Keeping it simple

[Tanglefoot]

Hello all. As the title suggests i want to keep things simple & this is one reason I am moving over to organic growing along with the other obvious benefits. I am trying to do as much reading as poss to get to grips with it. Fullduplex has a great thread on his techniques so massive respect to him for the info, especially the tier method.

I plan to use biobizz lightmix soil (with added 10-20% perlite mixed in) as this is easily available where i am (please chime in here if this stuff is no good?) Also will be using plant magic old timers as again it's easily available & has been tried & tested thoroughly by a few people on another forum.

Should I be amending my soil & if so is there a minimum amount that i should be doing?

Will be using 15l airpots & 144x3 Mars reflector, strains will be auto's of some sort & scrogged. Any links or information would be greatfully received

 

[Eyes on Fire]

Well if you got 50L of soil which I think is the 1.5 Cubic foot bag which is right about 10 good gallons of soil.using the tier method or plug pot method Id amend that soil with a few components to ansure a better less problematic grow for organics.

You got perlite awesome. Id also get a 4-5 LB bag of EWC too.some bone meal or a blend of similar make up and alfalfa meal and liquid kelp.powdered molasses or just a jar no sulfur as ya know for the molasses.get it without.most all come this way but try n check if it say nothing its prolly without,atleast here in the states anywho. and either prilled lime or more simple dolomite lime powder and add those to it and a good tier or plug sowing of the seed and ill bet it does real nice for ya too. if ya wanna get some big bloom and your off to a good organic and tea making grow style.or bottled organics for easier less hands on approach. but bio bizz light is a good soil it just lacks for a full auto grow as a stand alone soil.itll need to either be amended or fed more often to boost the soil.but your PH could wobble heavily sooooo.thats why I say ammend it with a few simple items that aint too expensive and youll have a totally workable soil to grow in. Azomite and/or glacial rock dust and a good myco mix or endo n ecto spectrums would help also but those(mycos)can get a little pricey but the rock dusts are usually pretty cheap n last a good long bit too.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Well if you got 50L of soil which I think is the 1.5 Cubic foot bag which is right about 10 good gallons of soil.using the tier method or plug pot method Id amend that soil with a few components to ansure a better less problematic grow for organics.

You got perlite awesome. Id also get a 4-5 LB bag of EWC too.some bone meal or a blend of similar make up and alfalfa meal and liquid kelp.powdered molasses or just a jar no sulfur as ya know for the molasses.get it without.most all come this way but try n check if it say nothing its prolly without,atleast here in the states anywho. and either prilled lime or more simple dolomite lime powder and add those to it and a good tier or plug sowing of the seed and ill bet it does real nice for ya too. if ya wanna get some big bloom and your off to a good organic and tea making grow style.or bottled organics for easier less hands on approach. but bio bizz light is a good soil it just lacks for a full auto grow as a stand alone soil.itll need to either be amended or fed more often to boost the soil.but your PH could wobble heavily sooooo.thats why I say ammend it with a few simple items that aint too expensive and youll have a totally workable soil to grow in. Azomite and/or glacial rock dust and a good myco mix or endo n ecto spectrums would help also but those(mycos)can get a little pricey but the rock dusts are usually pretty cheap n last a good long bit too.

Wow lots of info there, thanks for taking the time to reply I want to use bottled organics for feeding, keeping it simple. Liquid kelp will be good for the roots so i hear, so ill add some of that. I already have a few jars of molasses as i got them for the chemical grow's i did but never really used them as i found out they weren't much use with chem ferts.

Ph is a concern so ill take your advice & add some dolomite lime, not sure how much to mix in though. Does this have a slow release effect on the soil, how does it work? My tap water is around ph 8.2 so i guess ill have to adjust this down with lemon juice or something?

I've obviously got a lot more reading to do on organics so off i go..
thanks again for the help

 

[Eyes on Fire]

well the real key short of the soil is what brand and or type(s) of organic feed will you be looking to give her.that'll play a good role too.

but imo if you have you 10 gallons of soil and dont want to PH water for an Auto grow.Oh and my water runs around there in the PH in the spring time n stuff too. but for 10 gallons of your light mix i personally would go with 2- 2.5 cups of powdered dolomite lime.or better yer prilled if you can get it which I highy recommend looking for it prior to getting another type but not necessary though.

