Just getting back into growing again after a year off since moving and wanted to change things up nutrient wise. Was using megacrop and jacks 123 for awhile but wanted to give organic slow release a try.
Running autos
Im starting in 5 gallons cloth pots
base mix is
70% coco coir 20% perlite 10% earth worm castings
Amending with 2 tablespoons per gallon of
Down to earth 444
Dr earth flower girl
with a 70/30 ratio
3-4 weeks in
Vegetative Stage:
3/4th cup of ewc
Top dressing with the same in veg with a 70/30 ratio at 1 tablespoon per gallon
Blooming Stage:
3/4th a cup of ewc
50/50 of All Purpose 4-4-4 & Dr. Earth Organic Flower Girl 3-9-4; 2 tbsps per gallon of medium.
if top dress twice in bloom, use a 70/30 Dr. Earth Organic Flower Girl 3-9-4 to All Purpose 4-4-4 ratio for the second feeding.
and have been making earth worm tea every 2 weeks with 4 gallons of declorinated water
1 cup of ewc
2 tablespoons of molasses
in veg half a cup of high N bat guanno
or in flower i switch to kelp meal for the potassium bump
i run that with air stones for 24 hours then feed it instead of a watering to my plants.
Using a VIVOSUN Commercial Air Pump 634GPH, 25W, 40L/min 6 Outlet i have read some pumps weren't strong enough for brewing tea is this one strong enough or should i consider a more powerful one?
the problems im having are since about 3-4 weeks i was already seeing signs of yellowing like im having an nitrogen deficiency so on the bigger hindu kush i top dressed with some kelp meal to bump up the n and potassium since im half way through flower.
the smaller ones a gilr scout cookie and i top dressed her a week early after the hindu kush started yellowing and she seems fine so far shes like 10 days behind the kush.
I lost my first 2 plants at 3.5 weeks into veg which i think might be to me not amending my starter base mix with enough nutrients
I haven't cooked any of it but now have my next 10 gallons of amended mix have been cooking for a couple weeks cause im trying to prevent future disasters.
Is there a base line for cooking soil like weeks a month?
Do my nutrient levels look too weak for auto flowers or perhaps too heavy?
If you see signs of problems what is your fast react solution to deficiencies with synthetics i adjusted my daily nutes and fixed it with these slow release nutes the reaction time so long now
Everytime i use earth worm tea the gnats start acting like i fed them crack and start multiplying like mad
im thinking that perhaps i should leave it with the air stones longer that maybe the 2 tablespoons of molasses weren't consumed by the bacteria .
The whole concept of feeding the soil is new to me and im looking for any advice i can get to dial this in before i go ham with a full tent im just doing a couple or 3 plants till i get it figured out.
Thanks in advance
