I always start out pretty good. The organic fueled soils are great because all I do is water and provide light. However there always comes a point when deficiencies show up as the nutrients are depleted from the soil. When this happens I start to have issues. I tend to over fertilize because I don’t know how much-to add for how long or what exactly I should add. Also I am not sure how long should I wait for a plant to respond to nutrients. An example. A plant just went into flower and all the nutrients were completely depleted from the soil and my plant exhibited every sign of being depleted of all nutrients. I didn’t know what to do. I added a few teaspoons of Cal mag. That had zero effect at all. Nothing happened. I was very hesitant to add anything else because I tend to over fertilize. What do you give a plant that is deficient in everything and almost dead and in the middle of flowering? I threw more organic dirt in the pot because it was the only solution I could come up with. I also spritzed flower nutrients. The plant leaves are almost all completely dead. However new tiny bright green leaves are growing which is great news. The buds are still healthy and growing. How do I fixed this problem I keep having or how can I be a nutrient expert?
Ok with growing with organics u need to amend ur soil ever three to four weeks sometimes every two weeks. I suggest you get some Gai green bloom and grow powder its a organic fertilizer u put two to three scopes in ur pot and mix it in then water it in or u can go get worm castings and some organic compost and mix some of that in to ur soil and u can get bat guano and kelp meal and alfalfa meal fish bone meal all these things you can top dress ur pots with and put live worms in ur soil they will help with breaking down the fertilizer for ur plants
U should check out @MeEasy @JaneQP @Storm @Hoppiefrog all grow organically prolly be a good move to chat with one of them on this subject as they do really well with their plants.
@Aussie_autos is on point, you must keep up with the plant as it consumes the nutrients in the soil. By the time you see the deficiencies, the damage is done and it can be very difficult to recover. You did not mention pH in your original post…if the pH is not in the proper range the nutrients will not be available for the plant to use.
Some folks have success “spritzing” their plants but I don’t spray my plants with anything with the exception of when I am battling a pest issue.
If your growing organic it’s best to top dress with compost you want to feed your soil @Wyldepurplewizard i grow all organic i don’t have to feed my plants unless i trim or top and before I flip always top dress with compost and it last til harvest
I’d say you should start by making a decision about what kind of nutrients you’re going to use. If you go organic then it’s all about being ahead of the plants. Adding organic nutrients after you see a deficiency isn’t going to help immediately. When you see a deficiency, it means you should have added some more probably a couple of weeks prior.
If you go with more traditional salt based nutrients, then you’re giving the plants what they need with each feeding, and you can adjust at any time based on your plants appearance and or your runoff numbers.
I tried organic growing, and it wasn’t for me. Not saying it isn’t a good way to grow, just wasn’t right for me. I use mostly Advanced Nutrients products, but also a few things from Microbe Life Hydroponics, and NPK Industries.
There’s also tons of people here who use and swear by Jacks nutrients. I haven’t tried it because I’m very happy with the Advanced Nutrients I’ve been using for years, but I’d say either one would be a good choice if you choose to go that route.
I am headed back to work full time and using a product called Earth dust that @MeEasy recommended. Only thee applications the entire grow. @Storm and I think @MamaLlama uses it also.
Another low maintenance product is growdots that @graysin is using.
Grow Dots are wonderful. They are not organic but they do seem to cover all the bases for my Autoflower needs. I expect if I were going to use them for a long life-cycle plant, I would need to top-dress my medium with another light dose of Grow Dots between the 4 and 6 week marker, depending on how long I intended to let my plant veg vs flower.
As everyone else has stated, by the time you see a deficiency, organic top dressings aren’t going to fix the deficiency you’re seeing immediately. It may take a week or two for the nutrients to become available for your plant.
While you are learning what the appropriate feeding schedule is (I.e. while you get a feel for whether it’s time to top-dress at the 5 week or 8 week or whatever mark), my best suggestion is getting comfortable with foliar feeds. They will be more immediately available to your plant than the nutrients in the soil and may help keep a deficiency from progressing while the nutrients you added to the soil break down.
Also starting out don’t get overwhelmed with all the items recommended or you will end up with spending $$ that one person said to buy and $$ of stuff someone else recommended. I use that stuff on the vegetables and flower gardens now. Pick one line of nutrients and use it for the full grow.
