promix hp

kingzt

kingzt

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone, I am looking for some advice on pro mix. I have been successful in the past but that's with using GH grow micro bloom with it. I was thinking about just amending the soil and top dressing frequently. I could switch and some products I was looking at were from grow more and dr. earth. I have made aact's and know the steps of brewing teas but was wondering if these steps are worth it when using pro mix. It seems like a feed every time I water while my babes are in pro mix and kind of want to slide away from that. I was also thinking about switching mediums to maybe dr. earth or ffof. I don't really have the room to make my own soil either so those are my options. I like pro mix because it's cheap and it drains so well, I am just wondering if anyone has been successful by properly amending it and not having to resort to chemical fertilizers, thanks.
 
chuck estevez

chuck estevez

Well-Known Member
subcool used it as a base for his supersoil, but found that a good potting soil worked better, so yes, you can do it. but ocean forest would be better for organic style growing.
 
kingzt

kingzt

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the advice, what about pro mix bx. Could the less perlite be like an ocean forest but not as hot. The hp seems to be more popular but looking at the BX the extra water retention could be a good thing. I know ocean forest is kind of a hot soil but not sure if it would be too much. A buddy tried dr.earth potting soil and did a slurry test and it was just around 700 ppms and to my knowledge ffof and dr.earth are pretty similar and don't want to burn anything. I'm always down to try something new but don't want to waste money and go backwards. Plus I am cheapo and couple bails of pro mix go a long way haha but I'm kind of sliding towards Ocean forest.
 
chuck estevez

chuck estevez

Well-Known Member
kingzt said:
Thanks for the advice, what about pro mix bx. Could the less perlite be like an ocean forest but not as hot. The hp seems to be more popular but looking at the BX the extra water retention could be a good thing. I know ocean forest is kind of a hot soil but not sure if it would be too much. A buddy tried dr.earth potting soil and did a slurry test and it was just around 700 ppms and to my knowledge ffof and dr.earth are pretty similar and don't want to burn anything. I'm always down to try something new but don't want to waste money and go backwards. Plus I am cheapo and couple bails of pro mix go a long way haha but I'm kind of sliding towards Ocean forest.
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Honestly, For organics, stick with soil, for synthetic, soil less. maybe go for happy frog and add some perlite
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
kingzt said:
Hey everyone, I am looking for some advice on pro mix. I have been successful in the past but that's with using GH grow micro bloom with it. I was thinking about just amending the soil and top dressing frequently. I could switch and some products I was looking at were from grow more and dr. earth. I have made aact's and know the steps of brewing teas but was wondering if these steps are worth it when using pro mix. It seems like a feed every time I water while my babes are in pro mix and kind of want to slide away from that. I was also thinking about switching mediums to maybe dr. earth or ffof. I don't really have the room to make my own soil either so those are my options. I like pro mix because it's cheap and it drains so well, I am just wondering if anyone has been successful by properly amending it and not having to resort to chemical fertilizers, thanks.
Click to expand...
pro mix is a good "lazy" way of making a quick organic soil mix.
I mean that respectfully, but the 33%peat and 33% perlite that most people like to use for their soil mixes can be achieved by a bale of promix, just add equal amounts of amended soil (so it'll be 50% pro mix and 50% mixed amended soil)
for your base soil use EWC and amendments
i'd go with the usual rock dust(s) and a good slow releasing nutrient mix, I like crab meal, neem meal, kelp meal, and insect frass.
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
kingzt said:
Thanks for the advice, what about pro mix bx. Could the less perlite be like an ocean forest but not as hot. The hp seems to be more popular but looking at the BX the extra water retention could be a good thing. I know ocean forest is kind of a hot soil but not sure if it would be too much. A buddy tried dr.earth potting soil and did a slurry test and it was just around 700 ppms and to my knowledge ffof and dr.earth are pretty similar and don't want to burn anything. I'm always down to try something new but don't want to waste money and go backwards. Plus I am cheapo and couple bails of pro mix go a long way haha but I'm kind of sliding towards Ocean forest.
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I bet you'd have awesome results with a 50/50 mix of pro mix and vermifire/roots/ocean forest. maybe one bale of pro mix to three bags of reg soil
then maybe supe that mix up with 2 cups of kelp meal, 2 cups of crab meal, 2 cups of neem meal, and six cups of rock dusts.
That's what i'd do if I wanted to make a quick easy batch, and that would be a lot of soil, enough for 15 to 20 plants at least.
If you want to re-use the soil i'd add biochar, greensand, pumice, volcanic rock, oyster shells, etc
 
