Organic Medium Help

What is a quality cheap organic medium to use? I have my mothers in Fox Farm Ocean Forest and have been using Fox Farm's organic nutes along with them. Everything is going great with them. But I'm wondering if there's a cheaper way to grow? What is a good organic medium to use that is fairly cheap? Is there a resueable medium out there I can use? I really don't fell like buying multiple $15 bags of Fox Farm soil. Is there a soilless mix I can use? I don't know too much about the soilless mixes but I have heard of people getting good results. ANY feedback? Possible links? I'd really like to find a ph neutral organic medium that is resueable....if its out there!
 

Jack*Herrer420

Well-Known Member
I'm fairly new to organic soil growing, but I've been using this recipe with great success. It's not my recipe, but I can vouch for how well it works. It is also a great mix to rejuvinate. I'll post all the recipes, but I use soilless mix #1 with the guano tea and kelp nute mix(#3). When you finish a grow with this mix, save the soil, and amend it with the 3LB's recipe(#4). Hope this helps.
LC's Mix is great for any stage of growth. You can germ seeds in it, grow mothers in it, root clones in it as well as veg and flower in it.

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
...Wal-Mart now sells worm castings.

Or, if you use Pro Mix, Sunshine Mix or Fox Farm mixes...
LC's Soiless Mix #2:
6 parts Pro Mix BX or HP / Sunshine Mix (any flavor from #1 up) / Fox Farm Ocean Forest or Light Warrior
2 parts perlite
2 parts earthworm castings
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
If you use a 3 qt. saucepan as “parts” in the amounts given above, it equals about 1 cu. ft. of soiless mix and you can just dump in a cup of powdered dolomite lime.
But, a "part" can be anything from a tablespoon to a five gallon bucket. Just use the same item for all of the "parts".

Now for the plants organic food source

Choose one of these organic plant food recipes to add to LC's Soiless Mix.

RECIPE #1
If you want to use organic nutes like blood, bone and kelp...
Dry Ferts:
1 tablespoon blood meal per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of soil mix
2 tablespoons bone meal per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of soil mix
1-tablespoon kelp meal per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of soil mix or Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract as directed
(OPTIONAL) 1 tablespoon per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of Jersey Greensand to supplement the K (potasium) in the Kelp Meal and seaweed extract.
Mix all the dry ferts into the soiless mix well and wet it, but don't soak it with Liquid Karma and water @ 1 tbs./gal. Stir and mix it a few times a week for a week or two so the bacteria can get oxygen and break down the bone meal and make it available. And don't let the mix dry out, keep it moist and add water as needed. It'll also have time to get the humic acids in the Liquid Karma going and the dolomite lime will be better able to adjust the pH of a peat based mixture too.
With this recipe, all you need to do is add plain water until harvest.
When I'm working with seeds, I punch a hole in the bottom of 16 ounce cups and fill them with plain LC's Mix. Lightly wet the mix in the cups and germ one seed in each cup. At the same time I mix enough LC's mix along with the blood/bone/kelp to fill all the 3 gallon flower pots I'm going to use for the grow. After about two weeks, the seedlings and the blood/bone/kelp mix are ready. I transplant the seedlings into the 3 gallon pots and just add water until harvest.
When you go to flower and pull up the males, save the mix in the pots. It is ready to be used again immediately. Just remove the root ball and transplant another seedling into it.

RECIPE #2
If you want to use guano in your soil mix...
Bongaloid's Guano Mix.
Use all these items combined with one gallon of soil mix.
1/3C hi N Guano (Mexican Bat Guano)
1/2C hi P Guano (Jamaican or Indonesian Bat Guano)
1TBS Kelp Meal
(OPTIONAL) 1TBS Jersey Greensand

RECIPE #3 (My favorite)
If you want to use guano tea and kelp...

Guano Tea and Kelp:

Seedlings less than 1 month old nute tea mix-
Mix 1 cup earthworm castings into 5 gallons of water to make the tea.
Add 5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses.
Use it to water your seedlings with every 3rd watering.

Veg mix-
1/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano (PSG)
1/3 cup High N Bat Guano (Mexican)
1/3 cup Earth Worm Castings (EWC)
5 tsp. Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
(That makes the "dry mix". You can make all you want and save it to use later.)
Mix with water @ 1 cup of dry mix into 5 gallons of water to make the tea.
To that 5 gallons of tea add:
5 tbs. Liquid Karma
5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses
Use it to water with every 3rd watering.

Flowering nute tea mix:
2/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano
2/3 cup Earth Worm Castings
2/3 cup High P Guano (Indonesian or Jamaican)
5 tsp. Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
(That makes the "dry mix". You can make all you want and save it to use later.)
Mix with water @ 2 cups of dry mix into 5 gallons of water to make the tea.
To that 5 gallons of tea add:
5 tbs. Liquid Karma
5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses
Use it to water with EVERY watering.

