I've had good results with General Organics BioThrive Grow and Bloom, but I don't keep it strictly organic. I've been supplementing with Big Bud and Bud Candy during flowering.
Not fully organic, but I use the Humboldt's Secret system. My buddy and I put out the same clones on the same day, and we live 3 miles apart. My yield is over twice of his, and the bud quality and strength is profoundly better.
otherwise (and as much as I hate bottles) if they need a good immediate bump; fish emulsion. Alaska brand.
The reason nutrients are able to be put into bottles is because of the high salt content. Chelated metals are used to stabilize the formula, which is really all salt. Salt fertilizers ultimately damage delicate ecosystems (like living soil / raised beds / native soil), and can impart unusual tastes in the finished product if used improperly.
Bss, how do you feed the kelp/meal? Do you make a tea or do you top dress? Honestly, I'd be more than happy with moving to an easier, much more natural system.
A little of both, actually. I collect the seaweed down at smith River and dry it out on my asphalt driveway. We are allowed to harvest ten pounds per day, per person. Then I put it in a 55 gallon barrel and pulverize it with the weed wacker. Alfalfa meal same way. Make sure the alfalfa you get hasn't been sprayed and is from the first cutting. You might have to search around a bit for this. I top dress these and also use them in teas and foliars. I use granular (cattle) bone meal as a top dress and a soil amendment. I utilize micronized bone meal in the drip or hand watering because it is most available and efficient (fastest uptake).
your butcher will probably give you all the fish parts you want and then you can make your own fish emulsions, bury them in your raised beds, add to compost piles, etc.
not sure i can harvest kelp here. we ain't got much.
since this is last year;s thread, just an update. i've been using the earthjucie stuff last season and this. joe's stuff was $$ and out of stock, i think still is.
I don't really do anything "special", but I do hit my full term plants pretty hard with a high phosphorus fertilizer (usually seabird guano or fish tea which measures out about 5-25-0) somewhere around August 1st, which signals pretty hard to begin flowering. This, along with the reducing daylight hours will usually put plants into gear a bit faster and more vigorously.
For long flowering saliva types, I'll build hoops and pull tarps over them from mid July until the second week of august, to give them an extra month of flowering time and still allow them to finish normally.
Everything is pretty basic, cheap, available, dry inputs and teas. I don't like to depend on commercial products because I just like to keep things as sustainable as I can.
earth juice sea blast line of water solubles are pretty incredible, and I do like to use those indoors sometimes
By the way a great book I have been recently checking out is called JADAM organic gardening, its an incredibly informative. All based on master cho's teachings, but modernized and explained in easy to digest bits. Lots of killer recipes in here for anyone else who is into regenerative farming and wild harvesting etc.
I will use it in bits and pieces but have friends with big gardens (acreage) applying only the principles in this book and their shit is always on 100% rage status.
No, cal-mag supplements aren't really necessary in these cases. The preferred avenue might be to consider scratching in/amending your soil with dolomite lime, which contains both calcium and magnesium. Calcium hydroxide doesn't contain a Mg component. There are also water soluble calcium sprays now (foliar), and while I'm not using currently this method is probably the most efficient for Ca uptake. Of course the jadam book will show you how to prepare your own water soluble calcium using eggs shells and vinegar. Gypsum is also a good source of water soluble calcium.
I prefer to use straight alfalfa as mulch. It has decent nutrient stores and also contains triacontinol, which is a naturally occurring PGR. Hemlock bark (vs the usual cedar or pine) specifically, also makes for a real good mulch. Hemlocks high tannin content acts as something of a natural inesct pest repellent.
Maybe skip the neem cake (it kills soil trichoderma). A natural combination of peppermint, clove, and marigold essential oils in a foliar will basically accomplish the same goal without hurting your soil. And neem oil is just a mess to deal with and can easily clog plant stomata.
In my opinion chicken manure is preferable to guano (which contain high amounts of heavy metals) in soil applications. Bats don't have a digestive system, they feed osmotically. Over time (during aging) bat guano becomes acidic, which make the metals even more soluble. Conversely, guano does contain valuable microorganisms. A little goes a long ways. Foliar application (tea) might be a better method for your plants than fighting with your soil. Guano also imparts flavor. Guarantee you will/can taste when bat guano has been overutilized.
if you have horsetail growing by your house you can harvest this for free silica. Powdered aloe is a good surfactant. If you have any living aloe plants, you can break off a big leaf, filet it, masticate it into some coconut water in the vita mix, and then you can use this as the basis for your foliar mix. Coconut water has a ton of benefits for plants. It is a natural antioxidant, contains more potassium than bananas, also calcium, aminos, electrolytes, sugars, cytokinins.
did you know coconut water was used successfully during WWII as a replacement for blood plasma and saline when they weren't available?
If you're going to pick one Humboldt's Secret product, I'd go with the Golden Tree. I think that it's kelp and other ocean products, stinks to high heaven, and the plants love it. I also really like the Flower Shield bug spray, which is corn-derived and works really well.
