New Grower Beware of Fox Farms Ocean Forest Soil

[Muddy]

Muddyis there an alternative soil for the people who use fox farms. the guy at my local nursery has a few different types of promix and some other black something? thanks in advance for any help

Most of the Pro Mix products, which is what I use, are considered semi soil less since they don't contain any amendments like worm castings, guano or composted manure. So if you use them it's up to you to provide all the nutrients. Just a slightly different way of growing. Of course you can always amend Pro Mix and create your own mix similar to OF. But again, you would need to test your mix to insure it has the proper pH. Since product availability differs so much from place to place it's hard to make specific recommendation. Might be better if you saw what was available in your area first and then we can advise you on what's best to use.

 

[organic]

Bookmarked thanks muddy,


Some questions though not directed at the brand of soil mentioned in the title just in general.

Will the soil stay at this ph range for good? By this I mean if I get the soil to the right ph 6.5 by using the lime can I let it dry become moist and re bag it to use at a later date? Not talking years here just one grow to the next.

Rather then testing pot after pot could a whole bag be done in one hit?

If 1 tablespoon is 15gs and 4 ltrs to a Gallon

60ltr / 4G = 15 x 30g (2tbs) = 450g per 60ltr

Can you add to much lime? Sticking at the 2tbs I would say not from what I have read.

If you happen to raise the ph of the soil above 6.5 how would you lower it again? I only ask as unsure what the white squares represent in the picture. as most seem okay from 6.5-7.0 Would it just be a case of mixing fresh soil back in to lower it?

Once the soil is at the correct ph range what is the ideal Ph water to be using for each watering. Ph`ed plan water for me is kinda high 7.5-7.8 ish so most of veg I would need to Ph down my water and I was to 6.5 although so many say to not bother using anything and just water, saying the soil will buffer it. Is this the case now with the lime added at the right amount to achieve the right soil ph range.

Once feed is added this drops to 7.1 /7.2 this must be close enough not to ph anything? if the soil is now the buffer.

I have a few kg of lime and 1 bag of soil left I would like to get this sorted before my next grow and hope the issues I seen this time do not reappear.

Edit} I don't know if this post was moved or I posted it in the wrong thread by mistake. Anyway I put it here where I first thought I wrote it out.

 

[nomis]

Hey Organic, those are some good questions that I could only attempt to answer with generalizations. So I won't try to answer them and leave that to someone else Woops. There is a lot of great Lime info in various threads on AFN, maybe good to get it all together into another sticky if the admins are into the idea.

I was really popping by here to post my findings on OF pH after acquiring my new Accurate 8 pH probe.
I've been probing random soil and containers all morning and am happy to report that most of my outdoor garden is a perfect 6.5!
The OF is a different matter as you can see below. I stabbed the bag in multiple locations and pretty much get 4.8 - 5.0 throughout. This is a 20 day old bag of soil, straight off the middle of a newly unwrapped pallet sourced from a local nursery. I placed the probe into 2 cups of 6.5 and 7.0 water along with my pH pen to confirm they both read the same.

The back of the OF bag lists Oyster Shell for pH buffering which seems pretty standard stuff. Have they simply not added enough? I did use lime it in my last grow with good results, but is dolomite lime the end all answer here?

 

[turtle360]

I thought you had to have a moistened medium to get a reading. Regardless, I did what you did. I got 6.0-6.2 straight in my bag of OF and 6.6 in the Happy Frog. If that's all you need to get a valid reading why all the mixing with water and what not?

 

[jynxva]

thanx turtle bigups brotha

 

[Wait what?]

I've been using Espoma organic potting mix and the PH hasn't been a problem for one second. 4 weeks flowering for a kush and 3 1/2 weeks with my auto chemdogs, and all three are dark green and happy

It has dolomitic lime and mycroziawhatever, the fungus that build roots First time using it and I recommend it to any grower

 

[nomis]

I thought you had to have a moistened medium to get a reading. Regardless, I did what you did. I got 6.0-6.2 straight in my bag of OF and 6.6 in the Happy Frog. If that's all you need to get a valid reading why all the mixing with water and what not?

Yes you're right, however my soil seemed pretty moist without adding additional water, so figured I didn't need to.

 

[Muddy]

I thought you had to have a moistened medium to get a reading. Regardless, I did what you did. I got 6.0-6.2 straight in my bag of OF and 6.6 in the Happy Frog. If that's all you need to get a valid reading why all the mixing with water and what not?

As long as the soil is moist the Accurate 8 will give a proper reading. If it's too dry the readings will be off and always to the high side. Those who are mixing with water are either using a liquid tester or test strips. Since the Accurate 8 is designed as a soil probe those extra steps aren't needed. Just straight into the soil and wait about 5 minutes or so until the reading stabilizes.

 

[HorizontalShawna]

Gasp!!! I've been looking for an affordable Ph meter. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Also, I have a particular brand of soil I pick up from a nursery locally to use in my garden, other potted plants and vegies. It's 20/20/20 and it does wonderful for the vegies but do you think my autos are too sensitive for this type of soil in the beginning?

Ya know, I can grow anything but I'm struggling with autoflowers, lol! It's really quite the project but so much fun!! I figure the worse I could do is have a smaller yield or they take a little longer.

 

[Muddy]

You're very welcome, glad to help. I would avoid using that soil. Autos, especially seedlings, do no like or need a lot of nutrients. That NPK ratio is much too high for autos.