Neturients and soil

[Dro_Princess]

I am new to this board I have been reading and taking notes like a mad woman and have about 5 good pages of notes. Now to my questions. What nutrients do you recommed that I can pick up at Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.? So far I have read about blood meal and bone meal but dont know what stages to use those in and I have heard Miracle Grow is bad for the taste and is a mistake us new commers make often. Also what soil and additives do you recommend for my soil and how much of each. Just a couple more things what is Dolomite Lime and what is its purpose and is well water ok or should I just use spring water. Thanks in advance for you answers.;)

[Dro_Princess]

Ok so 14 ppl have looked at my question but no one has answered? come on people I need advice here.

[mscaboo]

the dolomite lime is used to stabilize your ph of your soil at 6.5-7..add at 2 tablespoons per gallon of soil.
the miracle grow with coir is a fine soil had no problems with using it just add the lime and 25%perlite to your mix.
you can add blood meal for the veg cycle as it is high in nitrogen and bone meal is great for flowering as it is high in phosphorus.
most lowes or home depot sell fish emulsion a great veg fert,some also carry a fish emulsion that is high in phosphorus for bloom

[Dro_Princess]

So would it be ok to use the blood meal and the fish emulsion for the veg and the bone meal and fish emulsion that is high is phosphorus for flowering or just use one or the other.

[Skiing Arab]

would compost with perlite mixed in (around 20%) and bone meal make a good mix

[stinkyattic]

Neither bone meal noe fish emulsion is a complete fertilizer. They are supplements. You need a complete fert, such as FoxFarms, that has micronutrients.
Tomato food from WalMart is OKAY for veg... I've also used lawn food, diluted 1/2 what the box says. But not great. Schultz cactus food is acceptable too.
Schultz bloom plus is okay for flower.
But do yourself a favor and go the a garden store or farmers supply where they have 'real' plant nutrition!

[Dro_Princess]

Oh I am going to get real plant food for sure. Im not doing to depend on Blood mean and Bone meal alone. I was just hopeing ther were good additives and I didint want to add to much ya know. Thanks everyone for you help and I will put all of your tips and suggestions into use.

[smoky mcpot 05]

You're better off looking for a little garden supply store as lowes, home depot, etc. Don't usually carry all of these items. Ace or Pikes would be your best bet, or some mom and pop garden store.

First the soil, your soil make up should include all or atleast some of the following, Pro Mix ( peat moss and vertimicullite ), Mushroom Compost, *Worm Castings, Black Kow, Sand. Pro Mix to retain moisture and improve drainage, sand improves drainage. Mushroom Compost good bacteria starts the micro eco system. Worm Castings, A MUST, the best veg fert also benefitical bacteria. Black Kow, all around fert, benefical bacteria.

Second, Espoma is who you should get your soil additives from. There avaliable at most lowes. Dried Blood, Bone, Potash, Epsome Salt, Greensand. Also for complete veg food they make Plant-tone and for flowering Flower-tone. Great stuff, I'd swear by it.

Third, when you plants need a boost liquid fert with Alaska's Fish Emulsion (stuff stinks to high Heaven so don't spill it) mixed with Superthrive ( plant hormone contains B-1 that reduces plant stress) some Seaweed Extract (plant hormone that protects against pathogens). Along with sugar (turbinado is the best), adding sugar to your everyday watering will supplement plant sugars meaning your plant will grow bigger and faster. Will give you great results. For flowering, Alaska's Mor Bloom with increased sugar (turbinado). Leave out the superthrive. All above can be used as foliar feeding as well. Wouldn't recommend in flowering state.

Of course any addition of kelp, alfalfa, and(or) cottonseed meal will only benefit you. And of course don't mix all these up and plant your seeds or seedlings in the soil will be to hot and they will surely die. This is an excellent damn near perfect mix for a mature plant to be transplanted into. Also wear sugical gloves and mask when mixing these up as Blood and Bone meal may contain mad cow diease.

All of the above is completely organic, the best for you and our mother earth. You'll have the sweetest tastiest buds if you don't use chemicals. Also chemicals are bad for your body. And you'll be helping to put companies like Miracle Grow out of business that make enormous amounts of toxic waste that is killing our planet. I would be happy to help you along your journey, sign up for a hushmail account (secure way too email) and contact me at [email protected] anytime.

