Soil/Nutes Noob

[2fthigh]

Hi All,

Just getting geared up for my first proper grow, which I will be posting a grow diary for to get the assistance I need.

I've been looking at various mediums&nutes for my first grow and I'm leaning towards

-Ecothrive Life Soil

-Worm Castings

-Ecothrive Biosys Microbial Tea (for repots)

I would like to get to a point where I can pot up throughout the process and simply water the plants as required. Perhaps top feed some nutes if needed.

1. First question is , have I picked some good products and will I be able to get through my growing process by simply watering? and potentially a small amount of top-ups throughout.

2. As I like to plan in advance, is there anything people would recommend I get as a 'just in case' to treat any problems along the way. 

 

3. Maybe some suggestions of other alternatives I can look at. Bare in mind I'm a complete NOOB! I want to give this thing a go and I can't keep talking about it , need to take action so I bought everything to get me started . I would really like to sort my medium and nutes initially so I can simply water throughout, if possible.

 

TIA

 

 

[BilgePump]

You'll need a bloom feed , the ewc and soil will get you through vegging pretty hassle free.

 

Have a look at the greenhouse seeds co. Powder feeds bio range , their flowering fert is a dry amendment you just top dress and water in 

 

[2fthigh]

Just now, BilgePump said:

You'll need a bloom feed , the ewc and soil will get you through vegging pretty hassle free.

 

Have a look at the greenhouse seeds co. Powder feeds bio range , their flowering fert is a dry amendment you just top dress and water in 

 

Thanks for the swift response mate. I'll take a look right now!

[2fthigh]

Just now, BilgePump said:

You'll need a bloom feed , the ewc and soil will get you through vegging pretty hassle free.

 

Have a look at the greenhouse seeds co. Powder feeds bio range , their flowering fert is a dry amendment you just top dress and water in 

 

One more question @BilgePump. If I were to get a product like you mentioned above , how would I know how often to top dress my plants. Would I just have to see how they respond to the feed and amend or would I have a specific schedule I could stick too?

[BilgePump]

Iirc it's a single application for the whole bloom phase , have a Googly there are numerous online brochures and schedules on the GH site

 

[Highgrade14]

I am currently half way through my first run with the ecothrive soil. As this is living soil in theory you should not need to add bottled feeds and certainly not in-organic/salt based feeds. The idea is not to feed the plant but to feed the soil. The microbes already in the soil/castings and  in your biosys will break organic matter down to make nutrient available to your plants. The other crucial part of the this process is worms and a mulch layer.Then all you need to do is top feed with organic inputs such as kelp meal, insect frass, leaves from the plant itself, alfalfa-even vegetable waste from the kitchen. To do this no till method you need as big a pot as possible-45 litre per pot at least as there is not enough soil in smaller pots for a ‘water only’ approach. If you want to use smaller pots then you will need to add more soluble nutrients to feed the plant. As this idea is to keep the soil for multiple runs you don’t want any build up of salts etc as you do not flush with no till-anything you put in there will stay in there if not absorbed by plant. If done correctly the soil gets better each run you do. There are plenty of other much more experienced no tillers on here that can help you, also check out ‘buildasoil’ on the tube of you. @FarmerPalmersNT has an awesome post on here called something like ‘building the mega-bed’. This gentleman and a few others on here inspired me to go the no-till method. My diary is called ‘working with nature’. I’m proper shit with computers other wise I would link them lol. Happy researching 

[MindSoup]

20 hours ago, 2fthigh said:

First question is , have I picked some good products and will I be able to get through my growing process by simply watering? 

 

All depends on your pot size mate, if you go big enough (40L or so) then yes all you will need is water, but if you go smaller you will need top dress and beyond a certain size liquid feed will be unavoidable. 

 

I top dress with life cycle and worm castings, elixir complete soil enhancer is also a good life cycle alternative. If you're going for smaller pots a bottle of liquid feed like fish mix or liquid comfrey could be a good idea to keep on hand as a top dress will take a week or so to become available. 

 

As for alternatives you could easily mix your own soil for about half the price of the life soil, theres a few recipes on here. Check out @FarmerPalmersNT and @blackpoolbouncers content for some good info, coots mix and or subcool super soil are 2 very popular recipes to have a look at, you don't have to stick to them exactly. Build a soil is also a brilliant YouTube channel to learn about your chosen method. 

 

 

 

 

[2fthigh]

1 hour ago, Highgrade14 said:

I am currently half way through my first run with the ecothrive soil. As this is living soil in theory you should not need to add bottled feeds and certainly not in-organic/salt based feeds. The idea is not to feed the plant but to feed the soil. The microbes already in the soil/castings and  in your biosys will break organic matter down to make nutrient available to your plants. The other crucial part of the this process is worms and a mulch layer.Then all you need to do is top feed with organic inputs such as kelp meal, insect frass, leaves from the plant itself, alfalfa-even vegetable waste from the kitchen. To do this no till method you need as big a pot as possible-45 litre per pot at least as there is not enough soil in smaller pots for a ‘water only’ approach. If you want to use smaller pots then you will need to add more soluble nutrients to feed the plant. As this idea is to keep the soil for multiple runs you don’t want any build up of salts etc as you do not flush with no till-anything you put in there will stay in there if not absorbed by plant. If done correctly the soil gets better each run you do. There are plenty of other much more experienced no tillers on here that can help you, also check out ‘buildasoil’ on the tube of you. @FarmerPalmersNT has an awesome post on here called something like ‘building the mega-bed’. This gentleman and a few others on here inspired me to go the no-till method. My diary is called ‘working with nature’. I’m proper shit with computers other wise I would link them lol. Happy researching 

