FFOF ( Fox Farms Ocean Forest ) made Simple - Autoflower

GrassBurner

Well-Known Member
So glad I found this thread!! I've read some great advice you've given in other threads, it's nice to know there is so much good information being given out here. I've always been a fan of simple, and following the lead of those that find success.

I just started my first grow this week. Germinated in a jiffy puck, and transplanted yesterday into a small pot with 75% ffof / 25% perlite. I've been stressing about feeding and nutrients, and this thread has put my mind as ease. I've got some ewc's, I'm gonna order some Cal Mag and be done with it. Is there a certain brand you prefer? I've read some pretty good things about CaliMagic. Thanks again.
 

UptownGirl202

Active Member
@Budzbuddha Used your method last weekend. Started 6 girls in 5 gallon grow bags. It was super simple. Only thing that I did differently lol and it wasnt intentional. My tired ass SWORE it said add 1 TBS of MegaCrop (Only needed 1TSP) So i pray that wont have any major consequences in reguards to my grow.
Had a few questions if you dont mind @Budzbuddha I have This bottle of CalMag plus can i use this or is the added iron a "No Bueno" My second question is hypothetically speaking IF I were to top dress with Mega Crops Bud Exposion, Sweet Candy in conjunction with the Mega Crop 9-6-17 what ratio of each would you think would be a good combo for my 5 gallon grow bags?? Im thinking of experimenting with these 3 products on 1 of my girls just to see what happens and I wanted your opinion moving forwards. Thanks in advance for ANY response/feedback as ALWAYS its always MUCH apreciated.
 

Attachments

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
@Budzbuddha Used your method last weekend. Started 6 girls in 5 gallon grow bags. It was super simple. Only thing that I did differently lol and it wasnt intentional. My tired ass SWORE it said add 1 TBS of MegaCrop (Only needed 1TSP) So i pray that wont have any major consequences in reguards to my grow.
Had a few questions if you dont mind @Budzbuddha I have This bottle of CalMag plus can i use this or is the added iron a "No Bueno" My second question is hypothetically speaking IF I were to top dress with Mega Crops Bud Exposion, Sweet Candy in conjunction with the Mega Crop 9-6-17 what ratio of each would you think would be a good combo for my 5 gallon grow bags?? Im thinking of experimenting with these 3 products on 1 of my girls just to see what happens and I wanted your opinion moving forwards. Thanks in advance for ANY response/feedback as ALWAYS its always MUCH apreciated.
Listen ...l encourage “ tweaking “ ... my method was what works for me under my circumstances. My method isn’t gospel just a proper start. Funny thing is , you can add something and see what happens , if it goes sideways then you know don’t do that again .....lol.

With anything , I would start at a 1/4 strength then go from there .... just don’t start dumping this and that .

post pics here ... others would lik3 to see too.
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Megacrop is good Nutes , however a little light on calmag. ( they improved product lately ) .

The other products they have I have not used , but heard good things about them.
I would say less is more when experimenting.
5 gallon , I would think 2 tablespoons should be a fair amount . Scratched into top soil completely the watered in.
 

UptownGirl202

Active Member
Megacrop is good Nutes , however a little light on calmag. ( they improved product lately ) .

The other products they have I have not used , but heard good things about them.
I would say less is more when experimenting.
5 gallon , I would think 2 tablespoons should be a fair amount . Scratched into top soil completely the watered in.
Just seeing this
Will experiment with one of the 5 gallons just to see
Is the Cal Mag Plus okay to use?? Wasn't sure if I should use or it my Cal Mag from Mega Crop.
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Just remember a solo cups “ capacity “ can go south much easier than a full regular size plant container.

So what may “ overwhelm “ a plant stuck in a small cup may not reflect truly if it is a mistake to add that extra nute or supplement.
The limited space and medium might not work to experiment with because of that limitation.
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Calmag plus is fine .... just keep your ph in range once you mix up. You can also “ bubble “ up MC like a tea .... by just adding a tablespoon into a cheesecloth bag aerating in a gallon container of water overnight. Then you can check the ppm of a tablespoon worth of Nutes suspended in the water solution ( bag pulled out ) , if checking how much pppm of nutes are in that TEA.

This way you can up or down amount if watching ppm numbers. Application is simple “ watering “ of charged tea. Once or twice a week depending on plant response with Plain watering In between as needed. ( feed / water / feed ) .

Even with changing methods of feed , you open up different ways that you may like better.

When I make a DRY FERT TEA :

large open container with 1 gallon tap water in it.
I add calmag ( 1 tsp ) teaspoon ! to water , mix well.
I add an Airstone connected to a small aquarium air pump ( $6 )
Hang cheesecloth with dry nute in water
Let it bubble overnight.

Tap water will gas off some of the chlorine while bubbling.
Bubbling oxygenates the water.