You can use queen size knee high nylon stockings for tea bags. 3 pair for a dollar at the dollar store. Tell 'em you use them for paint strainers. Put the recommended tea in the stocking, tie a loop knot in it and hang it in your tea bucket. The tea should look like a mud puddle. Agitate the bag in the water vigorously. An aquarium pump and air stone will dissolve oxygen into the solution and keep the good bacteria (microherd) alive and thriving. Let it bubble a day or two before you use it. If you find you are making too much tea and having to throw it out, use 2 1/2 gallons of water and cut the nute amount by half.


RECIPE #4
Three Little Birds Method
40 gallons used soil
4 cups alfalfa meal
4 cups bone meal
4 cups kelp meal
4 cups powdered dolomite lime
30 pound bag of earthworm castings . . .
That’s the basic recipe . . .
However we also like to use
4 cups of Greensand
4 cups of Rock Phosphate
4 cups of diatomaceous earth


RECIPE #5
Fish and Seaweed (This is sooo easy)

For veg growth…
1 capful 5-1-1 Fish Emulsion
1 capful Neptune's Harvest 0-0-1 Seaweed or Maxicrop liquid
1 gallon H2O

For early flowering…
1 tbs. Neptune’s Harvest 2-3-1 Fish/Seaweed
1 gallon H2O

For mid to late flowering…
1 tbs. Neptune’s Harvest 2-4-1 Fish
1 gallon H2O
 
I know I didn't specifiy but I was actually looking for something that is bag ready. I use straight FFOF along with FF nutes and everything has been going great for me. I don't seem to have a drainage problem with FFOF like I hear other people complain about. The 3 gal pots the mothers are in now hold about a half gallon of water. I water them about every 8 days or so and they seem to love it. The reason I wasn't looking to mix the soil myself is because it's messy and I really don't have the space to mix soil. BUT if I were to go with a home mix, it would probably be Mix #1 Wetdog. Do either of you know of a bag ready mix that is just as good as FFOF but isn't as expensive? And thaks steering me in the right direction Jack420, I do appreciate it!
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
Don't know.

I was making my own mix even before I grew MJ and have never bought a bagged mix of any kind.

Wet
 
roots organic Coco coir

What nutes could I use in conjunction with this soil? Will my FF nutes work with it? I also have the micro, bloom and veg line of Gen. Hydroponics....could I use this line as well? I'd love to be able to use the nutes I have rather then go out and buy more. I'm a penny pincher, what can I say?
 

terrorizer805

Well-Known Member
What nutes could I use in conjunction with this soil? Will my FF nutes work with it? I also have the micro, bloom and veg line of Gen. Hydroponics....could I use this line as well? I'd love to be able to use the nutes I have rather then go out and buy more. I'm a penny pincher, what can I say?
Yes I don't see why not, I use the gen hydro organic line with my Roots organic coco mix and so far so good, also I like this coco shit because it allows you to water more often and as a result feed more often as well. It also has great drainage :leaf:
 

terrorizer805

Well-Known Member
Oh and did i mention it's ready to use right outta the bag. It has a lot of good shit in it already like worm castings and bat shit really great stuff
 

trystick

Active Member
LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
...Wal-Mart now sells worm castings.
Yea I am a helper in an indoor grow and we have a large compost pile. That seem to be the best way t0 reduce medium cost. We also buy our worm casting at wallymart. The Canadian peat goes a long way for the price.
 

madodah

Well-Known Member
I use Gardner & Bloom Organic Potting Soil as my mix base for outdoor growing in containers. Ingredients are fir bark, forest humus, peat moss, perlite, chicken manure, worm casings, bat guano, kelp meal, alfalfa meal and oyster shell powder, pH adjusted before bagging with dolomite lime. $6.50/2cf bag at the local farm supply store.
 

T.H.Cammo

Well-Known Member
I use Gardner & Bloom Organic Potting Soil as my mix base for outdoor growing in containers. Ingredients are fir bark, forest humus, peat moss, perlite, chicken manure, worm casings, bat guano, kelp meal, alfalfa meal and oyster shell powder, pH adjusted before bagging with dolomite lime. $6.50/2cf bag at the local farm supply store.
I have used "Gardner & Bloome's" products and have always been happy with them. That "Oganic Potting Soil" sounds good but my local "G&B" dealer (Ace Hardware) doesn't carry thier potting soil.

For the O.P. If you're looking for "Store Bought" Organic Soil, reasonably priced, you can't do much better than "Kellogg's Patio plus"! I saw it over the weekend at Home Depot for $5. @ 1 1/2 cu.ft. bag.
 
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