To be fully broken down maybe, otherwise that’s never been my experience. Noticeable leaf color change occurs overnight after top dressing deficient plants. Similarly overfeeding sensitive plants becomes apparent very quickly as well.
Definitely
I’ve definitely noticed fertility sensitive phenos within the line (clawing). May want to scale back on your N inputs, especially alfalfa.
Mine don’t seem to break down that quickly, but it’s tough to tell; I’m definitely still learning. Maybe it does, and I’m just not over or under-feeding them most of the time. I did end up with a nitrogen deficiency on some clones that I was top-dressing this last round, but it took 5 weeks to start showing rather than the usual 3 it would with water-only, so I guess it’s likely it was partly breaking down but not fully. That, or I should go back to top-dressing based on veg/flower cycle myself rather than a consistently even mix, and maybe just increase the amounts slightly? 
They do seem to be much happier after I alternated my feed schedule with some ammoniacal nitrogen in there as well.
Yeah there are a ton of variables at play for sure, including what specifically is being top dressed and if it has any solubles in it (certain meals like blood meal). I noticed Alfalfa is present in both of his mixes, which he should probably be a bit careful with (at least with the Goji F2s). Should be pointed out that mulching will facilitate the breakdown of organic matter as well by creating a more ideal micro-climate for both macro and micro fauna. More life at the surface the faster the top dress gets cycled into the food web.
Powders are always risky, even when mixed with water.
Definitely agreeing with @syzygy about mulch.
Chunky fresh organic matter seems to break down at ideal speed and also adds moisture so less need for watering. Ain’t nothing wrong with plain grass clippings either!
Layer a wide diversity of mulch like lasagna!
@Rhai88 I’ll be using perlite because I have it on-hand and I don’t intend to re-use this initial soil. What are the benefits of clover?
@GrowTheAtlas noted! FFOF is very heavy with N too, do you think that might be contributing?
@syzygy Good to know about N sensitivity in the line! @noknees Suggested I use the 3-3-3
(Ingredients: Alfalfa Meal, Fish Bone Meal, Bat Guano, Feather Meal, Langbeinite, Oyster Shell, Greensand, AZOMITE, Kelp Meal, Mycorrhizal Fungi and Beneficial Bacteria)
and the 4-6-2 instead (Ingredients: Fish Bone Meal, Blood Meal, Feather Meal, Rock Phosphate, Langbeinite, Greensand, Humates and Kelp Meal)
The 4-6-2 has no alfalfa, and he suggested I scale back my ratio of 3-3-3 for veg. You’re the 2nd person to warn me about N toxicity so hopefully this change will help.
@Rogue I’ll look into mulch further today. I have no gardening experience besides cannabis so I’m definitely trying to absorb as much info as I can.
Honestly I doubt it. It’s 50/50 FFOF and happy frog. Happy frog is pretty lacking when it comes to nutes. Just be careful with sea products because even though it’s organic, it will still absolutely burn your plants or cause a lockout if used too heavily. Thankfully mine are growing out of it now, but for the future I’m not gonna use 1/4th cup for a 5 gallon pot of this stuff. Oh, also, this particular brand of nutes can cause horrific odors when it’s breaking down. Especially if you use too much like I did lol.
I agree w @syzygy about not going too heavy w nutrients w the Goji and to watch for curling clawing leaves as indicator of “too hot.” Goji leans sativa, and often w sativa’s less nutrients is preferred.
I would add that the Goji were also a bit sensitive to cold temps, so keep her warm.
I often run smaller pots of living soil, I recycle my soil and re-amend after each flower run. I usually do a final transplant at flip or just after. I then run rain water only for the majority of my waterings. A variety of microbes get added every week or so. The main thing w small pots is not to let them dry out to the point of killing off your micro-biome cause that can make your soil hydrophobic.
Also, w smaller pots you don’t get the same ph buffering effect, so do keep an eye on pH if you decide to do any tea’s / feedings.
