Big Bloom is it bad? (stinky?)

[stoned88911]

Ok so a couple weeks ago i was reading a post where some guy was having plant problems

Stinky replied and said dont give it BigBloom.

Whats wrong with fox farms BigBloom or did i mis understand what stinky said and is BigBloom ok?

Thanks alot

[stoned88911]

anyone??

[WhiskeyTango]

Maybe it was the specific time. I dunno. Id like to know that myself. I use all 6 of the FF nutes. For now...Im over em though....gotta run out, lol.

[stinkyattic]

It's specific to your situation. One person might not want to use it but another might be fine. The guy I told to lay off it was probably overfertilizing.
I'm TOTALLY over FF stuff myself; if I were going to run a chem fert it would be Botanicare Power Plant/Power Flower or Canna Terra, and for an organic-based liquid it would be Botanicare PBP or Canna Bio.

[TurboALLWD]

if I were going to run a chem fert it would be Botanicare Power Plant/Power Flower or Canna Terra,

Is this for soil or hydro? maybe both? any reasoning behind botanicare power plant/power flower would be great!

[stinkyattic]

Canna Terra is a soil nute; they make a fully-organic one, a hydro one, and a coco set as well.
The reasoning behind those Botanicare nutes is that they are very good quality for the price (retails about $95 for 2.5 gallons- GREAT bargain!!!), easy to use, versatile, and appear to be a LOT more stable over time than the FoxFarms, which seems to go bad after about a year or so, and doesn't have an exp date on the bottle. I'm still dipping in to a 2.5gal bottle of each that I got like, yikes 3 years ago? And I got it cheap because the hydro shop guy was sick of looking at it and it had been there a while. lol! I've used it in soil and hydro; it's got to be pH'd for hydro of course, but works well in both.

[WhiskeyTango]

FUCK FF!!!!!!!!!!....lol
sorry.....

[Rusty Trichome]

I'd imagine it has a lot to do with a growers techniques. I'm just getting over an attempted switch to Botanicare Triflex. I've been disappointed with results, so have already switched back to the Fox Farms line. (for soil)

With the Big Bloom, I go half strength throughout the grow, but the Grow Big and the Tiger Bloom, I go regular strength. Also, I go half-strength maximum (I use 1/8 tsp:gallon, twice a week) on FF soluables. Cha Ching is only one I use, but I assume Beastie Bloomz and Open Sesame are similar in effect. I've found that it can wreak havoc using at full strength. (stretch, stress and lock-out with too much Cha Ching) A quart each of the three part system lasts me about a year, and produces enough cannabis for my wife and I for the year.

Even tho with the FF line, I do flush every 4 weeks to alleviate salt build-up...to me it's worked better than the few other brands I've used before, which includes Botanicare Triflex, General Hydroponics Flora Nova, and even my early attempts at Advanced Nutrients when I could still afford 'em, were not as productive or consistent as the FF.


Fox Farms - Week 7 - PokerFace:

[stinkyattic]

I think you [RT] bring up a good point about preventative flushing, and that's what I don't like about FF- after a while, components interact adn salts actually fall out of solution. An old bottle will RATTLE when shaken, lol!
That TriFlex is Botanicare's bottom of the barrel entry-level granular dry fert. The only time I'd consider running it is on an outdoor remote grow (even then I'd probably not rely on it for all the fert needs, and supplement it with a seaweed/humic tea), because it is lightweight to carry out into the bush.

[Rusty Trichome]

Being on a fixed income, bottom of the line is usually the best I can muster. But with regards to the Triflex...mine is (was) a 3-part liquid, not granular. But it still underperforms, regardless. My wifes roses love it, tho.

Also, Big Bloom is organic. It says something on the bottle about being an enviornmentally conscious alternative to chemical synthetic fertilizers, but other stuff in the regimin aren't organic. Some folks like Tang, some like fresh-squeezed. My results are consistent, predictable and very satisfying in both flavor and effect.

Yeah, the salt conglomeration starts around month 6 or 7 in the quart bottles of Tiger Bloom and Grow Big. I am curious what nutes and minerals are conglomerating, (and no longer available to the plants) but I have no ill effects continuing use till it's pretty-much empty.

[stinkyattic]

I don't believe it's OMRI listed, but rather, 'organic-based'. I'd actually consider PBP to be a fert that is closer to what we want something truly organic to be, like the fact that it's loaded with humates that prevent that salty residue crud from falling out of solution. Did you know that one of the neat things about humic acid is that it actually prevents chemical interactions in the bottle and in the soil? It's called a 'chelating' property from the Greek 'chelos' for 'claw'- it sort of surrounds the ion and makes it nonreactive to other ions in the solution, but still available to the plant. If I were running FF, I think I would also be running a humate product like Soil Syrup or Diamond NEctar (I think that is the Leonardite product? )
Anyway... back to the lab... ugh.. :(

[Rusty Trichome]

Says Organic on the bottle, but it wouldn't matter much to me either way. I flush well, and cure well. (for the most part, lol)

I've got about 2 oz of Soil Syrup left in the bottle. I add a quarter (veg) to a half (flower) dose after my monthly flushes. Any benefits in adding a tablespoon to a quart of Tiger Bloom to prevent/delay the fall-out in a fresh bottle, or would it promote interactions, rotting, undesirable compounds...?

[stoned88911]

Thanks for the info guys, i will try both eventually and let you all know my expierence.

[stinkyattic]

RT I wouldn't put it in the bottle, even though it would probably be fine, but using it as a flush agent is AWESOME and also buffers the soil pH p to the high 6's. I'll bet ya dollars to donuts that the #1 reason you have had such a positive experience with FF is getting that humic acid in there during your flushes. The residue it leaves in the soil REALLY protects both soil and plants!
Um... keep doing what you're doing? :D

[Rusty Trichome]

Every once in a while I stumble upon a sucessful technique, lol.
Thanks stinky. :jointsmile: