FFOF ( Fox Farms Ocean Forest ) made Simple - Autoflower

[Bullmark]

I’ve been anxiously waiting for my next run so I can employ this low maintenance approach.
I finally got things set up and popped 3 beans….2 chreme de la chems from Mephisto and a Northern lights from 207.
All 3 germinated quickly and looked like they were ready to rock. I decided to start them in small plastic cup-like pots and move them to 3gal pots once they got established.
I used 100% light warrior for them…..I thought that was a suggested starter mix and after a couple of weeks move to FFOF, EWC, with extra perlite. I never figured I’d have any trouble at the seedling stage……but I’m a little concerned.
Pics are attached but only 1 of the 3 looks reasonably healthy.
i have the environment dialed in….temps 79-82, RH of 65-67% under an HLG 320 LED. Ppfd is between 275-300. But they don’t look good….they are a little over 2 weeks from being helmet heads.
Initially the Light Warrior was pretty dry and light. I only gave an occasional misting and just a few drops of distilled water.
Yesterday I became concerned that they had no moisture at all in the medium. The fan was blowing the perlite out of the pots. So I have each plant 2oz with most going around the edges of the small pot. I did put a teaspoon of EWC on top of the light warrior also to keep the perlite from flying out. The fan is not blowing very hard.
2 of the 3 have really pink/purplish new growth.
i can’t figure out why they aren’t growing well.
The leaves look a touch yellow and are turning down on one plant and twisting on another.
My LED is 32” above and set at a low/medium level…..so I can’t imagine it’s too much light.
They are getting 24/0 of light.
Can anyone help out……

 

[Tannercortes]

You won't need nutrients for the first 30 days in ffof from my experience but better have em ready by week 3 in case. Dude that's a $550 light. I feel like I should be the one asking advice.. Seriously, having enough light won't be a problem. Damn .

Thank you for that 30 day tip. Damned internet makes me buy these things.

 

[Tannercortes]

Keep an eagle-eye out for bugs if you're planning on moving them from outdoors to indoors. It's all too easy to bring a few back in the tent where they have free reign on your plants.

trying my best to keep a close eye. Always checking with mag glass. any recommended organic repellents? I read a little about Neem. I have garlic barrier but not used it.

 

[CarolinaPothead]

Keep an eagle-eye out for bugs if you're planning on moving them from outdoors to indoors. It's all too easy to bring a few back in the tent where they have free reign on your plants.

Ain't that the truth! I brought in a rogue plant that spontaneously grew in my wife's planter on the porch. I also brought in aphids, thrips and whiteflies. Had to harvest early because of the bugs. Really fkd me bad.

 

[Billy the Mountain]

Ain't that the truth! I brought in a rogue plant that spontaneously grew in my wife's planter on the porch. I also brought in aphids, thrips and whiteflies. Had to harvest early because of the bugs. Really fkd me bad.

I've done it myself and ruined a grow.
Frankly, I don't think it's possible to bring an outdoor plant back inside without bringing along some hitch-hikers.

 

[Tannercortes]

My plan to setup tent tonight after long work day but have to get up in 6 hours so another day of sun. i keep the plants upstairs sunning in a protected patio. There are no other plants up there. I bring the plants into a closet currently. Well ventilated with avg 22C temp. I just checked and snapped a couple pics. next batch will be all in tent inside. Wish me luck

 

[calvin.m16]

What gets easier than residential compost?

 

[OhNo555]

I just finished reading the whole 24 page post. The information provided on this 24 page post is invaluable as their are many years of trail and error, any person with an OZ. Of brain should see this and the fact that you all were willing to share is commendable. I am 58 years old and used to grow both inside and outside back in the day when it was illegal everywhere. We had nothing back then and had to make everything and nobody shared any knowledge at all. So let me thank you all for all the knowledge I just gain from reading this post. Will be starting a grow very soon indoors I live on the east coast looks like they may legalize it very soon one more hurdle to pass bill for my state but medical is ok with a card we do have dispensaries and DC and VA are very close to me. I will use this post for help again thanks to all.

OhNo555

 

[Budzbuddha]

I should put it out there that apparently there are differences in FFOF ( quality control ) depending regional sources of amendments.
I am west coast and have heard of “ dirtier “ bags of FFOF - debris and such. I do recommend a simple soil screen to help .

I personally haven’t had the gnat issues with their bags - however they can and do get contaminated either from transportation / pallet storage.
I have been adding a few cups of Neem Meal into bought bags to help be a pest prevention move.

 

[Tannercortes]

Day 21.
Had an over watering drooping experience but recovered. GoPro Timelapse video was amazing.

Just focused on keeping humidity levels 65-70% and temperature between 77-80F. The FFOF Sunshine4 Perlite mix allows me to key in on other requirements. Perfect for a newbie like me.

Moved them under Electric Sky ES300 v3. Comes with a nicely labeled dimmer control. I feel like Dr. FrankEinstein.

 

[AndWhatNot]

I'm entering week 11 in flowering, still have new growth...she is damn persistent! The anxiety is killing me....

 

[Tannercortes]

Day 36…1st grow. just water and light. No nutes yet.
FFOF Sun4 perlite
72-82F
55-70%H

 

[Frosty the Nug Man]

Hey just had a question for @Budzbuddha . you mentioned you grow in hempy buckets too. Do you notice any difference between the organic soil bud and the hempy. Also do you grow in straight perlite with the hempy's. I'm just curious as I just started experimenting with both and wondered if there is a noticable difference.

 

[CarolinaPothead]

I'm entering week 11 in flowering, still have new growth...she is damn persistent! The anxiety is killing me....

