Organic Growing Made Easy & Fox Farms Ocean Forest!

When using FFOF straight out the bag I have a few questions to ask..
1. Any input on dolomite lime..

2. I'm using RO water, should I be using my General Organics cal mag every watering?

3. I know for 100% in my experience that FFOF does not have enough juice to go long term un ammended or all alone. So with my set up what would be the best route to getting my plants thru flower ??

Using FFOF soil. I have Botanicare's KIND base, grow, and bloom. I also have liquid karma. I have a bottle of GO cal/mag too. And so far with that I have not had to use any of the nutes for veg. But mid way flower it runs out. What should I be doing to fix this ?? Thanks in advance. And sorry about this sloppy post. I'm just new to the forum world.

I just read a lot of this thread lol. I'm going organic fully.

KeepItGrowing317 said:

I just read a lot of this thread lol. I'm going organic fully.

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There's a saying: Once you go organic you won't go back.

KeepItGrowing317 said:

When using FFOF straight out the bag I have a few questions to ask..
1. Any input on dolomite lime..

2. I'm using RO water, should I be using my General Organics cal mag every watering?

3. I know for 100% in my experience that FFOF does not have enough juice to go long term un ammended or all alone. So with my set up what would be the best route to getting my plants thru flower ??

Using FFOF soil. I have Botanicare's KIND base, grow, and bloom. I also have liquid karma. I have a bottle of GO cal/mag too. And so far with that I have not had to use any of the nutes for veg. But mid way flower it runs out. What should I be doing to fix this ?? Thanks in advance. And sorry about this sloppy post. I'm just new to the forum world.

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I would imagine that the FFOF would be adequately limed, but keep an eye on it. If you start noticing any necrosis/spotting on your leaves the CalMg+ might come in handy. The soil itself will have enough juice to carry you through a reasonable veg time, and possibly a few weeks in to flower but I'm thinking you will need to intervene at some point. I would grab a bag of Espoma Garden-Tone (or something similar) to top-dress a time or two with. You could also bubble a few teas on the cheap too.

I can't speak on the Botanicare products as I've never used them.

Good luck!

Thanks Stow, yea I'm in the process of getting everything together for a super soil. I'll be brewing teas as well. I'd rather not use synthetics than have to adjust them all the time. Organic is the way to go. Thanks guys.

st0wandgrow said:

I would imagine that the FFOF would be adequately limed, but keep an eye on it. If you start noticing any necrosis/spotting on your leaves the CalMg+ might come in handy. The soil itself will have enough juice to carry you
through a reasonable veg time, and possibly a few weeks in to flower but I'm thinking you will need to intervene at some point. I would grab a bag of Espoma Garden-Tone (or something similar) to top-dress a time or two with. You could also bubble a few teas on the cheap too.

I can't speak on the Botanicare products as I've never used them.

Good luck!

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Yea my veg always has been on point with FFof straight out of the bag, its just a few weeks into flower it starts problems. And if u try to adjust with synthetics its easy to over due it with fox farm.. and the salts just build up in the soil and cause ph problems which leads to lockout. So from my personal experience, if youre going to use a soil like Fox Farm oceans forest, you'd be better off amending it like u said. Rather than using synthetic nutes. I've definitely learned a lot and I just cannot say it enough, Organic is the way to go ! I'll update soon on my super soil mix. Thanks for the feedback

so i keep digging through the thread from the end. if a person wanted a strait guide on making soil that can go 8 weeks veg and flower with just teas. how to make the soil and how to make the teas because i cant seem to find the general recipe for these just a bunch of variations of the base.

KeepItGrowing317 said:

Just to chime in.. I'm on my second grow now with FFOF soil and my first plants were flowered in 3 gal pots and had yellow/brown spots half way thru flower that I just could not figure out. My plants did fine on just water until they were chopped. But I never found a solution. I'm in week 5-6 of flower on my second run this time in 5 gal pots and man my ladies looked sooooo good up until now, that yellowing with brown spots is back. Thankfully I don't think my buds will suffer TOO much because we're almost done and they can make it on just water. But again, I would like to find a solution.. I've used FFOF straight out of the bag. With RO water.. this run I used absolutely zero nutes during veg. Started using botanicares base and bloom during flower. At 25%.. Plants have looked beautiful and had no problems up until mid flower.. So I've heard that cutting my soil with dolomite lime is important. Any thoughts on lime w/ FFOF ? Idk I would just like to figure this out before my next run. Thank u

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CalMag or dolomite lime is essential if using FFOF out of the bag. I ran into the same issues as a beginner using FFOF.

KeepItGrowing317 said:

When using FFOF straight out the bag I have a few questions to ask..
1. Any input on dolomite lime..

