Big order from attitude, got some questions about PH and Soils. (grow pics too)

I just made a huge order from Attitude Seeds and HTG Supply I ordered some grow bags, triple pack of fox farm nutes (1 Gal), 250 watt HPS..... Along with all attitudes UFO deals (Sweet haze, La Woman, Sharksbreath, Rocklock, and Lemon Skunk) and i ordered Blue Himalayan Diesel, Afghan Kush Ryder Autoflowering, Strawberry Blue, Burmese Kush, and some Super Lemon Haze. All femmed. This will be my first grow with an HPS and mostly organics. I want to start with fox farms Ocean Forest as it seems to be the popular choice around this site, any stores to reccommend on the east coast that supply it? Also what would you reccommend for PH testing? I have already spent over $500 and I dont want everything to get too pricey. I am using well water before it hits the water softener so there is no salt added it is purely from the well, i usually let it semi-distill at the bottom of my grow should i get a ph tester for the water as well or just worry about the soil? Or should i not worry at all since the only nutes i will be using are fox farms according to their table and i will be using Ocean forest as well probably mixed with some Perlite. Is there anything else i should add to this mix? And How should i go about preparing the soil, i know some people water and mix it up and then throw it into a garbage can but i want to hear some of your methods. Please help me with this upcoming new grow, i will provide pictures of my current Flouro Bagseed grow.

your water needs to be adjusted to proper ph before watering . dont know if thwe soil tester does both though . if you go with the liquid reagent tester just keep in mind that the test liquid will drop off in accuracey after about 2 months - i know this from personal experience as i keep african cichlids ( fish) that require alkyline water and when i first starting seeing sighns of trouble i checked my 3 or 4 month old tester against a new one and there was a big enough difference to chuck the old tester out - even with an electronic tester you need to check and recalibrate it -also keep it clean the salts from previous tests can throw them off

Well first let me say, jeez you went crazy ordering strains huh?? lol I honestly would of cut my spending on all those seeds, and went with 2-3 strains for starters and cloned a bit, but since you already went and purchased them heres what I think...Foxfarm can get expensive, but it depends what size pots, and how many pots you are going to fill up, I like to use pro-mix because it gives you more control , and add my own perlite, but have used FF in the past nd have no complaints, I would get FFOF, and mix it with at least 10%-20% perlite, give it a good mix so that it evens out, and fill up the pots, also remember FF is packed with nutrients so dont feed your plants for about a month, just fresh water, also make sure you get yourself a water based PH meter, i look forward to seeing your pics so I can better understand your vision, also google hydroponics and type in the state where u live you should find many around your area =)

irieboy said:

Well first let me say, jeez you went crazy ordering strains huh?? lol I honestly would of cut my spending on all those seeds, and went with 2-3 strains for starters and cloned a bit, but since you already went and purchased them heres what I think...Foxfarm can get expensive, but it depends what size pots, and how many pots you are going to fill up, I like to use pro-mix because it gives you more control , and add my own perlite, but have used FF in the past nd have no complaints, I would get FFOF, and mix it with at least 10%-20% perlite, give it a good mix so that it evens out, and fill up the pots, also remember FF is packed with nutrients so dont feed your plants for about a month, just fresh water, also make sure you get yourself a water based PH meter, i look forward to seeing your pics so I can better understand your vision, also google hydroponics and type in the state where u live you should find many around your area =)

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Haha yeah i did go a little crazy ordering my strains, i just figured why not spend 200 get all the free extras and then just be set for awhile 6 of the 22 beans im getting are autoflowering so i think i want get the growing aspect and harvesting and curing down perfect, get used to nute schedules ph adjustments etc.. I have had a green thumb in the past so i think its just a little experimenting here and there and soon enough i wont even need the help i will hopefully be giving it! I have alot of money put away in the bank that is going nowhere and i continue purchasing my medicine and its risky(as is growing) and its expensive and i like to see the outcome its a great feeling to know you just grew this great big old sticky ass nug and it knocks you off your ass. And ill have more than enough to last me year round.


I was also thinking fox farms OF may hold too many nutes for seedlings and clones but then again i read somehwhere else that it wouldnt burn them or harm them. Maybe i will go with a cheaper soil for starters to save me a little cash i can tell fox farms is expensive i wanted to find something else i could mix with it along with the perlite. Like sand or Coco coir? I need suggestions money isnt too much of an issue to me. The initial spending is what hurts the most right now.

I will take your tip about holding out on nutrients it was something i planned on doing anyway until 2 weeks after sprout, and diluted much. A water based ph meter is definitely my best bet after looking into everything its going to probably cost me and the upkeep on all the ph ups and downs is gonna be a son of a bitch but i have to do it if i want to do everything properly, you have any recommendations on a ph meter or ph balance products? I found a hydroponics store that isnt too far im going to check it out when my current grow is almost finished.


I am also going to respond to the below comment then post the pictures of my current grow.

rightchoice said:

your water needs to be adjusted to proper ph before watering . dont know if thwe soil tester does both though . if you go with the liquid reagent tester just keep in mind that the test liquid will drop off in accuracey after about 2 months - i know this from personal experience as i keep african cichlids ( fish) that require alkyline water and when i first starting seeing sighns of trouble i checked my 3 or 4 month old tester against a new one and there was a big enough difference to chuck the old tester out - even with an electronic tester you need to check and recalibrate it -also keep it clean the salts from previous tests can throw them off

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I did not purchase a soil tester yet but i dont think it does, although they do have an electronic multifunction PH tester but those cost more than an entire hps kit itself, and they constantly need to be calibrated i wish it was just a bit easier haha... I also read about them needing to be cleaned and calibrated i got a tip from a friend he said to use sandpaper or steel wool to clean the tip and the rest of the metal probe.

