Roots organics potting soil question

Recently purchased roots organics potting soil along with their nutrient line. The guy at the shop said that the potting soil is good from start to finish with no amendments needed.

My question is--is roots okay to start seedlings without any amendments? I've read that the soil can burn seedlings without adding dolomite lime etc..

Just trying to seek out the safest route without burning up my seeds! Any advice is much appreciated

Holisticfarmer said:

Recently purchased roots organics potting soil along with their nutrient line. The guy at the shop said that the potting soil is good from start to finish with no amendments needed.

My question is--is roots okay to start seedlings without any amendments? I've read that the soil can burn seedlings without adding dolomite lime etc..

Just trying to seek out the safest route without burning up my seeds! Any advice is much appreciated

Click to expand...

roots is good stuff except the 707 stuff (that one has to much wood in it needs to be broken down more before used for weed )
u should not need to add anything ......unless u know the strain and if it needs more of something like calcium

want a easy way to start get the jiffy greenhouse and use the plugs when they sprout u move them to the planter .....once in the planter only give it rooting feeding at full power and growth at half power frist week like that then u can go full power and fallow the plan on the box

Holisticfarmer said:

Recently purchased roots organics potting soil along with their nutrient line. The guy at the shop said that the potting soil is good from start to finish with no amendments needed.

My question is--is roots okay to start seedlings without any amendments? I've read that the soil can burn seedlings without adding dolomite lime etc..

Just trying to seek out the safest route without burning up my seeds! Any advice is much appreciated

Click to expand...

no need for d-lime, it's already ph "corrected"
I've personally done a water only with roots and vermifire, and the roots will run out of juice at the end, I recommend two or three teas depending on the strain, also important to note that given enough soil you can go water only.
In other words if you plan on one gallon pots you are going to be hurting soon, but if you give them ten to 15 gallons you will be golden till the end.
Still though I prefer vermifire to roots if given the choice, but I haven't used bagged soils in years.

justugh said:

roots is good stuff except the 707 stuff (that one has to much wood in it needs to be broken down more before used for weed )
u should not need to add anything ......unless u know the strain and if it needs more of something like calcium

want a easy way to start get the jiffy greenhouse and use the plugs when they sprout u move them to the planter .....once in the planter only give it rooting feeding at full power and growth at half power frist week like that then u can go full power and fallow the plan on the box

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.
Guy also told me at the shop that roots responds well to compost tea. So I picked up some local compost which is pretty much worm castings. Wondering if a tea would be a more impactful alternative to the regular nutes at the beginning of growth? Then introduce the nutes at half strength after about a month of veg. Thoughts?

greasemonkeymann said:

no need for d-lime, it's already ph "corrected"
I've personally done a water only with roots and vermifire, and the roots will run out of juice at the end, I recommend two or three teas depending on the strain, also important to note that given enough soil you can go water only.
In other words if you plan on one gallon pots you are going to be hurting soon, but if you give them ten to 15 gallons you will be golden till the end.
Still though I prefer vermifire to roots if given the choice, but I haven't used bagged soils in years.

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Thanks for the insight, and I was planning on taking the tea route.

Also this is an indoor grow, and I plan to use 3 gal pots for some autos and 5 gallon for some regular.

Holisticfarmer said:

Thanks for the reply.
Guy also told me at the shop that roots responds well to compost tea. So I picked up some local compost which is pretty much worm castings. Wondering if a tea would be a more impactful alternative to the regular nutes at the beginning of growth? Then introduce the nutes at half strength after about a month of veg. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

compost tea is not something to mess with ........if u do go this method it will mess up a few times before u figure out how to keep the tea (for me the tea just does not make sense i use 3 gallons of water every 2 days )

tea is just like feed .......except it is all mixed into one thing and micros grow in
starting the plant is easy .....the rooting feed mix does most of the work (rooting feed is normally weak 1-1-1 so it is more then ok to use with starting seedling ) but the best part it has hormones in it that cause the roots to grow faster and tendril out into the soil

justugh said:

compost tea is not something to mess with ........if u do go this method it will mess up a few times before u figure out how to keep the tea (for me the tea just does not make sense i use 3 gallons of water every 2 days )

tea is just like feed .......except it is all mixed into one thing and micros grow in
starting the plant is easy .....the rooting feed mix does most of the work (rooting feed is normally weak 1-1-1 so it is more then ok to use with starting seedling ) but the best part it has hormones in it that cause the roots to grow faster and tendril out into the soil

Click to expand...

