My first grow I ran Advanced Nutrients from a youtuber’s grow guide and put off some massive yields. Going into my second run ( Indoor, 5 gallon pots, all same strain auto’s in a 4x4 tent ) I would love to try something different with less hassle.
Part of me would like to try dry amendments but I don’t know where to start. Anyone point me in a good direction? Ultimately my goal would be to top dress something simple 2 or 3 times during the entire grow, something simple and minimum. I don’t mind watering often so I’m cool with the 70/30 Fox Farms medium instead of soil if that is preferred. That’s cool. I’m also ok with soil too.
Ultimately I’m just looking for something easier than mixing nutrients on a schedule each week. The grow guide I followed was great and produced amazing results for me and my first ever grow, but I don’t want to mess with multiple different bottles of liquid and mixing etc. I feel like top dressing dry amendments would be so much easier and just watering when need be with PH’d water… and of course focusing on the plants themselves.
Open to suggestions and I appreciate all the wonderful information everyone has here. Thanks!
lot’s of good info if you want to try organic. I feel it’s mostly autopilot. Keep the biology
happy and the rest takes care of itself
I myself have been experimenting with coco and HFF for a few years and I’m going back to organics this round. It’s way easier to keep up with.
I mix 1# used Happy Frog soil with 1# new Happy Frog soil. I amend with Happy Frog all-purpose granular fertilizer according to label. I also add a variety of microbials to get things going. I will mix soil around the time of seed drop and allow soil “cook” by placing in a tote and watering it, After a couple weeks place soil and seedlings in their permanent homes and let nature do it’s thing during vegetative. When potting them up, leave some space for a 50/50 mix of Happy Frog Fruit and Flower, according to label. I mix to assist release of nutrients and to reduce the formation of a crust.
You should be good until harvest.
I use Gaia Green dry amendments, have been for 3 years and it’s always been great. Healthy plants, haven’t had any deficiency issues. You can top dress once a month, or as often as every 2 weeks.
To make things really easy, you can start with a good pre-made soil (others already made good suggestions). Then start top dress every 3 weeks.
I use the All Purpose (4:4:4) during veg. I switch to their power bloom during flower (2:84). I also add in their rock dust blend, so I know I have enough calcium, magnesium, and sulphur.
This worked well for me, both indoor and outdoor, photos, autos, and CBD cultivars.
By no means an expert but Dr. Earths dry ferts with microbes work well for me thru veg. I have then been switching to Dr. Earths Bud & Bloom Booster. I use about 1/4 to 1/2 recommended dosages. Also will add a little epsom salts. Key for me is to remember sometimes “less is better”. Good luck and Happy 4/20!!!
I am currently using @Roadsideorganics.ok nutes. Mom and Pop shop. Very easy and works friggin great. Amend/add life and cook soil a couple weeks. Then top dress a couple times throughout grow. I am caveman simple.
Absolutely you can. Just follow the Gaia green instructions on how much to mix with your volume of 70/30. I think it’s 3 tablespoons per gallon, but check the instructions!
The 70/30 and Gaia green will work just fine. If you want to make it much better, only only a little extra work, get some microbes going in the mix.
You would benefit by adding in a small amount of organic matter, like quality compost or worm castings. Even just 5% of the volume. Get a beneficial microbe product, lots of good ones to choose from- recharge, rootwise, microbial mass, there are others as well. Microbes will help break down the Gaia green amendments and cycle nutrients for the plants - basically makes it easier for the plants to get what they want from your “soil”. Microbes can also help control pH and fight off pests/infections. The organic matter gives the microbes a place to live and reproduce in the mix, instead of straight 70/30.
Hey GardenDan, I have a quick question. I think I was confused about the microbes and if that would be considered already in the worm castings?. What I did is I mixed FoxFarms 70/30 with worm castings at a 80:20 ratio. I popped my sprouted seeds into this and placed into the tent ( 5 Gallon pots ). I gave them PH water sprays and went to bed. Then it hit me. Will there be enough nutrients to last them until my first top feeding. I don’t want to burn my seeds and then I started to think maybe I screwed up and should have mixed some of the gaia green into the medium during initial mix. Do you think these seeds can survive until week three when I do first top dressing or should I add something before that time? I really appreciate your help here. Thanks again.
I would do a light top dress now, mix it into the top 2-3 inches. Just keep it far from the seeds. You don’t want to accidentally mix the seeds in too deep. Once they sprout and have 2-3 sets of leaves, I’d do another top dress.
The worm casting will provide some nutrients, so you don’t need to panic. You could even wait until the sprout to do the first top dress. Yes you can assume the worm casting bring in microbes for you. If you want to kick it up a notch when they’re fully in vegetative stage, some beneficial microbes will help - but they aren’t required.
The original poster in this thread’s first post seems to be looking for something similar that you do. 
My results with liquid Fox Farms nutrients is identical to what I get with dry nutrients.
