Organic Soil Question

Hi All!!!!

I've mostly been a Hydroponics (DWC and Aeroponics) grower for my growing career. I want to try an all Organic run in a 4x4 tent as it now has a lot of appeal to me for various reasons. I bought "Dr. Earth home Grow" premium organic soil as it was on sale for Earth Day and looked like a good soil to use. The soil has no fertilizers in it yet as far I can tell reading the label. The Ingredients are:
- forest humus
- fir bark
- peat moss
- earthworm castings
- kelp meal
-fish bone meal
- alfalfa meal
- soybean meal
-fish meal
- aloe vera
- yucca extract
- oyster shell and dolomite limes

My question is does this soil already have what is needs to sustain plant growth or do I need to amend the soil with the Dr. Earth Veg and Bloom organic fertilizers I got( also on sale )?

Any advice would helpful in getting on my way! Happy growing all!

All of those ingredients are your fertilizer. It’ll probably last you a month or two before you will deplete the soil. I would follow the instructions on the fertilizers. DR earth also has a Cannabis feed chart posted on their website.

I run the Dr Earth line of dry amendments in Roots Organic soil and usually blend about 1/2 cup in to 5 gallons of soil. Then I wait 4-6 weeks until I begin top dressing. Your soil mix sounds like it has a good bit of food for the plants for at least 4 weeks if not more. Just remember that dry amendments take a little while to break down into being available for the plants and you don't get the immediate feed you're used to. Either the 4-4-4 or the 4-6-3 is good until after stretch and then you can decide on whether to use the veg blend, a mix of veg and flower girl or just straight flower girl. I like adding some form of microbes every week like Recharge or whatever your using for microbes as they're what break the food down and keeping a healthy population of them going is important. Best of luck with the new style and hope you have a great run.

King_Kush86 said:

Hi All!!!!

I've mostly been a Hydroponics (DWC and Aeroponics) grower for my growing career. I want to try an all Organic run in a 4x4 tent as it now has a lot of appeal to me for various reasons. I bought "Dr. Earth home Grow" premium organic soil as it was on sale for Earth Day and looked like a good soil to use. The soil has no fertilizers in it yet as far I can tell reading the label. The Ingredients are:
- forest humus
- fir bark
- peat moss
- earthworm castings
- kelp meal
-fish bone meal
- alfalfa meal
- soybean meal
-fish meal
- aloe vera
- yucca extract
- oyster shell and dolomite limes

My question is does this soil already have what is needs to sustain plant growth or do I need to amend the soil with the Dr. Earth Veg and Bloom organic fertilizers I got( also on sale )?

Any advice would helpful in getting on my way! Happy growing all!

Click to expand...

Exactly what the last two replies were.
Also, knowing what to use and when to use it is key. Younger vegging plants don’t need much. If you search “Dr. Earth.” In the search box here at rollitup there is a ton of threads that go into depth about Dr earth and how to use it.
The soil you mentioned has amendments in it. Read up on each one and what it does for the plant. Also, get familiar with secondaries such as sulfur, cal, mag, etc
Knowing when and how much to use will save you from deficiencies and lockouts.
Do some homework on top dressing as well.
There’s a little bit of a learning curve with all this but the benefits are a less complicated grow in general.
Don’t over look ipm. Any soil is susceptible to thrips, aphids, gnats, mites. Knowing how to detect this and prevent this early on can be a life saver. Also, don’t skip out on beneficial bacteria’s and microbes for root zone optimization.

FirstCavApache64 said:

I run the Dr Earth line of dry amendments in Roots Organic soil and usually blend about 1/2 cup in to 5 gallons of soil. Then I wait 4-6 weeks until I begin top dressing. Your soil mix sounds like it has a good bit of food for the plants for at least 4 weeks if not more. Just remember that dry amendments take a little while to break down into being available for the plants and you don't get the immediate feed you're used to. Either the 4-4-4 or the 4-6-3 is good until after stretch and then you can decide on whether to use the veg blend, a mix of veg and flower girl or just straight flower girl. I like adding some form of microbes every week like Recharge or whatever your using for microbes as they're what break the food down and keeping a healthy population of them going is important. Best of luck with the new style and hope you have a great run.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the Advice. Are you suggesting something like compost teas? I was thinking about adding a compost tea to the plants once every two weeks. Would that help with feeding the microbes like you're suggesting?

