soil - easy - as it should be

So, you want to try and get the best flavor for your little flowers and willing to wait for it... It seem to take just a little longer to get the veg stage going for soil vs hydro, but that can also be from watering to frequently (talk about later), but when you have them established they will be more forgiving if you miss a day, and wont die if you loose power for a couple hours if you use NFT.
I like ProMix because I can buy it from the local plant shop (I highly recomend helping out the local shop if you can - and they like your buisness instead of faceless lowes or kMart) It comes in a 3.5cuFt bag and will go a long way. Only $35 from where I shop. another good nuteless soil is FoxFarms, PLEASE stay away from all purpose potting mixes like miracle death and others that have the time release nutrients because they are ment to be put in your pots and be left there for a LONG time - we just want about 60-120 days.

My other Favorite you need now is Bio-Tone ($8 at lowes for 4lb bag) this product takes out the guess work of mixing bone meal, worm castings and all the benificial fungi, bacteria and will feed your plants a long time.
If you like you can add some perlite as well, it looks good in there and keeps the soil more airated (ProMix already has good airation tho)

Lets talk numbers - I add 1cup Bio-Tone to 4L ProMix stir it up and Im finished. incredible I know.

You may need to use a little dish soap (onle need a couple drops then shake)the first time just to get the ProMix to start accepting the water because when you first take it out of the bag it has alot of surface tension that water just runs off it. I sudjest you do this in your mixing tub(i.e. wheel barrel)

Watering - I use about 2L-4L water every 3 days per 8 4L pots of medium. you may find you need more or even less depending on the size of your plants and room/light temp. But be careful, If you water to often then your plants wont develop strong roots and that is just no good at all.

Im just a noob I know, but I love RUI and need to spread the love too, go easy on me
 

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Is that Bio-Tone organic and is it as good as you say? and does it have to sit for a while before the stuff in it is plant ready? Like u no how bone n blood meal need 2 sit for like a month or so...
 

smppro

Well-Known Member
I second the bio-tone, great stuff. Its all natural, it doesnt need to sit, adds lots of good shit to your soil. I believe its 2-0-0
 

svchop889

Well-Known Member
Bio tone is the shit. the bio-tone starter plus is 4-3-3 but its organic I put 3/4 cup per gallon of soil and let it sit for a week before I put freshly germed seeds in. No burns, grew like wild fire 6 nodes in 2.5 weeks. http://www.espoma.com/p_consumer/biotone_overview.html looks like both are 4-3-3 organics don't burn as easily though typically its the fast absorbing nitrogen that burns plants.
 
Im glad you guys found something to chat about here. Bio-Tone is that good for sure. It lasts for about three months in the soil. so you can use it for a pretty good veg or have some last into flower to feed during the stretch. during flower it doesnt hurt to add your bloom feed or what ever you like.
I do find that my mix is a little more basic (higher pH - above 7 with my cheap soil meter). IMO water with closer to 5.5-6.0 pH so it balances out.
I'm using RO water but i don't have the meter to test the runoff for EC or PPM. I can't give more specific numbers on that end of things.
 

AquafinaOrbit

Well-Known Member
all dirt does lol good luck finding soil with no nutes at all. maybe sand or perlite. hell even vermiculite has some micros.
Of course. Just saying this seems to be an informative thread, and people tend to not believe what they read when a mistake that blaring is evident.
 

plaguedog

Active Member
So, you want to try and get the best flavor for your little flowers and willing to wait for it... It seem to take just a little longer to get the veg stage going for soil vs hydro, but that can also be from watering to frequently (talk about later), but when you have them established they will be more forgiving if you miss a day, and wont die if you loose power for a couple hours if you use NFT.
I like ProMix because I can buy it from the local plant shop (I highly recomend helping out the local shop if you can - and they like your buisness instead of faceless lowes or kMart) It comes in a 3.5cuFt bag and will go a long way. Only $35 from where I shop. another good nuteless soil is FoxFarms, PLEASE stay away from all purpose potting mixes like miracle death and others that have the time release nutrients because they are ment to be put in your pots and be left there for a LONG time - we just want about 60-120 days.

My other Favorite you need now is Bio-Tone ($8 at lowes for 4lb bag) this product takes out the guess work of mixing bone meal, worm castings and all the benificial fungi, bacteria and will feed your plants a long time.
If you like you can add some perlite as well, it looks good in there and keeps the soil more airated (ProMix already has good airation tho)

Lets talk numbers - I add 1cup Bio-Tone to 4L ProMix stir it up and Im finished. incredible I know.

You may need to use a little dish soap (onle need a couple drops then shake)the first time just to get the ProMix to start accepting the water because when you first take it out of the bag it has alot of surface tension that water just runs off it. I sudjest you do this in your mixing tub(i.e. wheel barrel)

Watering - I use about 2L-4L water every 3 days per 8 4L pots of medium. you may find you need more or even less depending on the size of your plants and room/light temp. But be careful, If you water to often then your plants wont develop strong roots and that is just no good at all.

Im just a noob I know, but I love RUI and need to spread the love too, go easy on me

Thats twice as much as recommended on the package (about 7 cups to a cubic foot as opposed to 3) Have you had any problems with it being mixed that strongly?
 

plaguedog

Active Member
I second the bio-tone, great stuff. Its all natural, it doesnt need to sit, adds lots of good shit to your soil. I believe its 2-0-0
Well it does contain bone meal which takes a little while to get activated, letting it cook for awhile never really hurts anything.

I have some right now sitting with my normal mix, I wet it down with a bit of EWC tea and maxi crop.

So far I am just going off the package directions at 3 cups per cubic foot of soil. My mix already has 20% EWC so I don't want to over do it.

I guess I shall see how it goes this grow.
 

smppro

Well-Known Member
Yes sitting does help, when i did a obbt(air injected soil) i had nice long strains of fungi growing all over the top of the soil after a week of sitting.
 
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