strongspark

First off thanks in advance i have a couple questions, after this yrs horrible grow im determined for 2010 grow to be something specail, i read the grow bible. I understand the npk levels are diff during the vegative grow higher n than pk(whats a good ratio? i read something like 20:20:20 or 12:12:12 what do you recomend??) and the flowering grow stage higher p than n,k,(also whats a recomended ratio at the flowering stage could i just buy a fertlizer with a high P level and zero or no N,K levels??).. Im clueless as to what brands are the real deal/best out there to use i wasnt sure if i am supposed to use water soluble fertilizers or liquid i will be growing outdoor. Now im also confused i read that loam soil with humus is highly recomemded where do i get this or am i supposed to put the loam together by adding the diff types of soil together if so how?? okay other question is when it comes time to feeding should i be adding the secondary nutrients: calcium,magnesium, and sulphur to the plant at the early stages of the seedling or wait to start with the normal start of feeding the plants at the vegative stage then flowering. I know only add secondary nutrients every three weeks and fertalizers ever fortnight(does that mean every 4th day/night)???? Also i wanted to buy micro nutrients just incase or to spoil my plants where also or whats a brand to look for?? I appreciate all your help i dont know much just what i read, i have no real hands on expirience thanks alot!! jake

farmergiles

The important thing is the NPK ratio, higher N for vegging, higher P and lower N for flowering. The actual numbers like 20/20/20 or 12/12/12 are the strengths.

You can mix your own soil, there is a good thread about this called "give us your soil recipe" but it seems to be missing atm. There's a few soil recipes here medium-information-gathering-thread.


Whatever soil you use it should have good drainage (perlite or vermiculite will aid this) and a neutral or slightly acid pH.


Any decent branded soil from a hydro shop should be OK.

Personally I like organic based soil and nutes because I find it gives the herb better flavor and makes the grow easier. Some people would disagree and say mineral based ferts are better.

Soil which is not too rich in nutrients is best for seedlings as they can get burnt.

Nutrients (if not added to the soil initially) are applied by diluting or dissolving in water, and using this to water the plants.

Be careful of overfeeding nutrients to seedlings- they don't need it at first and it can scorch them.

When to start feeding them? Depends how rich your soil was in the first place and how much of the nutes your plant has used up. In any case you want them to have well established root systems before you start feeding them.

Again any decent branded nutes from a hydro shop should be ok, again you can get organic or mineral based nutes, if it doesn't claim to be organic it is probably mineral.

Branded nutes usually come in two types, a vegging nute (higher in N- see above) and a flowering nutrient. There is usually a feeding schedule- if you follow this I'd recommend using about half the strength it recommends.

Overfeeding will not help- it may even cause nutrient deficiencies as certain nutes get locked up.

There are loads of additives and supplements you can buy from hydro shops- you don't need any of these, although they might help.

The most common micronute deficiencies are magnesium and sulphur, these can be remedied by the application of epsom salts, 1tsp per gallon water.

Black molasses (again about 1 tsp per gal) has a lot of good micronutes, sugars and stuff your plants will like.

You may hear of people making "tea" for their plants. You could use alfalfa or nettles (or lots of other things I'm sure) to stir up a nice brew for your plants. This is basically making your own nutes.

Bat guano (either added to the soil mix initially or top dressed later or added in tea) is good shit.

Try and narrow your question down a bit and use paragraphs .

__________________
Cultivate a stoic calmness

stoneric

That is some good shit farmergiles. I'm talking about the whole post.

strongspark

Ya sorry about the big block of words all rambled together ahah i get confused way to easy i do my best when im told step by step detail by detail so much easier for me to follow if theres a guide or list to go by.

I read what you wrote and i searched the internet and while looking i stumbled across some mixes, and a tea mix they seem very easy to make/follow and pretty sure i can find the ingredients online..

I wanna write them see what you guys think so here goes.

blood meal, steamed bone meal, and rock phosphate at the rate of 1 cup per cubic foot of potting soil...
add fine dolomite lime at the rate of about 1 1/2 cups per cubic foot. add kelp meal at about 2/3 cup per cubic foot..
add plenty of coarse vermiculite.use plain potting soil to germinate in ph of 6.5-7 and transplant into mix after about two weeks..