Id add 1 cup of bonemeal and 1 cup of alfalfa meal too. along with a cpl cups of the castings then prolly a 1/2 cup azomite or similar rock duct for trace element building some.

take all that and assuming it drier soil hopefully..if not dry it out after mixing some then take a half gallon of water and add 40 cc(a lil over an ounce)of liquid kelp and a general organics cal mag,prolly 10 drops to the half gallon and a solid dose of mycos mixed dry into the soil as well as the water..if you can swing it get an inoculate to use with or instead of and blend you soil for no less than two weeks for all the(most anyway) minerals to go active and release a fair portion of their stuffs for your plant. tier or plug sow ting of the seed n id think youll be ok. keep a little of the soil aside for a top coat too that you can boost for feeding.to that extra gallon or three you keep aside add a cpl teaspoons azomite to it.a half cup castings and a 1/4 cup bonemeal and with cal mag added to some water(just a few drops) use that to make sure you set aside soil is moistened with that water and sat for a few weeks covered(Not air tight though)in a bin of sorts in the dark.and most any fair bottled organic should do ya right id think. did i forget something?LOL!!

edit: you could use a drop or two to buffer your water as well if youd like to a more friendly level.pre ph your water prior to brewing a small tea with as little juice as you can just to make it close to 7.aint gotta be perfect man just buffered is all.then brew it or water it or whichever you choose to do.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Thanks, your ob very experienced with organics & so thanks lots for taking the time to share your methods, very much appreciated However, i want to keep things simple & i got a bit of overload going on right now!

I'd like to start simple & then possibly build on that so i know where i'm at to start with. Hazy's grow's look excellent & i can see he only uses a few key ingredients - ie fish mix & bloom. I think ill try to stay as close to this to start off. Ill use dolomite lime as you suggest for the PH & possible cal/mag def i may encounter as ill be using LED.

 

[Eyes on Fire]

well essentially just taking a quality bag of most ANY soil thats got satuff added like Dr Earths for example or prolly some of the biobizz stuff and other soils that have some decent word of mouth ratings.and imo Id stay away from soils.,but thats me.terrible rep as of late as well as a few others I can mention so its always good to treat a standard bag with enhancements.if i remember right Good Ole Hazy man was a bit of a hybrid grower when I used to see his stuff.but stellar plants I followed him for a good long while too.I love me a good Hazy grow too lol.

take most soil bags and depending what strain your growing and amount of soil used most any bag of soil responds well to a simjple mix and a quality organic feed of varying types as well as tea and soup feeds.

1.5 CF bag of soil and 2 cups of prilled lime or powdered dolomite lime is ok too.but prilled is preferred. if using powder go with 1.5 cups.add some castings about 5LBs and about 3 gallons or a little less of added perlite of small pellet sized. a 1/2 cup of bonemeal or similar and a 1/4 cup blood meal and a 2/3 cup of alfalfa meal and some eggshell and/or crabshell will really give you a GOOD rounded easily useable mix.its worked for me many times and I use a decent sized plug method of potting cuz i think its easier and use big bloom for a starter feed n that should be mainly all you have to do if you blend the soil n stir n let it sit for a cpl three weeks man.should be ready to use and work well.you can thin it out too if youd like with standard soil if your strains are nute sensitive or anything..

 

[freedom4all]

I have been reading and reading but can not find the information I am looking for so not trying to hijack this thread at all but am looking to add information onto the keeping it simple topic

All I can get local is dr earth pot of gold life 555 fertilizer and the tomato vegetable and herb 5-7-2 fertilizer in addition to these dry nutes I can also get fish emulsion and dr earths 333 liquid fertilizer solution

My question is how can I best implement these and will this be to hot for younger plants I normally start out with a solo cup sized plug of black gold seedling mix and then my last grow I just used dr earth pot of gold with 8qt of black gold and 8qt of perlite seemed to really stunt my plants as at 24 days old my emerald triangle lemon haze and dinafem blue amnesia xxl are very small so now that I have a bit of experience (using the term loosly) I'm wondering if the 555 and 572 will be to much in the outer soil?

Any information here would be great please and thank you I know this is a very limited line up and I might be able to find fish bone mean and blood meal local as well just not sure if they would do me much good

Thanks again chuck and also again not trying to hijack the thread and step on any toes

 