[smoky mcpot 05]

Also I forgot stablize PH with Epsomas Hydrated Lime, (better quality more micro elements, works better than dolomite lime, or garden lime.)

[dryst]

dont start nuting ur plants untill a week or 2 after sprout...its to young and will nut burn the seedling to death...

other wise smoky put it perfectly...except u wanna add 30% perlite to the soil

[smoky mcpot 05]

forgot again, (smoke to much) Pro Mix contains perlite.

[stinkyattic]

If you use anything with peat moss in it you are going to have to stabilize the pH for sure. I don't even use it anymore. Too many pH problems.

[smoky mcpot 05]

Hydrated Lime takes care of that no problem. Coco fiber is to hard to find, especially in her situation. So the next best thing is peat moss. Peat moss isn't even that acidic just 5.0 - 5.5 I believe.

[dryst]

forgot again, (smoke to much) Pro Mix contains perlite.


u sure it contains enough though?...im not sure on the %s but i havent found many mixed soils that have over 25% perlite

[smoky mcpot 05]

I'm not about to go down and look at the bag but yea it has enough, I've been using this soil mixture for years and no problems. So yea I'd say it has enough.

[Zandor]

I am new to this board I have been reading and taking notes like a mad woman and have about 5 good pages of notes. Now to my questions. What nutrients do you recommed that I can pick up at Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.? So far I have read about blood meal and bone meal but dont know what stages to use those in and I have heard Miracle Grow is bad for the taste and is a mistake us new commers make often. Also what soil and additives do you recommend for my soil and how much of each. Just a couple more things what is Dolomite Lime and what is its purpose and is well water ok or should I just use spring water. Thanks in advance for you answers.;)

I am assuming you are wanting to grow in dirt then?

I have posted this a few times already but I will post it again for you as well.

In the next weeks podcast show we start looking at dirt farming and talk about soil types and mixes.

My personal preference is sterile soil mix with 50% Perlite for quick drainage.
Good soil with some nutrients
Ocean Forest Potting Soil from fox farm. This is 100% organic
Sunshine #1
This is a good soil mix with Canadian sphagnum pear moss and dolomite lime for Ph control.
No mater what you use add Perlite to improve drainage about 50/50 mix. The idea is when the soil is moist you should be able to take a handful of dirt and crush it in your hands. Hold your hands about 12" above the pot and release. When the soil falls back to the pot about 50% of the soil should fall apart. The remaining chunk from your hand should break up easily. That is how I test my soil and know if the mixture is right or not. You want the soil to hold water but not for a very long time. You want to water every 3-day's on average so the soil must drain quickly. If the soil is not dry by day-3 then don't water. The chopstick method or a soil meter will tell you when it's safe to water again.
Make sure you have plenty of drainage to remove the water and avoid nutrient build up that can turn toxic. Most people forget about the outer edges of the pots and only have a center hole for drainage. That's not enough to me. When I grow in soil I drill extra holes in whatever pot I use. I drill around the edges lower sides and the whole bottom. I do use the double bucket method where the top bucket fits into the bottom bucket and the bottom bucket catches the run off. The roots can stick through because there is an air gap and that's a good thing. You do need to empty the bottom bucket every week but that's about it.
Grow bags are a good cheep way to grow, punch a few extra drainage holds in the very bottom but that's about it. I like the 3-gallon size but you need to have a way to catch the runoff and keep lights from reaching the roots that will stick out the bottom of the bag. Normally when the roots stick out the plant is big enough to have leaf coverage to block the light. A simple trash bag will cover the soil and block the roots from being hit by the light.
Most important thing about dirt farming is don't over water. Fungal gnats suck and are hard to get rid of and most of the time the cause is over watering. They live in the dirt and feed on roots. I don't know of anybody who lost a crop to fungal gnats but I guess it could be done. They are more of a pain in the ass then anything else. In a young plant I believe they would do damage because they live off the roots but in an older plant like mother or a flowering plant the root zone should be established.


Does that help?