Although I've also used the Base A/B, Cal/Mag/Iron and Flower Stacker, I think it's the Golden Tree that makes the most difference.
Last year I pulled in 3.5 lbs off 4 plants using Humboldt's Secret, with tight and frosty buds. I attribute both quality and quantity to the HS system. As I mentioned, I'm pulling in over 2x that plants from the same genetics and conditions are. It makes me a bit nervous to fully switch to a new system.
For up to 4 plants, all you really need is 16 oz. It smells like a super concentrated low tide, and 1 tsp turns 2 gal of water black. The shit's gnarly, but it works.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: dimethyllovebeam
Saltwater Farms SeaCom 0-4-4
Saltwater Farms SeaCom 0-4-4 liquid kelp ...half strength every watering (great veg foliar feed too)
Companion 2-3-2 PGPR ......half strength every watering (root feed only)
these two are pricey, but I only flower two to three plants at a time, so a quart of each lasts a long time.
simple and easy. I have used these two for years and love the results... frost and stank :-)
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
I keep reading the subject as
I keep reading the subject as Flower Farts.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: An organ grinder’s tune
Thanks joe!
Thanks joe!
ill post some pics soon
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: dimethyllovebeam
you're welcome and good luck,
you're welcome and good luck, Turtle.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sigmund
Tried Technaflora and was
Tried Technaflora and was OK with results but want to try some Organics.
Anybody have experience with Dr. Earth? Or have any other Rock Solid choices?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cultivate kindness
I've had good results with
I've had good results with General Organics BioThrive Grow and Bloom, but I don't keep it strictly organic. I've been supplementing with Big Bud and Bud Candy during flowering.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
Not fully organic, but I use
Not fully organic, but I use the Humboldt's Secret system. My buddy and I put out the same clones on the same day, and we live 3 miles apart. My yield is over twice of his, and the bud quality and strength is profoundly better.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
Kelp and bone meal.
Kelp and bone meal
otherwise (and as much as I hate bottles) if they need a good immediate bump; fish emulsion. Alaska brand.
The reason nutrients are able to be put into bottles is because of the high salt content. Chelated metals are used to stabilize the formula, which is really all salt. Salt fertilizers ultimately damage delicate ecosystems (like living soil / raised beds / native soil), and can impart unusual tastes in the finished product if used improperly.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
Bss, how do you feed the
Bss, how do you feed the kelp/meal? Do you make a tea or do you top dress? Honestly, I'd be more than happy with moving to an easier, much more natural system.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
A little of both, actually. I
A little of both, actually. I collect the seaweed down at smith River and dry it out on my asphalt driveway. We are allowed to harvest ten pounds per day, per person. Then I put it in a 55 gallon barrel and pulverize it with the weed wacker. Alfalfa meal same way. Make sure the alfalfa you get hasn't been sprayed and is from the first cutting. You might have to search around a bit for this. I top dress these and also use them in teas and foliars. I use granular (cattle) bone meal as a top dress and a soil amendment. I utilize micronized bone meal in the drip or hand watering because it is most available and efficient (fastest uptake).
your butcher will probably give you all the fish parts you want and then you can make your own fish emulsions, bury them in your raised beds, add to compost piles, etc.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
Some decent basic alfalfa
Some decent basic alfalfa info here: https://www.redbudsoilcompany.com/blogs/the-redbud-blog/how-to-use-alfal...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
Thanks for the info. Seeing
Thanks for the info. Seeing as how I have only a few plants, I'd probably just get a bag of bone meal, a bag of dried kelp and a bag of alfalfa meal.
Do you do anything special for flowering?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: An organ grinder’s tune
not sure i can harvest kelp
not sure i can harvest kelp here. we ain't got much.
since this is last year;s thread, just an update. i've been using the earthjucie stuff last season and this. joe's stuff was $$ and out of stock, i think still is.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
I don't really do anything
I don't really do anything "special", but I do hit my full term plants pretty hard with a high phosphorus fertilizer (usually seabird guano or fish tea which measures out about 5-25-0) somewhere around August 1st, which signals pretty hard to begin flowering. This, along with the reducing daylight hours will usually put plants into gear a bit faster and more vigorously.
For long flowering saliva types, I'll build hoops and pull tarps over them from mid July until the second week of august, to give them an extra month of flowering time and still allow them to finish normally.
Everything is pretty basic, cheap, available, dry inputs and teas. I don't like to depend on commercial products because I just like to keep things as sustainable as I can.
earth juice sea blast line of water solubles are pretty incredible, and I do like to use those indoors sometimes
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
By the way a great book I
By the way a great book I have been recently checking out is called JADAM organic gardening, its an incredibly informative. All based on master cho's teachings, but modernized and explained in easy to digest bits. Lots of killer recipes in here for anyone else who is into regenerative farming and wild harvesting etc.
https://www.amazon.com/JADAM-Organic-Farming-all-Natural-Ultra-Low-Cost/...
