hi all, this is my first post here. i have seen the very long thread regarding veganics, and while ive browsed it for a bit, i simply dont have time to go through 130+ pages of mostly banter and silly arguments. ive also been lurking here for months without being registered, trying to see what i could learn from all the different threads here. if you wanna skip reading about myself and my grow (im quite the rambler) and just answer the question - i bolded it at the bottom lol.
anyways - about me. im a lifelong strict vegetarian (24 years and counting) who supports the ideas of veganism although i find that it is very difficult to maintain as a diet (especially when youre lazy and you prefer to eat out rather than cook at home
and have an affinity for eating eggs). i decided to start my first grow this year, as i live in a perfect place for growing - i essentially live in a greenhouse. i have south facing greenhouse-like windows that get full sun all day. i have a very cool landlord who also smokes and is supportive of my growing. i grow other plants as well - i have a ton of house plants, as well as an indoor tomato plant (2ft of snow on the ground and im harvesting fresh tomatoes, amazing), peppermint plant, and basil. theyre all doing awesome. im even growing a blood orange tree from seed of a blood orange i bought and ate - fun times and delicious!
as for my grow - i have 5 plants, all in veg. one was gifted to me from a friend (headband) and is older than the other 4 by about 6 weeks or so - the other 4 (frisian dew, c99, hawaii maui waui, lsd-25) i started from seed after learning from many mistakes trying to start seeds for like a month and failing. one of the biggest lessons i learned so far is that marijuana seeds do not like those 72 seed starter trays you can get from big box stores. nor do they seem to like fox farms seed starter mix... nor do any of my seeds really (i also attempted and failed to grow a variety of vegetables and fruits from seed in this tray - of 72 holes, only 2 plants actually popped up - a tomato plant and a ground cherry plant
).
anyways, after a bunch of false starts, all of my plants are doing good now. 3 of my plants (headband, hawaii maui waui, lsd-25) are in 5gal smart pots, the other 2 (frisian dew and c99) are in 2 gal smart pot transplanting pots. i plan on moving them outdoors (vermont outdoor tastes so good!) soon once we past frost risk and when theyre bigger and stronger. the 3 that are in the smart pots are in 50/50 FF ocean forest and happy frog soil - layered so that 1/3 is OF on the bottom, 1/3 is a 50/50 mix in the middle, and 1/3 at the top is HF so as not to nute burn the plants when theyre young. the 2 that are in the transplant pots are just in HF. this is before i found out about veganic growing. while it is too late to have a fully veganic grow this year (im growing as if outdoors - no lights, just natural), i would like to grow veganic from here on out, mostly due to personal ethical reasons.
so here in lies my question. my friend who gifted me the headband is an organic grower with many years of experience (not just with marijuana but with veggies, fruits, and herbs too), despite his young age. he recommended that i start adding blood meal to my plants to feed them (i was using FF big bloom) because at this stage of the grow they need nitrogen so they grow big and make up for lost time in my false starts earlier this season. i oppose this idea for two reasons - i have a very curious dog who will probably be made even more curious/destructive/eat my plants because of the smell, and im vegetarian and very put off by using animal byproducts (i know, FF uses animal byproducts). i bought organic cottonseed meal from espoma but havent used it yet and still have the receipt - i read online that it acidifies the soil too much. is that true? should i return it? what is the best VEGANIC replacement for blood meal? preferably something that doesnt smell strongly and attract my curious dog?
thanks!
anyways - about me. im a lifelong strict vegetarian (24 years and counting) who supports the ideas of veganism although i find that it is very difficult to maintain as a diet (especially when youre lazy and you prefer to eat out rather than cook at home
and have an affinity for eating eggs). i decided to start my first grow this year, as i live in a perfect place for growing - i essentially live in a greenhouse. i have south facing greenhouse-like windows that get full sun all day. i have a very cool landlord who also smokes and is supportive of my growing. i grow other plants as well - i have a ton of house plants, as well as an indoor tomato plant (2ft of snow on the ground and im harvesting fresh tomatoes, amazing), peppermint plant, and basil. theyre all doing awesome. im even growing a blood orange tree from seed of a blood orange i bought and ate - fun times and delicious!as for my grow - i have 5 plants, all in veg. one was gifted to me from a friend (headband) and is older than the other 4 by about 6 weeks or so - the other 4 (frisian dew, c99, hawaii maui waui, lsd-25) i started from seed after learning from many mistakes trying to start seeds for like a month and failing. one of the biggest lessons i learned so far is that marijuana seeds do not like those 72 seed starter trays you can get from big box stores. nor do they seem to like fox farms seed starter mix... nor do any of my seeds really (i also attempted and failed to grow a variety of vegetables and fruits from seed in this tray - of 72 holes, only 2 plants actually popped up - a tomato plant and a ground cherry plant
).anyways, after a bunch of false starts, all of my plants are doing good now. 3 of my plants (headband, hawaii maui waui, lsd-25) are in 5gal smart pots, the other 2 (frisian dew and c99) are in 2 gal smart pot transplanting pots. i plan on moving them outdoors (vermont outdoor tastes so good!) soon once we past frost risk and when theyre bigger and stronger. the 3 that are in the smart pots are in 50/50 FF ocean forest and happy frog soil - layered so that 1/3 is OF on the bottom, 1/3 is a 50/50 mix in the middle, and 1/3 at the top is HF so as not to nute burn the plants when theyre young. the 2 that are in the transplant pots are just in HF. this is before i found out about veganic growing. while it is too late to have a fully veganic grow this year (im growing as if outdoors - no lights, just natural), i would like to grow veganic from here on out, mostly due to personal ethical reasons.
so here in lies my question. my friend who gifted me the headband is an organic grower with many years of experience (not just with marijuana but with veggies, fruits, and herbs too), despite his young age. he recommended that i start adding blood meal to my plants to feed them (i was using FF big bloom) because at this stage of the grow they need nitrogen so they grow big and make up for lost time in my false starts earlier this season. i oppose this idea for two reasons - i have a very curious dog who will probably be made even more curious/destructive/eat my plants because of the smell, and im vegetarian and very put off by using animal byproducts (i know, FF uses animal byproducts). i bought organic cottonseed meal from espoma but havent used it yet and still have the receipt - i read online that it acidifies the soil too much. is that true? should i return it? what is the best VEGANIC replacement for blood meal? preferably something that doesnt smell strongly and attract my curious dog?
thanks!
