Fox Farms Soil Mix

All three of my plants have now taken a serious dive and are dying quicker than i can blink. My final option is to repot all three of them into a new, larger container with fresh soil mix. Im using Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil as the main ingredient. My question is what else should i add to the soil in conjuction with the Fox Farms soil mix? Time is a HUGE factor and I still have a tiny bit of faith that they will make it through this ordeal. Help this poor guy out please...

Røman H∑mpire;2988526 said:

All three of my plants have now taken a serious dive and are dying quicker than i can blink. My final option is to repot all three of them into a new, larger container with fresh soil mix. Im using Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil as the main ingredient. My question is what else should i add to the soil in conjuction with the Fox Farms soil mix? Time is a HUGE factor and I still have a tiny bit of faith that they will make it through this ordeal. Help this poor guy out please...

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what are some of the symptoms your plants are having?

I use Ocean Forest myself and you can probably just use it straight. That's what I do when I repot for flower. For younger plants I cut the soil 1/5 with perlite.

not clear what the trouble is, seldom hear of this dramatic a problem with this soil
pictures are good

Its not the soil im having the problems with, it is the three plants themselves. I have gone through a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs in the forms of nute deficiency, nute lockout, ph fluctuations, nute burn, 84F avg temp and so on. I have manage to keep them going through all that mess but now they are just too shocked or whatever. I have already made several other posts about my probs but i have decided that repotting them into a new, bigger, and more fresh batch of soil can fix all my worries. I have already repotted my #2 and 3 plant into a 1.5ish gallon pot with fresh FF Ocean Forest soil since posting this thread. I did noticed upon transfering that there were some green colored roots and the sides (mainly the corners) of the original square containers had some green algae looking stuff stuck to it. Plus the roots had a slightly funny smell to them, but id say the root were healthy overall. I have also been taking video and photos of my grow from seed to present and its an interesting array of ups and downs, i just dont want to spend $40 on a camera cable that i know i already have packed away in a box somewhere. I will be sure to post pics/video ASAP!

bad smell is bad, sounds like a bit of root rot
some perlite in your new soil is highly recommended
i've seen other cases of root rot here, and seen them recover

I have been growing only a short time so take my two cents with a grain of salt. That being said in my experience FFOF is a terrific growing medium. I have grown DP Blueberry clones rooted in peat directly into FFOF with nothing but PH adjusted water with excellent results. I have since germinated Nirvana PPP and Mandala HB directly into FFOF with OUTSTANDING results. No signs of burns or deficency. They were germinated 3 weeks ago today and are now working on their 4th set of true leaves. Not a yellow or brown spot to be found. The mix was not cut with anything. I have read different reports regarding FFOF burning Hashberry seedlings. I saw the pics and the pups did have probs. So who knows. I do believe that many many problems growers have are brought on by two things. Overwatering and temperatures. My stuff stays at 75 F 24/7. I have made a concerted efforts to water properly and I believe that factor alone is making all the difference. I water them with measured amounts from a plastic cup with holes punched in the bottom. I never, repeat never water enough to cause runoff.

growone said:

bad smell is bad, sounds like a bit of root rot
some perlite in your new soil is highly recommended
i've seen other cases of root rot here, and seen them recover

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Excellent! Thats precisely what i was expecting to hear. I still have some hope left for them to survive. They have managed this long, and afterall, it is just a weed... Helpful and comforting information to know though.

workinit said:

I have been growing only a short time so take my two cents with a grain of salt. That being said in my experience FFOF is a terrific growing medium. I have grown DP Blueberry clones rooted in peat directly into FFOF with nothing but PH adjusted water with excellent results. I have since germinated Nirvana PPP and Mandala HB directly into FFOF with OUTSTANDING results. No signs of burns or deficency. They were germinated 3 weeks ago today and are now working on their 4th set of true leaves. Not a yellow or brown spot to be found. The mix was not cut with anything. I have read different reports regarding FFOF burning Hashberry seedlings. I saw the pics and the pups did have probs. So who knows. I do believe that many many problems growers have are brought on by two things. Overwatering and temperatures. My stuff stays at 75 F 24/7. I have made a concerted efforts to water properly and I believe that factor alone is making all the difference. I water them with measured amounts from a plastic cup with holes punched in the bottom. I never, repeat never water enough to cause runoff.

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Great info! I do believe that i was the one who screwed it up. My first problem was watering with just plain tap water. I thought i would have enough time to remedy the salt buildup but i was very wrong. I could see the buildup on the bottom of the containers and the was the beginning of this whole mess. I am going to pickup another new container tomorrow to transplant my #1 plant into a new batch of FF soil and this time Im not going to add anything but 5.8ph adjusted distilled water. Unless 5.8 is incorrect for watering in soil? Ive been using 5.8-6.0ph distilled for watering, is this ok to use?