I will use it in bits and pieces but have friends with big gardens (acreage) applying only the principles in this book and their shit is always on 100% rage status.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
I appreciate the info, Bss, I
I appreciate the info, Bss, I'm a little reluctant to jump in whole hog, but I'm going to try a new method on a few plants:
- Top dress with alfalfa meal and kelp meal, once a month
- Top dress with neem meal in late July
- Add silica and freeze-dried, powdered aloe to one watering a week
- Use biodynamic mulch
- Fish emulsion as needed
- a blast of bat guano in early August
Is it really necessary to do a cal-mag-iron with an all natural protocol?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
No, cal-mag supplements aren
No, cal-mag supplements aren't really necessary in these cases. The preferred avenue might be to consider scratching in/amending your soil with dolomite lime, which contains both calcium and magnesium. Calcium hydroxide doesn't contain a Mg component. There are also water soluble calcium sprays now (foliar), and while I'm not using currently this method is probably the most efficient for Ca uptake. Of course the jadam book will show you how to prepare your own water soluble calcium using eggs shells and vinegar. Gypsum is also a good source of water soluble calcium.
I prefer to use straight alfalfa as mulch. It has decent nutrient stores and also contains triacontinol, which is a naturally occurring PGR. Hemlock bark (vs the usual cedar or pine) specifically, also makes for a real good mulch. Hemlocks high tannin content acts as something of a natural inesct pest repellent.
Maybe skip the neem cake (it kills soil trichoderma). A natural combination of peppermint, clove, and marigold essential oils in a foliar will basically accomplish the same goal without hurting your soil. And neem oil is just a mess to deal with and can easily clog plant stomata.
In my opinion chicken manure is preferable to guano (which contain high amounts of heavy metals) in soil applications. Bats don't have a digestive system, they feed osmotically. Over time (during aging) bat guano becomes acidic, which make the metals even more soluble. Conversely, guano does contain valuable microorganisms. A little goes a long ways. Foliar application (tea) might be a better method for your plants than fighting with your soil. Guano also imparts flavor. Guarantee you will/can taste when bat guano has been overutilized.
if you have horsetail growing by your house you can harvest this for free silica. Powdered aloe is a good surfactant. If you have any living aloe plants, you can break off a big leaf, filet it, masticate it into some coconut water in the vita mix, and then you can use this as the basis for your foliar mix. Coconut water has a ton of benefits for plants. It is a natural antioxidant, contains more potassium than bananas, also calcium, aminos, electrolytes, sugars, cytokinins.
did you know coconut water was used successfully during WWII as a replacement for blood plasma and saline when they weren't available?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: An organ grinder’s tune
interesting. makes sense.
interesting. makes sense. cocnut water is my go-to recovery beverage.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sigmund
Love this thread
Love this thread
Even you Bry , the Humbolts Secret looks interesting , I might check em out at some point soon.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
I'm Bri, not Bry. Please don
I'm Bri, not Bry. Please don't confuse me with that dipshit. I may have my own issues, but I'll ever quite be like that dude.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sigmund
Sorry Bri
Sorry Bri
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
It happens.
It happens.
If you're going to pick one Humboldt's Secret product, I'd go with the Golden Tree. I think that it's kelp and other ocean products, stinks to high heaven, and the plants love it. I also really like the Flower Shield bug spray, which is corn-derived and works really well.
Although I've also used the Base A/B, Cal/Mag/Iron and Flower Stacker, I think it's the Golden Tree that makes the most difference.
Last year I pulled in 3.5 lbs off 4 plants using Humboldt's Secret, with tight and frosty buds. I attribute both quality and quantity to the HS system. As I mentioned, I'm pulling in over 2x that plants from the same genetics and conditions are. It makes me a bit nervous to fully switch to a new system.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cultivate kindness
I thought that Y would get a
I thought that Y would get a reaction.
Are you growing in containers, BK, or right in the soil?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
15 gal soft pots, sunk 1/3
15 gal soft pots, sunk 1/3 into the soil.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cultivate kindness
Interesting. Do you cut out
Interesting. Do you cut out the bottoms of the pots?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
Nope, just the soft pots and
Nope, just the soft pots and Happy Frog. I put my auto flowers in 5 gal soft pots.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cultivate kindness
What's the point of sinking
What's the point of sinking the pots into soil then? Moisture retention?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
Mostly because it's on a
Mostly because it's on a hillside and it keeps them from toppling over. I imagine that it also helps with evaporation.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sigmund
Good info on the Golden Tree
Good info on the Golden Tree
i just checked out their website , it's on sale for $290 a Gallon. Holy Mackerel !
I'll start CT outdoor next spring.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
For up to 4 plants, all you
For up to 4 plants, all you really need is 16 oz. It smells like a super concentrated low tide, and 1 tsp turns 2 gal of water black. The shit's gnarly, but it works.