What makes you want to grow organically

The reason I started to grow organically is to learn new ways of growing. (I might even try Hi-Brix yet.) I also feel that giving back to the soil is the way to go as far as when I recycle my soil and use my extra tea in the outside soil garden. I have grown hydro and I like the results i was getting from it but heard soil was much easier. I have not yet to find this true. I will not give up on it yet or move on until I have learned more about fine tuning it. I spend hours reading on the subject but still can't always find what i'm looking for. Hydro is pretty straight forward to me. You give the plants this amount and they grow (feeding Charts are the best for that). I find with organics there is a wide variety of answers to the same questions, everyone does it differently it seems. I get the basic stuff on how it works and why it works but how to get it to work right is where I am stuck. I have 2 grows in soil now and have not had good luck with 1) quality 2) quantity (quality is always 1 in my book since I only grow for myself.) Where do I go from here
PS I was also tired of spending all the money on chemical nutrients that give nothing to the soil.

Tys

JB

I'm not saying this as an insult but I think you need to do a lot more study and from better sources of information. I say this because you described what you are doing- but with no detail. I think if you understood how organics works (which is much different than chemical gardening or hydroponic) you would of known to describe the aspects of your grow because you would of chose them very carefully. But you're here asking questions and are keen to learn so you are on the right track

Some questions that are important:

1: What is your 'soil' comprised of? You really should know exactly what it is and for the best results would of made the mix yourself. An example of an organic soil mix is 1/3 peat moss or coco coir, 1/3 earth worm castings or compost, 1/3 perlite or some kind of porous rock to aeration and drainage. To that mix you would also add rock dusts for trace elements and ph balance, some herbs and kelp. There are some good guides for soil on here if you dig around. The ROLS thread is one place people have discussed soil and amendments a fair bit.

2: Do you feed the plant or the soil? In hydroponics and chemical gardening (as in soil but synthetic minerals out of a bottle) you feed the plant. You provide the minerals straight to the root zone. You replace the long processes of nature and try to shortcut into the plant in an un-natural way. As we all know, it works, but in a much different manner than organic. In organic, as you said, there are still a few forks in the road where you can go a different direction. You could buy bottles of fertilizer which have no synthetic minerals and compounds in them or you can grow a living soil which will replace your bottles. In nature, the soil is teeming with micro scopic life. Fungi, Bacterea, Nematodes and so much more. Chemical fertilizer kills these things. In nature these tiny organism have their own food chain which is actually referred to as a soil web. This cycle of life creates the fertilizer your plants need (that's why no one needs to fertilize a Forrest from a bottle). Feeding the soil and not the plant is optimal organics- but as I said you can still feed the plant using bottles of stuff which isn't going to kill your soil web as such- just somewhat disconnect it from function as it's replaced.
The key thing to remember with this is that you pick 1 path and don't mix the things together or it won't work. If you use any chemicals while trying organic, soil life will die and you will fail. If you use bottled organic fertilizer while trying to have a living soil web garden, you will disrupt their balance and they will not function properly- etc.

All the more reasons why I grow hydro, I find soil to be more problems than not.

DeeTee said:

All the more reasons why I grow hydro, I find soil to be more problems than not.

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When I use to work at a hydro shop, the boss told me a saying which i've kept and repeated so many times: "Every grow method is the best, just ask the guy who's using it"
The grow that is 'easy' or 'problems' for each individual relies on so many personal circumstances. Some people comprehend different methods better, or it fits in with their work schedule or what ever it is.

You try to tell Cann or Hyroot or Headtreep on here in the ROLS thread that it's ''more problems than not" and they will laugh- then maybe even will say that Hydro is more work! (i'm sure i've seen such people say that a number of times)

Had to add this. I think that I'm on the right track with what I am doing. I feel that I need some help how much to give at what time. I know about the 4 stages of flowering but have a hard time at what and how much to give at the time.

DL couldn't have said it better myself...

dl290485 said:

When I use to work at a hydro shop, the boss told me a saying which i've kept and repeated so many times: "Every grow method is the best, just ask the guy who's using it"
The grow that is 'easy' or 'problems' for each individual relies on so many personal circumstances. Some people comprehend different methods better, or it fits in with their work schedule or what ever it is.

You try to tell Cann or Hyroot or Headtreep on here in the ROLS thread that it's ''more problems than not" and they will laugh- then maybe even will say that Hydro is more work! (i'm sure i've seen such people say that a number of times)

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I understand of course, to each his own.