Just watch the plants and you will learn to see what they need. Make notes. You will find some plants want more nitrogen or potassium. You WILL find your grove!
The most perfect grow is to have a harvest!
Yes, I’m very happy with the Earth Dust but I did have to make compost tea (adding the Earth Boost to water and let it sit for 8 hours or so) when I water my girls later on because I could see they were needing something more.
I did 1 major top dress before flowering and then started the tea but it’s still not completely carefree. When you say:
“The organic fueled soils are great because all I do is water and provide light.” We are you using as organic fueled? @Wyldepurplewizard
@MamaLlama understand completely. I had one clone go all crazy in Earthdust. One seedling doing well and the three seedlings just looking okay. I think I didn’t mix the base with the soil evenly.
I am using FFO. I have all the liquid FF fertilizers but so far the only ones I have used that isn’t kill the plant was flower…originally I tried using one that said good for entire grow…bloom and bud but apparently that one also is great at killing plants.
The one plant that is in bad shape. Buds are still growing on it. I could harvest it but I see growth still so I am am only going to stop it if it really dies. It also is still growing tiny bright green leaves. I don’t know if it was the cal mag the soil or flower nutrients I put in it that sprouted the green leaves but something worked. Since i added the soil I stopped the cal mag. All the old leaves are pretty much already dead anyway. Also what you said about buying all the stuff. I like the idea of just using soil or powder. The liquid nutrients are what is causing me to kill plants. I drop in some nutrients and sometimes nothing seems to happen like with the cal mag I didn’t seem to notice any effect but when I used the bud and bloom it almost killed them.
I have no idea what run off means, it’s beyond my current understanding. What I do is I see something is wrong go hmm …something is wrong…hmmm i am thinking this is the nutrient to use let’s splash a bit of this in there. It’s not the best way of doing things.
Oh ok, so you are using a liquid fertilizer, which I’m assuming you must dilute with water before you water, yes? This is FoxFarm? Earth Dust is a very different growing experience but I do know a couple of things about fertilizer. I’m just going to ask a couple of questions.
- Are you checking the ppm’s (parts per million)? That is when you mix the fertilizer to water BEFORE you water your plants, using a digital hydrotester? Also, check the “run off” which is AFTER you water (the water that runs out of the bottom of the plant container.) If not, you need to be. I ordered the HM COM-80S Hydrotester, that is the one I use and then you can see really how much you are feeding your girls.
- Are you checking the PH level of the water before you water? My water ph is generally higher than it should be so I need to add a bit of lemon water to lower it. I’m aiming for 5.5 - 6.5 and that seems to be just right.
If you are in Ocean Forest that soil is too hot to need any nutrients for the first month atleast… I’m not sure if I understand you correctly but I know I have this soil haven’t put anything in and still got nute burn.
A Tea can add essential nutrients right away. You’ve got to be able to identify what the deficiencies are before anything. You can build your tea to your plants needs. Worm castings added to the top of the medium can add essential biology to the plant without over doing it. But there are also other factors that play into an unhealthy plant.
Be patient
Identify the deficiency
Posting pictures here can help members help you with identifying your issues. Be sure to provide as many details……
Strain
Current medium
Environment…. Indoor/outdoor, tent or closet, light used, air movement, temp, humidity……
Lots of informative members, but they need as much info as possible to help! Good luck.
IMHO all fox farms is good for is killing plants.
There are good growers out there who use them with immense success (looking at you @Newt ) but for the most part, they require adherence to a strict feed and flush schedule that includes more products than the original “trio.” It’s agony. I prefer my Jack’s. 
I’m not sure. I used fresh FFOF and had no issues until it decided to tank the pH on me for no reason (somewhere around weeks 3-5). It looked like burn, then lockout. So I flushed. It was fine after that. I reuse my old FFOF because dirt is dirt, but I’ll never buy more.
I do get great results with FF nutrients. But i follow the schedule exactly, using everything on it except Flower Kiss and Rhize Up.
Interesting 
everything I read said that it was hot and normal to yellow… maybe is ph? @OGIncognito had pointed to a ph problem possibly… hmm … so I’m going into week 4 now should I think to flush and start my jacks?
Is there a thoroughness award?!? 
