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- #21
FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting Soil Mix
- Thread starter dba1954
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Not no nitrogen, but reduced nitrogen, it still needs some. Maybe half or 1/4 strength. The plants will let you know.
How are you preparing the nutrient solution?
Do not intermix the nutrients, only ever add individually to water.
There is a best order of operations to add the nutrients in, adding the nutrients randomly or in improper order will create a nutrient lockout.
when mixing nutrients and adjusting the nutrient mixtures pH you must allow waiting time to approximately 12 - 20 minutes to allow the pH to balance after initial adjustment. the buffering effect of calcium excetera will first display a reading then pH buffer rebound shall change resultant pH of the mixture. Recheck the pH of the adjusted water is now stabilized.
While adding the nutrients if you use a silica supplement ad this first to water. The calcium supplement must be added second to the water.
If using a calcium supplement do not allow the pH to rise above 6.3 otherwise the calcium will precipitate to a solid in suspension and not be absorb able by the plant.
Mix the nutrients well into your solution.
the order in which i adjust and add nutrients is
initial pH adjustment
Calcium supplement
Micro nutrients
Grow nutrients
Bloom nutrients
final pH adjustment`
Adaptation favours homogeneous groups and mimicry.
marcus611a
Well-Known Member
Definitely by color but height don't have nothing to do with it really
marcus611a
Well-Known Member
Go with SoHum. Less nutrients and you don't even have to pH your water..... Work well for my last harvest.. What a big headache relief not have to worry about shit like that
marcus611a
Well-Known Member
Yeah that's why I don't like Fox farm soil. Nice looking plant thoughthis is six 1/2 weeks old, should I change over to bloom nuts (no nitrogen) at this point?
marcus611a
Well-Known Member
I don't know bro you got a lot of clawing going on with those leaves
this is six 1/2 weeks old, should I change over to bloom nuts (no nitrogen) at this point?
The cannabis plant appears typical of my first cannabis grow. Hopefully we can all continue to advance our abilities and familiarity growing cannabis plants.
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
The clawing and the deep green color here makes me think that you have been feeding way too heavily. Can you tell us a bit about your nutrient program and how you have been applying it? And yes, you are about a week or so into bloom and now it is very appropriate to give bloom nutes.this is six 1/2 weeks old, should I change over to bloom nuts (no nitrogen) at this point?
Sohum supersoil is actually jam packed with nutrients, way more than any line that Fox Farm produces. There is very little nutrient in any of the Fox Farm soils, and even the mighty Ocean Forest only has a bit of nitrogen to get things going, and then organic materials that eventually can break down into food for the blooming plant, but there really isn't anything there that can keep a plant going past week 5 or so. Sohum is designed to be a water only soil, so that everything the plant needs for an entire grow is in there, you only need water. The soil is so powerful that to accomplish this, you only need to fill the lower third of your container with the stuff... and then use a lighter soil like FFOF to fill up the rest of the container.
Regarding the mixing of soils... the soil was already mixed at the factory to provide certain capabilities and functions in the grow. Manufacturers carefully adjust their product to a certain base pH, flow through capability, and water retention ability. Fox Farm Ocean Forest is a good base soil to use for established plants and will eventually bring some extra nutrients to the grow as the organics break down. Fox Farm Happy Frog on the other hand is mostly sphagnum moss and has almost no nutrients in it. It was designed to start plants, and give seedlings a good base soil to get the roots started in, with plenty of extra room for root growth. To combine both of these soils together in a mix ruins the careful balance that the manufacturer intended and the addition of Happy Frog will eventually cause a soil blend to go bad as the moss breaks down after one grow and starts sending the soil's pH to the acidic side.
I don't mix my soils until I get done with the grow, where I then have a blend of slightly acidic soil mix that can still be used to hold up plants. Generally I will build my new containers with Sohum or some other super soil in the bottom third, then my used soil mix in the middle, and the top third I always use brand new Happy Frog to start my new plants in. This layering of the soils allows the roots to get a great start and then specialize as they hit the various layers and what is found in each. Layers give the roots a chance to adapt as they go into a highly nutrient region such as the lower third of a supersoil layer, so as to take full advantage of what is found there. If the soil is instead blended, the roots lose this ability to specialize, having to deal with minerally rich soil all throughout the container. This can cause stunted growth and burning as a root not adapted to it, runs into raw minerals everywhere it goes. Layering is a cool way to get the benefits of all, without harming the plants.
Regarding pH: if you are growing organically, by using only water and the microbes that came with the supersoil, there is never a need to pH adjust. In the organic feeding cycle, the microbes, plants and soil do not care what the pH is... everything will work just fine. The ONLY reason we adjust pH is for a synthetic grow, where nutes are being fed to the plant from a bottle. Those nutes are adjusted to only activate within a certain pH range, so that they don't interact with each other in the bottle and they can be delivered to you and eventually the plants. If you are using synthetic nutes, even with a supersoil, then you DO need to pH adjust.