2. I'm using RO water, should I be using my General Organics cal mag every watering?

3. I know for 100% in my experience that FFOF does not have enough juice to go long term un ammended or all alone. So with my set up what would be the best route to getting my plants thru flower ??

Using FFOF soil. I have Botanicare's KIND base, grow, and bloom. I also have liquid karma. I have a bottle of GO cal/mag too. And so far with that I have not had to use any of the nutes for veg. But mid way flower it runs out. What should I be doing to fix this ?? Thanks in advance. And sorry about this sloppy post. I'm just new to the forum world.

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1. Its good, I prefer "fast acting" although neither the heavier granular nor the fast acting are truly "fast acting". It can take days to weeks before its soluble enough to supplement the plants, so I recommend to apply early or cook it in the soil.
2. I would use it at least every other or every 3rd watering unless the plants say otherwise.
3. A flowering supplement or nutrient tea would be great. Before I started doing soil mixes I was a huge fan of Root's Organic Buddha Bloom. Its basically soluble organic fertilizer. I used it on my first grow with FFOF + BB + CalMag and just killed it in 3-4 gallon containers. I amazed myself! Later I retired the BB for soil mixes as I said, I then became a big fan of Dr. Earth Bud & Bloom and Espoma Tomato Tone (S420 was also a fan). Mostly used as a top dress slightly mixed into the top inch or two of the soil. If applied earlier than the plants required it, it was a flawless supplementation.

st0wandgrow said:

I would imagine that the FFOF would be adequately limed, but keep an eye on it. If you start noticing any necrosis/spotting on your leaves the CalMg+ might come in handy. The soil itself will have enough juice to carry you through a reasonable veg time, and possibly a few weeks in to flower but I'm thinking you will need to intervene at some point. I would grab a bag of Espoma Garden-Tone (or something similar) to top-dress a time or two with. You could also bubble a few teas on the cheap too.

I can't speak on the Botanicare products as I've never used them.

Good luck!

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FFOF is absolutely NOT adequately limed. Everything else you said is spot on

KeepItGrowing317 said:

Yea my veg always has been on point with FFof straight out of the bag, its just a few weeks into flower it starts problems. And if u try to adjust with synthetics its easy to over due it with fox farm.. and the salts just build up in the soil and cause ph problems which leads to lockout. So from my personal experience, if youre going to use a soil like Fox Farm oceans forest, you'd be better off amending it like u said. Rather than using synthetic nutes. I've definitely learned a lot and I just cannot say it enough, Organic is the way to go ! I'll update soon on my super soil mix. Thanks for the feedback

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I've been exactly there when I first started. dropped the PH under 5 from salt buildup. Needed a flush followed followed by reintroducing nutes and CalMag, then all better! That was my first lesson learned with nutes lol.

mrblu said:

so i keep digging through the thread from the end. if a person wanted a strait guide on making soil that can go 8 weeks veg and flower with just teas. how to make the soil and how to make the teas because i cant seem to find the general recipe for these just a bunch of variations of the base.

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Check out Subcool's super soil or LC's soilles mix recipe. Sub's is pretty straight forward and you can amend it if you wish, LC's gives you some choices depending if you plan to use nutrient teas or not.

I started with Sub's mix and ended up just making my own, but i really want to try LC's soilless mix or a variation of it on my next run. I opted to use a variety of different base soils for diversity in my current mix.

Shwagbag said:

FFOF is absolutely NOT adequately limed.

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That's definitely the truth. I'd simplify that further to say it's not adequate, period, but that's more in the realm of personal opinion.

aeroman said:

That's definitely the truth. I'd simplify that further to say it's not adequate, period, but that's more in the realm of personal opinion.

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lol, I prefer roots, but I do like the peat base rather than a coir base. Both of them are 15 bucks a bag at my local shop so maybe I should mix them!

I wish roots made a "richer" peat based mix. The 707 just seems a bit light compared to the coir based bags. The 707 actually does make a nice base for a mix. I've used it before as part of my mixes.

IMO you have to be either lazy (make your own mix easy), a sucker, misguided, or loooove fungal gnats to buy FFOF.

RedCarpetMatches said:

IMO you have to be either lazy (make your own mix easy), a sucker, misguided, or loooove fungal gnats to buy FFOF.

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I use it here and there since its so cheap at my local shop. I make my own flowering mixes but I sometimes will use FFOF for top fill or for vegging. I did a bunch of transplanting yesterday and opted for Pro-Mix with Espoma Tomato Tone for my veggers. I think that will suffice until their ready for their flowering pots. The roots seem to expand more rapidly using a peat based mix vs a coir based mix which is why I can't beat the 15 bucks per bag for FFOF. I would bOn Pro-Mix if it had a vaj-j though. I love that stuff soo baaaaad.

