Reammend ffof or start clean?

Yellowboatyellowboat

Yellowboatyellowboat

Active Member
Was wondering if anybody could give me some advice? I am in the last week of my first indoor grow. I used fox farms ocean forrest and fox farms happy frog mixed 50/50. I thought I was growing organically but I am just naive. Apparently both ffof and ffhf aren't organic. In fox farms own FAQ they stated that you shouldn't reuse their soils. This is my concern, because for my next grow I was going to build my own soil. I bought the 2.2cf coots mix kit from buildasoil. I planned on just reusing my ffof in place of peat moss, just to keep my soil life. I was going to mix it with rice hulls, malibu compost and some local worm compost. Should I just skip reusing the fox farms soil from this grow and build the coots mix the way it is intended? Also do I need to flush this last week since it's not organic and had salts in it most likely? I have been doing water only the whole time, besides 2 compost teas, and buildaflower top dressing 2 weeks in to flower. Thanks in advance.
 
Yellowboatyellowboat

Yellowboatyellowboat

Active Member
Or am I just tripping? Read on other forums and reddit that ffof and ffhf aren't organic. Checked the products listed as organic on their website, and no soils were listed. Only fertizilers were listed. Hopefully it's just that they didn't wanna pay the money to get it tested and certified.
 
T

tslonige

Well-Known Member
I use straight FFHF / 30% Perlite and start with new soil every grow. The way I look at it is for a minor investment it helps tremendously with eliminating pest, fungus and the need for nutrients (if you top dress). Knock on weed but I have 3 small grow tents and about 6 plants at a time, never had a fungus gnat, spider mite, PM etc. I have been indoor growing about 6 years now.
 
PadawanWarrior

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
Yellowboatyellowboat said:
Was wondering if anybody could give me some advice? I am in the last week of my first indoor grow. I used fox farms ocean forrest and fox farms happy frog mixed 50/50. I thought I was growing organically but I am just naive. Apparently both ffof and ffhf aren't organic. In fox farms own FAQ they stated that you shouldn't reuse their soils. This is my concern, because for my next grow I was going to build my own soil. I bought the 2.2cf coots mix kit from buildasoil. I planned on just reusing my ffof in place of peat moss, just to keep my soil life. I was going to mix it with rice hulls, malibu compost and some local worm compost. Should I just skip reusing the fox farms soil from this grow and build the coots mix the way it is intended? Also do I need to flush this last week since it's not organic and had salts in it most likely? I have been doing water only the whole time, besides 2 compost teas, and buildaflower top dressing 2 weeks in to flower. Thanks in advance.
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Man you're good to go. I started with FFOF and have since turned it into no-till. I'm on like round 6 now. And I now have a stockpile from B.A.S. They've gotten quite a bit of my money, but I don't think I should say how much, lol. I love em though.

You seem to get it man, and I have high:bigjoint: hopes for ya.

Fox Farms doesn't want you to reuse their soil because they want you to buy more.
 
Y

youraveragehorticulturist

Well-Known Member
You're just trippin'! Reammend. I think your plan for fresh compost, more aeration + neem/crab/kelp will work well.

During your 2nd run keep a look out for calcium deficiency (small, round brown spots on leaves) and magnesium deficiency (yellowing between the veins of your leaves) and think about adding some dolomite lime or gypsum + Epsom salt if needed for your next reammend.
 
N

NewGrower2011

Well-Known Member
For me it came down to start with all fresh base + amendments repeating a known 'recipe' or alternately you need to know what is lacking/used up from your prior run so you know what to actually put back in and how much. So to me this means (a) time for a soil test after the prior run, (b) re-amend everything accordingy, (c) wait for an adequate 'cooking' time with the amendments and (d) one more round of testing (and the wait associated). Then you know what-is-what.

Do that a couple times keeping things consistent each time and getting a good outcome; Once you're doing that reliably you have a proven recipe/regimen and can start foregoing the tests. Start messing with any of the variables and you're back to needing tests to know reality from theory.
 
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NewGrower2011

Well-Known Member
Also once you learn which amendments get consumed at what rate you know enough to better guesstimate how much of your inputs to add and of which type. I.e. did you add slow release or fast release inputs?

I was chasing this angle a few times but after the 3rd or 4th time I can now better predict the impact each run has and which amendments are likely needed in greater quantities than just a refresh/booster.
 
Yellowboatyellowboat

Yellowboatyellowboat

Active Member
Sweet. Thanks guys. Anybody know how much peat is in ffof? Coots mix from BAS calls for 3cf of peat. I have 20 gallons of ffof from my current grow to reammend. Seems close enough no?
 
T

toomp

Well-Known Member
Yellowboatyellowboat said:
Was wondering if anybody could give me some advice? I am in the last week of my first indoor grow. I used fox farms ocean forrest and fox farms happy frog mixed 50/50. I thought I was growing organically but I am just naive. Apparently both ffof and ffhf aren't organic. In fox farms own FAQ they stated that you shouldn't reuse their soils. This is my concern, because for my next grow I was going to build my own soil. I bought the 2.2cf coots mix kit from buildasoil. I planned on just reusing my ffof in place of peat moss, just to keep my soil life. I was going to mix it with rice hulls, malibu compost and some local worm compost. Should I just skip reusing the fox farms soil from this grow and build the coots mix the way it is intended? Also do I need to flush this last week since it's not organic and had salts in it most likely? I have been doing water only the whole time, besides 2 compost teas, and buildaflower top dressing 2 weeks in to flower. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Been using the same for a few years. Harvest and replant in the very same containers that day.
 
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