First time running soil, confused about nutes/amendments

[hm7]

Hey everyone,

I've got a few runs down now with both hydro and coco. I'm very familiar with those, but not so much with soil, and I'm concerned about encountering deficiencies.


- Someone gave me a bag of 'Happy Frog Soil Conditioner'. Can just use this straight up as a medium without any major issues?

- My biggest concern is making sure I don't run into deficiencies throughout the run.


I'm looking to keep things as simple as possible. I don't want to create my own super-soil mix, amendments, etc. I'm hoping that I can find some sort of simple premade product(s) that I can use to make this work. I've seen some people supposedly make it through entire grows by just using 'Recharge' once a month on top? I've read others recommending 'Gaia Green', or 'Dr. Earth'? I've seen a lot of recommendations for NOTG, however they seem to have a whole line up of various products, and of course, they recommend all of them for various reasons.



At this point, I'm confused and just want to keep things as simple/minimal as possible, hopefully without having to get 25 different products/individual components to make it through without issues.


Does anyone have any recommendations/advice? Thanks!

** I should mention I have a 3gal airpot I'm planning to use, and will be running a photoperiod

 

[Imzzaudae]

You can make this as simple or as complicated as you like.
You can drop a bunch of money on pre mixed soils or you can make your own.

A little nice top soil and compost in your pots.

A super simple fertilizer is called JLF. Cut your grass and fill a Black 20 L bucket 3/4 full of clippings and weeds from the garden. Add a gallon of Microbe solution and fill the bucket with rain water. Cove and set in the sun for 2 weeks.

Microbe Solution is super easy to make. Boil 1 potato in 1 L rain water. Let it cool. Mix in blender. Pour the potato mix into a bucket add 1 Gal rain water, a cup of the best soil from your garden. Mix well with a stick. Cover and place in the sun and you will microbe solution in a day.
When the top is all foamy it's ready. You can just strain it into your JLF solution or your weekly watering bucket and mix.

You mix the JLF 50-1 with rain water and water your plants with it twice a week. You should make some microbe solution each week and add a cup to your mix.

For minerals. 1 Gallon can of fresh clean wood ash in a 20L bucket of rain water. Mix very well. Keep this covered and use it all season.
Add 1/2 cup to each weekly bucket.

So once a week. Take an empty 20L bucket.
Add 1/2L of JLF
1/2 L Microbe Solution.
Mix well. Add 1 cup wood ash solution.
Fill the bucket with rain water. Water your plants with this. Cover and set the rest aside for mid week feeding.

You should mix at least 1/2 cup of bone meal in each pot before planting.
I put a can of unsalted sardines packed in water deep in the pot. Break an egg in the hole with the fish. Fill the hole with soul over this and water with microbe solution 2 weeks before planting.

You may want to add a cup of chicken poo JLF to the bucket once the plants are well under way just to keep things nice and green.
Not every week just when needed to bump the nitrogen up.
Click this link

Growing Organic buy Nate - Growing like a viking

Beginners guide to organic gardening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkDb48twTsE Understanding the food web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5uEaBF3xFc Building organic super soil with Leaf Mold. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4LBFn-4Ut8 Microbial Solution...

www.thcfarmer.com

This grows incredible plants.

I have also grown with simple Pro-Mix from the hardware store and had incredible plants and great bud.

1/2 strength 12-6-6 once a week for Veg. The rest of the time just water.
Be careful with the 12-6-6 it's easy to burn a young plant with it.

1/2 strength 5-15-5 once a week for flower. The rest of the time just water.
You want to use the bone meal. Maybe some Epsom salts
You will be surprised just how easy this is.

This will give you a little to think about.

 

[PahPahCee]

Some dry fertilizer and big pots of soil is as simple as it gets. You might get away with 3 gal containers but it would be a lot easier in larger containers.

 

[Kannabis]

Hey everyone,

I've got a few runs down now with both hydro and coco. I'm very familiar with those, but not so much with soil, and I'm concerned about encountering deficiencies.


- Someone gave me a bag of 'Happy Frog Soil Conditioner'. Can just use this straight up as a medium without any major issues?

- My biggest concern is making sure I don't run into deficiencies throughout the run.


I'm looking to keep things as simple as possible. I don't want to create my own super-soil mix, amendments, etc. I'm hoping that I can find some sort of simple premade product(s) that I can use to make this work. I've seen some people supposedly make it through entire grows by just using 'Recharge' once a month on top? I've read others recommending 'Gaia Green', or 'Dr. Earth'? I've seen a lot of recommendations for NOTG, however they seem to have a whole line up of various products, and of course, they recommend all of them for various reasons.



