zeroday
Well-Known Member
Also, do you have access to Calmag? When I grew in coco, it was crazy hungry for calmag. My last coco grow, I picked up the tip to soak the coco in water with calmag for a few days, and that worked much better.
Pioneering indoor Cannabis growing in my country with Land Races & Bag Seeds: sigh
- Thread starter HotHeadBurner
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #22
HotHeadBurner
420 Member
Thanks for the recommendation. I actually have a tiny window to get nutes sent to me with zero cost, I can get pretty much anything you recommend, just that the FF Trio seem to get a lot of love on most forums. I would like to have a year's supply of nutes so really looking to get suggestions. Thanks again for the love.
Slammy Pajama
Well-Known Member
Hey mate, welcome!! You've come to the right place to get some help!
As some others have noted, growing in straight or mostly coco, you will need to account for extra calcium and magnesium, as the coco itself will bind up some of these nutrients and make them unavailable to the plant. I believe the pH of nutrient uptake is also slightly different to soil if I'm not mistaken, so that can confuse things a little...
My recommendation would probably be to make up a mix of soil using the organic compost and soil bark mix that you have, with a mixture of perlite and coco to aid in moisture retention and stopping the roots from being drowned in a gluggy wet compost mix
I recently had some experience with a store bought potting mix that was pretty barky, and it was kind of a pain. The water falls right through it, necessitating frequent but light waterings, whereas if you mix the perlite and coco through, you will be able to get it to soak up a lot more water at a time (as long as you still water very slowly), which is more ideal for the root development of cannabis.
If you shoot for about 1/3 soil/coco mix, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 perlite I think you will end up with a pretty good base mix to establish the kind of watering schedule you need
Depending on the nutrient load of the compost mix, you may get most of the nutrients you need for the plants, as long as you keep a nice active microbial population; but supplementing with ferts is ok, especially if you aren't sure what you've got. Just be mindful that chemical fertilisers will stop microbes from being able to break down that compost and turn it into nutrients for the plant
If it's an option for you, I highly recommend getting a little worm bin set up at the same time, as it's pretty easy and cheap. This will mean you can throw in all your old food scraps and other organic matter, and let the worms do the work of giving you perfect worm castings to feed back to your plants. It's a more long term plan, as that will take time to get them established and break down enough matter to be useful, but that's what I would recommend!
You're on the right track though! And there are so many great resources here to help you every step of the way!!
As some others have noted, growing in straight or mostly coco, you will need to account for extra calcium and magnesium, as the coco itself will bind up some of these nutrients and make them unavailable to the plant. I believe the pH of nutrient uptake is also slightly different to soil if I'm not mistaken, so that can confuse things a little...
My recommendation would probably be to make up a mix of soil using the organic compost and soil bark mix that you have, with a mixture of perlite and coco to aid in moisture retention and stopping the roots from being drowned in a gluggy wet compost mix
I recently had some experience with a store bought potting mix that was pretty barky, and it was kind of a pain. The water falls right through it, necessitating frequent but light waterings, whereas if you mix the perlite and coco through, you will be able to get it to soak up a lot more water at a time (as long as you still water very slowly), which is more ideal for the root development of cannabis.
If you shoot for about 1/3 soil/coco mix, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 perlite I think you will end up with a pretty good base mix to establish the kind of watering schedule you need
Depending on the nutrient load of the compost mix, you may get most of the nutrients you need for the plants, as long as you keep a nice active microbial population; but supplementing with ferts is ok, especially if you aren't sure what you've got. Just be mindful that chemical fertilisers will stop microbes from being able to break down that compost and turn it into nutrients for the plant
If it's an option for you, I highly recommend getting a little worm bin set up at the same time, as it's pretty easy and cheap. This will mean you can throw in all your old food scraps and other organic matter, and let the worms do the work of giving you perfect worm castings to feed back to your plants. It's a more long term plan, as that will take time to get them established and break down enough matter to be useful, but that's what I would recommend!
You're on the right track though! And there are so many great resources here to help you every step of the way!!
Elvin
Banned Troll
Well since you are familiar with Fox Farm; why not? I've used Fox Farm with great results specifically their Gringo Rasta line with the FoxFarm Soluble Nutrient Trio: Open Sesame, Cha Ching, Beastie Bloomz.
It's fairly simple to use (they have feeding schedules on their website) and a lot of people on forums use it so you can apply their experiences to your grow.
