tommyarmour said:

I'm having a hard time finding an answer. I have two outdoor plants in 45 gallon smart pots. I have been feeding them the Fox farms trio. How many premixed gallons should I feed each plant? So far I mix 1 gallon per plant. 6 tsp of big bloom, 2 tsp of grow big in a gallon jug. Shake it up and pour the gallon on the soil. I assume I'm supposed to be feeding them much more like three to five gallons per plant. I'm using Happy frog potting soil as well. When I water I add 20 gallons of water.

The next feeding I plan on using 2 gallons per plant of premixed nutrient solution. How far do I take this. 5 gallons of nutrient solution per plant?

Any help would be awesome.

Thanks,

Tommy

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souf69 said:

Back up on the ferts for a few weeks, to avoid buildup. If you can get a bag of worm castings, apply around the stalk but not on it. Two or three cups will do.

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tommyarmour said:

Thanks for the reply.... I have only fed the plants once, and only 1 gallon per plant. Its been really dry in my area. So the soil dry's up in 1-2 days at most. I plan on feeding once per week. Instead of every other watering. So there is zero buildup at this point. No reason to flush. I ordered a ph meter to keep the ph correct. Ive used plenty of worm castings about the best thing out there. I understand how to flush and keep ph on point. Right now my plants if anything are starving for some nutrition and of course I will put some castings on there. Back to my original question. I noticed indoor growers are using a entire gallon of nutrients for 5 gallon smart pots. Does that mean I should use 5-10 gallons to feed my outdoor plants? I also understand every strain in different as well. And keeping an eye on ph, ppm, etc with be paramount.

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souf69 said:

Less is more is the answer here.
Less nutrients more water if you dry out quickly. With my outdoor I feel biology is more important than chemistry.

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tommyarmour said:

I've always followed that less is more advice. It just makes me wonder how the indoor guys can get away with feeding so heavy. I mean one gallon of nutrients to 5 gallons of soil is 20%. I can't imagine using 20% in a 45 gallon plus soil base. That is why I'm searching for the answer. I understand most outdoor guys in 200 gallon smart pots can't really do this type of nutrient feeding. But only growing 2 plants for a total of 90 gallons of soil. Seems to be doable. Biology is the obvious choice. I used to just make super soil on my indoor grows in the past. I could get start to finish with a great super soil. Outdoor plants not so much, they need extra due to size. So you can't necessarily give me a answer to my question? I know there are too many scenarios to take into consideration. I guess I was just looking for. Approx feeding per gallon to 45 gallons of soil. Doing several internet searches just gives a lot of what to use and not how much to use. I guess I'll keep looking. Thanks man appreciate you advice and time to answer my questions.

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ComfortablyNumb said:

Worms. Soil is not static. It moves. Things change in the root zone. Water moves a lot of things around.
Put some red wigglers in there and they will begin balancing the environment for you.
They will also make the soil more porus for water.
Get some old, heavy cloth and make covers for the soil around the plants to the pot edge. water thru the cloth. It will keep the sun from sucking them dry.

This should solve uptake issues, and you can keep feeding at the lower levels.

Your plants will thank you.

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tommyarmour said:

I always wondering if puttings some red wigglers into a smart pot would work out. Eventually the roots with be bound. My pots are above ground, after time the root base will sneak through the bottom a little. But can the wigglers survive in a 50 gallon smart pot with no escape and additives along the way.

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Frankster said:

Are you using the liquid trio? or the solid trio?

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ComfortablyNumb said:

Since you are feeding liquid, you need the worms to keep the root zone from clogging up and shutting down your plants.
Worms are bred in a bathtub. They should be able to handle a fabric pot.

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tommyarmour said:

Next years grow:

1. Blood Meal 12-0-0
2 Fish Fertilizer 5-1-1
3. Bone Meal
4. Dr. Earth Bud and Bloom
5. Jamaican Bat Guano (HIgh Phosphorus)

Internet search.....

But for now using up the liquid nutes are a must....... Not cheap.... lol

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ComfortablyNumb said:

The worms are what open the soil. The castings are the worm poop. (Did you know that? Not everyone does.)
They will add all the castings you need, and down where they are needed instead of sitting on top.

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tommyarmour said:

Yes I knew that, but wont the worms take awhile to do the work required to create the castings? :)

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ComfortablyNumb said:

In the first day a worm leaves about half it's body weight in castings everywhere it travels. They don't wait to excrete, they do it on the fly, so it's a constant process their entire life. Dogs, cats, they are like people and wait to eliminate. Worms are always leaking.

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