Ocean Forest - Soil Test Report

[brian330]

This is what I use. It's better if it sits in the water for longer than 24hrs. It's a bacterial strain and it's safe to put in animal water troughs and won't kill frogs, so it's safe enough to water with. I have a hunch that adding it an AACT would expand the bacteria, but that's a project that I'm about to work on lol.
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So,you soak them for a day or so,then spread a layer over the soil?

 

[MustangStudFarm]

So,you soak them for a day or so,then spread a layer over the soil?

The mosquito dunks/bits are made to put into standing water, so I just use the water that it's been soaking in. I tried to put the dry bits as a topdressing, and it didn't seem to work well.
Grass clippings and leaves are very good to compost because it's all free. I was in a pinch the last time that I made my worm bedding outside, so I used peat moss. You can even recycle your old soil this way too and just count it as a "brown". Grass clippings and recycled soil is good enough, then you can add dry amendments to it too. I suggest Greensand if you are making indoor potting soil and avoid high phosphorus inputs like bone meal, fish bone meal, and rock phosphate. However, if you are composting this stuff, fish meal is good.

 

[MustangStudFarm]

If you want to follow the old hippy method, then you would find plants to compost that are high in micronutrients such as Comfrey, Nettle, Borage, and a few others. I found that Lambsquarter is high in Manganese, a micronutrient that I am always deficient in, and it actually grows in my yard naturally. I also have 2 1/2 acres, so it's easier for me to find it.

 

[MustangStudFarm]

We own our home and have someone cut the grass and dispose of the clippings, but i can have him leave them in a pile in the backyard and collect the dead leaves that are around.

I found a grocery store that gives away old produce. They are hard to find, but they are a treasure if you do find one.

 

[ilovereggae]

I'm saying that the WormFactory 360 is small and the one that you shown is smaller. I get the idea that these set-ups are for people that live in tiny apartment buildings and don't have a yard. If that's you, I'm not stepping on your toes.

it is totally not worth it for that designer one. I would need like 5 of those. was more of a joke. i indeed don't have a yard and live in a tiny apartment but luckily have a small cement patio where I have a worktable and some bins for my soil now underneath.

 

[MustangStudFarm]

We own our home and have someone cut the grass and dispose of the clippings, but i can have him leave them in a pile in the backyard and collect the dead leaves that are around. I do not know about a compost facility in the county,but will look into it. I have a large shed in the back that my wife will let me slowly convert into a "greenhouse",so i decided to grow my first plants ever to get some experience and "master" the process before i start the conversion. I was unsure what medium i wanted to use, and foolishly thought that it wasn't that important, so i used soil mostly, but i have 8 in soil/perlite, 5 in coco/perlite, and 2 in a soil/coco/perlite mix.(I know 15 is an excessive start for a first timer, but they were not all supposed to be mine and i was supposed to have an experienced person helping me)I am going to use this run to see which medium(and growing methods) I would like to use going forward and this information will definitely aid me(and my plants)in the future.

I forgot one thing. If you are composting grass clippings, keep it separate from your actual worm bin. The best system is to have a thermal compost pile that you later use for worm bedding. However, I always find worms in my thermal compost too. You might be surprised what shows up in a compost pile on the ground. You might have native worms in your area and don't have to buy any. I'm finding that the best growing methods are free or ultra cost effective.

 

[MustangStudFarm]

it is totally not worth it for that designer one. I would need like 5 of those. was more of a joke. i indeed don't have a yard and live in a tiny apartment but luckily have a small cement patio where I have a worktable and some bins for my soil now underneath.

There is not shame if you buy one. I started off with 2x WormFactory 360's before I built DIY bins. However, a little creativity goes a long ways. I think that it's more important to maintain the bin than how it's built.

 

[brian330]

That's awesome! I actually work in food service and may be able to get some from work.
I was watering some of then earlier and saw what i think may be what i need to look for to determine the plants sex but am not sure because I've never seen what I'm supposed to bre looking for in person. Can you check it out and let me know what you think(if you can see anything in them) ? I'm probably just anxious and it's nothing...Thanks in advance.

 

[brian330]

I forgot one thing. If you are composting grass clippings, keep it separate from your actual worm bin. The best system is to have a thermal compost pile that you later use for worm bedding. However, I always find worms in my thermal compost too. You might be surprised what shows up in a compost pile on the ground. You might have native worms in your area and don't have to buy any. I'm finding that the best growing methods are free or ultra cost effective.

You know, i was thinking the same thing about the best methods involving what nature gives us as freebies.

 

[Paulaposadas]

Hey All,

I recently sent a sample of Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil into Logan Labs for testing.

I scooped out 6 - 1 cup samples and let air dry on an un-coated paper plate. I then ran each cup through a kitchen sifter to remove the bark, perlite, sticks, etc.. I bagged up about 2 cups of this concentrated mix and sent to Logan for analysis.