I use OF and have had good success as long as you are growing a nutrient heavy plant. I like to add (per bag) 1cup Happy Frog fruit and flower, 2 cups hydrated lime, 1 gal pearlite. It really doesn't need any of this I just like to add a little boost. The only problem I have had is that hyper sensitive plants(DP Blueberry) will get a little tip burn.

I use FFOF. Additives are per 1 bag 2cups hydrated lime and 1 cup happy frog fruit and flower 5-5-5. 1gal perlite. That's it until around 3-4 weeks then I start feedings 1/2 strength. General Organics nutes. Blackstrap molasses.

RedCarpetMatches said:

IMO you have to be either lazy (make your own mix easy), a sucker, misguided, or loooove fungal gnats to buy FFOF.

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THIS!

Shwagbag said:

I use it here and there since its so cheap at my local shop. I make my own flowering mixes but I sometimes will use FFOF for top fill or for vegging. I did a bunch of transplanting yesterday and opted for Pro-Mix with Espoma Tomato Tone for my veggers. I think that will suffice until their ready for their flowering pots. The roots seem to expand more rapidly using a peat based mix vs a coir based mix which is why I can't beat the 15 bucks per bag for FFOF. I would bOn Pro-Mix if it had a vaj-j though. I love that stuff soo baaaaad.

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Just my opinion but thats like using the cheapest hooker because it saves money
sure she's probably brimming with disease, but look at how much money I saved!

*shudder*

I don't care how much I save if it comes with a free gnat infestation it costs too much

aeroman said:

THIS!



Just my opinion but thats like using the cheapest hooker because it saves money
sure she's probably brimming with disease, but look at how much money I saved!

*shudder*

I don't care how much I save if it comes with a free gnat infestation it costs too much

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I don't use FFOF so I can't comment on how good it is as a medium, but you're blowing the fungus gnat thing out of proportion. Fungus gnats are very simple to get rid of if you ever find them in your garden.

aeroman said:

THIS!



Just my opinion but thats like using the cheapest hooker because it saves money
sure she's probably brimming with disease, but look at how much money I saved!

*shudder*

I don't care how much I save if it comes with a free gnat infestation it costs too much

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Sorry, but your analogy is about as inaccurate as a person can contrive lol. Funny nonetheless

I have to agree wit st0w, "brimming with disease" is a bit dramatic

I've never had any significant issues with fungus gnats from any one single soil manufacturer. I've seen them in just about everything grow store bought except Pro-Mix due to it's moisture level and packaging methods.

The brand bashing of this soil may not be completely justified IMO. FFOF is still one of the most widely used bagged soils available, and for good reason, it grows dank.... Well the bag is pretty too and its name is catchy.... Its not perfect, but if slightly amended it can be a great medium.

These bags are hauled all over the country, stored outdoors, stored and shipped next to other products etc. If I had to make an educated guess, most of the issues with soil born pests relating to bagged soil come from the logistics of its delivery as opposed to the actual manufacturing of it. Gnats like dirt with composted material, period. Frequency wise, I've had more issues with Roots Organics than FFOF by far, but it doesn't make either a bad bag of soil.

I prefer local products when available, but we're a little short on peat moss in these parts.

FFOF is not $15 a bag everywhere either, my store just has a great deal on it to get people in the door. Its his marketing concept and it works quite well for him.

Happy new year folks!

So the time has come to make a switch (new grow location, new setup, along with new ferts) the only question im left with is do I bite the bullet and use the FF hydro line, or can I just use the HF Tomato and Vegetable line for veg, and then switch over to the Fruit and Flower line when switching to bloom? And then use the trio pack along with the BB as a supplement?? Soil wise I'm using the Royal: Basement line. And up to this point they have just gotten water, mychrohizae, and root solution (all powder solutions recommended at the local grow shop, although not for what im using them for) Like I said im just trying to narrow it down. Im really curious about the Happy Frog Tomato & Vegetable and the Fruit and Flower lines because we also are trying to figure out a line for the greenhouses here in a few months as well and it would amazing if we could just use the same fert line for both. The whole Happy Frog line, Jump Start, T&V and F&F all seem like should do the job, just really wondering if anyone has any experience, or any other recommendations that could steer me one way or the other. I definitely want to start going organic, as we have the land and capabilities to not have to shell out ridiculous amounts of money for ferts when we could be generating our own.

Why does some1 have to be lazy to use ff. It is a good mix and has a wide variety of elements that are beneficial to plants and soil microbes. I am a fairly new grower but have bought around a dozen bags of this stuff and ive never had a problem other than it is a little hot for seedlings. You seem like a hater. Maybe the nats are attracted to little bitches.

RedCarpetMatches said:

IMO you have to be either lazy (make your own mix easy), a sucker, misguided, or loooove fungal gnats to buy FFOF.

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