Indoor Fox farm ocean Forrest

[greenthumper]

Im about to start up an auto with OF in a smart pot. Do I need to add anything to the soil?

 

[growbewan]

im new too, but from what ive read, no nutes needed for almost a month with auto's, just ph balance..little acidy..straight up h2o. then a few weeks on a veg nute, then a bloom nute till you harvest..easy enuf!

 

[fullauto]

Hey fellas,i grow in ffof also.Make sure you check your soil ph BEFORE you plant in the ffof,i as well as others here have had low ph troubles right out of the bag. You can add some powdered dolomite lime to it to get the ph up to the low 6's before you plant-it will save you alot of trouble down the road.As far as nutes go ffof is supposed to be good for the first 3 weeks or so but i start very light doses of nutes at day 14-quarter strength to start using the ff trio of nutes.Hope that helps ya!

 

[TokinNuggs]

I personally wouldn't recommend starting directly in it.
I would fill the container with it almost full.
Then push a tall cup (like a red party cup) into soil, making a hole (remove cup when finished making hole)
Fill hole with seedling mix, then plant seed into the seedling mix.
You reduce the risk of nute burning/stunting your baby seedling.

From what I reckon, most seedling mixes are even "hotter" than OF? This is confusing to new growers IMO. OF doesn't contain synthetic nutes or "Miracle Gro" type fertilization, it's all about providing nutrition (NPK) through animal (i.e. fish, worms, plant and guano) waste.

Basically, all "macro nutes" contain the same variations of the same thing - N-P-K -- 1-2-3 (on labels)

N - Nitrogen - assists in growing and maintaining foliage (i.e. leaves)

P - Assists in flowering/budding and root structure (Phosphorus)

K - Assists in cell wall health and over-all plant health (Potassium)

Micro nutes like Iron/Boron etc.., are needed, but in much smaller amounts and only PH swings lock those out typically, just like the macro nutes.

PH is the issue with OF from what I gather - locking nutes out in fast-growing auto's can very quickly cause problems from my experience. You do this by feedinng it PH'd water to high or low consistently, or providing nutes too early that throw it off as well.

Auto's are a completely different animal than photo's - why I am here. My photo plant(s) had no problem with my noob adjustments to ph and nutes - my auto's have really struggled with slightest adjustments in OF.

 

[greenthumper]

Thanks for the responses guys. Where can i obtain dolomite lime? What sort of seedling soil should I get?

 

[oldsman]

I like using the Miracle Grow or Shultz seed starting mix straight from the bag.Last year I started some Super Cali Haze seeds in ffof with no ill effects.

 

[TokinNuggs]

Umm not sure what kind of seedling mix you're using but it should contain hardly any nutes. But if you want to continue using OF & plant directly in to it - that's your choice but it may also explain why your autos have been struggling. If you would prefer not to use a good seedling mix, then I suggest doing the same as I mentioned earlier with the cup but fill the hole with a 50/50 of OF & Perlite.

Dolomite can be found at any decent garden center/nursery same with a good seedling mix

I guess I'm saying what do you mean by "seedling mix" (for those who are not sure). 's Happy Frog Jump Start is a 3-4-3 (recommended to mix with OF) and Espoma's Bio-Tone is a 4-3-3 which is also a seedling mix. Those are pretty high ratios ultimately for NPK of any kind, if you are talking about organic-based soils and nutrients. I can't imagine OF has a higher ratio than that as a base soil? So what makes it "hot" if it's guano/castings/marine/organic based? Or more so than those starting/seedling mixes? It can confuse new growers.

's claims its soil has a ph of 6.3-6.8 and does not contain "fertilizers" (i.e. synthetic) and is "neutral," which can be misleading IMO to new growers, it means it's neither very overly acidic or akaline, and where soil MJ growers want to be. I don't know how that makes it "hot" for seedlings. I think your advice is perfectly good, and you are much more experienced, just want to make sure new growers aren't confusing things like I have reading things that aren't quite specific enough.

I have no problem germinating seeds in OF with 6.8 filtered tap water - they flourish for the first couple of weeks in fact - not sure why that would be different for anyone else if their water is filtered in some way and in a 6.2-6.8 ph range. It's the nutes that can throw things off, not the OF - from what I gather. Am I off-base?

 

[namvet]

I do what Buddha said.Ijust removed acouple handsfull of ffof and filled it with mg seed mix witch contains 0.5 nit,0.5 phos,0.5 potasium which is so low in numbers it really dosn;t have much of a benifit as a fert at all.Buy the time the roots go down through the seedling and hit the ffof they are sufficient enough to handle it.You can also use vermiculite to start seedlings,it dosn't have nutes.

 

[RabbitFighter]

Once the Fox Farms soil is gone I'll probably make the switch to Pro-Mix which no one appears to complain about, anyway till then I've had success with a 60/40 mix of OF & Light Warrior amended with dolomite lime & Espoma's Plant-Tone.

Prior to planting I hollow out a 2" hole the center of the pot and fill it with 100% Light Warrior, where the seed is directly germinated, guaranteeing no root damage from transplanting.

Currently finishing week 5 and have yet to really fertilize. The only nutes thus far have been to feed the soil (1/4 strength dose) Big Bloom & Molasses. I plan to introduce flowering nutes (Tiger Bloom) sometime in week 6 or at the end of vertical vegetative growth whichever comes first.

I do believe that 100% OF is both too hot & acidic for seedlings, and without buffering with something like Light Warrior & dolomite lime 100% OF can cause both burn and lockout.

I am moving toward organic in small steps. Right now the test is to feed the soil during the vegetative stage and the flowers in bloom, wish me luck.




DAY 36

 

[greenthumper]

Thanks for the clarification Buddha. I think ill fill in the hole with perlite, how much dolomite lime for a 3 gallon container?