Thought I'd post the results here in case anyone was curious or to help folks on their path to a successful growing experience.

Hope this helps!

Thank you Green Guy

 

[Richard Drysift]

What does that report tell us? Is ocean forest good?

Right? I don’t see the point in testing a bagged soil. Your backyard DIY mix? Sure ok that makes sense but a pre-bagged mix?

My last 2 bags of FFOF seemed off like the soil was dead/dry, and came w those lovely gnats. Both bags were bought at different places too.. The first one was from the overpriced boojie garden center bc I needed it that day. The other bag was from my normal shop and they do crazy turnover. Product doesn't sit in their shop for more than a couple days and its usually sold out. I had to use some Recharge to get the plants going. I have been starting to wonder if this is a side effect of them changing distribution to the Hydrofarm/Sunlight/Hawthorne beast. My guess is the bags are sitting longer in warehouses / qc has slipped a bit . Just guessing but not the same as it used to be. I have 2 bags left and if they both give me same problems I may be done with FF for good.

Gnats come from the compost they add. I wouldn’t be fighting gnats either if I did not have a worm bin. If you had one btw you would not need recharge. Every good organic living soil will attract insects; gnats are fairly easy to control.

 

[GreenGuy_1995]

Right? I don’t see the point in testing a bagged soil. Your backyard DIY mix? Sure ok that makes sense but a pre-bagged mix?

Gnats come from the compost they add. I wouldn’t be fighting gnats either if I did not have a worm bin. If you had one btw you would not need recharge. Every good organic living soil will attract insects; gnats are fairly easy to control.

I start with FFOF as a base, and then I amend it to make it stronger. Sure, it'll work by itself OK in some environments and setups, but not mine.. I want a water only mix start to finish, and FFOF provides me with a good base to start from. It's convenient, easy and 12 bux a bag.

I have it tested so that I know exactly what I'm starting with, and what I need to add to bring it up to my standards. At 25 bux, it's cheap insurance to ensure I wont have any problems.

You'd be surprised how much FFOF can vary.. I've found that bags you pull from a single pallet will be close to the same in regards to test results. However, when you go back to the store a couple months later and grab from a new pallet, test results can be very different.. Big changes in PH, PK and saturation ratios..

Sure, test results can vary for other reasons too.. depending on how sample was collected, prepared, lab variants, etc, etc.. But I've been doing this a long while and am fairly confident in my collection technique and soil test vendor - it's my strong assumption the variations I see are related to the product, not the testing process.

I just had another FFOF test come back, I'll post it up next time I'm @ my PC

 

[ilovereggae]

Right? I don’t see the point in testing a bagged soil. Your backyard DIY mix? Sure ok that makes sense but a pre-bagged mix?

Gnats come from the compost they add. I wouldn’t be fighting gnats either if I did not have a worm bin. If you had one btw you would not need recharge. Every good organic living soil will attract insects; gnats are fairly easy to control.

Working on it Just got a bokashi bucket and grains to get things started.. Headed to Lowes tomorrow to buy some totes to make my worm bin.

 

[GreenGuy_1995]

Here is my most recent FFOF soil test report - I always label my FFOF samples as 'Alpha'.

This one's pretty bad - super low on Calcium and check out that PH value..

In my experience, FFOF is regularly low on Ca with a low PH, but 5.3 is one of the lowest I've encountered so far. I bet if I did a slurry test for PH, my at home value would be more like something in the range of 4-5.

It's no wonder folks feel like FFOF is a 'hot' mix - they are most likely seeing plant responses to low PH and then confusing that with it being too 'hot.

Anyhow - my general advice to anyone using FFOF - by itself, or with liquid fertilizers or even dry organic amendments, is to add anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 cup of Oyster Shell Flour to each 1.5 cubic foot bag.

Good luck folks!

 

[ilovereggae]

Right? I don’t see the point in testing a bagged soil. Your backyard DIY mix? Sure ok that makes sense but a pre-bagged mix?

Especially after seeing this last report, its actually kind of helpful for people to see that FFOF is not a consistent input at all. I feel like this is probably part of why I had so much trouble with it over the years. If its not the same bag to bag, or at least pretty close, you can't really create a repeatable "recipe" even if you use bottles for feeding. At that point its almost a dice roll soilless medium with unknown ingredients. They would be better off just using ammended Promix so there is at least some consistency.

Also why I think its a bad suggestion for new growers bc its portrayed as a cheap paint-by-numbers solution. In reality they would be better off either buying a pre mixed supersoil they just have to water or just starting at learning Soil 101 and learn how to make and ammend their own, so they learn the process and can spot deficiencies and know how to address them. I bet the cost of bottles + time spent mixing nutes + time spent chasing deficiencies buying super soil would be cheaper. Like everything else, going cheap up front costs you more in maintenance long term

 

[JustBlazin]

I have used ffof, but if i was buying bagged soil to use just water i would go with gaia green living soil it was a much better bagged soil, but as iloveraggae said amending promix is way better than bagged soil, when i first started amending the promix i had a bit of ffof left so i did a side by side with the same clone and pot size, one ffof one my gaia green all purpose amended promix, the gaia green emended promix blew the ffof out of the water, ended up tossing the ffof plant after a month cause it was half the size of the other one and i needed some space.
now i use gaia green all purpose, power bloom with some added dolomite lime, crushed oyster shell(found with just the all purpose i had to add calmag due to cal def.),insect frass,kelp meal and neem meal.

