Hello everyone, looking to make the leap from chemical nutrients to organics as seamlessly as possible. Unfortunately I don’t have the space requirements for 30 gallon no till pots, so I’m compromising and planning organic fertilizers based on Mr. Canuck’s grow style with a Coots recipe base. How does this look?
[base]
1:1:1 Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, aeration, worm castings
1 cup/cf gypsum, glacial rock dust
[veg]
444 all purpose fertizilizer - 3 TBSP/G Ingredients: Fish Bone Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Feather Meal, Langbeinite, Basalt, Potassium Sulfate, Dolomite, and Kelp Meal
[flower]
484 flower fertilizer - 3 TBSP/G Ingredients: Fish Bone Meal, Langbeinite, Blood Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Seabird Guano, Rock Phosphate, Humates and Kelp Meal
Looks like a pretty solid plan! Very similar to what I’ve been doing, I’ve only got one piece of advice for you and that’s to watch out for N tox with that recipe! You might just need to adjust & reduce a bit but this should work well for you
Good plan so far sounds like.
I ditched the bottles several years ago now and I think you will find it very rewarding. Many rabbit holes to fall down if you like that sort of thing.
Ill be following along and helping where I can
I notice you’re amending with different things based on veg/flower cycle. Just to make sure, you’re aware that top-dressed amendments usually take weeks or months to become bioavailable, right? Amending for veg growth in the veg cycle won’t do anything until they’re already in flower, by which point you’ll be amending for flowering and that won’t do anything until they’re in veg again. It usually works better, from what I’ve read, to have a steady cycle that covers all bases and just amend on a regular basis with that regardless of where your plants are.
I’m still learning myself, but I can say that I tried a similar technique with new soil and ended up needing to feed them a bottled fertilizer with immediately bioavailable ammoniacal nitrogen. I’m not sure, will worm castings be immediately available too? If so, you’re probably covered, as long as you’re not planning a months-long veg cycle.
I see three of the folks I’m learning from have chimed in saying this is a solid plan, so it’s very possible I’m just confused. I’ll be keeping an eye out as well, at any rate!
The plant will take what it wants when it wants it regardless of what you are topdressing at the time, correct. Personally I think the key is the diversity of the microbes/microryze. These are what are going to make your nutrients available.
As long as you have a balance of everything the plant will never be wanting for anything.
That being said im not familiar with smaller volumes of soil so I didnt want to jump right in with how I do things as im in 90 gallons of soil.
The key to smaller pots is to not outgrow them, if they get too large it will overwhelm the system and you’ll be forced to feed soluble’s.
@BasementBeans Noted! He uses a 2-8-4 fertilizer in flower, so maybe I’ll tweak it down a bit and try 2.5 TBSP/G to start for the Flower mix.
@BeagleZ Definitely! I’m two days into my soil research and already thinking about starting my own worm castings compost bin
@Cormoran I’m trying to do minimum amending, I plan to make the base 1:1:1 and then make two separate mixes for vegging/flowering and mainly topdress with EWC if I can help it.
Looks good, what fertilizers are you looking at?
As Cormoran indicated, the soil will benefit from letting it cook in a few weeks.
EWC is great stuff but if you make your own it will be even better…
(You get extra flora and fauna with fresh)
yes 1,000,000% start a worm bin… sooooo many beneficials
doesnt have to be huge, mine sits in a corner of my corner. 3 trays stacked, by the time im done with a cycle one tray is ready :)
It’s a brand called Down to Earth Organics from Amazon. Cooking the soil seems like a good plan, many have recommended that. That pdf looks very handy!
@BeagleZ Hmmm, okay you’ve bumped it up my priority list haha
I’ve used a lot of their stuff. buy with confidence. some useful blends…
that said, neither the Rose & Flower or Vegetable Garden has much sulphur.
if it were me, I’d go Starter Mix and All Purpose.
in any case, for sure get your worm bin going first, and don’t agonize over the initial recipe too much.
container size, type, and watering are all important too.
that 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 ratio with a fabric pot could be a bit light, depending on your environment. might be clever to veg in the fabric to get a feel for it, as you may end up wanting hard pots in flower.
very best of luck with your change, try to stay patient! it’s a major adjustment.
@noknees These won’t be no till runs, so I’m going to order some worm castings for the first grow at least so I can get started cooking the mix. Vegging in the plastic pots is a tip I picked up to make transplanting a bit easier.
Would you use Starter & All Purpose blends in the same ratios I listed for the 4-4-4 and 4-8-4? (~3 TBSP/G soil) Is there anything else you’d add?
it can get a little messy with fabric pots, not too bad. you could try a couple of each, for science.
pretty much. maybe a skosh lighter in veg and heavier in flower. having a a keeper around is the best way to dial it in. it’ll take time. a good-sized plant in flower can really eat though.
maybe some biochar in the initial mix. insect frass for top dress/etc. surfactant for watering.
it’s very easy to buy too much stuff, keep it simple!
Thanks for the input! Keeping it simple sounds like good advice.
Perhaps a little bit ambitious on my part given how many people in the co-op had problems, but I’m going to be running some Goji OG F2 beans graciously gifted by @syzygy so hopefully I’ll find a keeper in the coinflip to get dialed
I grow in a 10 L pot (under 3 gallon) and all I add currently is kitchenscraps and water.
And I sow vetch for nitrogen.
That’s it.
You don’t need ANY of those amendments.
Adding tree leaves, grass clippings, nettles, dandelion leaves and thistle occasionally is fine too.
There you have your minerals and trace minerals covered.
I add those like once or twice a year.
But probably not even necessary.
Kitchenscraps my friend.
Easy, free and effective.
Following along for sure, planning on trying some full organics in the near future myself, soaking up info like a sponge. Hoping this turns out awesome for you
I’m doing something very similar with that hybrid Coots/Canucks. trying to do a combo of both worlds why not? What are you using for aeration? Also have you thought about adding in a top layer of clover for your run? I cooked my soil for a few weeks and added clover to help with N as well as a nice living mulch. so its prepped and ready for my Maui that is 2weeks old! Look forward to seeing your progress!
I’m using the same exact nutes as you, DTE and it’s my first time using it. I’m having N tox problems with all my plants, soil is 50/50 FFOF & Happy Frog. You won’t have to top dress for a long time. It breaks down nicely but definitely don’t add too much. Believe me when I say this, amend 1 or 1.5 tbsp per gallon. Don’t risk over feeding like I did. Learn from my mistakes
Edit: and these plants are supposed to be heavy feeders. With DTE, less is more.
