Ecothrive vs Guanaklong

[yabbah]

I've got a small one plant grow going at the moment. It's about week 6/7 in flower and fading out fast, absurdly fast.

 

 

 

It's in a 6litre pot using garden centre soil amended with GK Organic fertiliser.

It's been fighting a nutrient deficiency since week 4 of the grow despite following the feeding instructions on the GK fertiliser packaging and website. (50ml of ferts mixed in to 6litres of soil, top dressed with 150ml at the first sing of nitrogen deficiency, to no avail).

I don't really know why it didn't work out for me? PH was bang on 6.2-6.5, air temps were 26-28 degrees, roots were kept warm, humidity was 40-50% for flower and higher for veg. 

All enviornemtal factors were ticked. No lockout (as far as im aware) should have occurred. So why didn't the GK ferts do their thing? 

I switched back to my Plagron bottled nutrients in a bid to save her, which worked for a while, but the nutrient depletion seemingly can't be stopped.

 

I really want to switch to organics, but this first attempt is a bit of a disaster. I see some people on here use GK, others use Ecothrive. My local grow shop sells eco thrive.

Considering switching as more members here seem to be using it with good results. 

 

My plan at the moment is to get some Ecothrive Charge (which they have in stock locally), a bottle of bio fizz fish mix, and some worm castings for my next run.

 

Or am i just using all of it wrong and should figure out the bag of GK i have first?

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by yabbah

[one hell of mess]

Why are you fucking with the PH for? I suspect that's where you fucked up. It's soil, it buffers its self.

[MindSoup]

You using solely dry amendments? If so your container is very much on the small side, once the pot is root bound its very hard to keep up, hence why you see people using big pots, if you have the space try again with a larger container. I just about manage in 5L pots if I keep the plants small enough and pile on the WCs, but I still need the odd hit of Comfrey Tea to keep them happy. My biggest plant atm started to fade really early, its just too big for its boots. Build A Soils new series has a brilliant example of big pots vs small pots.

 

I do find the Ecothrive range to be pretty good, albeit expensive for what it is, I use Life Cycle paired with WCs, The Biosys is good stuff to. @blackpoolbouncer uses and recommends Elixir Complete Soil Improver, it's got a very similar formula at a better price, I'll probably use that once this bucket runs out. 

 

E2A I'll be adding Biochar in my mix for my next run, more microbiology = more nutrient availablity.

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by MindSoup

[yabbah]

On 04/12/2021 at 11:16 AM, MindSoup said:

You using solely dry amendments? If so your container is very much on the small side, once the pot is root bound its very hard to keep up, hence why you see people using big pots, if you have the space try again with a larger container. I just about manage in 5L pots if I keep the plants small enough and pile on the WCs, but I still need the odd hit of Comfrey Tea to keep them happy. My biggest plant atm started to fade really early, its just too big for its boots. Build A Soils new series has a brilliant example of big pots vs small pots.

 

I do find the Ecothrive range to be pretty good, albeit expensive for what it is, I use Life Cycle paired with WCs, The Biosys is good stuff to. @blackpoolbouncer uses and recommends Elixir Complete Soil Improver, it's got a very similar formula at a better price, I'll probably use that once this bucket runs out. 

 

E2A I'll be adding Biochar in my mix for my next run, more microbiology = more nutrient availablity.

 

 

yeah just dry amendments. I did start adding molasses in flower also.

 

I have another 20l planter from the garden that i can put in there for the next run. Would this be more sufficient? 

in a 20l, would i be able to sustain a repeat cycle living soil? or would i have to remove the soil and add in fresh soil and amendments each run?

 

Interestingly, I know a microbiologist whose is doing experiments using biochar and hemp  definitely on to a winner there. 

[MindSoup]

I can't speak from experience on that TBH. I think people recommend  40L and a depth of about 35cm (or bigger/deeper) for a self sustaining no till bed, it can be done in something smaller but it gets pretty difficult. Build a Soils "small" containers are 5 US Gallons (19L) and they're all showing some sort deficiency and that's in the hands of a leading expert in indoor no till. I think @blackpoolbouncer uses a 20L for his bonsai mums, but he's got a lot of experience and they don't need a lot of nutrients. 

 

At 20L I think it's more realistic to expect to do a single run and then replenish/remix the soil. At that size with regular top dresses you should be able to get a plant to the end without to much worry, as long as you keep it from getting too big. 

[yabbah]

@MindSoup Thanks for your reply! Saved me a ton of time watching through buildasoils youtube. good content on his channel but don't fancy watching through an hour of videos to get a quick answer  

 

Waiting for this fuck of a run to finish and then i'll be starting fresh with that 20 litre

[MindSoup]

Good luck with it mate, should be a lot easier to keep things healthy. 

[cypo74]

I use guanokalong nutes and love them, great taste and smell on the final product.

 

I use guanokalong soil, grow, bloom, bat boost and calmag (I uses led lighting so need calmag) in 5 gallon fabric pots, I also don’t ph my water

 

The guanokalong feed chart is a good starting guide but remember that the liquid nutes don’t have any phosphorous so you need to top dress with guano powder at week 1 and 4 of flower, sometimes in veg too depending on how hungry your girls are or how long you’ve been in veg. 
 

give the full line up a go mate, using the liquid nutes along with guano powder, I love the range, top notch end product 

Edited January 24, 2022 by cypo74

[Whambud]

Super soil would be what I’d recommend… only time I’ve had no issues in soil believe it or not but that’s on me. Use to use rockwool chipping’s anyway.

 

Ecothrive made there own soil called eco life and from what I’ve seen it’s the bomb! It’s expensive! £30 odd for 45L but seeing the sort of space your working with making your own would be a waste. 
 

Im not saying it’s the answer to all your prayers super soil needs to be watered differently to regular soil applications… not letting it dry out… keeping it moist… but once you get the hang of it you can literally just add water and get great results.

 

If your passionate about organic growing I’d recommend looking into super soil and no till gardening. 
 

all the best mate I hope your next run works out better.