I've gone to something else, but the grows I used it on I was happy with it.
I'm sure you understand you need some lights. Aliexpress is China's eBay and with some diligent searching, you can find some good deals on Quantum Boards and Cobbs. They also have the Blurples that claim 1000watts but can barely grow a plant (avoid those if you can). If those curly lights are your only option, look into "bucket grows"; there are people who turn 5-gallon plastic buckets (sometimes 2 together) into little grow systems with several (many?) of those bulbs. The end product isn't huge but it looks like nice dense buds.
Ganjagrandaddy
Well-Known Member
Mega crop is perfect and very very economical if you can get it. perfect solution to all your feed issues. Win-win. It is for normal plants too so shouldnt arouse any suspicion at all for import. it is very hard to but small amount though as it is so cheap to use that they prefer 9.5kg bags .that last years and would give you the best plants in africa my brother. As for the light. If you have to stay indoor then this is really where you NEED to invest the most. There are sponsors on here for a few LED grow lights and user who can tell you about them in a real grow situation too. Well worth a look at their sites to het some basic info on cost but to get a decent yield for the energy used , you have to shop wisely. Low watts doesnt always mean better savings if the buds are poor. For a few plants 2-3 then you need at min 3ft to give them a little space to grow each, any light you choose needs to consider this in your coverage figures so decide on how many you would like to grow and in how much space 1st.
On the seeds front , some breeders offer stealth shipping for prying eyes to ignore and may ship to your area. Have a look online for breeders in and around your own country 1st , then move slightly wider afield if none available to other countries. We are fortunate in Europe for this side of growing. goodnluck brother. keep is posted on your thoughts.
- Thread starter
- #26
HotHeadBurner
420 Member
Hey mate, welcome!! You've come to the right place to get some help!
As some others have noted, growing in straight or mostly coco, you will need to account for extra calcium and magnesium, as the coco itself will bind up some of these nutrients and make them unavailable to the plant. I believe the pH of nutrient uptake is also slightly different to soil if I'm not mistaken, so that can confuse things a little...
My recommendation would probably be to make up a mix of soil using the organic compost and soil bark mix that you have, with a mixture of perlite and coco to aid in moisture retention and stopping the roots from being drowned in a gluggy wet compost mix
I recently had some experience with a store bought potting mix that was pretty barky, and it was kind of a pain. The water falls right through it, necessitating frequent but light waterings, whereas if you mix the perlite and coco through, you will be able to get it to soak up a lot more water at a time (as long as you still water very slowly), which is more ideal for the root development of cannabis.
If you shoot for about 1/3 soil/coco mix, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 perlite I think you will end up with a pretty good base mix to establish the kind of watering schedule you need
Depending on the nutrient load of the compost mix, you may get most of the nutrients you need for the plants, as long as you keep a nice active microbial population; but supplementing with ferts is ok, especially if you aren't sure what you've got. Just be mindful that chemical fertilisers will stop microbes from being able to break down that compost and turn it into nutrients for the plant
If it's an option for you, I highly recommend getting a little worm bin set up at the same time, as it's pretty easy and cheap. This will mean you can throw in all your old food scraps and other organic matter, and let the worms do the work of giving you perfect worm castings to feed back to your plants. It's a more long term plan, as that will take time to get them established and break down enough matter to be useful, but that's what I would recommend!
You're on the right track though! And there are so many great resources here to help you every step of the way!!
'I knew I should have joined this forum sooner. Thanks for the suggestions, I will def be going with this mix for one of my pots. The compost has a detailed composition, it is just numbers to me, I dont know the relevance of each proportion.
All I see is that it is potassium light. I suppose the ferts can help with this. I presently have in my Amazon cart
- MEGA Crop (2500g)
- Dyna-Gro 719010 Plant Food, 1 Quart, 1 qt
- Dyna-Gro DYTEK008 Nutrient, 8-Ounce, 8 oz
- Botanicare CAL-MAG Plus Plant Supplement 2-0-0 Formula, 1 Quart
- Dyna-Gro DYMAG032 Fertilizer, 1 Quart
- Dyna-Gro DYFOL032 Fertilizer, 1 Quart
Do you think I should add anything else? Are the Mags duplicates and I should drop one? Will this take me through a full grow? Considering I know nothing about pH-ing water do I need to buy any items to help with monitoring and shifting Up/Down? I have chosen to go with the King LED 600w, is this a good choice or just hyped? I see a lot of folks talking about it in numerous forums.