Typically, I get by w a couple foliar feedings per veg and flower round. I use a water soluble Ca, epsom salt, and a FPJ made from cannabis leaves and aloe.
Edit: actually ready to make a new batch this morning. This stuff cures all:)
I think these veg / flower tailored mixes at times can be more-or-less there to address the gardeners mindset rather than meet the needs of the plant. The plant releases exudates into the soil in order to attract microbes, which in turn make nutrients available in a form which the plant can take up. Effectively taking what it needs as @BeagleZ indicated. As long as you provide a balance of inputs while avoiding extremes you should be fine using the same mix for all stages of plant growth realistically. For learning purposes you could always pick a “proven” tested recipe, follow it, and adjust later on. Cannabis isn’t much different or difficult than growing vegetables, however vegetables tend to require a much higher level of fertility which sometimes can be too much for sensitive Cannabis phenotypes. Worth keeping in mind for these fertilizers designed for vegetables. This is especially true in artificial lighting indoor setups.
I’d still caution you about N inputs because Blood Meal is as the name suggests, dehydrated blood. When hydrated it is obviously highly soluble and can lead to N toxicity or even burn plants. It’s harder to know how much you’re adding when you use a mix of amendments, so I’ll defer to someone who has experience using them for recommended specifics. Less is more and you can always topdress later on if needed, and much preferred to dealing with a soil that is “too hot”.
+1… FPJ, FFJ, JMS, LABs all your new best friends!
also +1 for mulch, your missing a lot if you dont have mulch, microbes do not like light nor the little critters that help the breakdown process.
Clover will help fix nitrogen
I actually had to use some perlite as well because my local nursery only had 2 - 1gallon bags of pumice at the time (bummer). So i used both but in the future I will just use pumice or volcanic rock if available. Clover is a great nitrogen fixator. I low dosed the DTE 4-4-4 at 1 tbs per gallon and figured I’d get the extra N from the clover as well as the worm castings. Didn’t want the soil to hot for the little ones and so far so good. 2 weeks in the batch today and she looks healthy. excited to see your progress!
@BeagleZ Now I just need to figure out what those acronyms mean 
@Rhai88 likewise, hope it goes well for you!
@syzygy good advice! I was trying to replicate Mr. Canucks style of organic growing swapping the brand he uses for one available in the states, but less is more seems sound.
@catapult noted! luckily its getting warmer out here
lol believe me i know @PineScented , far too many!
FPJ - fermented plant juice (KNF)
FFJ - fermented fruit juice (KNF)
JMS - JADAM microbial solution (JADAM)
LABs - Lactic acid bacteria
KNF - Korean Natural Farming
Also IMO - Indigenous Micro Organisms
Chris Trump, Dr Drake, and Elaine Ingham are great places to start.
I have been really happy with the Down To Earth products, yes as mentioned above stick with light rates!
@Tomcat Are you using any of their dry mixes? I’d love to hear more about how you use them in your soils
Definitely gonna follow this one @PineScented i started down this same path a while ago, still wandering in the woods 
I’ve not used any of DrE premixed fertilizers myself. I have however been using their products brown boxes of single ingredient products.
I’ll not call myself a knowledgeable organic composer, but I do like to fiddle with the knobs, instead of a premix fert.
BUT that is just me, I’m a hopless tinkering fool, much of the time.
I did a lot of growing being a bottle fed baby, and I still use them, to use them up. AND if I need a fast reaction bottles will do that…some organics will also.
Kelp is fast to supply N, and other goodies, it can get a bit hot if over loaded. I usually prefer to add some to a 2" tea ball strainer with kelp hanging in the water/tea tote, and I always have a Mosquito bit ball hanging in as well.
Langbeinite, is chunky, you want to speed up it’s delivery to roots a BIT, pulverize it in an old coffee grinder, before you add it.
*Really pay attention to DrE, instructions, and for me, I’m indoor containers, and you need to create your own legend, like total amount of blended nutes for a 4" pot, then (for me) to a 1 gallon, then to a 3 gallon, or at times I’ll use a 10 gallon pot.