CaliRootz88 said:

Exactly what the last two replies were.
Also, knowing what to use and when to use it is key. Younger vegging plants don’t need much. If you search “Dr. Earth.” In the search box here at rollitup there is a ton of threads that go into depth about Dr earth and how to use it.
The soil you mentioned has amendments in it. Read up on each one and what it does for the plant. Also, get familiar with secondaries such as sulfur, cal, mag, etc
Knowing when and how much to use will save you from deficiencies and lockouts.
Do some homework on top dressing as well.
There’s a little bit of a learning curve with all this but the benefits are a less complicated grow in general.
Don’t over look ipm. Any soil is susceptible to thrips, aphids, gnats, mites. Knowing how to detect this and prevent this early on can be a life saver. Also, don’t skip out on beneficial bacteria’s and microbes for root zone optimization.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the good info. I will look up those Dr. Earth threads you mentioned.

FirstCavApache64 said:

I run the Dr Earth line of dry amendments in Roots Organic soil and usually blend about 1/2 cup in to 5 gallons of soil. Then I wait 4-6 weeks until I begin top dressing. Your soil mix sounds like it has a good bit of food for the plants for at least 4 weeks if not more. Just remember that dry amendments take a little while to break down into being available for the plants and you don't get the immediate feed you're used to. Either the 4-4-4 or the 4-6-3 is good until after stretch and then you can decide on whether to use the veg blend, a mix of veg and flower girl or just straight flower girl. I like adding some form of microbes every week like Recharge or whatever your using for microbes as they're what break the food down and keeping a healthy population of them going is important. Best of luck with the new style and hope you have a great run.

Click to expand...

do you do half a cup of the bloom and the Veg?

U got all u need but usually in a 7gal pot or lower, a plant can eat up most the nutes in like a month and a half give or take. So what I do is, great soil blend, then week 2 of flower I add nature's pride bloom powder. It's got tonnnsss of stuff in it for good price. Plus it gives ur soil another Boost in general. Great stuff. Always get big perfect buds but I also use way more than bag says. I put 4 or 5 cups in a 7gal pot before flower is Over like I'll do 3 at week 2 flower then a couple more if she looks like she wants more.. n my buds always come out smoother than my buddies/healthier looking/better tasting etc.

King_Kush86 said:

Thanks for the Advice. Are you suggesting something like compost teas? I was thinking about adding a compost tea to the plants once every two weeks. Would that help with feeding the microbes like you're suggesting?

Click to expand...

What happens to most living soil is that microbial activity slows down after awhile. It is not that easy to keep a soil mix active in a container indefinitely. Eventually activity fades and ph rises; this is when most growers would say their soil is deficient when in fact it had just become inactive with microbes.
Adding compost in any form especially teas will help maintain high level of micro activity. Adding mycorrhizae at each transplant or in a fungal tea form helps prolong a healthy mix by assisting with absorption through symbiosis. Adding different types of fertilizer during grow cycles as a top dress, soluble liquid, or at each transplant keeps microbes feeding on organic material. Adding minerals after each run will help recharge the soil for another run. Once you have everything that is needed in the soil then all you gotta add is water.
I like to add a handful of chicken manure along with ewc in the bottom layer of soil for each final bloom pot. A sprinkle of crushed oyster shell helps balance ph and granular mycorrhizae contacts with the roots. I add two jobes AP organic spikes for each container which will feed for 8 weeks; perfect for bloom phase. I also keep a bottle of liquid fish on hand in case they need a boost mid bloom. This usually keeps them green right into harvest.

