Question about LC's soiless mix pro mix hp

Hey guys,
Its time to start planning my next grow and recently I have become fascinated with growing organic. I came across LC's Soiless mix #2:

Here are two very good organic soiless mixes...

LC's Mix is great for any stage of growth. You can germ seeds in it, grow mothers in it, root clones in it as well as veg and flower in it.

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
...Wal-Mart now sells worm castings.

Or, if you use Pro Mix or Sunshine Mix...
LC's Soiless Mix #2:
6 parts Pro Mix BX or HP / Sunshine Mix (any flavor from #1 up)
2 parts perlite
2 parts earthworm castings
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
If you use a 3 qt. saucepan as “parts” in the amounts given above, it equals about 1 cu. ft. of soiless mix and you can just dump in a cup of powdered dolomite lime.
But, a "part" can be anything from a tablespoon to a five gallon bucket. Just use the same item for all of the "parts".

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I found Pro Mix HP at a local Lowes for $29 for 2.2 cu ft compressed, the packaging claims it is 4.0 cu ft when left out....ANYWAY

I have some ?'s about the soil mix and feeding.

Because the HP in Pro mix stands for high porosity, do I have to add the extra perlite?

Also, I've read that dolomite lime takes approximately 6 months to break down, I don't plan to veg or flower for that long, 4 months tops for both veg and flower. Is the dolomite lime absolutely necessary? I understand it is a buffer for pH I don't check my pH. It might be a mistake but I cant find a good reason to spend the money on a pH pen + all the bells and whistles to go with it.

Now about feeding, currently I am feeding my ladies the entire General Organics line. I am planning to make a compost tea brewer and feed my ladies compost tea like these:

Guano Tea and Kelp:

Seedlings less than 1 month old nute tea mix-
Mix 1 cup earthworm castings into 5 gallons of water to make the tea.
Add 5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses.
Use it to water your seedlings with every 3rd watering.

Veg mix-
1/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano (PSG)
1/3 cup High N Bat Guano (Mexican)
1/3 cup Earth Worm Castings (EWC)
5 tsp. Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
(That makes the "dry mix". You can make all you want and save it to use later.)
Mix with water @ 1 cup of dry mix into 5 gallons of water to make the tea.
To that 5 gallons of tea add:
5 tbs. Liquid Karma
5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses
Use it to water with every 3rd watering.

Flowering nute tea mix:
2/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano
2/3 cup Earth Worm Castings
2/3 cup High P Guano (Indonesian or Jamaican)
5 tsp. Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
(That makes the "dry mix". You can make all you want and save it to use later.)
Mix with water @ 2 cups of dry mix into 5 gallons of water to make the tea.
To that 5 gallons of tea add:
5 tbs. Liquid Karma
5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses
Use it to water with EVERY watering.

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But with this soiless mix and the amendments added, do I only feed compost tea or do I also feed the GO line?

Thanks guys!

Sorry for the repost, maybe I'll get an answer in the organics forum!

i think you will be fine with the promix hp without extra perlite. about the lime, yes its necessary. you will be happy you used it since using it will keep you from having to ph adjust everything. when i did lc's mix i used the dry ferts which were good but dont last a whole grow. i personally believe the tea's will be all you need.

A lot of growers like to alternate tea, nute, tea, nute, tea, nute every other watering. Or you could just run tea but without a heavily amended mix (ala supersoil) you will likely lose yield if you do not add nutes, the buds will taste amazing on tea alone however. If you are not running any nutes then you definitely want the lime in the mix, and it is a must IMO if you use RO water.

Its up to you how you run things. No worries if you don't have the tea ready EVERY time its called for on your chosen schedule. The organisms in AACT actually replicate dictated by how they are fed by root exudates. At least if you don't ruin this delicate cycle by dumping carbs all over everything and getting way bacteria dominant (higher and higher pH is one sign of this in organics with AACT).

Kalyx said:

A lot of growers like to alternate tea, nute, tea, nute, tea, nute every other watering. Or you could just run tea but without a heavily amended mix (ala supersoil) you will likely lose yield if you do not add nutes, the buds will taste amazing on tea alone however. If you are not running any nutes then you definitely want the lime in the mix, and it is a must IMO if you use RO water.

Its up to you how you run things. No worries if you don't have the tea ready EVERY time its called for on your chosen schedule. The organisms in AACT actually replicate dictated by how they are fed by root exudates. At least if you don't ruin this delicate cycle by dumping carbs all over everything and getting way bacteria dominant (higher and higher pH is one sign of this in organics with AACT).

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Thanks for the reply.
I was thinking about doing: nutes, water, tea, nutes...

Do you think I should wait a week or two before feeding nutes or can I start feeding ASAP? I ran FFOF last run and I was advised not to feed for two weeks because of the food in it. I know Pro mix HP has no food in it, but since I am adding EWC, should I wait?

Are you doing LC's mix or not?

If so, you will have nutes in there, you know, the EWC, blood, bone and kelp meal. It's a long ways from unamended Promix.

I usually top dress with Espoma Garden Tone about a month in and again at the beginning of flower. Works better for me than trying to deal with a super hot mix like SS.

Wet

i use the soiless mixes like promix or sunshine mix #2 and i dont add anything else to it except the plant. water and nutes.

smoke and coke said:

i use the soiless mixes like promix or sunshine mix #2 and i dont add anything else to it except the plant. water and nutes.

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How are you doing on ph balance? What is your mix at, and what is your food/water at that you give them? Im thinking about switching to Pro mix from Fox Farm OCean Forrest soil that I am having ph problems with.

i use well water and i ph'd the water a few years back and i cant remember exactly what it was, but it was good. promix has lime in it to keep it balanced for a few months. should be long enough to grow a plant to harvest. i have heard of people adding a little extra lime to their promix, and i may try some extra on a few plants next year.

I've used Promix unamended with compost tea but by the end of the grow the drainage was pretty bad. I've since used LC's soiless mix #2 with great results but due to the cost of promix I've decided to go with mix #1. I haven't finished a grow with it but so far I have to say the only the difference is the money I save. I don't add any guanos or meals to the soiless mix or use bottled nutes. Just compost tea all the way through. My recipe is very similar to the one you've listed and I've had great results.