My list works a bit like this, 4" pot will get 1-2 tbls of mixed ferts.
1 g pot will get 3-4 tbls.
3 g pot about a 1/2 -2/3 cups.
10 g pot will be a full cup of dry ferts.
As I read your first list of the prepackaged there are items in there I do not care for myself. I do not like the blood meals, bone meals, I had issues in my indoor garden, my outdoor garden LOVES those items, for me, they seemed to potent and I did not care for them.
That is the beauty of DrE, SO MANY CHOICES!!
In my mix, I’ll add 4-5 N value items, as I also keep track of the P-K values also.
Kelp goes in.
Then Bio Live for the microbe herd.
Acid Mix…obvious.
Feather Meal, the long ball N releaser, she will not give up her nutes for at least 5-7 weeks.
Then some Neem meal, again obvious.
Langbeinite drives P and K side of the fertilizers. I use less in Vegetative, a bit more in transition/flower. It is potent, read their label for amounts…
Oyster shell. I buy 2 items in the 25 pound bags, oyster shell, kelp.
Right as I am considering to initiate flower/transition, that is when I add some guano and langbeinite, a bit (smaller portion) of Neem/acid mix/Bio Live, and oyster shell as a top dress.
I use ReCharge tea, molasses.
I could be forgetting something here or there, old dude syndrome.
Best to ya!
I grow in sub-irrigated planters (sips) with soil as my medium. I’ve been using 15 gal earth boxes, but am about to make the leap to 27gals. The bottom of the soil is bacterially dominant, whereas the top is fungal dominant. The plants grow so damn fast. Hydro growth with organic taste.
I use EM-1 and Labs mixed accordingly with water to fill the reservoir. I’m making some diy photosynthesis plus currently. This gives your soil a diverse array of life.
The top is fungal dominant so I top dress only 3-4 times during the whole run. Once before I plant, another when I plant and one last time before flip. Maybe one other depending on plant health. The only things I use to topdress are Malibu’s blend compost, EWC, ground barley, crustacean meal and some Grokashi to start breaking it all down and making it available to the plant.
This style has honestly changed my whole viewpoint on growing plants and is the easiest method I’ve found. Little work to get it set up and running, but once it’s going your basically just keeping the reservoir filled.
Here is a link to the Rollitup thread where I learned the method: GREEN’S PROBIOTIC METHOD | Rollitup
Yes, i invested in a nice lineup of DTE boxes, all 5lb quantities. The 4-4-4, the 4-6-2, the Bio fish 7-7-2, and the Bio live 5-4-2. I realize now that at the rates I apply them, this will last me a few years lol. And the boxes are inexpensive compared with bottles that are out there, much less money overall. It’s almost amazing how little is really needed, and the plants look great.
I do a 10% earth worm casting add to regular peat/perlite starter mix, and that is my base. To that I added a tbs each of the Bio 5-4-2 and the 4-6-2 for veg. At the outset of flower (4-5 weeks from seed germ) i transplanted into larger containers and added 1 tbs per gallon Bio Fish 7-7-2 and 1 tbs per gallon 4-4-4. My reasoning for a little nitrogen boost at the outset of flower is that I flower early and the plants are sort of still establishing themselves with a short veg period. It also gets me off the nitrogen train in flower and then i can focus on light top dressing with earth worm castings, and micronutrients through liquid kelp, epsom salts, 1 tsp/gallon type rates.
I like mixing and matching things. I think in total each plant I flower out probably gets about 6-7 tbs of dry fert through the entire cycle for a plant that finishes in a 2 gal. Over the course of say three- four months, that is very little.
The rates of 1 tbs dry fert/ gallon of potting mix per month, and 1 tsp/ gallon for liquid feeds (i only do a say three liquid feeds a grow mostly responding to any deficiency that may emerge) seem to be about right across the organic nutrients.
And earth worm castings at 10%!!!
