Micro Grow Experiment

@okletsgrow

Hi and welcome, you’ve come to the right place to ask for help.

Don’t be discouraged by a few first failures, we all have them.

Going organic is a great goal, however… building a living medium for indoor growing is in the experts realm, imo.
Without the proper experience, the life in your soil could end up eating your plants instead.

The first thing I think that is hurting your chances is your use of potting soil.
Most organic indoor growers use potting mix as a base, then add amendments to that.
Soil can harbor some nasty beasties.

To start with, most potting mixes are blends of peat, bark, other plant fibers, perlite, maybe some vermiculite and whatever else happens to be lying around.
And they are almost always too heavy(read: retain too much moisture). You can start by choosing a potting mix with an OMRI certification, sterilize it by baking it in an oven at 250 F for an hour or two and cool, then cut it by 50% fresh perlite.

Choose an organic OMRI fertilizer or just use 25% by vol earthworm castings.
That will get you through veg.
For flower, I’d choose a soluble organic fert like https://www.burpee.com/gardening-supplies/organic-gardening-supplies/burpee-organic-all-purpose-water-soluble-plant-food-5-2-4-prod100220.html

Remember this is to take it easy on yourself and gain some experience.

For a truly living “soil”, I suggest you download a copy of True Living Organics by the Rev for a starting guide about living soils. Try to follow his basic recipe exactly the first time. You won’t be sorry.
Here is another great place to start.

Good luck and keep posting!

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