[Eyes on Fire]

oh yer good dude dont sweat the small shit man.I was thinking about your issue today and you sound like me when I first got started. not fully understanding the blending concepts n feeding characteristics of a soil,especially a living soil. generally speaking within a living soil your looking for a mellower feeding(for autos predominantly short of strains of sensitive photos n so on..) and a number consistent within a 2-2-2 range.NOW for a blending soup soil as to whatcha be got already.hmm the rose n veggie stuff keep to the side for now imo. youll want to use roughly a rounded half cup of the Life for 1CF or roughly a 1/3 cup for 1.5CF and moisten the soil as you would(squeeze test n all that.MOIST noooooT wet lol) and in a tote in the dark.if you can buy an inoculate you may want to start with half dose since Im unfamilair with the feeding and blending characteristics of the Life from Dr Earths.ive not used it but am very familiar with Dr Earth stuffs as a rule. so similar to an EM-1 inoculate and some castings like a cup or maybe even three cups of castings honestly.some kelp meal and alfalfa meal will help as well as some azomite or dusts similarly ,and even a little bone meal and thats a simple soil blend. but the life is rounded so youll want to mix soil for genes your running.

but simply put add a rounded half cup of Life to the whole bag keep the rose n veggie food separate for now and if you wanna go with the solo tiering method cool. I dont like it.looks cool ,but im not a fan.ya shouldnt need em doing fems or solid multi pot genetics n such.use a seedling mix and big bloom or a seedling strength(starter feeding) like a teaspoon er er even two in a half gallon of water,and if it aint taking of after a cpl weeks or looking healthy increase the next water feeding of a 40% strength of your(at 2-3 weeks) other Dr Earth stuff n that should be ok.good water n all that good stuff. or even brew a simple tea later on after week 2 ish..but does that answer your question man?

oh and btw lol almost forgot the range for a standard mixed bag of soil imho similar to what your doing is again imho for autos should be right around a 2-3(larger for larger strains,like a 4) for N and roughly about a 5 to a 7 on P range and about again a 3 ish for the K range and again this is for autos imo as well as LIGHTLY feeding of your soil. Dont forget lime in your soil man.:Sharing One:

 

[freedom4all]

Think I follow what your saying. So 1.5 of the pot of gold about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the 555 and get it moist and I should be fairly straight with that but some kelp meal and or alfalfa meal would be good to add as well? I'll have to see what I can do for lime and rock dust around these parts

But if I follow right should look something like this

1.5cuft pot of gold
1/3 to 1/2 cup 555
16 qt of perlite

And that should get me going well hey?

What would you recommend for starting the seeds? Is starting them in the black gold a good idea? I don't do a tier method exactly more of a solo cup in the middle of the pot flush with the top filled with black gold and then I have the bottom cut off so I can lift it off to allow the roots to go out if that makes sense?

As for strains I got my lemon haze going and Blue amnesia xxl thinking about starting one more of each as well as a flash Russian haze

Do you think I could just start in the main soil without to much issue? My main worry is killing the plants as soon as they pop perhaps an 8 ounce cup size of black gold vs a 16 ounce size might be better? Allow things to get established but not make them wait to long to get into the good soil?

Sorry if I'm sounding stupid just wanted to start my next 3 seeds about the first (easy to keep track of that way lol

thank you very much for your time brother

 

[Eyes on Fire]

Well if your not going to PH your water youll need lime.lime adds many things. the issue your likely to encounter is patience lol. we know it well! lol! your going to have to give it no less than 2 weeks untill you plant in your seedlings however you choose.sounds like a modified tiering method but thats too much work for me.I prefer the plug potting method personally.less work lol. but you can add oyster shells or similar or from various shells,oolite n so on. there are options if you look around.Rock dusts arent too difficult. azomite is great but zeolite is good and workable,olite and various things.Prilled lime might be easier to get most likely in its international due to dangerous requirements hence why most of the nation(s) will but dealing with that more n more.

but you really should get some if ya can.I would add that 1.5CF bag with a half cup at most of the(yes 1/3-1/2 cup) Life. about 13 guarts or there abouts of the perlite imo. not quite the entire bag but it wouldnt hurt if you added the whole bag to be honest.about a half cup of Lime if you can get it.

if you get them Id add with all other stuff ofcourse no more than a 1/4 cup of the kelp and alfalfa meal. half dose of an inoculate(again IF you decide to get some) and yeah keep moist in a warm dark place with some quality composted compost lol(mushroom compost is great and castings)

I like to take one of them solo cups n cup out the bottom or not..your choice n fill in the pot around it n fill the plugs with a black gold seedling mix or a similar decent seedling mix and give a starter feed as i said with a starter feeding or Big Bloom at a TBspoon per gallon or a lil more is ok. but a fairly measured TBspoon. and do whatcha do with the seedlings starter feeding n all.

this is how I do my seedlings.soak for 12-24 hours typically not shorter than 18 hours and no longer than 24 hours then right to the soil plug you see in the pics right about a 1/2 inch deep.slightly less or slightly more in some cases and i have pretty decent starts if Im running fair genetics so that too depends on how they preform n so on.