It has been 14 days into flowering so I would consider this early flowering. The buds are forming cute little cotton balls. At this point there should be enough nutes in the soil to last at least another week or two as long as I give it another watering of tea or two(see post 5 for tea mix).Then I think it would be getting into peak flowering time. I was thinking about making a Flowering tea and this is when I get mixed up. I have the 0-5-0 bat pop no N and K, I have bone meal which would give me some N and good P and no K. I have alfalfa meal which would give me some N very little P and some K. I read not to use Alfalfa in flowering because of it having triaconatol and then I posted a question before about teas and was told to use it. What I'm thinking is some 0-5-0 bat pop and some alfalfa meal mixed with EWC and molasses as a tea for this point. I would also Like to add that the one in super soil I'm not going to worry about at this time.

Sorry about getting off track. I still want to know why you decided to grow organically and do you feel that growing hydro is more cut and dry.

K is the key element in flowering. With deficient k at the wrong time in flowering you can severely lose out on yield.

Maybe you should look up how to make a banana fertilizer. From Organic Feeding 101 thread:

"Banana Peel Tea.
Origin: Bananas. Cheap to make. eat the banana, use the peels.
Provides: Strong Potassium Boost. ideal for flowering.
Preparation: after selecting 4 bananas, and eating the insides, place the 4 peels into a pot, with 4 cups of water (1L). You can also add in 2 tablespoons of molasses. Bring to a boil. let boil for 5 minutes. remove the peels. let cool. place in jars for storage.
Application: mix this 1 part banana goop to 2 parts water. use every 2 weeks."

As for why I want to do organic?

Because organic growing is using the plant to the full extent of it's dna and evolution traits rather than ignoring certain functions (like microbes, fungi, root exudiates, etc) and working around them. To me going chemical is a bit like having a car with an engine already in it... but not using it and powering your car via another mechanism. The plant has evolved and is perfectly in form to have a relationship with a living soil web. Although it works, it wasn't designed for the way modern fertilizers go straight from the bottle in to the roots. It also fits with how I want to grow with as little electrics and pumps as possible. I hand water to personally chose when it happens and to not worry about a broken timer or blocked hose etc.... But on top of all this, maybe it also has to do with the fact after reading so many text books and web sources about chemical gardening that it all looks like old news. Maybe I just find it fascinating now to have something new to learn

I love growing in organic soil because the buds just look and taste better than any other way that I know.

True Living Organics by The Rev is an easy read and gives a lot of great info on indoor organic soil grows in small containers. There are many ways to skin a cat but his way does seem to work...and as I said, it's an enjoyable and easy read and it really lays out the process well.

In the process of K.I.S.S. I realized that watering with plain water every 2-4 days with an occasional tea is much easier than hydro/coco.
I had a plant outside in a pot that I watered every other day with pond water and the thing did as well as my plant in coco.

Being able to look smugly at people and say, "This is organic, brah," is just a bonus.

I really can't get much easier than just add water style of organic growing. But thats just me.

i went organic cuz its easier and less problems. no nute burn, deficiencys, i havent checked ph and pay no attention to npk. good live soil and teas do it all. flavor is unmatched if u properly dry and cure. sip pots make a big difference in my opinion. never go back to costly bottles of chemicals. to each his own

I think the potency of organic is much more enduring and the smoke is smooth. Flavors spring forth and linger well past the exhalation. I like watching the compost eating the different rinds and kitchen waste I love giving my family and friend small baggies of soil to perk up house plants thier reactions are always bolstering and suddenly its not so bad that I cultivate cannabis for the sick instead of rotting inside half blind and sad with my lot in life. Being a medical patient in Oregon means very few jobs will hire you that doesn't involve a drive thru window, because of the piss testing. Organics to me is swimming with the current instead of against it

Organic cannabis is 50X better than chem as far as taste aroma and potency. I find it funny that people strongly believe that cannabis these days is "stronger" then what was around in the early 60's but the truth is that is COMPLETELY not true reason being is cannabis grows to its full potential when you have both available and unavailable nutrients.

weed today is certainly stronger if ur going by thc content only and this is widely known. 60s avg thc appx 13% and that was hi, now with the hybrid's (crital kush for instance is near 23%)not counting if u vape ur turning cbds into thc making it better yet

Q: What makes you want to grow organically?

The head high is smoother and clearer than the smoke from chemically grown plants. Why use excess chemicals when you don't need to? My bud is better than commercial/street bud and it's all natural and very sweet - Lemon, Mollasses, Sugar, it's just fukcing fantastic. I use two teas and molasses, two soils from FF - so I'm 100% organic baby.

Organics is a passion. I started out trying to find the easiest way to do this, and I have to say that basic organics really is quite simple. It all depends on just how far into the science you delve. As I studied the biology of soil, and the physiology of plants, the further I went into the effort I was willing to put forth to get what I personally consider the finest quality bud I've ever smoked. The ends really do justify the means here. I will not say that the way I grow is easier, per se, but in my opinion it is infinitely more rewarding.