Richard Drysift said:

What happens to most living soil is that microbial activity slows down after awhile. It is not that easy to keep a soil mix active in a container indefinitely. Eventually activity fades and ph rises; this is when most growers would say their soil is deficient when in fact it had just become inactive with microbes.
Adding compost in any form especially teas will help maintain high level of micro activity. Adding mycorrhizae at each transplant or in a fungal tea form helps prolong a healthy mix by assisting with absorption through symbiosis. Adding different types of fertilizer during grow cycles as a top dress, soluble liquid, or at each transplant keeps microbes feeding on organic material. Adding minerals after each run will help recharge the soil for another run. Once you have everything that is needed in the soil then all you gotta add is water.
I like to add a handful of chicken manure along with ewc in the bottom layer of soil for each final bloom pot. A sprinkle of crushed oyster shell helps balance ph and granular mycorrhizae contacts with the roots. I add two jobes AP organic spikes for each container which will feed for 8 weeks; perfect for bloom phase. I also keep a bottle of liquid fish on hand in case they need a boost mid bloom. This usually keeps them green right into harvest.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I’ll add compost tea to my soil once every couple of weeks. I’ll look in to the mycorrhizae too.

FirstCavApache64 said:

I run the Dr Earth line of dry amendments in Roots Organic soil and usually blend about 1/2 cup in to 5 gallons of soil. Then I wait 4-6 weeks until I begin top dressing. Your soil mix sounds like it has a good bit of food for the plants for at least 4 weeks if not more. Just remember that dry amendments take a little while to break down into being available for the plants and you don't get the immediate feed you're used to. Either the 4-4-4 or the 4-6-3 is good until after stretch and then you can decide on whether to use the veg blend, a mix of veg and flower girl or just straight flower girl. I like adding some form of microbes every week like Recharge or whatever your using for microbes as they're what break the food down and keeping a healthy population of them going is important. Best of luck with the new style and hope you have a great run.

Click to expand...

I was curiuos as to fabric pot size to use indoors with tent. I know 5 gallon is two small as I veg 5-6 weeks depending on grow. I used 15 gallon last time, great plants but I think 10 gallon or even 7 might cut them more manageable as I did get alot harvest but they were 7 feet tall it got bit much as had to remote mount drivers so i had over 7 foot.

I've run organic dry amendments in 3 to 7 gallon pots. 5 is the best for tent growing in my opinion, and I veg 8 weeks total. I'd average 5-7 ounces a plant using the 5 gallon pots. I watered daily in the 5 gallon pots once they were established but they did well with the schedule.

FirstCavApache64 said:

I've run organic dry amendments in 3 to 7 gallon pots. 5 is the best for tent growing in my opinion, and I veg 8 weeks total. I'd average 5-7 ounces a plant using the 5 gallon pots. I watered daily in the 5 gallon pots once they were established but they did well with the schedule.

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I am trying to get more harvest off each plant. I will think about it, how big area/numbers plabts? Any pics of 57 etc all together as I also know there are 50 sizes of some as they lie about sixe lol

I lost my older pics when my phone broke but I ran 4-5 of the 5 gallon pots in my old 4x4 . Yield is a factor of genetics first and everything else second in my opinion. I aim for one ounce of dried buds for every gallon of my pots size. So a 5 gallon pot should yield at least 5 ounces of dried bud. With 5 of them you should be able to hit 22-28 ounces a run with the right genetics and a strong light.
Here's a good yielding strain I just finished, GMO Granny Skunk. It yielded 4.5 ounces in a 2.5 gallon pot using salt nutes by Jack's.

King_Kush86 said:

Hi All!!!!

I've mostly been a Hydroponics (DWC and Aeroponics) grower for my growing career. I want to try an all Organic run in a 4x4 tent as it now has a lot of appeal to me for various reasons. I bought "Dr. Earth home Grow" premium organic soil as it was on sale for Earth Day and looked like a good soil to use. The soil has no fertilizers in it yet as far I can tell reading the label. The Ingredients are:
- forest humus
- fir bark
- peat moss
- earthworm castings
- kelp meal
-fish bone meal
- alfalfa meal
- soybean meal
-fish meal
- aloe vera
- yucca extract
- oyster shell and dolomite limes

My question is does this soil already have what is needs to sustain plant growth or do I need to amend the soil with the Dr. Earth Veg and Bloom organic fertilizers I got( also on sale )?

Any advice would helpful in getting on my way! Happy growing all!

Click to expand...

You will need to amend the soil at end of veg and feed the soil microbes sugars and LABs Google JLF it’s so easy to make and is amazing