I found a recipe for a tea that seems harmless consisting of just compost(castings) and blackstrap molasses. I am definitely not a bio scientist but this particular recipe seems harmless as long as your brewer is producing adequate air flow through the tubes. I'm new to the tea brewing process so it will be a learning experience. I may just use the tea with one plant to start to avoid all or any risks.

My major concern though is seedlings in roots organics from the start. After reading some other posts by first hand experiences I am a little skeptical and have second guessed adding amendments..even if it's just a light medium with no added nutes.

Holisticfarmer said:

Thanks for the reply.
Guy also told me at the shop that roots responds well to compost tea. So I picked up some local compost which is pretty much worm castings. Wondering if a tea would be a more impactful alternative to the regular nutes at the beginning of growth? Then introduce the nutes at half strength after about a month of veg. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Any soil will respond to a compost tea, (well true soils anyways) but it's important to note that an AACT isn't for nutrients at all, look at it sorta like a probiotic for the soil, you are introducing billions of microbial life to the soil and those in turn help regulate the PH as well as breaking down the nutrients into a "digestable" form of nutrients, it doesn't add any NPK of real note.
A nutrient tea is a totally different thing than a compost tea or AACT.

greasemonkeymann said:

Any soil will respond to a compost tea, (well true soils anyways) but it's important to note that an AACT isn't for nutrients at all, look at it sorta like a probiotic for the soil, you are introducing billions of microbial life to the soil and those in turn help regulate the PH as well as breaking down the nutrients into a "digestable" form of nutrients, it doesn't add any NPK of real note.
A nutrient tea is a totally different thing than a compost tea or AACT.

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do you suggest that my post earlier is a safe way to go about this grow?

Holisticfarmer said:

Thanks for the reply.
Guy also told me at the shop that roots responds well to compost tea. So I picked up some local compost which is pretty much worm castings. Wondering if a tea would be a more impactful alternative to the regular nutes at the beginning of growth? Then introduce the nutes at half strength after about a month of veg. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Holisticfarmer said:

I found a recipe for a tea that seems harmless consisting of just compost(castings) and blackstrap molasses. I am definitely not a bio scientist but this particular recipe seems harmless as long as your brewer is producing adequate air flow through the tubes. I'm new to the tea brewing process so it will be a learning experience. I may just use the tea with one plant to start to avoid all or any risks.

My major concern though is seedlings in roots organics from the start. After reading some other posts by first hand experiences I am a little skeptical and have second guessed adding amendments..even if it's just a light medium with no added nutes.

Click to expand...

it more then just passing enough air in the system ........u have to keep it cool too ....compost tea is not worth it unless u make like a 20 gallon something that would last u 2 weeks 3 weeks

roots organic is fine ........just the 707 stuff .....if u want to add stuff to the soil then look up roots elements ( i got myself roots pro mix and the elements i made my own super soil off it )

and by the way worm casting and blackstrap is only Nitrogen and simple sugars with some trace vits u have no PK value

justugh said:

compost tea is not something to mess with ........if u do go this method it will mess up a few times before u figure out how to keep the tea (for me the tea just does not make sense i use 3 gallons of water every 2 days )

tea is just like feed .......except it is all mixed into one thing and micros grow in
starting the plant is easy .....the rooting feed mix does most of the work (rooting feed is normally weak 1-1-1 so it is more then ok to use with starting seedling ) but the best part it has hormones in it that cause the roots to grow faster and tendril out into the soil

Click to expand...

most don't keep the remaining tea, it's important to use it immediately.
If you have the correct airpump, and follow the simple instructions it's almost idiot proof, also important to remember that you certainly don't need it that often, I typically do maybe two batches of my AACT during the entire grow, but I also have a TON of compost in my soil mix, native humus, and the soil also is re-used, so there is no shortage of microbes in my soil.
It's not something you need over and over, after your soil has been innoculated

justugh said:

and by the way worm casting and blackstrap is only Nitrogen and simple sugars with some trace vits u have no PK value

Click to expand...

if you use the AACT the way it's supposed to, the nitrogen is extremely limited, it's a handful of castings, not much there man.
there is very little if any nitrogen, in BSM

Holisticfarmer said:

I found a recipe for a tea that seems harmless consisting of just compost(castings) and blackstrap molasses. I am definitely not a bio scientist but this particular recipe seems harmless as long as your brewer is producing adequate air flow through the tubes. I'm new to the tea brewing process so it will be a learning experience. I may just use the tea with one plant to start to avoid all or any risks.