Sorry I am asking so many questions. I have researched a lot on this but there is so much material out there that everything seems to be really harder than it probably is.
Thanks.
- Thread starter
- #27
HotHeadBurner
420 Member
Thanks GGD, I have chosen the 2.5kg bag as my friend is bringing it by air, he def wont pay for extra luggage. Will add the bigger bag to my shipping freight items (Fox soils) hopefully I can find cheap enough shipping to get those over soon. As Slammy Pajama recommended I will probably also look into a worm bin. "Best plants in Africa", that got me pumped!!.
I am going with a King Led 600w grow light, hope this will work for 3 "wild sativa" plants. I will def be looking at partners of this site for Seeds and accessories, if they have phone lines I can call and customize my items to be even stealthier then I am dumping all my wild and bag seeds.
Thanks again pops.
- Thread starter
- #28
HotHeadBurner
420 Member
Haha yes Many. I also have 80w 6500k Led lights, I can buy 10 of those but I worry about proper spread, will go to a light shop soon for more options to use before my recommended grow lights arrive. Do you reckon LED flood lights would be any good?
Elvin
Banned Troll
I'd go with the King Led 600w grow light you mentioned in another post before those. But if those floodlights are what you go with I'd figure out how many watts they actually consume from the wall and go from there for how many.
Does Amazon ship to you? You can get student Amazon Prime accounts (Prime accounts get free shipping) for free that are good for 6 months. All you need is a student email account and those go for $1.50 on eBay. Amazon is a great source for growing supplies.
Slammy Pajama
Well-Known Member
I think you might even end up spending less looking for one of those DIY quantum board kits than getting enough LED floodlights to be worthwhile, IMO (if you are comfortable with doing some of the electrical work/ light building yourself)
I haven't looked super extensively into the DIY kits myself, as I'd already lazily paid somebody else for a light before discovering how much popularity the DIY quantum board and cob kits were generating and how good an option they are
But you seem like somebody who does their homework and isn't afraid to dive into some research, so unless you want to jump right in and commit to the King LED (definitely not a bad go), I would check out building your own, as I believe COB and quantum boards are sort of the latest and greatest in LED tech at the moment, even more so than the full spectrum UV and IR inclusive lights like the King or the ViparSpectra i initially bought. My newer light is a mix of cob and qb, and definitely seems to kick the pants off my Viparspectra in plant growth and light footprint, despite both being close to the same in actual wattage draw. You're getting into the game at a great time for LED tech!!
Slammy Pajama
Well-Known Member
As far as nutrients go though, I'm hella inexperienced with any, so some of these other friends will be a better resource for knowledge in that regard
I use a living organic soil that means we try to build the soil to essentially compost down into everything the plant will need over the course of it's life; so I have to stay away from nutrient salts that feed the plant directly, as they harm the microbial activity that are doing the work to feed my plants from the breakdown of the soil components
If you haven't checked out supersoil growing, it might be worth a look into as it's pretty easy once established. It often is more of an investment up-front though and can be hard to track down all the different amendments and things you want to start with (Here in Australia it took me forever to find a supplier for my dry amendments, and import laws are super strict so ordering online was often a no-go), so sounds like it might not be the best option for you at this stage
I use a living organic soil that means we try to build the soil to essentially compost down into everything the plant will need over the course of it's life; so I have to stay away from nutrient salts that feed the plant directly, as they harm the microbial activity that are doing the work to feed my plants from the breakdown of the soil components
If you haven't checked out supersoil growing, it might be worth a look into as it's pretty easy once established. It often is more of an investment up-front though and can be hard to track down all the different amendments and things you want to start with (Here in Australia it took me forever to find a supplier for my dry amendments, and import laws are super strict so ordering online was often a no-go), so sounds like it might not be the best option for you at this stage
Ganjagrandaddy
Well-Known Member
Mega crop is very economical and simple to use with brilliant results. A 9.6kg bag will.last years as it is powdered and your not being charged for adding water like all other nutes. There is a thread here for it and it would be perfect for your needs In many ways. No ppm measuring as it is done in weeks to grams . 1 part mix and no ph issues to worry about. It is a fairly new nute but now taking the lead by a mile foe many growers using it. i love it and is the best nute i have ever used in over 25 years. Mega Crop
Ganjagrandaddy
Well-Known Member
I run 4 x Living organic pots now and am due to harvest a 1st run from them. plan is to no-till and leave the rootball to breakdown for perfect root food dor the next seedling to go in in feb. I use ecothrive products range to feed the soil food web and love the stuff. The plants grown in it are by far more connoisseur looking with their look and smell. Smaller than the megacrop coco ladies but better quality looking before the dry. I agree it would be a good way for hothead to try but the stuff would be hard to get I think. Mega crop for the win I think.
