thanks for the info… i have some frankie seeds and been itching to get them started. not yet… not yet.
what about alaska fish fert? i use it. it is organic, and OMRI certified. fills gaps the dry amendments miss. especially with the heavy feeders. smells nasty, but the plants LOVE it. one bottle lasts a long time. it’s concentrated so you mix small amounts with gallons of water.
you can get it a home depot, lowes and walmart pretty cheap.
i feel really comfortable with the soil at this point. i have also been doing soil recycling which has saved a sh^tload of money. and it WORKS. you just need to be patient while it “cooks” before putting it back into circulation.
you are right. hydro needs gear. constantly.
but i’m thinking, if i already have a gigantic pile of dr.earth, why not try using it in a soilless mix? roots will dig through that medium a lot faster so plants will get massive quickly like hydro or soilless with synthetcs does.
that’s where my logic is at. using the soilless medium for fast rooting, but keeping it all organic with amendments and nutes.
i don’t see why it wouldn’t work…
I would argue that the phrase “organic hydroponics” is an oxymoron. You can absolutely source organic nutrients for hydroponics, but the term organic was originally applied to practices meant to preserve and promote soil health. No chemical sprays is still possible, this is the Rachel Carson definition that is popular these days, but misses out on the true message and benefit of organics. Organic is more a PR term nowadays as most organic farms use methods that are every bit as destructive as conventional growers.
Thats an unpopular opinion and I welcome the angry DMs that may result, but its true.
That being said, the benefits of hydroponic are clear. The increased growth is not insignificant. I have used very basic nutrients in hydro before with impressive results. They also have microbial inoculants you can use, but if you do, dont concern yourself with nutrient acquisition, focus on stress tolerance and secondary metabolite production. I think bacteria are likely a better options and there are hydro specific supplements that have been looked at. Bacteria with algaecidal actions are popular and can be worth the cost!
If you plant on doing her indoors just a heads up Frankie is a jungle of a plant and she will go beserk it will look like some shit out of Jumangi Plant matter everywhere.Be careful of space she will take it.Mine damn hear grew through my Led light.Feed her good before you clone she likes to do that yellow clone shit when she gobbles up all her reserves teying to root.I supplement with Clonex solution in the rockwool cubes i ph.Seems to keep that shit at bay.That plant is bombproof to powdery mildew it can get a small bit of budrot but it handles it so well you wont lose much i lost maybe a half an eighth of flower in 3 lbs
Define organic with the richest language you can. Is it based on views of chemistry and certain compounds being made by organisms? Is it a “vegan” type word that means zero synthetic ingredients? Does it mean that the medium must include large organisms? Is it relating to the presence of humic acid?
I think most people loosely associate organic growing with living soil and with no synthetic inputs.
What I think you’re asking is if anyone adds dry “organic” (OMRI or OMRI-equivalent) amendments to sterile mediums like promix. I personally wouldn’t bother and would go straight to living soil if I wanted to tinker with organic amendments. If you mean however using amino-chelated inputs… we’re back to the “What is organic” discussion.
thanks for the tips. appreciate you.
i had a somewhat similar experience my first year growing with acapulco gold. holy friggin demonic jungle plant. said “no way” to LST, supercropping, topping and the SCROG grid. grew up over the light. complete beast.
a year later i ran blue dream auto… another demonic jungle plant.
those sativa jungle beast plants need to be outdoors.
It’s based on Vic highs mix but slightly different if you’ve ever heard of that, and many people seem to prefer Coots mix, and build a soil products but I never would’ve found out about mixing living soils without Subcool and his approach and info he put out on YouTube on the Weednerd show.
Here’s a screenshot of high times article on his mix from back in ‘09
But be aware some folks like Jeremy at build a soil and those who follow his methods do think Subcool’s mix is outdated and has flaws like in this article:
So as usual your mileage may vary, some genetics seem to not thrive in super soil with it being a bit hot, but if you let it cook long enough I’ve only had great results regardless of the above article, which I never saw until growing with super soil for 12 years.
So I’d say it really depends on your opinions and experience as well. Both will grow great smoke in my personal experiences.
I normally use pro mix which is “soil less” I heard of others using coco and aquaponics is 
organic hydro 
my understanding of organics is a mix of what you’re asking/throwing out there.
starts with the soil. microbes, bacterium and fungus that assist in decomposition of organic matter that in turn creates food for plants and the soil web.
the amendments and fertilizers i use are intended to assist the aforementioned bacterium, microbes and fungus in doing their jobs.
yes, they are all OMRI certified.
no. i do not use synthetics because they aren’t concerned with the soil web and affect it negatively.
if i’m wrong, then i guess school me.
why is that? is it because you don’t think it would work and provide no benefit or because the amendments are best left to soil?
thanks for posting the recipe.
looks pretty damn close to what i had in mind doing.
I tell @JohnnyPotseed all the time Frankie is like bringing an outside kennel hunting dog inside.Definitely and outdoor plant for sure
do you keep growing frankie from seed, or do you have a clone mom going?
Have to start another Mom Frankie was an outdoor showcase this year, I was doing clones and Scored feminized beans from the OG veterans giveaway thats what i made the mother with.
There are organically occuring salts… I’d wager that running straight coco with mineral salts can be argued as organic. I’ve seen it run commercially this way and they claimed organic. I’d think this could be an option for you to get your feet wet? You can still add myco, use beneficials and the like.
lol IKR? But, I have been growing her indoors for close to 25yrs! It’s ‘do-able’
so the end-all be-all for this line of questioning is about growing out plants faster, decreasing veg times and still providing an end product to abuela that is completely CLEAN.
in soil, my plants grow great. the smoke is smooth, tasty and potent. i am pleased with the overall process so it’s not an issues of scrapping my entire process.
my main problem for abuela’s project is to find the RIGHT strains for her. i have a long list of strains to get through and the clock is ticking because her condition continues to decline (no pressure).
when i see soilless and hydro growers achieving record veg growth in weeks what takes me months in soil it makes me question if i can speed up the veg times and in essence speed up my process so i can get through the list faster.
this is my only real reason for trying soilless. will it work? will it help me speed up my process? will i still be able to deliver a CLEAN product to abuela while trying to cut corners with time?
usually when we try to cut corners or steamline something, we make sacrifices elsewhere. i don’t want the quality/purity to suffer to shave time. make sense?
What’s your current veg time vs your goal? It certainly could speed the process up. I find that, especially at first, soilless does have quick growth rates but I also feel like you can mimic that in soil.
you KNOW you’ve made something incredible when you make the effort to preserve it this long.
and doesn’t look like demand has stopped despite the years.
well done mr.potseed.
Ive done soilless organic for almost a decade now! Even did it commercially for a good little chunk of time. It works like a mofo, and is super cheap/efficient. The key is getting the highest quality dry amendments possible, as well as get your teas down. Thats really it lol. Heres a automated light dep SOG greenhouse I did all soilless. Just used the knockoff promix from a local soil yard with a good amendment blend and teas/some buddha grow/bloom for stuff like aminos n yucca.
Because organic amendments are slow acting and interact with soils in ways I don’t pretend to understand. Promix is basically hydro, with a host of unique traits and qualities that make it rather suitable for salts. Every last organic grower I know personally shudders at the word “salt” as if we’re not just combing things on the periodic table. Organic growers are almost always partially concerned with cultural or semi-spiritual views of the growing medium origin story… where good and evil intersect with bat guano and rocket fuel.
I’m fairly agnostic, and prefer growing with salts for the control indoors and prefer organic soils outside where insects and season temps can actually interact with it as nature intended!