Most of my plants at the moment are pretty alright, to my standards im not even worried about bud quality or anything this was more an experimental fun grow, i should have experimented more while i had the chance but i have just been running these off pure luck. Using water from the well before it hits the softener and using miracle grow soil, i got some rosetone ferts because it was the only fert i could find anywhere that had mostly organic stuff that was all discussed on all the growing forums (Bone meal, Blood meal, Alfalfa Etc.) so i figured i would give it a shot and it landed me these babies. They are pretty tall the picture doesnt do justice. For some reason one completely stunted growth and stopped growing in height at one point it is still producing bud but it doesnt look good. I am about to start adding molasses to the water and probably stop using rosetone altogether if not just use it once more. This was a bagseed grow of unknown strain i began flowering on New Years day so this is about the 25th day of flowering. I am running straight flouros right now tell me what you guys think. And someone please tell me whats wrong with my little girl shes been holding on quite well. I have trimmed her unhealthy spots and i am trying to make sure shes watered properly. I also have some sort of burn or something on the tips of the hairs on 2 plants budsites it didnt occur close to the light or on every little bud on the plants and its not molding or anything the tips just turned a little brown can someone diagnose this problem too?.. i think its too early for ripening Thank you all for your help and coming to check out my Journal/ assist me in preparing for my true grow.

No suggestions?

Having plant problems that can be viewed below one of my buds pistils are turning a bit brown i have no explanation for this, do you? Temps 70-76 day around 68 night. Good air circulation and about 20-30 humidity.

ismokeplentybuds said:

I just made a huge order from Attitude Seeds and HTG Supply I ordered some grow bags, triple pack of fox farm nutes (1 Gal), 250 watt HPS..... Along with all attitudes UFO deals (Sweet haze, La Woman, Sharksbreath, Rocklock, and Lemon Skunk) and i ordered Blue Himalayan Diesel, Afghan Kush Ryder Autoflowering, Strawberry Blue, Burmese Kush, and some Super Lemon Haze. All femmed. This will be my first grow with an HPS and mostly organics. I want to start with fox farms Ocean Forest as it seems to be the popular choice around this site, any stores to reccommend on the east coast that supply it? Also what would you reccommend for PH testing? I have already spent over $500 and I dont want everything to get too pricey. I am using well water before it hits the water softener so there is no salt added it is purely from the well, i usually let it semi-distill at the bottom of my grow should i get a ph tester for the water as well or just worry about the soil? Or should i not worry at all since the only nutes i will be using are fox farms according to their table and i will be using Ocean forest as well probably mixed with some Perlite. Is there anything else i should add to this mix? And How should i go about preparing the soil, i know some people water and mix it up and then throw it into a garbage can but i want to hear some of your methods. Please help me with this upcoming new grow, i will provide pictures of my current Flouro Bagseed grow.

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...bro, I'f you want nasty yields like my pic below, start using organic teas. Very easy!
What you'll need:
Seabird guano, bat guano, earth worm castings, kelp meal (or liquid seaweed), molessas, a bubble stone and bubble pump, a paint strainer. 5 gallon bucket.
What to do:
Get a couple of gallons of water from tap....let set on bubbles over night to dechlorinize it, then pH balance the water to 6.5....take a couple tablespoons of each (worm castings, seabird, bat, kelp, molessas) and put inside paint strainer and tie shut...hang the mix over the bubble stone to make movement/activity in the water....let set for 24-48 hours....put 2 cups of this per gallon to new dechlorinized pH balanced water, then water in once weekly.

...you'll want to back up off of the earthworm castings and the seabird guano in mid flower to eliminate nitrogen avalibility.
...the molessas and liquid seaweed are liquid , however, still use table spoon measurements.
...stop giving tea @ weeks 5 for an 8 week strain, or allow a couple weeks to flush (not so important organically but, I prefer to save the $)


...for your ph, I'd suggest General hydroponics liquid drip kit. It's easy, cheap, goes a long way, and most of all it is the most reliable way to get a reading "in range"...your electronic pH meters need constant calibration.

...stores on the east coast???? Ever hear of " Harvest Moon Hydroponics" ...several of them in NY.

I already bought the triple pack of Fox farms nutes and im getting ocean forest both these combined have almost if not everything you listed and more. Its probably best to go fully organic but its too much work trying to find all those things seperately even if it takes a huge chunk of change to purchase it makes life easy. When i move somewhere where they actually have places to buy some decent stuff for grows it will make my life much easier and will make growing alot more fun because i can experiment alot more. Right now im just trying to grow some pretty nasttyyy buds for myself. I dont need 10 lbs though. Never heard of Harvest Moon maybe ill check it out but i found a place close to me, im going to pick up a Squirell cage fan and some oceans forest too, its right by my friends house i cant beleive i never knew about it.

Hell yea,
good luck with the BHD i just dropped 5 of them into a cup of water, mixing my soil today i still need to grab some organic soil from my hydro shop but i got some vermiculite and found some 16-2-3 laying around, and i was wondering if i should use for my veg. but we should keep in touch seeing we might be able to help each other growing the same stand