soil amendments

[foolsgold]

i was just wondering what some of you guys use to amend your soil. i've tried just about everything from mushroom compost to spent grain ( from homebrewing). the spent grain worked pretty well, but i found if used to much the nats would show up like crazy. the grains are filled with sugar, enzymes, and all typre of good stuff. whats your take on this?

 

[foolsgold]

i've also done earthworm castings and guano with the best results i've seen. see i hate fertilizing and i believe that your plant should be able to get everything it needs from the soil. i'm noy gonna pretend that i get crystal covered buds like you would using high quality ferts, but i still get some very nice bud. i work as a greens keeper, so i'm more used to growing grass and not so expeirenced with cannabis. i've successfully grown bud indoor and out for ten years now, but i wouldn't mind learning some new stuff from all you young guns.

 

[4u2sm0ke]

I grow organic ..useing teas i make..and I will say I do grow better then those that use chemicals..organics cant be beat..theres no such thing as nute burn when doing organics..and no worries on PH. if your soil is ammended correctly..good luck and happy growing

 

[cheaplastic]

I grow organic ..useing teas i make..and I will say I do grow better then those that use chemicals..organics cant be beat..theres no such thing as nute burn when doing organics..and no worries on PH. if your soil is ammended correctly..good luck and happy growing

great info.. I just began my next run with BioCanna.. can you elaborate on the PH? are you saying that the nutrient soultion does not need to be ph balanced? what about when you use plain water? does that need to be balanced as well?

 

[foolsgold]

i think PH isn't a factor becuase it's almost impossible to test with any real accuracy. i could be very very wrong though.

 

[foolsgold]

what are these organic teas i keep hearing about? do you have a recipe you'd like to share.

 

[foolsgold]

what your thoughts on using the spent grains for composting?

 

[dirrtyd]

Here is a veg and flower tea mix.
Veg mix-
1/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano (PSG)
1/3 cup High N Bat Guano (Mexican)
1/3 cup Earth Worm Castings (EWC)
5 tsp. Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
(That makes the "dry mix". You can make all you want and save it to use later.)
Mix with water @ 1 cup of dry mix into 5 gallons of water to make the tea.
To that 5 gallons of tea add:
5 tbs. Liquid Karma
5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses
Use it to water with every 3rd watering.

Flowering nute tea mix:
2/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano
2/3 cup Earth Worm Castings
2/3 cup High P Guano (Indonesian or Jamaican)
5 tsp. Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
(That makes the "dry mix". You can make all you want and save it to use later.)
Hope this help it was copied from somewhere else and put in my library.
Dirrty

 

[altitudefarmer]

i think PH isn't a factor becuase it's almost impossible to test with any real accuracy. i could be very very wrong though.

? are you serious? pH is ALWAYS a factor. You may be just lucky enough to have your pH already in line. I use organic soil amendments exclusively in my soil grows. I raise my pH to 7.3, and the excess runoff measures at 6.6-6.7. My buddy uses tap water and doesn't have to change the pH at all, however. Your soil pH should be between 6.5 and 7.

Here's my amendment lineup:

Triple phosphate, potash, worm castings, Great White, Azomite, dolomite lime, and kelp. The triple phosphate is slow releasing, while the kelp provides a quick phosphorous boost.

Subcool has an awesome "super soil" recipe. I also adopted his technique of only using the super soil in the bottom half of the pot, so the plants can get used to the hot soil.

 

[djstiks]

good info

 

[altitudefarmer]

I should have added that those are the amendments I use to BLOOM. They get a whole feeder goldfish for their veg cycle... by the time that goldfish is mostly used, they are big girls and ready for the bloom room.

 

[foolsgold]

hell ya altfarmer. i knew i was wrong about the whole ph thing. i must just be really lucky becasue i've never had ph issues while growing. i'm sure if i wanted to be a super control freak i would be more concerned with ph, but i get pretty dank buds without doing much testing. i also love the idea of only using amendments in the bottom half of the pot. thats a practice i've used for several grows now with great results. i use some random stuff to amend my plants, but it works very well.

 

[KrazyDan]

Bio canna

great info.. I just began my next run with BioCanna.. can you elaborate on the PH? are you saying that the nutrient soultion does not need to be ph balanced? what about when you use plain water? does that need to be balanced as well?

I'm running bio canna and i'm telling you you MUST PH your solution after mixing...they tell you its "balanced" whatever that means....my tap comes out at 7.5 and after mixing nutes in usually runs around 4.5....i made the mistake of trusting them...dead plants.....i've been putting 6.3 into them and never looked back...no problems at all.

KD

 

[foolsgold]

now you guys got me running to the grow shop to get PH testers. i really have no idea what kind of PH i have. i just know that my plants are healthy and produce nice crystal covered nugs. i bet i can really start maximizing my grows if i started testing PH. how do change PH organically?

 

[altitudefarmer]

Earth Juice has organic pH adjusters, but they're dry and a little tricky to get to know. White vinegar will bring pH down, and lime will bring it up to 7- just don't overdo the calcium- plants do not recover from calcium toxicity that I've ever seen... There is a thread on this very question somewhere here on the Farm, if you have a chance to search.

 

[foolsgold]

nice. i've always had these chem based ph up and ph down, and god only knows how old they are. i found to viles of each in my great-grandmothers garage. i mostly use it for my fish tank without any problems, so i imagine if it doesn't kill the fish i can't be to harmful right?

 

[radical farmer]

vinegar for lowering ph. baking soda for raising it. I've been using it for years and works like a charm.

 

[altitudefarmer]

Usually good for fish = good for plants. (think earthworms without hooks, lol). You probably have potassium hydroxide for "up" and phosphoric acid for "down". Unless you use a TON of either, it's not going to affect your plants at all. I grow totally organic except for my pH down. The 10-20 drops used throughout the course of a plant's life have no lingering chemical effects on my buds, and are undetectable even if the plants are not flushed before harvest (although I always flush; with organics you don't REALLY have to flush, but if excess phosphorous and/or magnesium remain in the buds, you can get that popping/crackling sound when you put a torch to 'em). Hope that helps. Peace

 

[solarz]

fuck getting ph testers. This actually is NOT good info. PH doesn't mean a damn thing when you are using organics correctly. See, Altitude farmer, you corrected ol dude with incorrect/insufficient information.

For those wondering about ph...the whole reason that ph isn't an issue is because of the dolomite lime (agriculture, NOT hydrated). It is a natural buffer, hence allowing the ph to be in any range, and automatically gets buffered to the correct point. This is why it is so crucial when using chemical ferts to adjust ph, because there are no ph buffers included, except the ph up/down you add to your nute solution.

So PLEASE don't waste your money on PH testers, or RO machines for that matter...just use that extra coin to buy a bag of lime, ewc, or a good book on maintaining organic environments.

solarz

 

[solarz]

wanted to add, that i'm not knocking what you are doing, or saying that it doesnt work...but what you are doing may well be (and in this case, i'm fairly sure that it is) a waste of time, and is neither hurting nor helping your garden/plants.

solarz

**EDIT** my posts are purely speaking from the stand point of using soil amendments....NOT bottle "organic" nutes. So foolsgold, this is to you, if you are using amendments directly into your soil, then try the dolomite lime @ 2 tbs/gal of soil on your next round...and see how it goes for you.