So my seeds are germing along nicely with 3 ready for some dirt. I can’t buy any Miracle-Gro soil just yet with perlite and I read that if I sterilized outside dirt that I could use that. Is that true? I’d hate to see my brand new babies suffer from not planting them and whatnot.
Sterilizing outside soil is a pain and kinda disgusting as you will stink up your house baking it in the oven, but it will work, seems like a lot of trouble over running to a store and picking up some already sterilized commercial potting soil.
Yeah I know but I do have a microwave. I did sterilize it for 90 secs and there’s nooooo way I was going to stink up my kitchen sanitizing dirt. If I didn’t have a microwave I definitely would’ve had to take the loss and germ again once I got the dirt. At least this way I won’t stink up my cookin space and even if my seed sprouts using homemade sterile dirt, I still plan on getting some organic soil. I also am aware that I’d have to add nutrients to the soil this way also.
Since I am getting organic soil, does this mean I have to add my own nutrients to the soil? Have you heard about the fertilizer spikes? Would that be a good thing to use or am I better off getting the powdery stuff and adding water to it?
To get the most vigorous growth you will need to add nutrients in the water feeding schedule, no matter how good the soil, it won’t be able to supply the maximum amount of nutrients needed for the entire grow to release the maximum potential of the plant, especially during the flowering period.
You need to get an idea about TDS/PPM, as well as PH, even when growing in soil as not to get over fertilizing burn or nutrient lockout or toxicity. The powders or liquids mixtures are probably much better for cannabis than the little spikes, as they are not really designed to give more of one nutrient over another during different parts of the grow. The NPK scale is very important. You need more nitrogen during the vegetative growth and you need more phosphorous and potassium during flowering.
I probably will go with a powder then since all I have to do with that is add water. I’m trying to keep this as simple as possible for me lol. After I plant the rooted seed in the soil, how long do I have to wait until I have to fertilize? Is it once I see the leaves sprout up?
I read on here that urine is a good natural fertilizer, along with coffee grounds and food scraps. What would be a good phosphorus source naturally? Once again I’m only considering doing this until I can buy fertilizer. I’m just so darn eager and anxious to get this rolling!!
Urine, coffee grounds and such might not be the best for your situation. What kind of medication might you be on? This stuff will not disappear even with composting or other preparations and if you do not pre-prepare the urine or compost the other stuff it won’t do your plant any good. I am not a big fan of urine in general because of how many things we may have in our bodies because of medical needs nowadays and I am not a big fan of trying to get real creative with your organic soils for beginners, you already have so much to learn and you will not have any idea of what might be going wrong with so many variables and it certainly makes it harder for us to help you with more and more variables that we may not be able to be aware of if something does go wrong.
Well I’m not on any meds…and with using urine I read that you have to add A LOT of water otherwise that can be bad for the plant. I’d also have to use the dilute right away or it can turn all ammonia-ish. With the egg shells, I was going to rinse them out after using some for breakfast tomorrow, let them dry then let my blender grind them down.
I understand that all of this can be easier if I just buy what I need and just thought other (more organic) options could be used, as long as I take the right steps. Even with buying the right things I can still make mistakes.
It isn’t that expensive, if you are trying to save some money. Using an off the store shelf soil and supplementing with the liquid miracle grow can work and just means everything is measured and there are less things/variables that can go wrong, it just makes everything a lot simpler.
You could use:
For Vegetative cycle
http://www.miraclegro.com/smg/goprod/miracle-gro-liquid-houseplant-food/prod70194/
or
http://www.miraclegro.com/smg/goprod/miracle-gro-liquid-african-violet-plant-food/prod70186/
And for flower
http://www.miraclegro.com/smg/goprod/miracle-gro-liquid-cactus-plant-food/prod10600026/
These are only a few bucks and found at almost any store. Keeping things simple and uniform is your best bet to ensure a successful grow. The less things that can go wrong the better.
Cool. I saved those and will most definitely get those products. I know where to go to get them so that won’t be a problem.
Okay, got the fertilizer thing situated. So as far as knowing when to start using fertilizer, when do I have to start using these things? I was mainly thinking of the organic homemade solution ONLY if I had to start fertilizing right away. If I have to wait a few days to fertilize then I can bypass making fertilizer altogether. I can get the stuff I need as early as a few days from now but just wanted to know how soon and what things to look for so I can know when to start using them.
The embryonic leaves or cotyledon (Cotyledon - Wikipedia) is kinda like the egg yolk of the seedling. And you will not need fertilizer for the first couple weeks because of these. You kinda don’t need fertilizer at all until these little leaves are used up, but I would still start supplementing as soon as a healthy root system has developed, which is indicated by a few sets of true leaves and usually appears in about the two week period.
BTW, you still need to know the NPK system and understand TDS/PPM to be sure not to over do anything and to maybe correct for PH during flowering especially, as the plant can turn the soil very acidic at that time, and cannabis may like things a little on the acidic side, but still not too much. A PH of about 5.5 to 6.5 is ideal.
What is TDS/PPM? I can Google that.
When the plant gets to the flowering stage, do I still fertilize every few days or do I stop at that point?
Flowering is almost the most important time to fertilize. Your NPK ratios are important to know what they mean and when the plant needs more or less. In general more nitrogen in needed during veg and more potassium and phosphorous during flower. TDS/PPM is Total Dissolved Solids or Parts Per Million. You can use just the drops per gallon or measurements recommended on the bottle/box but to be sure you don’t over fertilize or have lockout of nutrients you need to keep an eye on your soil’s PH and make sure it is not too alkali or too acidic. PH of about 5.5 to 6.5 is about ideal. You can check for TDS/PPM in your soil’s run off and/or check TDS/PPM of your water mixture before pouring it on your soil as not to over fertilize. If you use the minimum drops per gallon recommended by miracle grow you probably won’t over fertilize but you might not get the best yeild because the plant could have taken more fertilizer.
I was thinking of using this for germination and the 1st week or two of growth,but It doesn’t mention what the NPK ratio is.
Products – Black Gold Would the ratio be 0-0-0?If so should I add a very small amount of nutes?What ratio for germination and 1-2 weeks?
After the germination when it ready to transplant I was going to use this mix and it has a ratio of 0.05-0.0-0.0. Products – Black Gold
I’m very confused.If I use a 8-4-4 mix at 100% won’t it burn up plants?What should the NPK ratios be after mixing up all soils and fertilizers?
You don’t need fertilizer for the plants until they have established a root zone. you will know that this has happened when you have 4-5 sets of true leaves on alternating nodes.
N-P-K rating does not burn the plants. Too much of it in the soil. It is not meant to run alone. Follow the directions.
One final note. We want to help you, but posting the same question more than once is not going to help you any faster. Peace
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