Does Fox Farm Suck?

The reason I ask is because I feed my plants at 1.2 EC and the runoff comes out at 3.5 to 5.0 EC. I called my grow store and they told me they are having the same problem. thoughts??

Do not trust anything from any company too much. Test soil and nutes for PH etc, particularly if you buy in bulk. Can save heartache.

what do you mean? I check everything before i feed and everything is on point but the runoff is way too high in EC

Which soil did you buy? Some have weeks and weeks of nutes included. On the whole i hear very good things about FF

What he means is not to simply assume that every time you buy a product from a company it'll be identical to the previous one you bought. As your grow guy sais, they have problems, so it could very well be that FF has sent out a batch of funked soil, but this doesn't have a real significance to the quality of their products as a company. Shit an happen.

I use pro mix micorise

My EC is perfect when i put it in but the runoff is out of control and my plants are definitely burning

How old are the plants? You should be able to get away with not feeding for at least a week. There is nutrition present in the Ocean Forest.

there about 10 weeks and i'm not using ocean forest. I just got off the phone with a Fox Farm rep and he didn't have an answer besides flushing the plant which i could figure out myself. I just can't understand how the EC can get so how with the little nutrients I'm feeding my plants.

like tip top toker said some soil mixes have nutrients in them already especially the fox farm brands, thats y people like it..u dont really have to feed your plants for 2 weeks or so..i start after 3 waterings, then i feed at 15-20% strength..and never get burns or high ppm, ec readings....how long have your plants been in that FF soil mix??

As stated soil has nutrients in it already. I would wateer with plain water and check the runoff ppm and than adjust the fertilizer solution accordingly.

i dont use fox farm soil i use pro mix mycorise

simple. 1 of 2 things are happening or both:

1. Salt buildup in your medium
2. Your soil comes premixed hot.

either way a fix is simple. flush till you get as close to 0 ppm or whatever your tap water is. rule of thumb is 3x the ammount of soil in your medium. then start feeding again at 1/2 str.

what does premixed hot soil mean?

Does anyone check there EC or PPM from there run off?

Breadman said:

what does premixed hot soil mean?

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that means it comes from the factory with lots of nutes added already.. hot just means too many nutes, or rather it tends to be easier to burn your plants with it, lots and lots of nutes.. cool would be the opposite, meaning not many nutes added..

So why are you asking about Fox Farms and why are you calling them for your problems with another soil???

I use Ocean Forest for my plants and have no problems. I use Light Warrior for my seedlings and clones and no problems.

i dont think my soil is the problem i use pro mix and the ppm level for that is below 400ppm and has much less nutrients then Ocean Forest. I called Fox Farm because i use there nutrients.

Breadman said:

i dont think my soil is the problem i use pro mix and the ppm level for that is below 400ppm and has much less nutrients then Ocean Forest. I called Fox Farm because i use there nutrients.

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Honestly, I don't check ppm, tds or ec. Only pH. I use FF soils along with their line of liquid and soluble nutes. I don't flush (yet). And I do use CaMg+ and Bud Candy. I follow their schedule and everything comes out perfect depending on the plants I grow. Certain plants grow better for me. The "indoor" class of plants.

what size pots do you use and how often do you water/feed?

Breadman said:

what size pots do you use and how often do you water/feed?

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If you look at my albums you'll see that my grow room has a very low ceiling. Once my seedling/clones get two or three inches high I put them into 2 gallon pots. This is usually a couple to three weeks before I put them into my flower room. During this time I water them pH water with CaMg+ at 14oz per watering/feeding. Every other watering is a feeding consisting of pH water, CaMg+, Big Bloom and Grow Big. The plants generally shoot up in size during feedings. Once I put them into the flower room, I increase the watering/feeding amount accordingly. Usually up to 28oz a watering/feeding then later to 56oz. Once in Flower they tend to want to get wet every two days and in the last month once a day. You have to let them dry out a little on the surface. I have F1, F2 and F3 mixtures according to Fox Farms. My plants come out pretty good when all factors are addressed.