At this point, I'm confused and just want to keep things as simple/minimal as possible, hopefully without having to get 25 different products/individual components to make it through without issues.


Does anyone have any recommendations/advice? Thanks!

** I should mention I have a 3gal airpot I'm planning to use, and will be running a photoperiod

I am a regular user of Fox Farm pre-mix soils and Fox Farm 3 part Nutrients. For me I'm a fan of garden enjoyment rather than garden headache. The only thing I stress as a Fox Farm user is that you mix up the soil that is in each bag.

 

[Stokes]

Gaia green and castings are the way to go for simplicity imo.

Im a down to earth user but as far as pre-mixed fertilizers its hard to beat their 4-4-4 and 2-8-4. The down to earth 4-4-4, 4-6-2, 4-3-6, etc are good but are usually lacking magnesium for some reason. Easily remedied with epsom salt though.


If you go the dry amendments route remember to feed/inoculate your microbes with either castings or recharge.

 

[ArtfulCodger]

- Someone gave me a bag of 'Happy Frog Soil Conditioner'. Can just use this straight up as a medium without any major issues?

Happy Frog Soil Conditioner is basically Happy Frog potting soil (the stuff in the brown bags) without the peat moss. Just the amendments. I don't know if you can grow in it by itself. I believe its intended use is as a dry amendment to a media: topsoil, peat, etc.

 

[hm7]

Wow, thanks so much for all this info guys! This is a great help and I appreciate it! I think I will give this soil a go, and try pairing Gaia Green with Recharge and see how she does.

Gaia green and castings are the way to go for simplicity imo.

Im a down to earth user but as far as pre-mixed fertilizers its hard to beat their 4-4-4 and 2-8-4. The down to earth 4-4-4, 4-6-2, 4-3-6, etc are good but are usually lacking magnesium for some reason. Easily remedied with epsom salt though.

Awesome tip on the epsom. I still have some left over from my last coco run, so I should be covered. Any tips on how often/how much you are generally having to use with Gaia?

 

[2Water]

Gaia green and castings are the way to go for simplicity imo.

Im a down to earth user but as far as pre-mixed fertilizers its hard to beat their 4-4-4 and 2-8-4. The down to earth 4-4-4, 4-6-2, 4-3-6, etc are good but are usually lacking magnesium for some reason. Easily remedied with epsom salt though.


If you go the dry amendments route remember to feed/inoculate your microbes with either castings or recharge.

That's why i mix in the 333 to the 4-6-2 and top dress with bio-live

 

[hm7]

That's why i mix in the 333 to the 4-6-2 and top dress with bio-live

Oh I misunderstood Stokes. I didn't realize 'Down to Earth' was another product entirely. Got it!

 

[hm7]

Welp .... my experiment has not gone well at all. I transplanted my healthy 3 week old gal into that soil, and within 2 days, she's wilted, leaves are super twisted, etc. I'm certain she's going to die for whatever reason. Not sure what's up, but she looks horrible.

I was hoping to simplify things and get rid of the salt based nutes, dealing with runoff, etc by switching to soil, but I think this is a sign that I just need to just go back to (and stick with) coco.

Maybe a different soil would have worked out better or maybe it was just simple transplant shock? This soil worked incredibly well for my friend's vegetable garden. It was used straight up with perlite mixed in (exact same thing I used/did), but for whatever reason - my experience with it has been less than stellar.


It was a fun experiment. A shame it didn't work out. Appreciate the advice and help above though, thank you.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

Awesome tip on the epsom. I still have some left over from my last coco run, so I should be covered. Any tips on how often/how much you are generally having to use with Gaia?

I am using Epsom salts with Gaia Green. I top dress one tablespoon at two-week intervals. I also add one tablespoon of gypsum and two tablespoons of Azomite at the same time. I mix all of it in a jar with soil and spread it over the top of the soil before watering. This has worked well for me.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

Welp .... my experiment has not gone well at all. I transplanted my healthy 3 week old gal into that soil, and within 2 days, she's wilted, leaves are super twisted, etc. I'm certain she's going to die for whatever reason. Not sure what's up, but she looks horrible.

I was hoping to simplify things and get rid of the salt based nutes, dealing with runoff, etc by switching to soil, but I think this is a sign that I just need to just go back to (and stick with) coco.

Maybe a different soil would have worked out better or maybe it was just simple transplant shock? This soil worked incredibly well for my friend's vegetable garden. It was used straight up with perlite mixed in (exact same thing I used/did), but for whatever reason - my experience with it has been less than stellar.


It was a fun experiment. A shame it didn't work out. Appreciate the advice and help above though, thank you.