 

[Richard Drysift]

I start with FFOF as a base, and then I amend it to make it stronger. Sure, it'll work by itself OK in some environments and setups, but not mine.. I want a water only mix start to finish, and FFOF provides me with a good base to start from. It's convenient, easy and 12 bux a bag.

I have it tested so that I know exactly what I'm starting with, and what I need to add to bring it up to my standards. At 25 bux, it's cheap insurance to ensure I wont have any problems.

You'd be surprised how much FFOF can vary.. I've found that bags you pull from a single pallet will be close to the same in regards to test results. However, when you go back to the store a couple months later and grab from a new pallet, test results can be very different.. Big changes in PH, PK and saturation ratios..

Sure, test results can vary for other reasons too.. depending on how sample was collected, prepared, lab variants, etc, etc.. But I've been doing this a long while and am fairly confident in my collection technique and soil test vendor - it's my strong assumption the variations I see are related to the product, not the testing process.

I just had another FFOF test come back, I'll post it up next time I'm @ my PC

I believe bagged soil varies a lot; I just don’t understand what you really gain by testing the soil other than fancy chart with numbers on it. The plants tell you what is lacking if it is. Started with a couple bags of FFOF and just kept on amending it myself as well. As soon as I started adding fresh homemade vermicompost most of the problems I was having which I now realize were related to ph/absorbtion went away. Did not know at the time how closely ph is related to microbial activity. I’m sold on promix btw; next time I need to add base soil that’s what I’m getting too.

 

[xtsho]

Especially after seeing this last report, its actually kind of helpful for people to see that FFOF is not a consistent input at all. I feel like this is probably part of why I had so much trouble with it over the years. If its not the same bag to bag, or at least pretty close, you can't really create a repeatable "recipe" even if you use bottles for feeding. At that point its almost a dice roll soilless medium with unknown ingredients. They would be better off just using ammended Promix so there is at least some consistency.

Also why I think its a bad suggestion for new growers bc its portrayed as a cheap paint-by-numbers solution. In reality they would be better off either buying a pre mixed supersoil they just have to water or just starting at learning Soil 101 and learn how to make and ammend their own, so they learn the process and can spot deficiencies and know how to address them. I bet the cost of bottles + time spent mixing nutes + time spent chasing deficiencies buying super soil would be cheaper. Like everything else, going cheap up front costs you more in maintenance long term

It's almost impossible for batches of soil to be identical. The ingredients are never going to be exactly the same when dealing with aged forest products and other organic matter. They get dump truck load after dump truck load and store most of the ingredients outside in piles.

Here's the Fox Farm facility in California. At the scale at which they are mixing soil taking a scoop from one side vs the other side of a pile can have an effect on the final product. They try and keep things as close as possible but they're not mixing chemicals in a controlled lab environment. They're mixing forest products, EWC, peat moss, sandy loam, etc... Any of those products can vary in pH and nutrient composition.

I have used ffof, but if i was buying bagged soil to use just water i would go with gaia green living soil it was a much better bagged soil, but as iloveraggae said amending promix is way better than bagged soil, when i first started amending the promix i had a bit of ffof left so i did a side by side with the same clone and pot size, one ffof one my gaia green all purpose amended promix, the gaia green emended promix blew the ffof out of the water, ended up tossing the ffof plant after a month cause it was half the size of the other one and i needed some space.
now i use gaia green all purpose, power bloom with some added dolomite lime, crushed oyster shell(found with just the all purpose i had to add calmag due to cal def.),insect frass,kelp meal and neem meal.

Promix is basically just peat and perlite. You can mix that yourself for a fraction of the price. A 3 cf bag of peat is only $10 - $12 and perlite is cheap as well. A bag of promix is $40 - $50.

 

[Kushash]

I had a soil savvy test done on a soil I've been re amending for 6+ years.
1st issue I ran into was a low PH from not using enough lime when amending, that seemed to improve but I was getting chlorosis between the veins on the upper fan leaves and was feeling I was not adding enough compost to each re amendment so I sent in a test sample.

Half of these plants are in ffof and the rest are in my soil, I have fresh EWC that I have top dressed with so that is probably helping my mix hold up.
4 strains. Pure Power Plant, Cannatonic, Blue Dream and a clone (bagseed strain) all sativa hybrids, they all seem to be doing well at the flip to 12/12 a few days ago.

Seems all results from different growers sent to soil savvy have all come back low in Mn.