kingzt

kingzt

Well-Known Member
Thanks a lot thats good advice, I was thinking about mixing promix and ocean forest. I was only interested in the BX because it can actually hold some nutrients with the added vermiculite but if I do an HP and FFOF mix I probably wont have to feed until I start flower. Are you familiar with Dr.earth products. I just ordered their some of their amendments and I got a good feeding schedule. My hydro store carries their soil but it's kind of expensive and might be too hot for vegging plants. I really like the idea of mixing promix and Ocean forest tho, thank you.
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
kingzt said:
Thanks a lot thats good advice, I was thinking about mixing promix and ocean forest. I was only interested in the BX because it can actually hold some nutrients with the added vermiculite but if I do an HP and FFOF mix I probably wont have to feed until I start flower. Are you familiar with Dr.earth products. I just ordered their some of their amendments and I got a good feeding schedule. My hydro store carries their soil but it's kind of expensive and might be too hot for vegging plants. I really like the idea of mixing promix and Ocean forest tho, thank you.
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Dr earth is good stuff, it's nothing special, just organic amendments. Good stuff though, but ordinary (organics are)
pretty sure they have the usual.
I'd get a box of kelp meal, neem meal, crab meal, and maybe a rock dust of some kind, for re-using the soil I highly recommend greensand as a rock dust (for future grows, doesn't do much for a yr or so)
just don't use greensand as your only rock dust though, basalt, azomite, oyster shell dust, rock phosphates, glacial rock dust, etc.
if you are worried about CEC, the regular promix is alright for that, not to mention the bagged soil mix will be fine too, I don't like vermiculite for re-using the soil, it breaks down too fast
 
C

CannaBare

Well-Known Member
greasemonkeymann said:
pro mix is a good "lazy" way of making a quick organic soil mix.
I mean that respectfully, but the 33%peat and 33% perlite that most people like to use for their soil mixes can be achieved by a bale of promix, just add equal amounts of amended soil (so it'll be 50% pro mix and 50% mixed amended soil)
for your base soil use EWC and amendments
i'd go with the usual rock dust(s) and a good slow releasing nutrient mix, I like crab meal, neem meal, kelp meal, and insect frass.
Click to expand...
I considered using insect frass but cootz advised against it because it can be a media to transmit pathogens. Is their any bonus to using insect frass besides the fact it repels pests?
 
kingzt

kingzt

Well-Known Member
Really I never heard that it can transmit pathogens. It seems like an all purpose amendment too,2-2-2. It's kind of expensive too. Is it better to add it to the soil or can you make a frass tea with it?
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
CannaBare said:
I considered using insect frass but cootz advised against it because it can be a media to transmit pathogens. Is their any bonus to using insect frass besides the fact it repels pests?
Click to expand...
I never heard that before. Nor have I heard of anyone having problems with that either.
It's not that expensive, here is what I did, buy the mealworms and cricket mix for chicken feed, they are sold in feed stores, they are whole, dead, mealworms and crickets, all kinda dried up, then I mashed them into a meal, making my own more effective, more nutritious, insect "meal", rather than a frass (more cricket poo)
I did it primarily for the chitin, and I want to see what the insect meal can do as a nutrient.
the bucket was like 15 bucks I think, i'm sure you could find it cheaper in a larger store (Walmart, target, etc) assuming those stores have animal stuff there.
I haven't used this yet, it's in my soil being aged, I normally re-use my soil but, well, I "lost" some soil (don't ask) so i'm making some new stuff, and i'm letting it all sit in the smartpots for a month or so, with some cover clover sprouts.
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
kingzt said:
Really I never heard that it can transmit pathogens. It seems like an all purpose amendment too,2-2-2. It's kind of expensive too. Is it better to add it to the soil or can you make a frass tea with it?
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you can make a frass tea, the guys i think of would be the "dons" I think @DonTesla does, or maybe the other don, I get them mixed up.
 
