Should I be watering to runoff?

[GardenWeasel77]

He's a new member in the Newbie forum.
I don't think he's trying anything complicated.
What's going on is he's using a soil that has a 3-4 week charge ... and top dressing.
His plants are not getting what they need.
I don't think it's microbes. I think he's just starving them with that technique.
Get some liquid ferts if possible or make a tea with what is available. Top dressing in FFOF is not enough.

 

[GardenWeasel77]

All that aside, op is wondering what’s going on. It seems like op is trying to run a living soil run. Maybe not. But if not then op shouldn’t be using organic dry ferts and should switch to synthetics. If op is trying to run living soil then op doesn’t need to feed like you do. In fact op could get away with an inoculation drench and then feeding nothing in veg, and then top dressing at the flip, and then another top dress and microbe drench at harvest to reset.

Hoe long after topdressing should I start to see results?

 

[GardenWeasel77]

FFOF is good for three weeks.
After that you have to feed, and yes, water until runoff.
Dry fertilizer is not as efficient as liquid fertilizer if it's not mixed into the soil.
You're better off finding a liquid fert you can use. Or at the very least, make a tea with your dry stuff and use that to water.
Sitting dry ferts on the top of the soil is not the way to go in FFOF.

That can be fixed easily

and my suspicion is over fertilization caused imbalance in proper microbe life or the little that was there and ph becomes off and makes things look like it’s deficient.
I’ve seen so many people go through this in soil when they add organic inputs.

they pour more and more bc they don’t see the instant results and or tinker too much and end up causing an imbalance

Well the thing is, I didnt start feeding until leaves started getting necrotic spots and turning yellow.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Holy shit there's a lot of bad information here.

Hydro growers need to stop trying to help people using organics.

Don't water to runoff if you can help it with organics.

FFOF is organic so I don't know WTF that one guy's thinking.

And dry organic amendments can take awhile to become available. Some things are available quicker than others. Some will take years to fully break down.

End of rant. I just was a little overwhelmed with the bad advice, lol.

 

[GardenWeasel77]

He's a new member in the Newbie forum.
I don't think he's trying anything complicated.
What's going on is he's using a soil that has a 3-4 week charge ... and top dressing.
His plants are not getting what they need.
I don't think it's microbes. I think he's just starving them with that technique.
Get some liquid ferts if possible or make a tea with what is available. Top dressing in FFOF is not enough.

Thanks for the feedback. Is there anyway I can make topdressing work, like maybe doing a double or triple dose now at the beginning of flower. Problem is, down to earth doesnt recommend making tea with their products because apparently they are not water soluable.

 

[GardenWeasel77]

Holy shit there's a lot of bad information here.

Hydro growers need to stop trying to help people using organics.

Don't water to runoff if you can help it with organics.

FFOF is organic so I don't know WTF that one guy's thinking.

And dry organic amendments can take awhile to become available. Some things are available quicker than others. Some will take years to fully break down.

End of rant. I just was a little overwhelmed with the bad advice, lol.

How long do you think it will take for my topdressing to start working... Using down to earth organics?

 

[PadawanWarrior]

How long do you think it will take for my topdressing to start working... Using down to earth organics?

A couple weeks or so.

I just talked about this stuff in some detail a little bit ago. Check out this thread.

Top dressing | Rollitup

 

[drsaltzman]

It’s gonna take time to make a proper tea using dry ferts.
It’s also gonna take time for top dressing to have effect.
If you have pics there’s enough smart people around here can help you better.

 

[GardenWeasel77]

Everything is water soluble. Including you and me.
It’s gonna take time to make a proper tea using dry ferts.
It’s also gonna take time for top dressing to have effect.
If you have pics there’s enough smart people around here can help you better.

 

[GardenWeasel77]

It’s gonna take time to make a proper tea using dry ferts.
It’s also gonna take time for top dressing to have effect.
If you have pics there’s enough smart people around here can help you better.

Yeah I guess thats true... I posted a couple of pics. Not sure how long would be considered long enough to brew a tea?

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Did they get worse after you top dressed? You could be burning them. Or having some lockout.

You don't need to make a tea. You're probably gonna mess them up more if you try that.

EWC are your friend. If you want to make a tea out of anything, that's what you want. That and some molasses. But you don't need to make a tea. Top dressing is great.

They're your plants though so do what you think is best.

 

[drsaltzman]

They do look hungry.
Any liquid feed would help. Even something from your hardware store.
It’s not a goner by any means but it needs more than it’s getting.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

They do look hungry.
Any liquid feed would help. Even something from your hardware store.
It’s not a goner by any means but it needs more than it’s getting.

A liquid feed is a good idea too if it's an organic one like Neptune's Harvest, or Big Bloom. Even Alaska Fish Fertilizer, but that shit reeks. Those will all help boost the microbe level.

I use Neptune's Harvest Fish and Seaweed occasionally.

 

[drsaltzman]

EWC are great.
He’s a newbie. With starving plants.
Try and get them something readily available and quickly utilized.
He’s not building a soil right now. Tryn to save his plants in flower.

 

[drsaltzman]

A liquid feed is a good idea too if it's an organic one like Neptune's Harvest, or Big Bloom. Even Alaska Fish Fertilizer, but that shit reeks. Those will all help boost the microbe level.

I use Neptune's Harvest Fish and Seaweed occasionally.

All those fish ferts reek to me.
In the tent anyway.
Outside no problem.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

EWC are great.
He’s a newbie. With starving plants.
Try and get them something readily available and quickly utilized.
He’s not building a soil right now. Tryn to save his plants in flower.

Well so far he's all organic and his soil is getting better as we speak even though his plants are a little pissed off right now.

If he starts adding chemicals he's gonna start making his soil shitty over time.

If he wants to reuse the soil he should stick with organics.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

All those fish ferts reek to me.
In the tent anyway.
Outside no problem.

There's a difference between fish emulsion and fish hydrolysate. Emulsion smells like ass. NO WAY Inside for me! Hydrolysate, NO WORRIES! Totally different!

 

[drsaltzman]

I think he’s just trying to save this grow.
He can start over. It’s just FFOF.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

I think he’s just trying to save this grow.
He can start over. It’s just FFOF.

I started with FFOF and am still using it, but it's had other things added since. Why waste good soil?

 

[GardenWeasel77]

EWC are great.
He’s a newbie. With starving plants.
Try and get them something readily available and quickly utilized.
He’s not building a soil right now. Tryn to save his plants in flower.

Should I just by the flora trio or something like that. I really told myself that I wasnt going to spend any more money this grow but Im already three months in and I would hate to have things go south at this point?