Questions ?ocean forest (fox farm)

Chicagosworse said:

There's never a medium of yay or nays to this soil. Everything I see about it for seedlings is "it's too hot, no it's perfect" so I'm here to see if I can work with it. I'm not trying to add nuts until a month later. My name is Chicagosworse because I'm a gamer. Chicagosworse gamer FYI

Click to expand...

My personal method is to start seed in a solo cup full of HF, then transplant it into OF with the seedling remaining in the 'cup' of HF (with the actual cup removed of course). Place it in a hole in the center of the OF and they've been happy, happy. Lasts about 4 weeks on water only before needing anything added. My 'nutes' are top dressing with more OF and watering it in with each watering as needed. I don't water to run-off and don't use any synthetic nutes. No flushing either. Works for me.

This was eventually my next, I honestly didn't want to use the synthetic nutes. Can you please share the link to what you're feeding your plants. That all sounds so amazing.

Never had any issues with OF, except in my first few grows I added nutes and got a little burn. It has enough to nourish a plant for quite awhile. I'll sometimes start off clones with Happy Frog just because the clones seem to root a bit better/faster

It seems to work the best, I have tried a few other soils and had more problems...... but i tried some heirloom hawaiian seeds in
ocean forest a few years ago and it burnt the hell out of em (destroyed) so now i start seeds in royal gold tupur

Chicagosworse said:

There's never a medium of yay or nays to this soil. Everything I see about it for seedlings is "it's too hot, no it's perfect" so I'm here to see if I can work with it. I'm not trying to add nuts until a month later. My name is Chicagosworse because I'm a gamer. Chicagosworse gamer FYI

Click to expand...

All started in ocean forest.
Poor watering habits is what most people experience I believe.

HydroKid239 said:

All started in ocean forest.
Poor watering habits is what most people experience I believe.
View attachment 5195718View attachment 5195720View attachment 5195721

Click to expand...

Yup no problems here until I over-watered my seedlings. Set them back 2 weeks & looked like a "burn" situation.

Cynister said:

My 'nutes' are top dressing with more OF and watering it in with each watering as needed. I don't water to run-off and don't use any synthetic nutes. No flushing either. Works for me.

Click to expand...

Yeah thats what I kind of do. Mix ffof with my coco so I don't need to feed em for a few weeks during veg. My ffof was so hot that if used alone I could go the whole veg with no nutes. Ppm was 7k. But no burn except when I tried to add nutes to early.
Curious if u switch to other nutes when in bloom or still just add ffof?

Heard there were bag differences ( amendment sources ) depending on region of U.S.
There has been times I had to screen the bags ( curiosity ) found a couple nails once . Most strains can tolerate it upfront and push on .
I find if I am able to recycle a bit of it after a run - it works beautifully as a seed starter mix in solos ( re-use ). No waste and that cup becomes a new plug.

It does benefit from a few “ tweaks “ tho -

More perlite / rice hull or pumice
EWC bump

Con side - Fungus gnats
This happens IMO more during transit and palletized storage . Regardless I have found a few swarmers in bags so I mix in Neem meal to 2 cu bags.
Toss it , mix it , seal it.
After that , all good.

HF ( happy frog ) runs a lot milder and tends to tap out faster. Some growers will bottom fill containers with FFOF - top fill HF.
Or straight 50/50 blend. No set rules. I find the soil better when used in combinations outside of typical plant and use.

It’s one of the few “ water only “ blends you can run instead of grow shop “ custom mixes “ .
A lot of those “ boutique super soils “ are junk.

Personally I’m a fan of Sunshine 4 Advanced. Done with Fox Farms by 2013 going Pro Mix and never looked back. The Sunshine 4 Advanced has everything including coco and yucca. Costs a few dollars more and it’s 3.0 cubic feet instead of 3.8 like Pro Mix or regular Sunshine 4. First waterings I still added a couple of drops of Dawn. Obviously has better draining than regular peat mixes. I water by weight and found myself watering more frequently. There’s no need to spend the money for Fox Farms products.

Budzbuddha said:

HF ( happy frog ) runs a lot milder and tends to tap out faster. Some growers will bottom fill containers with FFOF - top fill HF.
Or straight 50/50 blend. No set rules. I find the soil better when used in combinations outside of typical plant and use.