My major concern though is seedlings in roots organics from the start. After reading some other posts by first hand experiences I am a little skeptical and have second guessed adding amendments..even if it's just a light medium with no added nutes.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't add nutrients unless you plan on aging the soil, adding fresh amendments to a bagged soil can cause issues.
I would just leave the bagged soil alone, and give them ample room to grow.
The microbe tea is harmless, you can brew it in almost any temps, colder temps will need longer brew times, warmer will need shorter temps.
Seedling in roots alone will be fine.

greasemonkeymann said:

I wouldn't add nutrients unless you plan on aging the soil, adding fresh amendments to a bagged soil can cause issues.
I would just leave the bagged soil alone, and give them ample room to grow.
The microbe tea is harmless, you can brew it in almost any temps, colder temps will need longer brew times, warmer will need shorter temps.
Seedling in roots alone will be fine.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the helpful advice.

greasemonkeymann said:

no need for d-lime, it's already ph "corrected"
I've personally done a water only with roots and vermifire, and the roots will run out of juice at the end, I recommend two or three teas depending on the strain, also important to note that given enough soil you can go water only.
In other words if you plan on one gallon pots you are going to be hurting soon, but if you give them ten to 15 gallons you will be golden till the end.
Still though I prefer vermifire to roots if given the choice, but I haven't used bagged soils in years.

Click to expand...

I picked up vermifire to avoid another bag of happy frog... (too hydrophobic, and I suspect its the cause of my bugs) started with a bag for my tomato plants, and used the leftover for a seedling.... very happy with it...

Roots I found tended to burn seedlings/small clones... just my experience...

justugh said:

it more then just passing enough air in the system ........u have to keep it cool too ....compost tea is not worth it unless u make like a 20 gallon something that would last u 2 weeks 3 weeks

roots organic is fine ........just the 707 stuff .....if u want to add stuff to the soil then look up roots elements ( i got myself roots pro mix and the elements i made my own super soil off it )

Click to expand...

The roots organics "player pack" came with elemental.

Flagg420 said:

I picked up vermifire to avoid another bag of happy frog... (too hydrophobic, and I suspect its the cause of my bugs) started with a bag for my tomato plants, and used the leftover for a seedling.... very happy with it...

Roots I found tended to burn seedlings/small clones... just my experience...

Click to expand...

This is where my skepticism comes in.
how recent did you use roots? And how big were your pots? I plan to use 3 gal and 5 gal pots.

Holisticfarmer said:

The roots organics "player pack" came with elemental.

This is where my skepticism comes in.
how recent did you use roots? And how big were your pots? I plan to use 3 gal and 5 gal pots.

Click to expand...

For the record the last bag of roots I bought was probably in around 2007 or so.
The last bag of vermifire I bought was probably 2011?
To be safe, considering my lack of recent experience with roots, i'd cut it like half strength with promix or something close to inert (coco, etc).

greasemonkeymann said:

For the record the last bag of roots I bought was probably in around 2007 or so.
The last bag of vermifire I bought was probably 2011?
To be safe, considering my lack of recent experience with roots, i'd cut it like half strength with promix or something close to inert (coco, etc).

Click to expand...

Thanks grease monkey, I was leaning towards that route. Better safe than burnt.

Holisticfarmer said:

Thanks grease monkey, I was leaning towards that route. Better safe than burnt.

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PRECISELY.
And you'd be surprised how often that adage is accurate.
Sprays, nutrients, fans, lights, pesticides, etc.
Personally what I do is use my old soil and compost. I've sorta noticed that the plants roots sorta consume the soil a lil, I know it sounds stupid, but I swear when I re-mix the soil it's more aeration that what I began with, maybe it's all in my head though...
For shits and giggles I germinated some seeds in pure compost, and they did perfect.
It's weird I KNOW the compost is loaded with nutrients, but it doesn't bother anything, I had a rootbound male that didn't indicate sex for a LONG ass time (tall-ass kali) so I've had it rootbound and apart from my reg grow, and it was yellowing up pretty badly, all I did was put a thin ass layer of my compost on the surface as a topdress, and about 7 or 10 days later the entire plant was green again, the compost has all sorts of nitrogen in it, alfalfa, fish meal, neem meal, insect mashings, doghair, beard shavings (I know i'm a kooky bastard), grass clippings, etc.
point is, if it's aged super long, doesn't burn a damn thing.
I know I sound like a broken record, but seriously fellas... a compost pile is fuckin the secret..
even more so than my wormbin (which is still irreplaceable)