Elvin
Banned Troll
Since everyone is trying to get you to use what they use here is my pitch. I use Kelp4Less's line; very economical (ships dry) and it performs better than Fox Farm. I also use bulk chitosan (Bud Factor X) and triacontonal (Humbolt's County Snow Storm) along with it.
All of the suggestions will work and the two brands you mentioned are great ones as well. I'm sure if you are like me, by the time you finally get your grow system where you want it you will have darn near enough stuff you are no longer using you could outfit someone with a complete system.
I have so much unused stuff lying around that if you lived nearby I could hook you up with everything you would need from Fox Farm nutrients, inline fans, some Crop King seeds to a couple of Viparspectra R300s.
I thought I was being very careful with my initial purchases but in my defence, I was very high when I made them.
All of the suggestions will work and the two brands you mentioned are great ones as well. I'm sure if you are like me, by the time you finally get your grow system where you want it you will have darn near enough stuff you are no longer using you could outfit someone with a complete system.
I have so much unused stuff lying around that if you lived nearby I could hook you up with everything you would need from Fox Farm nutrients, inline fans, some Crop King seeds to a couple of Viparspectra R300s.
I thought I was being very careful with my initial purchases but in my defence, I was very high when I made them.
- Thread starter
- #35
HotHeadBurner
420 Member
Hello Everyone, my project just took a huge hit. THE BLOODY TSA ... Sigh.My friend had to leave ALL my Ferts in the states, all $276 worth (threw in a couple of 4oz FF ferts). Apparently, fertilizers are on the "No Fly" list, I should have know this could be an issue being that I have worked extensively in the travel industry.
Anyways, picked up my Compost today (Compost+, suppose to be a big deal), dude I bought it from assured me that it could match worm casting (highly doubt).
Going for a 3 Pot Test-
first sample
1/3 Soil + Pure Bark
1/3 Compost
1/3 Perlites
second sample
1/3 Cocopeat
1/3 compost
1/3 perlites
third sample
1/4 coco peat
1/4 perlite
1/2 compost
Got the KINGLed and 2 150w HPS bulbs, I dont understand the role ballast play with HPS anybody informed about those.
Got some seeds I got from a friendly, he got it from an outdoor grow that got pollinated. Germinating 3 in soil, 3 in paper towel and 3 with a bag method I saw online. Hopefully the pop before my lights arrive.
- Thread starter
- #36
HotHeadBurner
420 Member
Also found a Garden shop online that I can get "noon-canna" specific ferts. Would love if someone could give me a nudge towards what I should purchase as substitutes to the regular.
Been watching the NPK values of some of their stuff, just cant make much sense of it.
Thanks for the support ya'll.
Been watching the NPK values of some of their stuff, just cant make much sense of it.
Thanks for the support ya'll.
Silverfox125
Well-Known Member
I think out of that list I’d choose the organic garden stuff.
try to stay away from slow release nutrients.
good luck
try to stay away from slow release nutrients.
good luck
- Thread starter
- #38
HotHeadBurner
420 Member
Lool, made a couple of those (high buys). Would be happy to take stuff off your hands, been on the USPS site for a bit looking up shipping rates. Sure I will crack shipping soon.
Thanks for the suggestions too. This site has been mighty great.
- Thread starter
- #39
HotHeadBurner
420 Member
I think out of that list I’d choose the organic garden stuff.
try to stay away from slow release nutrients.
good luck
Thanks a lot!!! Will order soon. Was also thinking of getting some Mycorrhizal fungi to add to my soil mix. Hope thisis not a bad idea. Heard the fungi help root growth.
Thanks again for the help.
Elvin
Banned Troll
Here is my supplier Kelp4less they might be able to help you. They have plenty of weed fertilizers plus everything one needs to make so-called "Super Soil"