty huge plants. I had to take a few months off for a recent move, hopefully I remember what I’m doing on my latest grow! But the little bit of soil and vermiculite retains a bit more moisture.

I’ve done this in 5,7 and 10 gallon pots. Generally only water once a day till runoff. And can usually skip a day a week here and there. Like durban mentioned, I also mix my nutes ahead of time, and just check and adjust PH.

 

[ItzSticky]

I haven't. I'm running 3gal fabric pots in my 36x20, and I really would've been better off with 2 as the tent is feeling full. You can certainly use FF nutes, but I'm really not a fan of them personally. I would just recommend you use syringes to measure so you can be consistent. I have no doubt FF trio will work just fine. You'll notice if you do coco that if you have a deficiency or a toxicity it will show up immediately (like the next day) at which point you can correct it. You can correct it by flushing the medium with PH'd water and then watering the next day with your nutrient solution.

Here's where my girls were yesterday at day 32: HTTPs://www.autoflower.org/threads/durbanpoisoners-first-ever-coco-grow.87221/#post-2578447

Took a peep at your grow, they're looking great!
I use a 1mL eye dropper to measure my FF Nutes. Still managed to burnt mine in soil, feeding at a 1/4 strength of the recommended FF dosage.
Thanks kind of nice, being able to just flush it and start again the following day.
I realize that checking PPM is even more critical in coco. I hope my cheap meter is accurate enough lol.

What ranges do you usually strive for per phase?
Do you test your PPM right before you test the PH?