I'd like to see a picture of your sick plant. I've had excellent results with organic soil growing. Things can go wrong, though, just like with any other growing method.

Did you water it after you transplanted it?

 

[hm7]

I'd like to see a picture of your sick plant. I've had excellent results with organic soil growing. Things can go wrong, though, just like with any other growing method.

Did you water it after you transplanted it?

I read up on a slurry test, and maybe the soil was just too hot? It looks like it's sitting about 1.1EC, PH sitting @ 6.3. PH sounds a bit low for soil, but I'm also used to hydro so don't know too much about that regarding what it should be in soil.

I would have expected much better results from this soil. My friend's veggie garden is literally overflowing from all the plants they used this stuff in. I really thought it would have worked out better.



Here's some pics. She went from pretty healthy to this in just a few days. Yes, I did water her after transplanting. Soil feels slightly damp. Not too wet, not too dry.

 

[Kannabis]

My first thought is you need to add perlite to your mix. It appears somewhat compacted. A good mix should be nice and loose (just like my ex) "New" plant roots need very little moisture to thrive post transplant.

 

[Saint1]

Happy Frog Soil Conditioner stimulates root development and helps plants access the uptake of important micro-nutrients. - This is a conditioner to amend soil - not to be used as soil alone... too hot for youngins.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

I read up on a slurry test, and maybe the soil was just too hot? It looks like it's sitting about 1.1EC, PH sitting @ 6.3. PH sounds a bit low for soil, but I'm also used to hydro so don't know too much about that regarding what it should be in soil.

I would have expected much better results from this soil. My friend's veggie garden is literally overflowing from all the plants they used this stuff in. I really thought it would have worked out better.



Here's some pics. She went from pretty healthy to this in just a few days. Yes, I did water her after transplanting. Soil feels slightly damp. Not too wet, not too dry.

Thanks for the pics. They help. The plant probably can recover.

Is that plant still in the solo cup? Have you slid it out to look at the roots?

My first thought is that it very much needs to be in a bigger pot that aerates the roots. For example: A five-gallon fabric pot with a high porosity soil mix.

 

[ArtfulCodger]

How's the drainage in your solo(s)? Lots of holes in the bottom? I'm asking because it looks like there's a ton of texture in the leaves, which makes me wonder about over-watering.

 

[hm7]

How's the drainage in your solo(s)? Lots of holes in the bottom? I'm asking because it looks like there's a ton of texture in the leaves, which makes me wonder about over-watering.

Well, she was actually started out in coco, and then I tried transplanting her to soil. She was doing great in coco, but ... she did not like the transplant haha.

I mixed a ton of perlite in, but yeah I gave up on her. She just continued to worsen and worsen. Not sure what the issue was.



I actually found a place near me that has Ocean Forest in stock (to my surprise). I grabbed a bag of that, mixed in a ton of perlite, and am giving that a go with a new one. Hopefully this will work better than that Happy Frog conditioner stuff. I figure it's worth a shot before throwing in the towel and going back to coco. We'll see how this one does starting out in it, vs transplanting into it.

 

[ArtfulCodger]

Well, she was actually started out in coco, and then I tried transplanting her to soil. She was doing great in coco, but ... she did not like the transplant haha.

I mixed a ton of perlite in, but yeah I gave up on her. She just continued to worsen and worsen. Not sure what the issue was.



I actually found a place near me that has Ocean Forest in stock (to my surprise). I grabbed a bag of that and mixed in even more perlite, and am giving this another go with a new one. I figure it's worth a shot before throwing in the towel and going back to coco. We'll see how this one does starting out in it, vs transplanting into it.

OF can be pretty hot for seedlings. The variation in bags makes it more challenging. Another group I'm in had a member whose new bag of OF tested at 8400 (!) ppms. Just something to keep an eye on. Good luck.

 

[hm7]

OF can be pretty hot for seedlings. The variation in bags makes it more challenging. Another group I'm in had a member whose new bag of OF tested at 8400 (!) ppms. Just something to keep an eye on. Good luck.

Yeah I read that about OF too. Seemed to be a lot of people saying it was fine and they had zero problems, and others saying it was too hot and burnt their seedlings. I'll find out. I was going to try mixing in some of my coco, but opted for just perlite and OF. Will be interesting to see how it does.

I had mistakenly picked up Strawberry Fields first, after reading people had used/recommended it - but then realized right before using it that it was intended for transplanting for the flip to flower, so I guess if I get that far, I'll have that ready. Hopefully, I can get there with the OF.

Plan is to go from solo cup, to a 3gal, to a 5gal @ flip. Hoping the solo cup -> 3gal won't be too big of a jump, but we'll see if I can even make it there haha.