Growing with Gaia Green - Shaded's Method

[codemanwi]

This is a well known myth that has been debunked. Feed your plants until the finish. Fortunately with the way Gaia Green works in 4 week blocks most of the time the last "feed" is about 4-5 weeks before chop.

41:25 is when they get on the discussion of flushing and feeding to the end.

What a kick-ass video. Definitely a video for all newbies. I love the part about putting moron. That describes every new grower. Once again, more knowledgeable info from shaded. This has been a most helpful thread. Thanks bro!

 

[Neueregel]

Hey Gandalf, I have been using foxfarm nutes, i am not sold on them and want to try Gaia Green. can I change brands and not harm the plant?

 

[OntarioGoldenHash]

You can also top dress the Epsom salt as well as the water pre-mix option! As far as the oyster shell goes I can't speak too much on that as I don't specifically use it, but I do know that the All Purpose blend from Gaia Green has some of it included. I steered toward using ProMix BX because it comes with both Dolomite Lime and Calcitic Lime - I remember watching a video with a ProMix representative talking about how their medium is self buffering and I'll try to see if I can find that for you guys. Here's a sample of my water analysis and I don't do anything to adjust pH:

View attachment 1263114

Now the issue with pH comes in with re-using the medium or using a medium that doesn't have any self buffering agents, and that's where @PrimoClonesCanada addition of the Oyster shell & Dolomite lime can help with buffering mediums pH levels.

Great post. I hope to do my 2nd grow using Gaia products. What equipment do you use to analyze your water? Thanks.

 

[Shaded_One]

good input here thanks for posting.

If I could only tell people to watch ONE video related to growing it would be this one.

Great post. I hope to do my 2nd grow using Gaia products. What equipment do you use to analyze your water? Thanks.

that water analysis was from my city's website I'm sure you can look up yours as well!

 

[Shaded_One]

Hey Gandalf, I have been using foxfarm nutes, i am not sold on them and want to try Gaia Green. can I change brands and not harm the plant?

Should be alright. Start off with half dose for their stage of growth and monitor for two weeks. You may want to completely flush the soil before switching to and adding the Gaia Green

 

[Neueregel]

Should be alright. Start off with half dose for their stage of growth and monitor for two weeks. You may want to completely flush the soil before switching to and adding the Gaia Green

Thank you sir

 

[Lp_jr]

@Shaded_One Thank you very much for posting all this. It took me awhile to figure it out myself, only to find out how simple it is.

One thing I've noticed is when topdressing more than a couple of tbs, I find it makes water simply run off. Was wondering how you combat that.

 

[Shaded_One]

@Shaded_One Thank you very much for posting all this. It took me awhile to figure it out myself, only to find out how simple it is.

One thing I've noticed is when topdressing more than a couple of tbs, I find it makes water simply run off. Was wondering how you combat that.

When I do the big top dresses I add it to about 50% of my base soil and the Gypsum definitely helps. Good question!

 

[OntarioGoldenHash]

When you amend how far down would you go, say for a 5 gallon pot?

Thanks.

 

[Blastfact]

When you amend how far down would you go, say for a 5 gallon pot?

Thanks.

1 to 2 inches,,,, just spread it out over the soil and work it in with your fingers.

 

[hawkman]

Hello and welcome to my "Growing with Gaia Green" guide! Figured I would just make a post that can be referenced instead of constantly writing this out in DM's or threads. Gaia Green products are 100% organic dry amendments for cannabis use. They are a Canadian based company but they also sell their product in the USA as well. They have a lot of products to offer and you may find a specific use for some of them due to your variables but I am just going to focus on what I personally use in my stack.

View attachment 1261673View attachment 1261674View attachment 1261675View attachment 1261678View attachment 1261681

Sprout phase, ~1 week: NO nutrients are being added to the growing medium. Earth worm castings & cotyledons provide more than enough nutrition for the first 2 weeks of a seeds life
-transplant to 1gallon-
Early veg phase, 4 weeks: amend 3tbsp of 100% All Purpose 4-4-4 per gallon of medium eg. 3tbsp of 4-4-4 for a 1gallon container
Late veg phase if needed, 4 weeks: top dress 3tbsp of 100% All Purpose 4-4-4 per gallon of medium eg. 3tbsp of 4-4-4 for a 1 gallon container
-transplant to 5gallon-
Early flower phase, 1 week before flipping lights: amend 3tbsp of 50% All Purpose 4-4-4 and 50% Power Bloom 2-8-4 per gallon of medium eg. 8tbsp of 4-4-4 and 8tbsp of 2-8-4 for a 5gallon container
Mid flower phase, week 3 or 4 of flower: top dress 3tbsp of 25% All Purpose 4-4-4 and 75% Power Bloom 2-8-4 per gallon of medium eg. 4tbsp of 4-4-4 and 12tbsp of 2-8-4 for a 5gallon container
Late flower phase, sativa plants: if you have a sativa plant chances are they may need an additional weeks of growing time so you could do a light top dress 2tbsp of 100% Power Bloom 2-8-4 per gallon of medium eg. 10tbsp of 100% Power Bloom 2-8-4 for a 5gallon container
-harvest-

