Dave61 said:

I have put in hundreds of hours of research on using GH flora series in soil. GH of course says their flora series works on soil. But as I read and researched deeper I kept running into info on nitrogen issues. I finally decided cutting out grow has no downside...but...continued use could have downside. View attachment 2467741

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And I have found that using all 3 in Ocean Forest works very well. Some reasons for different results could be that I'm starting out with filtered water. I use filtered water to avoid excess calcium building up as my tap water is quite hard..

All good for sure. I'm old school (80s) first grow. Bat shit and lizard balls for nutes...lol. I've had to get back up to speed with all the new (since 80s) technology and products. There's 1 thing that hasn't changed....no matter all the variables....knowing what we do with every change we make.....our girls will show us and speak to us about anything they don't like. All my studies (about 500 hours last 4 months) give me head knowledge....but if you don't hear your girls....
Happy farming. Great to talk with you

Dave61 said:

All good for sure. I'm old school (80s) first grow. Bat shit and lizard balls for nutes...lol. I've had to get back up to speed with all the new (since 80s) technology and products. There's 1 thing that hasn't changed....no matter all the variables....knowing what we do with every change we make.....our girls will show us and speak to us about anything they don't like. All my studies (about 500 hours last 4 months) give me head knowledge....but if you don't hear your girls....
Happy farming. Great to talk with you

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Oh I hear my girls just fine. I ran all 3 bottles at aggressive strength. No issues with my grow. To each there own. If you're satisfied with your results, I wouldn't expect you to change. Likewise, don't expect me to either.

Oh...not at all.....I view all threads as shared experiences both positive and negative for the greater good and success for all readers. Your method is 100% sound. I used all three in the veg thru first 3 weeks of flower.
I would never seek to have somebody change. You're 100% on target. Just introducing lucas to those doing their own research.

Dave61 said:

Oh...not at all.....I view all threads as shared experiences both positive and negative for the greater good and success for all readers. Your method is 100% sound. I used all three in the veg thru first 3 weeks of flower.
I would never seek to have somebody change. You're 100% on target. Just introducing lucas to those doing their own research.

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One thing that is different between your grow and mine though. I used high levels of supplemental reds (660nm & 730nm) + 440 nm blues. Yes, I pushed it. I did it intentionally because of the plants response to the supplemental lighting. I usually don't use aggressive feed schedules but these plants took it all.

I wrote a report about my experience using supplemental lighting. If you're interested in reading it, send me a private message and I will share it with you.

I use 2 mars hydro sp 3000s with 2 sets of rb30s and a super short hang of 10"..... each girl takes 1/2 gallon every 2 days.

Dave61 said:

I use 2 mars hydro sp 3000s with 2 sets of rb30s and a super short hang of 10"..... each girl takes 1/2 gallon every 2 days.

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I sent you a private message. Look up at the upper right hand corner of the screen for the arrow. It should show a message waiting for you.

growmie said:

this is what i hear all the time, but I've seen organic growers eventually have pH issues that cause nutrient lockout. then they say i wish i monitored pH. what do you recommend?

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I’ve been growing living organic for that past couple years and never had a problem. There are other things you can do to adjust ph. Lemon juice will lower ph

I haven't do the deep dive into 100% organic yet. I definately will have questions on that.

Dave61 said:

I haven't do the deep dive into 100% organic yet. I definately will have questions on that.

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Organics is a timing game and not so easy in indoor, small pot gardening. That doesn't mean it won't work. It means there's a lot of variables to juggle to truly get it right. This is an experience thing. Synthetics are easy. It's why I run them on cannabis indoors ... I use organics for vegetables outdoors. Outside in nature and in large containers or in the ground just seems to give that extra edge to organic grows that you won't get indoors.

growmie said:

I was curious to know if using and adjusting water pH with pH up/down is bad or harmful to organic soil/super soils.

Some growers use natural sources, some buy organic pH up/down, and then there's the one most of us use by General Hydroponics., pH up/down. It seems that it's safe to use in organic soil per their reply.

I asked the folks at GH, they replied below.

"Good morning, Nothing we make will harm microbes in the substrate or attached to roots when used as directed- it's all about ensuring pH values are on point when irrigating to assure it is within acceptable range for the microbial populations."

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If you want optimal growth your runoff should be between 5.8 and 6.5 regardless of medium i feed in 6.1 always, runoff varies a little but never out of the range

I am in 5gal cloth bags. They really don't have runoff unless I flood it so badly it starts coming out the sides. On the other hand....oxygenation via porous material is great for root exploration and preventative root rot. It's a trade off but I can keep my soil and nutes in balance while watching for early signs and adjusting accordingly.

The ocean forrest is hot soil and ph is correct out of the bag. It took my plants almost 6 weeks to deplete OF nutrients before feeding became necessary. Most say 3-4.....but mine never showed hunger for nutes. But to be proactive they started getting nutes week 7 veg. I did a deep dive into store bought bottled water. I hit gold with Walmart brand (great value) distilled water which always has a ph of 5.5-6.0. So far. Soil and H2O has been perfect. I got lucky but put in a ton of research and hard work to get there.

I used to believe organic growing meant there's no need to worry about the pH of the soil. While it may be true most of the time, I've learned it isn't always true. There are, of course, many factors involved. Water is one. Nutrients and amendments are on that list, too. A pH between 6.0 and 7.0 is best, with 6.5 being close to optimal. If the pH is too low, excess micronutrients can become toxic. If the pH is too high, macronutrients precipitate out of solution, becoming less available. A pH of 6.5 provides optimal nutrient solubility.

My plants recently taught me about acidic soil. I had to do some research to find potential causes of the plants' symptoms. Eventually, I decided soil acidity was the cause, and I chose amending dolomite lime as the solution. The plants loved it and began growing rapidly. The change was amazing. Up to that point they had been growing slowly, had some red stems, fan leaves were deformed, and leaf tips and edges were necrotic. All those symptoms stopped after I top dressed dolomite lime.

The symptoms had been worsening over several crops. I reuse soil, so that was a clue to the cause of the problem. The soil was slowly becoming more acidic. I am assuming that the main causes were the decomposing organic matter and the use of Epsom salt. According to what I read, acidification occurs while organic matter decomposes and sulfur from the Epsom salt can form sulfuric acid.

Our tap water is consistently a pH of 7.6, so it's not far out of the desired range. It's river water from the mountains, so it's low in dissolved minerals. (Well water is likely to have more minerals due to longer contact time with the Earth.)