I am going to try a new soil for the next grow. I had MG on hand and used for the first 2 grows. After researching I have decided to make a new mix for the next grow and all future grows.
At the moment I have
4 - 1.5 Cubic feet bags of FF Ocean Forest
1 - 2 Cubic feet bag of FF Happy Frog potting soil
1 - 2 Cubic feet bag of Perlite
1 Cubic foot of Vermiculite
I have a nice cement mixer I have had for a few years to mix my soils for my vegetable gardens. With what I have on hand what would be a great mix to make for my grows?
You can blend all of what you have and it should do just fine; although supplements will likely be needed in flower. Adding worm castings is always good and perhaps some dolomite lime as a PH buffer.
You can also layer the soil so that the roots see the correct nutrient load at the correct time. Personally I would just mix it all and go to town.
@Covertgrower is perfectly correct; just slightly different style.
@Covertgrower Then did you mean plant seedling right into Happy Frog then into OF?
@Myfriendis410 I bought the FF Trio and SledgeHammer and planning on following the FF schedule. I also bought some Botanicare Cal/Mag Plus. I just got a gallon of pH up today and am going for my first detailed grow in a grow tent with QB 260XL LED’s. So just like starting over. I have seen that some people layer and have thought about 1/3rd top of Happy Frog and Bottom 2/3rds Ocean Forest.
I know me and I will change my mind 50 times in the next week as I decide what to do with the Maui x LSD seedlings. I also yesterday planted 2 LSD and 2 Bergmans Gold Leaf. If they all come up and I have 2 LSD and 2 Gold Leaf I could do 1 of each each way under the 1000w hps’s and see if one way is better or easier to control. Thats what makes this all so much fun!
Most growers that have used the FF line have said it’s too aggressive. I agree. Remember they are not in the business of CONSERVING nutrients lol. Your plants will frankly be far better off if you stay well away from anything except properly PH’d water until flower. Ocean Forest is already a “hot” soil so adding more nutrients is a recipe for trouble.
Experimenting within your own grow space is great! It’s a great way to see what you can get away with BUT it’s best to 'speriment when you’ve had a grow or two done. It’s usually advisable to only grow one or two plants the first time simply to work out all of the bugs in you and your system.
You are off to a good start with some good equipment.
Yes I use ocean Forest all by itself and I don’t have to feed until between 4 to 6 weeks because the soil has enough nutrients until that time. I just use pH water up to that point.
Well that would make life easy not having to fertilize the first month or so. When you say just ph do you measure just the ph water going in? My water is 6.5 ph with 12ppm. How do you know when to start adding nutes?
I am on my 3rd grow now and if it counts I grew for 5 years…35 years ago
about the time it is a month old you should be able to water it enough to get a little bit of run off and check the ppm’s coming out. if the ppm’s are still high I just keep watering until they come down enough to start feeding.and you’re going to want your pH to stay in the range of 6.3 to 6.8 with 6.5 being your sweet spot
What is the avg ppm on Ocean forest? Should I just over water for runoff at the beginning and use that as the base? So say it is 1200 ppm runoff. How far does it drop before you decide it is time to add nutes?
Here’s a chart that I use as a guideline on what the ppm’s should be for the stage of Life the plan is in. unless I see a problem with the plant I don’t worry about checking runoff until it’s about a month old.
Sorry if I sound lost but if you are just adding ph water in week 1 through week 4 to 6 and not worrying about run off for a month , how do you use the ppm range?
Listen; we’ve all been there. But it’s usually a bad idea to mess with them unless they ask for it. Reading signs of excess or deficiency takes time to learn but fortunately you can post pics here and put it out for everyone to weigh in.
The thing that’s cool is after you get going it’s kind of…zen. For want of a better word. Newer growers tend to love their plants (sometimes love em to death too) so it’s a natural tendency. You will have ample opportunity to dump stuff in your soil haha!