Røman H∑mpire;2988865 said:

Excellent! Thats precisely what i was expecting to hear. I still have some hope left for them to survive. They have managed this long, and afterall, it is just a weed... Helpful and comforting information to know though.



Great info! I do believe that i was the one who screwed it up. My first problem was watering with just plain tap water. I thought i would have enough time to remedy the salt buildup but i was very wrong. I could see the buildup on the bottom of the containers and the was the beginning of this whole mess. I am going to pickup another new container tomorrow to transplant my #1 plant into a new batch of FF soil and this time Im not going to add anything but 5.8ph adjusted distilled water. Unless 5.8 is incorrect for watering in soil? Ive been using 5.8-6.0ph distilled for watering, is this ok to use?

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the most common 'ideal range' quoted seems to be 6-6.5
my last grow was just a bit below 6, but plant loved it
6 should be ok

How much you watering? I like to water about twice a week, give the roots a chance to dry out a little between waterings.

TechnoMage said:

How much you watering? I like to water about twice a week, give the roots a chance to dry out a little between waterings.

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If you adjust your PH below 6.0 your going to have big problems. I have found that 6.3 - 6.6 is a safe range and have zero problems.

workinit said:

If you adjust your PH below 6.0 your going to have big problems. I have found that 6.3 - 6.6 is a safe range and have zero problems.

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I stick my finger in the mix down to about 2 inches. When the soil is completely dry I water. If it is only slightly moist I wait. I could be wrong here but I think you should water when your plants need it, not on a schedule as water uptake is not constant. If you are growing in a low humidity environment you will need to water more as soil will lose moisture through evaporation. In high humidy it will retain moisture. They will use much less water as seedlings than as mature or flowering plants. Also, I water 1/7th of the container size or 18 oz water per gallon of soil mix. In my case that is every 3 or 4 days.

I'm a firm believer in more water less often. One trick I do is I give my plant their water is a bunch of small batches. I'll give them some water, wait an hour, give some more, wait, water again. If you dump all your water on at once when the soil is dry it just runs right through. By doing smaller batches you allow the soil to have time to absorb the water. Then I don't water for another 3-4 days to allow the soil to dry back out again.

TechnoMage said:

I'm a firm believer in more water less often. One trick I do is I give my plant their water is a bunch of small batches. I'll give them some water, wait an hour, give some more, wait, water again. If you dump all your water on at once when the soil is dry it just runs right through. By doing smaller batches you allow the soil to have time to absorb the water. Then I don't water for another 3-4 days to allow the soil to dry back out again.

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I would add 1/2 large grade perlite to the FFOF---make it really lite and loose. You will have to add nutes latter in the grow but the looser the mix, the faster the plants will grow--FFOF works great out of the bag but for explosive growth rates add the 1/2 perlite----also feed with cold nute solution that has been bubbled--cold water holds more o2 than warm or room temp-------68 to 72 works wonders. Add a little organic sugar to feed the beneficials and you should be growing like a rock-star... Dr. VonDankenstine

workinit said:

I have been growing only a short time so take my two cents with a grain of salt. That being said in my experience FFOF is a terrific growing medium. I have grown DP Blueberry clones rooted in peat directly into FFOF with nothing but PH adjusted water with excellent results. I have since germinated Nirvana PPP and Mandala HB directly into FFOF with OUTSTANDING results. No signs of burns or deficency. They were germinated 3 weeks ago today and are now working on their 4th set of true leaves. Not a yellow or brown spot to be found. The mix was not cut with anything. I have read different reports regarding FFOF burning Hashberry seedlings. I saw the pics and the pups did have probs. So who knows. I do believe that many many problems growers have are brought on by two things. Overwatering and temperatures. My stuff stays at 75 F 24/7. I have made a concerted efforts to water properly and I believe that factor alone is making all the difference. I water them with measured amounts from a plastic cup with holes punched in the bottom. I never, repeat never water enough to cause runoff.

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If you never water enough to cause runoff, how can you measure your soils PH?

I was doing as you for a while and my roots were drying up. Read a post about three-four weeks ago, water once every two or three days, and water until there is runoff. In my situation, the plants love it and have done better.

phusionsa said:

If you never water enough to cause runoff, how can you measure your soils PH?

I was doing as you for a while and my roots were drying up. Read a post about three-four weeks ago, water once every two or three days, and water until there is runoff. In my situation, the plants love it and have done better.

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From the research I have done FFOF has a PH of right around 6.5. I water with a mixture PH'd to 6.4. Up to this point I have not needed to measure runoff as I haven't had a PH problem. If it's not broke don't fix it. Keep in mind that runoff will leach nutes and such from your soil mix. If you are worried about the PH of the mix I suggested a good flushing about 4 weeks into flowering and that should disolve/remove any salt buildup (which will affect your PH).