Organic Grow Advice

I just recently got a hold of 6 clones and i want to grow them organically
I want some advice on a good soil mix, nutes, etc.
any input is appreciated
(advice on how to get bushy, bulky plants is also welcome)
thanks
 

Vindicated

Well-Known Member
Hi Buddy,

Organic can be easy or complex, depending on how far down the rabbit hole your wiling to go. Let's start with a basic definition of what it means to farm organically. Here's a quote from Wikipedia:

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm. Organic farming excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers, pesticides (which include herbicides, insecticides and fungicides), plant growth regulators such as hormones, livestock antibiotics, food additives, and genetically modified organisms.
If your going to buy organic products, I recommend making sure the product has the OMRI seal on it, certifying that it is indeed organic. You can also go to their website and search for organic products: http://www.omri.org/

Amazon.com, Gardeners.com, and Discount-hydro.com are my favorite sites that I go to when looking for anything gardening related.

You'll need to pick out a few containers, growing medium, and fertilizer. When it comes to fertilizer it's more important to pay attention to NKP ratios then it is to be stuck on a particular brand. When it comes to soils, most of the big brands are either mostly peat moss, wood chips, or coconut husk fiber. Many will even have a mixture but by and large its going to be mostly one of those three. Peat moss being the cheapest and most widely available. Coconut husk being the most renewable resource of the three, but because it's usually sourced near the sea it should be washed to clean out any remaining salts.

Fertilizers... animals that piss in their shit is going to be more "hot," meaning more likely to burn, but will have more nitrogen which is useful during the vegetative cycle. Examples include poultry (chickens), horse manure, rabbit manure, and bat guano. The less hot animal poops includes: worm casting, cow manure, and elephant dung.

Next you have your meals, bloods, and kelps. Basically meal is crushed bone, blood is blood, and kelp is a plant. Emulsions is usually the crushed up guts, blood, and bones of an animal... like fish. When it comes to these you want to pay close attention to the heavy metals in them -- mercury, arsenic, cadmium, lead, etc. Not to scare you away from using these, it's just one of those things to think about. I personally love Alaska's fish emulations (5-1-1) as a veg fertilizer, but if I'm using that I'm going to stay away from the blood and bone meals.

This finally leaves us to you the gardener. If you want busy plants then you have to feed the plants what they need as they need it. No one can really tell you what to do, it's one of those things you learn by trial and error. Each plant will vary a little bit, so the best you can do it give is a balanced diet and apply fertilizers as the need arises. You can also do things like pruning, but that is getting away from organics. Usually you don't need to prune, unless there is mold or dead leaves. Give the plant ample space, nutrients, water, and light and it should do fine all by itself.

If you want big yields you have to veg earlier and longer. Ignore people you tell you you'll need booster A & B. If you give the plant more time in veg, you'll get a bigger bushier higher yielding plant. Its that easy.
 

Vindicated

Well-Known Member
I forgot about insecticides... diatomaceous earth keeps pests away and kills very slowly. Neem oil kills on contact, but some people say it can affect the smell and taste of your bud if you use it to often. I didn't have this problem myself, but I'll throw it out there anyway. There are also lots of organic insecticidal soaps, most use a combination of neem, cedar, or pepper soil. However even garlic and cinnamon have been know to be quiet effective.

You can also plant leafy greens like carrots near your plants to attract predator insects. You can also buy benificial insects to establish a balance. In my experience these insects will not completely eradicate the pests and will often leave once they've done their job. However, they are affective and work great when you are using a multi-layer approach.
 
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