It’s one of the few “ water only “ blends you can run instead of grow shop “ custom mixes “ .
A lot of those “ boutique super soils “ are junk.

Click to expand...

I agree. It's simple for how I want to grow, just add water and watch the plants, they'll tell me what they need if I'm screwing it up. I've heard stories about different blends in different areas, so I have no clue, but wouldn't doubt it. I didn't mention perlite which helps drainage. You do have to stay on top of it though as the plants will suck everything up in short order. I'm not saying this is the best way, but it fits my lifestyle and the fruit of my labors puts a big fat smile on my face.

BTW, props to Budzbuddha, he put me onto this particular path. Thank you!

I use FF products because my favorite local nurseries carry it, will load it in my old truck, feeds the local economy and for my methods it works. I'm sure there are other good products available as well.

Budzbuddha said:

Heard there were bag differences ( amendment sources ) depending on region of U.S.
There has been times I had to screen the bags ( curiosity ) found a couple nails once . Most strains can tolerate it upfront and push on .
I find if I am able to recycle a bit of it after a run - it works beautifully as a seed starter mix in solos ( re-use ). No waste and that cup becomes a new plug.

It does benefit from a few “ tweaks “ tho -

More perlite / rice hull or pumice
EWC bump

Con side - Fungus gnats
This happens IMO more during transit and palletized storage . Regardless I have found a few swarmers in bags so I mix in Neem meal to 2 cu bags.
Toss it , mix it , seal it.
After that , all good.

Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly on the fungus gnats.. the bags have small pin holes in them and i think maybe thats how they get in during storage

farmerfischer said:

My thoughts exactly on the fungus gnats.. the bags have small pin holes in them and i think maybe thats how they get in during storage

Click to expand...

Yeah, the bags of soil gotta breathe. I buy my FF soils from the local hydro shop. They store it all inside In a clean show room. With the big box stores, it can be stored outside in the elements and who knows what kind of temps. While the little holes let the soil breathe, they sure don't let it dry out once the bags get saturated sitting out in the rain.

Chicagosworse said:

There's never a medium of yay or nays to this soil. Everything I see about it for seedlings is "it's too hot, no it's perfect" so I'm here to see if I can work with it. I'm not trying to add nuts until a month later. My name is Chicagosworse because I'm a gamer. Chicagosworse gamer FYI

Click to expand...

I usually use a 50/50 mix of HF/OF upon seedling first transplant and thereafter. Then start introducing nutes 2 or 3 weeks after the 1st transplant. It has worked ok for me. I think I've found that fairly regular addition of calmag is needed also with this soil mixture. Perhaps magnesium isn't the strong suit of these 2 soils. Seems I'm usually behind the curve and realize the deficiency later than I should have. Oh well. My next run will be perfect.

Fishmon said:

I usually use a 50/50 mix of HF/OF upon seedling first transplant and thereafter. Then start introducing nutes 2 or 3 weeks after the 1st transplant. It has worked ok for me. I think I've found that fairly regular addition of calmag is needed also with this soil mixture. Perhaps magnesium isn't the strong suit of these 2 soils. Seems I'm usually behind the curve and realize the deficiency later than I should have. Oh well. My next run will be perfect.

Click to expand...

When do you usually notice MG deficiency, in veg or flower? I've yet to notice that issue.

I used FFOF all the way, Like @HydroKid239 it's a watering issue. the only time i had problems was over watering

Remember that FFOF is buffered pretty well ( oyster shell) and tap works ( covers calcium / mag ) .

If you ph adjust say tap to the medium ( 6.6-6.7 ) then the medium’s buffers hold out longer. I have run autos up to 88 days without much depletion in buffers.

Budzbuddha said:

Remember that FFOF is buffered pretty well ( oyster shell) and tap works ( covers calcium / mag ) .

If you ph adjust say tap to the medium ( 6.6-6.7 ) then the medium’s buffers hold out longer. I have run autos up to 88 days without much depletion in buffers.

Click to expand...

There's barely any Mg in OSF. It's mostly Ca.

Langbeinite if you need magnesium. It also adds some potassium and sulfur.