I have 4 autos going in 5 gallon sips. I’m new to organics and soil in general. I figure I’ll need to top dress at some point and I’m not sure when or at what ratio. I have dr earth veg and flower dry ferts. The plants are from herm seed that came from massive autos that were grown in the same type of soil as this run. With the moms I noticed a deficiency starting that I think was potassium around day 40 or so. They finished day 70. I never re amended on that one I’d like to this time.
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I usually topdress going into flower with Buildasoil Craft Blend - enough to completely cover the soil and mulch heavily. I also keep organic potassium granules around and feed epsom salts every couple of weeks.
I’ve been doing pretty well mulching with goat poop. I feel like it feeds them a little every time I water along with the things microbials are making happen.
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thanks for the feedback Rasterman. goat poop is a little outta my league for the time being. 
ive been looking at the bas stuff. so far just using their quillaja wetting agent. and real growers recharge.
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Dr Earth is an excellent product, I like the 4-6-3 for a topdress going into flower. If your autos run 70 days, topdressing at 30 and 50 are good dates. It takes about a week for the stuff to start breaking down much, faster if you scratch it in or mulch it, and keep it moist with some compost tea or Recharge, something with active cultures in it to speed up the breakdown. Lactobacillus solution is great for this, you could also drain the whey off of a container of plain yogurt and dilute that, those lactobacilli are monsters at decomposition, people also add molasses water to speed things up, which is one of the main things in Recharge along with soluble kelp. I like Recharge a lot and use it since I started, but I don’t lean on it as one-dimensionally as I used to. It is an excellent starting point for adding beneficials and some kelp/molasses regularly, super convenient and concentrated.
The second topdressing could be more 4-6-3 or you could switch to their 3-9-4, if that’s the flower ferts you’re referring to, I would add some kelp meal or soluble kelp for more K and micros at that point too
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I know you know, how do I make this into a culture to be used over time?
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Alternatively you can topdress with chopped up kitchenscraps, grass clippings, nettle, dandelion leaves, that’s all the minerals you’ll ever need, plus a decent amount of nitrogen.
Diversity is key.
For extra nitrogen you can plant beans and/or other nitrogen fixers alongside your cannabis seeds.
Chop and drop when they start flowering or become too big, that releases the most nitrogen, and it’s slow release so you can never overdo it.
I’m wary of kelp unless it’s certified organic because it can contain heavy metals, some farms have lost their organic certification from using it.
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very informative @Dirt_Wizard. exactly what i was looking for. thank you. i plan on mulching with plain straw but i was trying to wait till after the topdress. if im topdressing twice ill mulch after the first one.
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i like earth friendly and sustainable. iv watched a bunch of the bas videos. this is only my second dirt run. before this it was paint by the numbers hydro with bottles. im moving that direction…slowly. 
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Thank you for switching to the dirt side. 
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lol it feels to easy. i wrote litfa on the whiteboard in the tent room. i came from full on rdwc with the 3inch returns and 2 layer scrog
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When I make LABS I start from wild yeasts and bacteria, the whey thing is a shortcut but it’s pretty worthwhile for doing occasionally.
-To start wild you wash rice, it just has to be normal rice not processed or whatever, I use the basmati I get by the 25lb bag.
-Put a cup of rice and two cups of water into a pot and stir it for sixty seconds, then strain the rice out and pour the milky water in a quart jar.
-Leave that somewhere out of the sun or even in a black sock, light is our enemy here but we want to leave it open for a day before putting the lid on loosely and putting it somewhere warm, top of the router works, or a heat mat.
-Check it after the first few days and when it gets scummy looking with layers, use a baster or something to suck out the middle largest layer and add that to a quart of room temp milk, organic is probably better but I just use basic store milk from the gas station. This changes the solution so it starts selecting for lactobacillus cultures specifically. Split it into two quart jars, lid loose, black sock, warm spot for a few days. The first step with rice wash doesn’t smell, this one does.
-Once the milk fully ferments and curds up, just strain the curds off, eat them or feed them to your dog or compost them, and you’re left with fresh LAB serum. I put it in the fridge and use it from there like that, many people make it shelf-stable by mixing with a large volume of molasses which makes the culture go into stasis without killing it.
There’s a million guides out there, this one’s good and I stole their pictures so I’ll link to it:
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Wonder if any of these farms popped hot for heavy metals due to location of farms in adjacent proximity to industrial plants or industrial plazas?Seems the most peer reviewed research i can find all had the same keypoints and bullets pointing twords signs of heavy concentrations of metals spewed out by industrial Plants and Kelp soaking it up like a sponge.Its the same with Alfalfa my personal choice.I try to get Organic Alfalfa nuggets at The Feed stores for livestock.50lb bag is like 30$ try and find 50lbs of alfalfa labeled for cannabis growing for 30 bucks.Its almost like you have to outsource your own building blocks because anything being sold with the hot word Cannabis in its Title is a 60% markup or more.25lbs of Down to earth OMRI listed Alfalfa is 38$ without shipping and handling weight included so your looking at about 100$ for the same weight as my feed bag which mulches so much easier anyway.Alfalfa is loaded in nutrients amd Dr Earth products are loaded with it also.
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thats awesome info @Dirt_Wizard thank you for the write up! how long is it good for in the fridge like that?
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the dr earth bag smells like alfalfa! ive wanted to try kelp supplements. i think i read that its the fastest growing plant or something and supplementing with it conveys the hormones. or maybe i dreamd that im pretty hi 
if i get some ill look for some tested for heavy metals
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You’re welcome, and I’m not sure. I only make enough for a few months at a time so I never keep it longer than that, but I can’t perceive any changes in that time.
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Is there a particular bean you recommend?I haven’t did the living mulch yet. What bean would you throw in a outdoor cannabis garden for living mulch? Spring planting at 42 lat
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You ever give the fruit tree DR earth a go?
I bought in a rush. Plants have only been in the mixed HF with fruit tree at half recommended dose for a week so to early to tell.
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No I’ve only used these two, mostly I just use the Tomato and Veg one:
These are the top dressings I used the most for a while and I like a lot, Coast of Maine also has a great chart with their schedule for cannabis:
This is their autoflower-specific instructions:
I like this for another soil amendment too, it’s cheap and super unprocessed so it makes a good aeration component besides the other benefits. The manufacturer charges a lot but ships free, it’s like $18-20 other places.
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Wow thanks for that @Dirt_Wizard. I have chickens and had ducks. RIP ducks. Damn hungry somethin got my ducks two nights ago. They made some great ready to use fert.
The mixed bags for now just get me through till i get them in the ground.
I have some 6 week old plants i top dressed with the fruit fert weeks ago still kickin in a 12 oz planter.
Now my neighbors garden run on the tomatoe dr earth and it just flat out grows good things.
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