Vegetative => 1/2 cup each of PSG & worm castings. I also add a 1/2 cup of Maxi-Crop liquid seaweed, plus two Tablespoons of Alaska fish emulsion to the water.
Flowering (weeks 0-4)=> 1/2 cup each of PSG & High Phosphorus bat guano. I also add a 1/2 cup of Maxi-Crop to the water.
Flowering (weeks 4-7)=> 1/2 cup each High Phosphorus bat guano and worm castings. they will be but in a "tea bag" and mixed in a 5 gallon bucket with water ph of 6.2

farmergiles

Lots of good stuff in there. If you add dolomite to soil mix don't overdo it- the idea is to adjust the pH where you want it.

Some means of checking pH will be useful.
You can get an idea the pH of soil by allowing water to drain through it and measuring the pH of the water.

Keep things simple, if you have too much going on problem solving becomes tricky.

Are you going to have them in pots?

__________________
Cultivate a stoic calmness

stoneric

I'd add the worm castings to the soil mix. I use about 40% castings in my soil mix from seedling on.

strongspark

yes ill have them in plastic pots from after germination through seedling and planted before veg stage.. then they will be put in spot ill make by digging and replacing the soil with what was mentioned above..

The worm castings i will add to the mix, is there such thing as too adding too much worm castings? could you give an idea of a ratio to per cubic foot of soil amount of worm castings to it..

Also my plan for the soil is doing the mixing and checking the ph level if its too high ill add something that delutes or lessens the ph level or if opposite ill raise it to anywhere between 6-7 ph sound good i read plants like 7 so assuming 6 isnt too low i should be set... also i planned on buying test strips they should help me with keeping an eye on the ph..

I dont know mcuh about growing but does the ph levels of soil change constantly? like if i checked the soil and it was 7ph and i didnt check it for a week or two with out changing anything would the ph change on its own or because of the plant?

Yes i dont want to get to complicated, im just trying to get a good soil setup making sure the plant isnt lacking anything it needs growing wise..

Thanks!

farmergiles

Soil pH does change as the plants use up different stuff in the soil.
Also as the balance of microbes living in the soil changes. For example if you left the pots over watered this could lead to the pH dropping as the lack of oxygen in the soil will cause to the microbes in the soil to produce acidic wastes.
Soil does act as a very good pH buffer, this is a major advantage over hydroponic set ups.

TBH I don't often measure soil pH nowadays unless I think there is a problem but it is definitely something to be aware of especially at first when you are getting your set up dialed in.

You can add too many worm castings, if the soil is too nute rich the plants can burn.
stoneric recommended 40%- ie 2/5 ratio. Note stoneric said to use this once the plants grow bigger than seedlings. 40% is quite high but I'm sure stoneric would only recommend what he has tried successfully. Note he only recommended the richer mix after the seedling stage.
You can get away with richer mixes if your nutes are organic as organics are slower release.

Adding worm castings, bat guano, kelp etc will all make the soil richer initially, which is fine as long as it is not too rich. Of course with a rich soil mix you'd have to be careful when feeding them as the soil would already be quite hot.

You could have a soil mix with no nutrients in at all and give them their nutes by feeding. Of course you'd want to give them richer feed than if the soil were a nute heavy mix as above.

It is a lot easier to remedy a deficiency than overfeeding.
Ideally you want to give the plants as much as they need and no more. IMO the slow release action of organics makes it easier to get this balance right.

__________________
Cultivate a stoic calmness

stoneric

Farmergiles. Actually I start my seed in the same ratio. I haven't had any problems and I have done a couple of soiless mixes with just worm castings, adding perlite and vermiculite only. I also started my seed in that same mix. I really don't even consider worm castings a nute at least in the sense that it will burn your plant. Again, I always defer to the more knowledgable and only speak about personal experience.

farmergiles

^ Lol I stand corrected . Anyway, organics are forgiving.

Edit- I did burn some plants that I'd potted up in a worm casting rich soil mix. I had them in the cab with some other regular mix potted plants. I forgot and gave them all a good dose of N rich veg nutes. The plants in the soil with extra castings burnt and lost all their fan leaves. I got about 1 oz off 3 plants : (

__________________
Cultivate a stoic calmness