dustin boles Posted July 29, 2002 Share Posted July 29, 2002 i have a question about organic nutes. i have seaweed extract and bat guano at my house. when and how often should i use them? do i need anything else other than what i have? any info is appreciated because im a little lost. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer1 Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 dustin boles how long is a piece of string? To grow good plants you need a balanced compost with all the elements the plant needs in it. Bat guano comes with all sorts of NPK balances, ones with high P are often used when flowering as a top dressing and watered in. I personally don’t like them as they often carry fungi spores that can set all sorts of problems off. What seaweed extract do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustin boles Posted July 31, 2002 Author Share Posted July 31, 2002 dustin boles how long is a piece of string? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joolz Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 im sorry if my post was a little vague It was a bit vague a simple question that requires a simple answer Sorry mate, but you didn't ask a simple question. You asked a question that was impossible to answer without knowing at least a little bit about your particular setup ! Indoor or outdoor would be a good place to start ? Whether you are organic/soil, hydroponic, aeroponic, ? would also helpfull! What and whose strain are you growing ? Are they vegging, flowering or still at the damp tissue stage ? Ph level maybe ? Without this basic info, any advice given would in all probability have left you with either at best, a very low yield of poor quality bud, or at worst, a growroom full of dead plants. Neither result is very encouraging, esp if you are a newcomer to the hobby. i was told the people here were good and there was a wealth of information available. If you stick around a while, you might find out they were right It's a bit like karma here, whatever you put in you'll get back with interest! That include's both trust and courtesy ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustin boles Posted August 2, 2002 Author Share Posted August 2, 2002 OK IGOT A LITTLE UPSET AND MY POST WAS VAGUE. IM SORRY FOR THAT. i am growing in an organic soil . my babies are only an inch and a half tall with the first set of true leaves forming. the strain i have is afghani # 1, from the medseeds project. as far as ph is concerned, i have not had the money to buy a test kit, but i will have on within a week or so. again, i got a little frustrated and i apologize to oldtimer1 and anyone else i may have offened. D.B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer1 Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 db I was not being smart with you. Its just a phrase used round here when you don’t have enough info and need more. Lets start again and take one step at a time. From your phrasing are you from across the pond it helps me if I know that. RE: to me growing in organic soil means out side. But from years of exchanging ideas with people like say Vic High, what I call compost to him is potting soil or his super soil mix. So are you going to grow under lights in pots or outdoors and want to know about fertilisers for improving the soil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustin boles Posted August 4, 2002 Author Share Posted August 4, 2002 ya know oldtimer, i started to suspect that phrase may have just been common to your country, but i apologize again. yes i am from the u.s. i am growing indoors in pots. i bought the soil that looked best to me. it has added earthworm castings, kelp meal, bat guano, feather meal, and mycorrbizal fungi. now ive never heard of the last one but it says the fungi helps in the uptake of nutrients in the plant. i have a bottle of GROW MORE seaweed extract. the npk analysis is .10-.10.1.5. my dog threw my bat guano all over the yard so thats out for now. what im wondering is do i need to buy anything other than what ive got? how often do i feed. and anything else you think is helpful. thanks d. b. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer1 Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Ok db the idea of organic growing is that firstly to grow plants without chemical fertilisers and sprays, so your final product have no nasty residual chems in them. Personally I also think that copying hydro methods such as dramatically altering the nutrient balance by using excessive phosphorus rich organic nutrients to achieve a heavier final yield, is detrimental to quality as well. Plants do best when given a balanced mix of nutrients and this is really reflected in the smoking quality and taste of the puff produced. You have or have made your compost you are growing in now, if its a good balanced mix, most of what, if not everything your plants need should already be in it. I assume you followed a formula from some where. So all that should be necessary is watering. The fungi culture spore mix will be mostly symbiotic types that penetrate the roots of your plants. Some that exchange nutrients with he plant and some that give protection against pathogenic fungi. This makes for a real living soil mix although the worm castings should have already have done this. Your seaweed extract shouldn't be necessary as you already have kelp meal in your mix. But it can be sprayed/misted on the plants once a week through veg and the first week or so on 12/12 as a foliar feed! Seaweed contains natural growth stimulants, an extensive range of trace elements, this combination makes for strong healthy plants. If you want to give your plants an extra boost when flowering you can feed them once a week through flowering with earth juice bloom apart from the last week when just water will do. This is a balanced liquid organic fertiliser that is only moderately high in phosphorus and helps to produce nice sweet smoking buds. Keep in mind most problems come from overfeeding not the plants starving. The other problem with inexperienced soil growers is starting seedlings in big pots of full strength compost. Remember the full strength potting mix if 3 to 5 times stronger in nutrients than natural garden soil. So it is best to start in in a small 2 to 3 inch pot using seedling strength compost, this pot is adequate until the seedling is 4 or so inches tall. If you are making your own compost take a look at Vic Highs super soil mix it has been used by thousands of growers with great success and the formula is tailored for cannabis. link I hope this helps. Any Q's fire away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustin boles Posted August 5, 2002 Author Share Posted August 5, 2002 ok, just to clarify, i need only use water until flowering cause my soil has enough nutrients right? as far as the seaweed extract, i foliar feed once a week, at what strenght? full, half. i can buy earth juice online but i have some time for that. thanks for the info oldtimer1. could you explain how you use excessive phosphorus rich organic nutrients, and what part of the plants life cycle you start that? thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustin boles Posted August 5, 2002 Author Share Posted August 5, 2002 one more thing oldtimer, what level ph do you like to maintain? are there cheap ways to go as far as ph testing? i will get a digital tds pen asap, but they are expensive. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer1 Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Recap:- Providing your compost/soil mix is a good one just water should be just fine till flowering. Mist lightly with the seaweed at normal recommended dilution weekly, stop once flower clusters start to form. I do 'not' recommend heavy use of phosphorus! It makes finished buds burn badly and the residual metallic salts are carcinogenic and irritate lung tissue when inhaled through burning. Earth juice bloom has all the additional phosphorus you will need to help build your buds without over doing it. Start using it when you switch to 12/12! Just use water during the last week before chopping them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer1 Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Soil mixes tend to buffer them selves. The addition of dolomite lime is used a lot by most people when making organic compost and helps with the buffering as well as supplying magnesium. To be quite honest ph is not critical when growing in soil based composts. I don’t know about state side but here any ordinary garden centre/shop have little test kits for measuring soil that are quite adequate and only cost the equivalent a $ or two. Don’t bother with meters you don’t need one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustin boles Posted August 5, 2002 Author Share Posted August 5, 2002 thanks man, ill keep you updated. i appreciate this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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