What strain are you growing? I've had new growth pop right up till the last week. New white pistils trying vainly to reproduce. It means nothing. Check calyxes and trichs. Go by that

 

[Hollatchaboy]

What strain are you growing? I've had new growth pop right up till the last week. New white pistils trying vainly to reproduce. It means nothing. Check calyxes and trichs. Go by that

White pistils=plant is still growing, not ripe and ready for harvest. To each his own though.

 

[CarolinaPothead]

White pistils=plant is still growing, not ripe and ready for harvest. To each his own though.

A couple stray white pistils is what I had. Just a few that jumped out on the last 8 days. It was DONE. The trich color and fullness and the fact that all my pistils had been red for weeks w hen this happened is what determined it was ripe. A handful of last ditch pistils does not mean a plant isn't ripe.

 

[CarolinaPothead]

As to this thread. I've got 3 perfect looking gg#4 autos by following the advice posted. I'm just using ffof and a little cal-mag. Just added the first dose of tiger bloom at 6 weeks flower and they are the best autos I've had. It's good advice for anybody with a small grow. Good grows to you all!

 

[turbobuzz]

This thread was created to help those who seem to overthink the ease of use of this highly ammended bag soil. I see many growers both new and experienced seem to post “ issues “ when trying to run this medium.

I am merely showing a simple no frills method of container / bag grows for autos. Since feeding requirements will be for average 90 ( + or - ) day average for autoflower growth , this will fit it perfectly.

No multi bottle nonsense ... No special water requirements ( use tap ) ... No boosters

FFOF is one of the most complete “ off the shelf “ bagged medium one can by ..... ready to use alone.
Other growers I talked with , mentioned regional differences among stock.

Ingredients: Composted forest humus, sphagnum peat moss, Pacific Northwest sea-going fish emulsion, crab meal, shrimp meal, earthworm castings, sandy loam, perlite, bat guano, granite dust, Norwegian kelp, and oyster shell (for pH adjustment).

Medium is prebuffered to 6.3 .

View attachment 4395504

I will list 2 versions of soil setup .......

1. Plain FFOF soil run only
2. Pelletized dry nute ammended ( self feed )


Begin with the final container size you wish to run ...... I run 1 gallon SOG bags and 3/5 gallon plastic black or air pots ( air prune ). Smart bags will work also. You will be planting directly to pot. You can also grow a seedling in a solo with a seed starter mix and plant as plug into this medium too. But for this , I will show you that FFOF is not quite as hot to seedlings as some report.

You will NOT be feeding the seedling at all with outside Nutes. It will feed on its own from the medium only and will acclimate “ faster and easier “ than dropping more Nutes on top of this charged medium.

Water :

TAP ( whether allowed to vape off 24 hours or not ) it will work. No RO , distilled , holy water , unicorn sweat or other “ special “ water sources. Your ONLY REQUIREMENT is to PH correctly.
PH range for entire autoflower run : 6.3 to 6.5 ( No more No less ) .

Soil is pretty aerated on its own but works much better with added perlite. I tend to shoot for 25% minimum more by volume of medium used.

I am using a simple 1 gallon grow bag for a SOG grow of 9 plants for a tent I am running. However adjust your volume of perlite to container size you choose.

View attachment 4395521 View attachment 4395522

Your mix should resemble something like this ....

View attachment 4395524

This bag is half filled AND HERE IS WHERE YOU CAN RUN TWO DIFFERENT VARIATIONS.

1. Fill remainder with same mix .
2. Add a tablespoon of Dry Fertilizer ( Dr. Earth 5-5-5 or megacrop 1 tsp ).

When running FFOF solo .... I merely MIST this half fill with water to hydrate it , then cover fill to top.

For Dry Ammend : I am using Dr. Earth LIFE fertilizer ( 5-5-5 ) or Megacrop
This method is similar to Canucks grow method using dry fertilizer and coco grows he does with autoflowers.

Note : I found Dr. Earth LIFE at the 99¢ ( half off ) in 1 gallon bags ! .... needless to say I grabbed a few .
Dr. Earth Fruit and Veg and Flower Girl are both good options also.

For some LED grows : CalMag “ may “ be needed occasionally and will only need be added 1tsp per gallon of water before use.

View attachment 4395530 View attachment 4395531 View attachment 4395533
View attachment 4395541

FFOF by itself will carry an auto for weeks on its own ........ on water only. The pelletized feed will self charge and supplement myco as plant moves thru bloom. The alternate method is merely top dressing FFOF in those grows running bag FFOF only.

I do not flush or leach medium upon final weeks ..... I merely continue watering requirements.
NO FRILLS .

You will find the plants prefer feeding on its own terms instead of dumping a brew all over it .

Just keep your PH in range and you will see how well this bagged soil does.

Hope this helps. PEACE.

I do something very similar to this using happy frog, and fox farm fruit and flower 4-9-3. Then I top dress once a month with the 4-9-3 and worm castings until late flower, and I cut out the worm castings. I might use some banana peel water once or twice once flowering really gets going.

 

[CarolinaPothead]

I do something very similar to this using happy frog, and fox farm fruit and flower 4-9-3. Then I top dress once a month with the 4-9-3 and worm castings until late flower, and I cut out the worm castings. I might use some banana peel water once or twice once flowering really gets going.

Sounds like you got your technique down! What works for you. I will say that the Buddha's method is about foolproof. Only thing I add is Epsom salts . And a little mykos in the starting hole. Fkers grow themselves long as you water occasionally. I love organic growing.

 

[CarolinaPothead]

3 GG#4 autos doing fine. The big one has about a month left. Already got a cola big as a Tiger Bloom bottle. The others are 3 and 4 weeks younger and growing fast. I've followed Budzbuddha's method with just a little tweaking and it's my best LED grow yet. Thanks Budzbuddha!