DonTesla

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
hahaha
Petro's a pioneer and soil genius, I'm the artistic, innovative, psychoo tester!
but we a team so its all G!

According to the companies that make and sell Frass, they say the best way is an activated, aerated tea.
Times vary from company to company. I would say:
-1 hour if adding to a BSM VC tea,
-8 hours if just soaking the Frass in still water, stirring once every hour or two if you can.

Also you can sprinkle a bit near and surrounding the stem, but not on the stem, and work it in slightly if mulch isn't in your way too much, then water. This way is less effective at first but lasts the longest i find. (Praying after several of the consequent waterings)

So its a trade off… i do the AACT and sprinkle too.

EDIT: @kingzt yes sir adding to the soil is a proactive way as well, I usually use the frass in reactive ways, but gonna consider adding it in the future pre-mellow. They say adding just under 1% of your total mix (1Cup / Cubic ft) will last for 3 weeks and speed the myco/root dev.

@CannaBare et al: Frass and its many uses...check this out!
http://www.onfrass.com/docs/One sheet_Applications and Benefits.pdf
 
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greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
DonTesla said:
hahaha
Petro's a pioneer and soil genius, I'm the artistic, innovative, psychoo tester!
but we a team so its all G!

According to the companies that make and sell Frass, they say the best way is an activated, aerated tea.
Times vary from company to company. I would say:
-1 hour if adding to a BSM VC tea,
-8 hours if just soaking the Frass in still water, stirring once every hour or two if you can.

Also you can sprinkle a bit near and surrounding the stem, but not on the stem, and work it in slightly if mulch isn't in your way too much, then water. This way is less effective at first but lasts the longest i find. (Praying after several of the consequent waterings)

So its a trade off… i do the AACT and sprinkle too.

EDIT: @kingzt yes sir adding to the soil is a proactive way as well, I usually use the frass in reactive ways, but gonna consider adding it in the future pre-mellow. They say adding just under 1% of your total mix (1Cup / Cubic ft) will last for 3 weeks and speed the myco/root dev.

@CannaBare et al: Frass and its many uses...check this out!
http://www.onfrass.com/docs/One sheet_Applications and Benefits.pdf
Click to expand...
you see there? the Dons to the rescue!
good information as always.
 
kingzt

kingzt

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys for the great info. I got some for $20 at my hydro store, I can't remember how much it came with it but I think the brand was just called insect frass. I used some in a tea recently and I don't make teas too much since my plants are in pro mix but my veg plants spruced up the day after I gave it to them. Plus it's good practice making aact's for when I switch out of promix.
 
C

CannaBare

Well-Known Member
I was reading this thread https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=243168.

Which led me to this abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19389288?dopt=Abstract

I have trouble reading the above link because it is a company flyer, I don't think they would mention side effects or possible pathogen infection. But they would have a very clean breeding/pooping area I hope. I think I'll harvest all the crickets in my basement :P I may have enough to start a business :)

greasemonkeymann said:
I never heard that before. Nor have I heard of anyone having problems with that either.
It's not that expensive, here is what I did, buy the mealworms and cricket mix for chicken feed, they are sold in feed stores, they are whole, dead, mealworms and crickets, all kinda dried up, then I mashed them into a meal, making my own more effective, more nutritious, insect "meal", rather than a frass (more cricket poo)
I did it primarily for the chitin, and I want to see what the insect meal can do as a nutrient.
the bucket was like 15 bucks I think, i'm sure you could find it cheaper in a larger store (Walmart, target, etc) assuming those stores have animal stuff there.
I haven't used this yet, it's in my soil being aged, I normally re-use my soil but, well, I "lost" some soil (don't ask) so i'm making some new stuff, and i'm letting it all sit in the smartpots for a month or so, with some cover clover sprouts.
Click to expand...
 
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