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- #31
wow, a lot of information. The seeds were started be soaking in water 24 hrs then damp paper towels. I transplanted into peat pellets. My 'helper' transplanted into a 4"x4" pot but used miracle grow soil unfortunately. I then transplanted into a 3 gallon pot using FFOF. I've been watering every other time with a solution with 2 tsp foxfarm tiger bloom, 1 tsp calmag in a gallon of water and then plain water for the other watering. Last week I discontinued the calmag. I don't adjust the PH because the FFOF is adjusted to a 6.3-6.8 PH which I thought would be okay for the sort grow. I probably did a ton wrong but that is where I'm at.
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
That explains it... the claw that is. The claw is the plant pointing to its feet and saying, I don't like this. The miracle grow is not a crisis and I have grown in it to see what it does. You are misusing the Tiger bloom. You need to use all 3 of the main trio as recommended per the week of the grow.
The soil has been preadjusted using dolomite lime to be at the high end of that 6.3-6.8 range where your nutes activate, and that is called the base pH of the soil. This is what it reverts to when dry and is usually set to around 6.8 or higher. After a few uses, you can bring it back to this point by adding dolomite lime.
The base pH is important, because as your soil dries out from top to bottom, that is the pH in that area of the container. Meanwhile, where there is water, much more water by weight than soil, the pH of the water mostly takes over and the pH in that region of the container. The deeper you go, the more influence the water has on the pH surrounding the roots.
Take a pH reading of your water after adding nutes, after you add the correct nutes at the correct dosages. You will be shocked to learn that the pH can be almost acidic... in the 4s! It certainly will not be in the correct range to become mobile in the soil and available to the plant.
When you water, the dolomite in the soil will attempt to raise the pH of the fluid up toward the base pH of the soil. We call this the upward drift and we use that drifting ability to our advantage. This is why it is recommended to adjust the pH of your incoming fluids to 6.3 pH, at the bottom of the availability range, so that your nutes are immediately available and mobile, and so that as the upward drift starts and the soil eventually reverts to its base pH, you are pretty much in the 6.8-6.2 availability range during the entire watering cycle.
Download the FF soil feeding chart and use the entire trio. Ph all fluids to 6.3 pH immediately before they hit the soil. If you really want to supercharge your grow, get the 3 solubles too and use them exactly as recommended. Be sure to flush your soil when recommended. If you follow the instructions to the letter, it is hard to mess up a FF nutrients grow.
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- #33
i guess I have to buy a PH meter .... recommendations?
I also need help with what nute to add when
I have these three .... FoxFarm Soil Liquid Trio Pack - FoxFarm Soil & Fertilizer Company
I also need help with what nute to add when
I have these three .... FoxFarm Soil Liquid Trio Pack - FoxFarm Soil & Fertilizer Company
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
yep, thats the core trio. Now download a Fox Farm Soil Feeding Chart... use exactly those words to search for it. Follow the instructions on that chart to the letter... lets assume you are in week 5 now for the purpose of the chart.
PH meters are all over the place on the internet... spend at least $35 but not more than that if you wish to go cheap and if you want a good one, get a BlueLab. Whatever you get, calibrate it and then practice with it. The first few times you may go up and down a bit as you center in on 6.3 pH.
You will also need some pH up and pH down solutions. You will need to pH up your water with nutes and will need to pH down your plain water. You can buy the adjusting solutions to do this or make your own... I like pickling lime solution (stored in a glass jar) for a strong pH up and 1:15 sulfuric acid, made by replacing 1 cup of distilled water in a gallon jug with some battery acid from an auto parts store for a safe pH down. One $8 purchase will make enough pH down to last you several years. Same with the pickling lime... it will run you about $3 at the grocery store.
The HM Digital PH-80 pH Meter is what i use, available from 420 Magazine sponsor Elevated Lighting Company
You calibrated your pH meter with pH 4 and pH 7 calibration solution for a 2 point adjustment pH meter before using your pH meter and to maintain accuracy of the readings.
You calibrated your pH meter with pH 4 and pH 7 calibration solution for a 2 point adjustment pH meter before using your pH meter and to maintain accuracy of the readings.
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- #36
Sueet
Well-Known Member
I'd worry about the depth of that green color, I think you are flirting with nitrogen toxicity.
A nice rich dark green color there. Hopefully it is because of the lighting and the way the camera chose the exposure and not because of too much nitrogen.
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- #39
It has that dark green color which some plants show when they are getting too much Nitrogen. Hopefully some of the other members will have suggestions on how to reduce the amounts.no, it's pretty much that color
Some Nitrogen is required by the plant throughout the entire growing. The number one use is for photosynthesis.
