Foxfarms organic soil micro grow

[Tribby]

This will be my first time growing and I just wanted to get some opinions on how to get the perfect balance of nutrients throughout my plant‘s lifecycle. Did some research and I‘ve decided to go with a Foxfarms all organic grow.

I'll be working out of a full stack PC tower (MrGrowPro CFL model) with a pure NL strain from PeakseedsBC. I was thinking a gallon of Foxfarms Happy Frog potting soil should get me through veg and flower, however some recent Amazon reviews of Happy Frog say its prone to spiter mite infestation. Anyone have problems with this lately?

I read somewhere that the rule of thumb is a gallon of soil per month, so typical NL flowers for about 8-9 weeks plus veg, that's about 2 1/2 - 3 months so 3 gallons of soil is typical (from what I've read).

I've seen a lot of PC grows that get away with just one gallon of soil, sometimes less, throughout veg and flower. Should I try and cram a 3 gallon container into the small space I have to work with, or do you all think I'll be ok with 1 gallon? Also wanted to ask if its nessesary to have the container drain to flush nutrients and check pH etc..

I'll be using the Foxfarms trio organic nute pack, Grow Big, Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom. This is where I get confused lol.. they suggest the following which seems to contradict a lot of what I've read here and other knowledge bases.

Seedling growth :
- Big Bloom

Vegetation :
- Big Bloom
- Grow Big

Flowering :
- Big Bloom
- Tiger Bloom

Late stage flowering :
- Big Bloom

So they suggest using Big Bloom with every cycle even during seedling growth which seems like false information. A lot of ppl suggest with organic soil like Happy Frog, seedlings have all the nutes they need to produce their first set of real leaves. Should I go with Big Bloom or should I just use water until rapid vegetation growth becomes apparent? Also for anyone with experience in Foxfarms organic nutes, what strength solution do you use as to avoid nute burn?

Now for the noobiest question of them all lol.. I was planning on using typical filtered water, I have a Brita pitcher that I was going to use exluivley throughout the entire grow. To be on the safe side, should I go with distilled water or will I be fine with just using filtered water from the tap?

I'm not looking for definite yes/no answers here, I'd just like to see what everyone else is doing and who has experience with Foxfarms organic soil grows. Everyone has their own way of doing things and I know I'll make mistakes along the way. My goal is to keep them to a minimal

 

[WhiteRooster]

Grow Big and Tiger Bloom are not organic... If you are looking to go organic next time Botanicare Pure Blend Pro is a great organic base nutrient

 

[Tribby]

Grow Big and Tiger Bloom are not organic... If you are looking to go organic next time Botanicare Pure Blend Pro is a great organic base nutrient

Thanks man, I actually found pretty much all the answers to my questions after posting.. Big Bloom isn't a fertilizer from my understanding so its safe to use off the bat. A lot of ppl seem to like foxfarms for first grows since the feeding schedule is very noob friendly. Would you suggest going full strength if I stick to their schedule, or start at 1/4 then work my way up?

 

[Steelheader3430]

No nutes until they ask for them. The first deficiencies you'll see are probably gonna be cal/mag and nitrogen. The feeding schedule is designed so people use way more than needed and buy more. Hence the schedule to flush every couple weeks. Its bullshit. When your plant shows nitrogen def. then give 1/4 grow big. Big bloom is ok earlier. I messed up my babies using grow big when they didn't need anything ( I was in ffof though). You'll want to fight the urge to feed them. They won't use more than they need and will develop nute burn. Just give them little amounts of water during the seedling stage of life as they are still growing roots and havn't even had a chance to touch the nutes allready in the soil. I was advised by brilliant grower to put them in a 50/50 mix of ffof and ffhf after the seedling phase. It sure helped. I hope this helps you. Less is more.

 

[Tribby]

No nutes until they ask for them. The first deficiencies you'll see are probably gonna be cal/mag and nitrogen. The feeding schedule is designed so people use way more than needed and buy more. Hence the schedule to flush every couple weeks. Its bullshit. When your plant shows nitrogen def. then give 1/4 grow big. Big bloom is ok earlier. I messed up my babies using grow big when they didn't need anything ( I was in ffof though). You'll want to fight the urge to feed them. They won't use more than they need and will develop nute burn. Just give them little amounts of water during the seedling stage of life as they are still growing roots and havn't even had a chance to touch the nutes allready in the soil. I was advised by brilliant grower to put them in a 50/50 mix of ffof and ffhf after the seedling phase. It sure helped. I hope this helps you. Less is more.

Thanks for the info! Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.. during seedling and veg growth, plants seek out and consume mostly nitrogen attributed to leaf growth along with potassium and phosphorous for root and stem growth. Its reccomended to up the nitrogen during veg, then up the potassium/phosphorous during flowering.

So during veg, I guess plants consume more nitrogen and potassium/phospherous levels will hold until flowering which by that time, nitrogen levels become less critical and most potassium/phosphorous has dissapeted during veg signaling the time to replenish.

Just trying to wrap my head around nutrient cycles. When leaf tips start to turn pale yellow, that's the first sign of nitrogen deficiency meaning I need to start a regimen of Grow Big. When I induce flowering, what should I look for first before starting Tiger Grow, potassium/phospherous deficiency? Or should I immediately begin using Tiger Grow when I start flowering?

BTW I think I'm going with your suggestion 50/50 ffof/ffhf and during seedling growth, think I'm going with fflw

 

[Steelheader3430]

I think you got the basics of down pretty well. during the seedling stage they feed off the coty's. and are really just working on growing roots. I quickly left the ff nutes on the shelf and went with dyna-gro's foliage pro and grow formulas. I emailed them and they mailed me samples. They are complete formulas from veg to flower. You really don't need all the "snake oils" that are for sale. I'm a noob and not going to pretend I'm not. But when I went into the hydro store and saw all the cartoony bottles I thought this is bullshit, and I was right. After switching to 12/12 I would blend the grow big and tiger ( mix into water, not straight together) and phase out the grow big, until the plant shows nitrogen def. if it does. Big bloom is micro- nutrients and safe throughout. If your going to switch them quickly to flower I would really not worry too much about the nutes as they won't really have much of a chance to use whats in the soil. The happy frog will do you right during the seedling stage, possibly the whole grow in a pc case. No need to buy 3 bags of soil. Have you looked at the mainlining thread? https://www.rollitup.org/subcools-old-school-organics/542308-main-lining-thread.html Here is the thread to help you with your nute selection. https://www.rollitup.org/nutrients/507899-dynagro-under-rated-fuck.html I'm glad your doing your homework. If your curious here is my cry for help thread that shows what I went through. https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/696180-drooping-crisp-textured-leaves-first.html