Thanks for the response mate. I will definitely have a look at the youtube & Keep building on my knowledge. I understand what you mean, I think I will definitely end up top feeding. I just wanted to try and keep things as simple as possible for my first grow. I think the less I have to intervene throughout the process & the more prep i do the better. I'll have a look at your diary to get some more ideas also! Thanks

[2fthigh]

16 minutes ago, MindSoup said:

All depends on your pot size mate, if you go big enough (40L or so) then yes all you will need is water, but if you go smaller you will need top dress and beyond a certain size liquid feed will be unavoidable. 

Yeah you're right mate. I think I will have to get slightly smaller pot sizes so maybe un-avoidable with top feeding.

 

 

@MindSoup one thing I've seen after looking through the forum that would be a different alternative is to go with Intense Nutrients and follow one of their feeding regimes. That way I can buy everything in that I need and follow one of their plans to give me the support I need on the first grow. I think this might simplify things down for me and I'll be using something that a lot of other people are using. I'm quite fortunate with funds and i've stockpiled a good amount of funds to do this , so I might try that. What are your thoughts on doing something like that for a first time?

[Shumroom]

@2fthigh get in touch with @One Tree Horticulture who are one of the fantastic site sponsors

 

They'll be able to sort you out with medium and nutrients and they also give 10% off at the checkout using code"OTH10". 

 

Give them a call or drop them an email. 

 

As mentioned previously you may get away without grow/veg nutes,

but I'd get a small bottle of Organix Grow and a larger bottle of bloom and a bag of Tropic mix compost which contains some coco,

so it drains very freely 

 

Ecothrive Biosys tea is a good ammendment. 

 

As for seeds check out the Attitude seedbank, 

but wait a few days as they'll probably have a big special offer for black Friday. 

 

Also check out Seedstockers for some lovely genetics, 

Blackberry Gum was very nice when I grew it. 

 

Atb 

 

 

 

[Loft grow UK]

Hello fella 

 

Tropic mix is a lovely soil light and fluffy use Xstream gardening mykos with charge potting up both works great together 

Feed I did use plant magic but now I have gone to shogun nutrients that's my favourite many brands out there now can't keep up

Also feed once a week with plant success myco chum also use plant success products 

 

All the best fella I will be keeping my eye on a grow daily soon then 

[2fthigh]

22 hours ago, Shumroom said:

get in touch with @One Tree Horticulture who are one of the fantastic site sponsors

Thanks mate, i'll do that now. I'll get everything through them! Want to help out the community also

22 hours ago, Shumroom said:

As mentioned previously you may get away without grow/veg nutes,

but I'd get a small bottle of Organix Grow and a larger bottle of bloom and a bag of Tropic mix compost which contains some coco,

so it drains very freely 

Sounds nice a simple, then top feed some nutes as required.

22 hours ago, Shumroom said:

As for seeds check out the Attitude seedbank

Never seen anything from these guys, going to have a butchers now

[2fthigh]

21 hours ago, Loft grow UK said:

 

All the best fella I will be keeping my eye on a grow daily soon then 

Thanks for the advice mate & Keep em peeled for the grow diary. Getting close now!

[Guest]

On 12/11/2021 at 1:35 PM, 2fthigh said:

Yeah you're right mate. I think I will have to get slightly smaller pot sizes so maybe un-avoidable with top feeding.

 

 

@MindSoup one thing I've seen after looking through the forum that would be a different alternative is to go with Intense Nutrients and follow one of their feeding regimes. That way I can buy everything in that I need and follow one of their plans to give me the support I need on the first grow. I think this might simplify things down for me and I'll be using something that a lot of other people are using. I'm quite fortunate with funds and i've stockpiled a good amount of funds to do this , so I might try that. What are your thoughts on doing something like that for a first time?

Hi, mate. Have a look at my diary in signature. I do microgrow in 6.5l fabric pot and using Ecothrive soil , Biosys tea, Ecothrive charge as a top dress and Intense Nutrients Organix. 

 

Also, have a look at company called livingsoils (Google livingsoils organic fertilizers) as it might what you looking for.

 

I am planning use their products for soil in my next run as I've seen some good results on shittube videos (search Frosty Jack he is using them with no till method). Also, Google Mr Canuck's grow it will give you ideas about top dress and grow in small pots ... 

 

Follow @blackpoolbouncer

 

No till method with megabed is the way to water only!

 

Hope this helps 

 

ATB

[2fthigh]

@Canna Denfour20 thanks so much for your response. I'll have a look now at the livingsoils and your diaries! Frosty Jack & Cannucks are fantastic, been binging all of these!

Thanks for the help