In morning .... pull bag . Check ph / ppm of water/ feed solution ( ph adjust if necessary)
( If ppm of feed is too high or too low ) adjust amount in cheesecloth bag for nexttime “ tea “
Give to plant.
 

UptownGirl202

Active Member
Just remember a solo cups “ capacity “ can go south much easier than a full regular size plant container.

So what may “ overwhelm “ a plant stuck in a small cup may not reflect truly if it is a mistake to add that extra nute or supplement.
The limited space and medium might not work to experiment with because of that limitation.
Makes sense. Will have to experiment with a 5 gallon aswell. Apreciate the feedback as ALWAYS
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Chop time approaching .... last top feed was last week , now on plain water to finish the KKP strains ....

1 gallon layered mix ( ffof / eb Stone )
EWC / myco / kelp meal
1 dose of MOAB - Originally wanted to just stay with top dress but at week 7 , I mixed up one time watering of MOAB to
harden up the nugs .... as you will see below it really bumped the density / chunk of this plant.

Watering only , so fade has been very noticeable .... and plan to run it to next saturday for chop. She is still drinking like a champ
every 3rd day. Technically she’s at 10 weeks but once fade ha pretty much sucked the fans dry I will cut it. Triches are pretty much there
but not really in a hurry .... just trying to squeeze everything out of her.

410CC937-2B7A-4650-B54F-C0DD5C688744.jpeg

This is the second KKP .... much different looking.

A3D9E968-94AA-4282-88AF-09E5FC4E8D95.jpeg

Noticeable pheno difference between the 2 ... as this one is throwing some purp colors and yellow triches ( which I heard is an indication of
higher CBD ) .... Buds are definitely not Sativa like ( spears / stacked ) although she has Sativa leaves. Buds are irregular rocky shape with stubby foxtails. Definitely gonna do a smoke report on her.
 

RockyGMSD

Member
This thread was created to help those who seem to overthink the ease of use of this highly ammended bag soil. I see many growers both new and experienced seem to post “ issues “ when trying to run this medium.

I am merely showing a simple no frills method of container / bag grows for autos. Since feeding requirements will be for average 90 ( + or - ) day average for autoflower growth , this will fit it perfectly.

No multi bottle nonsense ... No special water requirements ( use tap ) ... No boosters


FFOF is one of the most complete “ off the shelf “ bagged medium one can by ..... ready to use alone.
Other growers I talked with , mentioned regional differences among stock.

Ingredients: Composted forest humus, sphagnum peat moss, Pacific Northwest sea-going fish emulsion, crab meal, shrimp meal, earthworm castings, sandy loam, perlite, bat guano, granite dust, Norwegian kelp, and oyster shell (for pH adjustment).

Medium is prebuffered to 6.3 .

View attachment 4395504

I will list 2 versions of soil setup .......

1. Plain FFOF soil run only
2. Pelletized dry nute ammended ( self feed )


Begin with the final container size you wish to run ...... I run 1 gallon SOG bags and 3/5 gallon plastic black or air pots ( air prune ). Smart bags will work also. You will be planting directly to pot. You can also grow a seedling in a solo with a seed starter mix and plant as plug into this medium too. But for this , I will show you that FFOF is not quite as hot to seedlings as some report.

You will NOT be feeding the seedling at all with outside Nutes. It will feed on its own from the medium only and will acclimate “ faster and easier “ than dropping more Nutes on top of this charged medium.

Water :

TAP
( whether allowed to vape off 24 hours or not ) it will work. No RO , distilled , holy water , unicorn sweat or other “ special “ water sources. Your ONLY REQUIREMENT is to PH correctly.
PH range for entire autoflower run : 6.3 to 6.5 ( No more No less ) .

Soil is pretty aerated on its own but works much better with added perlite. I tend to shoot for 25% minimum more by volume of medium used.

I am using a simple 1 gallon grow bag for a SOG grow of 9 plants for a tent I am running. However adjust your volume of perlite to container size you choose.

View attachment 4395521 View attachment 4395522

Your mix should resemble something like this ....

View attachment 4395524

This bag is half filled AND HERE IS WHERE YOU CAN RUN TWO DIFFERENT VARIATIONS.

1. Fill remainder with same mix .
2. Add a tablespoon of Dry Fertilizer ( Dr. Earth 5-5-5 or megacrop 1 tsp ).


When running FFOF solo .... I merely MIST this half fill with water to hydrate it , then cover fill to top.

For Dry Ammend : I am using Dr. Earth LIFE fertilizer ( 5-5-5 ) or Megacrop
This method is similar to Canucks grow method using dry fertilizer and coco grows he does with autoflowers.

Note : I found Dr. Earth LIFE at the 99¢ ( half off ) in 1 gallon bags ! .... needless to say I grabbed a few .
Dr. Earth Fruit and Veg and Flower Girl are both good options also.

For some LED grows : CalMag “ may “ be needed occasionally and will only need be added 1tsp per gallon of water before use.