This is the basic feed schedule and this is a FULL STRENGTH feeding regiment meaning you are pushing your plant pretty hard. Certain strains and different growing environments may mean that you might only need to use 2/3 of what I have here for amounts. I recommend starting off with 2/3 of what is listed and increasing to full amounts if you're certain that your plants can handle it.

Additional supplements that I use are:

Mycorrhizae
I generously dust the root ball EVERY time I transplant and I also add a couple scoops into my soil mix any time I amend some soil to be going into a new container. Do not underestimate your rhizosphere

Epsom Salts - Magnesium Sulfate
LEDs increase the demand for Mg and this helps cover that demand. Overall plant health and nutrient uptake seems to improve when adding 1tbsp of Epsom Salt every 2 weeks

Gypsum - Calcium Sulfate
Decreases soil salinity and improves soil structure while also providing Calcium and Sulfate. 1tbsp of Gypsum every 2 weeks

Rock Dust Blend - micronutrients and humic acid
Used primarily to supplement micronutrients that may be lacking. Overall plant health and lushness improved since I started adding 2tbsp every 2 weeks


Pretty much once you get started you are either amending or top dressing in 4 week blocks, adding supplemental nutrients every 2 weeks, and then you just water your plants. Good luck and happy growing!

haven't tried "Gaia's" line they are a somewhat new company but from whatI have read - seems like an OK nutrient - Myrco (can't beat their whole line, also you can get their sample packs for $10.00 (worth ever penny) as for Eposn Salt I don't ues it (have you thought about a "innoculant" ? to mix with your soil, started to use last grow and my plant size and yields increased (will ways' use it now on)

 

[Shaded_One]

When you amend how far down would you go, say for a 5 gallon pot?

Thanks.

I fill a container up about 40% with the base soil mix - then in a separate smaller container I will mix some of my base soil with the amendments. I'll take that base soil + amendment mix and then add it to the container and mix thoroughly. Then transplant and fill up container with soil.

 

[codemanwi]

Hello and welcome to my "Growing with Gaia Green" guide! Figured I would just make a post that can be referenced instead of constantly writing this out in DM's or threads. Gaia Green products are 100% organic dry amendments for cannabis use. They are a Canadian based company but they also sell their product in the USA as well. They have a lot of products to offer and you may find a specific use for some of them due to your variables but I am just going to focus on what I personally use in my stack.

View attachment 1261673View attachment 1261674View attachment 1261675View attachment 1261678View attachment 1261681

Sprout phase, ~1 week: NO nutrients are being added to the growing medium. Earth worm castings & cotyledons provide more than enough nutrition for the first 2 weeks of a seeds life
-transplant to 1gallon-
Early veg phase, 4 weeks: amend 3tbsp of 100% All Purpose 4-4-4 per gallon of medium eg. 3tbsp of 4-4-4 for a 1gallon container
Late veg phase if needed, 4 weeks: top dress 3tbsp of 100% All Purpose 4-4-4 per gallon of medium eg. 3tbsp of 4-4-4 for a 1 gallon container
-transplant to 5gallon-
Early flower phase, 1 week before flipping lights: amend 3tbsp of 50% All Purpose 4-4-4 and 50% Power Bloom 2-8-4 per gallon of medium eg. 8tbsp of 4-4-4 and 8tbsp of 2-8-4 for a 5gallon container
Mid flower phase, week 3 or 4 of flower: top dress 3tbsp of 25% All Purpose 4-4-4 and 75% Power Bloom 2-8-4 per gallon of medium eg. 4tbsp of 4-4-4 and 12tbsp of 2-8-4 for a 5gallon container
Late flower phase, sativa plants: if you have a sativa plant chances are they may need an additional weeks of growing time so you could do a light top dress 2tbsp of 100% Power Bloom 2-8-4 per gallon of medium eg. 10tbsp of 100% Power Bloom 2-8-4 for a 5gallon container
-harvest-

This is the basic feed schedule and this is a FULL STRENGTH feeding regiment meaning you are pushing your plant pretty hard. Certain strains and different growing environments may mean that you might only need to use 2/3 of what I have here for amounts. I recommend starting off with 2/3 of what is listed and increasing to full amounts if you're certain that your plants can handle it.