View attachment 4395530 View attachment 4395531 View attachment 4395533
View attachment 4395541

FFOF by itself will carry an auto for weeks on its own ........ on water only. The pelletized feed will self charge and supplement myco as plant moves thru bloom. The alternate method is merely top dressing FFOF in those grows running bag FFOF only.

I do not flush or leach medium upon final weeks ..... I merely continue watering requirements.
NO FRILLS .

You will find the plants prefer feeding on its own terms instead of dumping a brew all over it .

Just keep your PH in range and you will see how well this bagged soil does.

Hope this helps. PEACE.
i have a question if I may? Would this work for photo plants or just autos?
 

RivalFox

New Member
@Budzbuddha thanks for the awesome guide! Im a new comer here and first time grower and wondering if i got the info correct, would you mind checking my work?

IN my tool bag I have fox farms light warrior and fox farms ocean Forest and a big bag of mega crop.

My girls are blue dream autos all about 3 weeks old ( I think i may have stunted them as it is my opinipn they look behind for being 21 days) and I want to plant them in 3gal fabric pots so my method was to fill the bottom 1/3 of the pot with FFOF and then on top of that layer do 1 tbsp of megacrop and then fill the rest of the pot with light warrior. Is that right?

From here I would just water to ph6.5 and then top dress with more FFOF as needed. Which could typically be when flower begins im assuming. Silly question but top dressing woudl literally just mean scooping in new fox farms ocean forest right on the top of the pot and then water right?

If I were to want to top dress with megacrop when would I want to think about doing this?

Thanks for helping out a first timer 20200606_033948.jpg20200607_112637.jpg
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
@Budzbuddha thanks for the awesome guide! Im a new comer here and first time grower and wondering if i got the info correct, would you mind checking my work?

IN my tool bag I have fox farms light warrior and fox farms ocean Forest and a big bag of mega crop.

My girls are blue dream autos all about 3 weeks old ( I think i may have stunted them as it is my opinipn they look behind for being 21 days) and I want to plant them in 3gal fabric pots so my method was to fill the bottom 1/3 of the pot with FFOF and then on top of that layer do 1 tbsp of megacrop and then fill the rest of the pot with light warrior. Is that right?

From here I would just water to ph6.5 and then top dress with more FFOF as needed. Which could typically be when flower begins im assuming. Silly question but top dressing woudl literally just mean scooping in new fox farms ocean forest right on the top of the pot and then water right?

If I were to want to top dress with megacrop when would I want to think about doing this?

Thanks for helping out a first timer View attachment 4588782View attachment 4588783
Everything you mentioned pretty much is what I did ... however with Megacrop I usually just mix in water for a feed that way if I plan using Megacrop. For full photo run , yes Megacrop is fine ( bump with calmag ) as early version of MC was a bit lacking with calmag.

If wanting to dry MC as a dry nute .... then scratch it into topsoil when ready to feed and water in.
OR
Just topdress a scoop or two ( depending on container size ). And water in 6.5.

Autos are funny , some look like they are lagging then suddenly explode. Some root quick , some are a little slower.
Don’t try to push them by dropping some bottle crap on them , if you really want to jump start them , start running kelp in your watering .
Not a lot about 1-2 tsp per gallon of water ph to 6.5. Kelp has exceptional micro and macro nutrients .
 

RivalFox

New Member
@Budzbuddha thanks for the reply! When, in your opinion, would I want to start introducing megacrop as a feeding? As a rule of thumb would this line up with the same timing of when I would want to drop dress with FFOF?

For kelp am I looking for dry kelp meal or liquid in this case? Just want to pick some up but not get the wrong thing. Cheers
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Kelp liquid is fine ... top dress ( for auto ) is around week 5/6 of growth from seed. Then again at week 2 of flower ....
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
@Budzbuddha thanks for the awesome guide! Im a new comer here and first time grower and wondering if i got the info correct, would you mind checking my work?

IN my tool bag I have fox farms light warrior and fox farms ocean Forest and a big bag of mega crop.

My girls are blue dream autos all about 3 weeks old ( I think i may have stunted them as it is my opinipn they look behind for being 21 days) and I want to plant them in 3gal fabric pots so my method was to fill the bottom 1/3 of the pot with FFOF and then on top of that layer do 1 tbsp of megacrop and then fill the rest of the pot with light warrior. Is that right?

From here I would just water to ph6.5 and then top dress with more FFOF as needed. Which could typically be when flower begins im assuming. Silly question but top dressing woudl literally just mean scooping in new fox farms ocean forest right on the top of the pot and then water right?

If I were to want to top dress with megacrop when would I want to think about doing this?

Thanks for helping out a first timer View attachment 4588782View attachment 4588783
Looking good ... IMO let host soil do the initial plant growth ( up to 4/5 weeks ) then decide on either top dress or MC.
In 3 gallon containers I start with a tablespoon of dry fert spread over top then watered in. Some strains get hungry so adjust as necessary.
 
Top