Additional supplements that I use are:

Mycorrhizae
I generously dust the root ball EVERY time I transplant and I also add a couple scoops into my soil mix any time I amend some soil to be going into a new container. Do not underestimate your rhizosphere

Epsom Salts - Magnesium Sulfate
LEDs increase the demand for Mg and this helps cover that demand. Overall plant health and nutrient uptake seems to improve when adding 1tbsp of Epsom Salt every 2 weeks

Gypsum - Calcium Sulfate
Decreases soil salinity and improves soil structure while also providing Calcium and Sulfate. 1tbsp of Gypsum every 2 weeks

Rock Dust Blend - micronutrients and humic acid
Used primarily to supplement micronutrients that may be lacking. Overall plant health and lushness improved since I started adding 2tbsp every 2 weeks


Pretty much once you get started you are either amending or top dressing in 4 week blocks, adding supplemental nutrients every 2 weeks, and then you just water your plants. Good luck and happy growing!

When you transplant from 1 gallon to 5 gallon pots, do you top dress the 1 gallon pot and amend the nutrients into new soil in 5 gallon pot? Or do you only amend the nutrients into the new soil in 5 gallon pot.

 

[Shaded_One]

When you transplant from 1 gallon to 5 gallon pots, do you top dress the 1 gallon pot and amend the nutrients into new soil in 5 gallon pot? Or do you only amend the nutrients into the new soil in 5 gallon pot.

Just amend the nutrients in the new 5 gallon pot. I try to time my transplants right at the end or start of a feed block so pretty much every time I transplant I am also amending the soil with new nutrients.

 

[codemanwi]

Just amend the nutrients in the new 5 gallon pot. I try to time my transplants right at the end or start of a feed block so pretty much every time I transplant I am also amending the soil with new nutrients.

What are your thoughts on top dressing a little just before transplant? My thinking is the roots that are in the one gallon pot won't grow into the new mix for a bit and even then the majority of the root ball is in the one gallon container diameter so don't they need nutrient replenishing? Just overthinking probably.

 

[Blastfact]

Baby Shark Auto on Gaia Green and Recharge. I will have to amend it before long. It's around 20 days right now and pretty much been on full ignore. The wife has been in the hospital so the grows become unimportant compared to her,,,, there nothing. I can say without a doubt all grows will be on Gaia Green, Earth Dust or the same type of system. The days of bottle crap, mix, waste time and money are gone.

 

[2Bad]

What are your thoughts on top dressing a little just before transplant? My thinking is the roots that are in the one gallon pot won't grow into the new mix for a bit and even then the majority of the root ball is in the one gallon container diameter so don't they need nutrient replenishing? Just overthinking probably.

Overthinking probably. The roots usually shoot straight down first then work their way around. Won't even miss a wink I bet.

 

[2Bad]

Baby Shark Auto on Gaia Green and Recharge. I will have to amend it before long. It's around 20 days right now and pretty much been on full ignore. The wife has been in the hospital so the grows become unimportant compared to her,,,, there nothing. I can say without a doubt all grows will be on Gaia Green, Earth Dust or the same type of system. The days of bottle crap, mix, waste time and money are gone.

I hope shes okay

 

[2Bad]

I fill a container up about 40% with the base soil mix - then in a separate smaller container I will mix some of my base soil with the amendments. I'll take that base soil + amendment mix and then add it to the container and mix thoroughly. Then transplant and fill up container with soil.

You lost me on this one. Like i've read it 10 times can you reword this. cus it sounds like ur in a 5 gallon with 40% filled with base soil then you mix another container with base and amendments then you add to the 5 gallon and mix again? I'm confused if that's the case why don't u just mix it all in one if you're going to mix the 40%? Im sincerely curious because i'm going to try your method in a couple weeks.

 

[Shaded_One]

You lost me on this one. Like i've read it 10 times can you reword this. cus it sounds like ur in a 5 gallon with 40% filled with base soil then you mix another container with base and amendments then you add to the 5 gallon and mix again? I'm confused if that's the case why don't u just mix it all in one if you're going to mix the 40%? Im sincerely curious because i'm going to try your method in a couple weeks.

Just mix the amount of required nutrients into your 5 gallon container with soil before transplanting, I just use a smaller container to pre-mix with some soil because it's easier than lugging around a 4x5 gallon pots or carrying all of my nutrients close to my pots.

What are your thoughts on top dressing a little just before transplant? My thinking is the roots that are in the one gallon pot won't grow into the new mix for a bit and even then the majority of the root ball is in the one gallon container diameter so don't they need nutrient replenishing? Just overthinking probably.

You could do this, nothing says you can't. Personally I like the roots to grow into the nutrient rich soil and it hasn't caused any issues yet. Try it and see if it works for you then stick with whatever method you prefer!