Fox Farm Ocean Forest

[Racky]

Using FoxFarm Ocean Forest for upcoming transplant and there on out. Do I need to add perlite to this soil?

 

[farmingfisherman]

Using FoxFarm Ocean Forest for upcoming transplant and there on out. Do I need to add perlite to this soil?

You can but the mix already has some in it.

 

[Racky]

Yeah was just wondering if it had quite a bit in it. Im kinda on a budget but wanna give my plants everything they need to grow up to be grrrreat.

 

[farmingfisherman]

First round I didn't add anything to mine. 2nd time I did. I ended up with gnats that round and wondered if the added perlite allowed for more space for them to multiple. What are you going to use for nutrients?

 

[DrDukePHD]

Another unrelated tip, Invest $20 into Microbe-Lift BMC (or another BTI product) & yellow stickies to kill fungus gnats.

 

[xtsho]

Some people add perlite but it isn't needed.

 

[farmingfisherman]

Another unrelated tip, Invest $20 into Microbe-Lift BMC (or another BTI product) & yellow stickies to kill fungus gnats.

Do you mix that into your water or premix it into the soil? I've used the yellow sticky cards but mainly heard they were for identifying pests not for controlling them.

 

[DrDukePHD]

Do you mix that into your water or premix it into the soil? I've used the yellow sticky cards but mainly heard they were for identifying pests not for controlling them.

1 tiny tiny drop into a gallon (shake well) every time I water cannabis... then do the house plants once every 2 weeks with leftover water. Yellow stickies catch/kill all the adults, Microbe-Lift kills larvae.

 

[tstick]

Do you mix that into your water or premix it into the soil? I've used the yellow sticky cards but mainly heard they were for identifying pests not for controlling them.

For outdoor use, they are used for ID. Indoors, they can be used for control. They don't work perfectly, but they do keep the population under control a bit. The gnats get stuck, they can't reproduce.

 

[Cynister]

Using FoxFarm Ocean Forest for upcoming transplant and there on out. Do I need to add perlite to this soil?

I add about 25% perlite to FFHF or FFOF. For gnats I use a dilute solution of H2O2 and spray across the soil.

 

[tstick]

I add about 25% perlite to FFHF or FFOF. For gnats I use a dilute solution of H2O2 and spray across the soil.

Yes, I've used H2O2 with success, as well. I grow in 3-gallon fabric pots and they happen to fit inside a 5-gallon plastic bucket. I take the fabric pot, place it inside the 5-gallon bucket and then fill the bucket to the soil line with a diluted H202/water solution and let the fabric pot soak for a couple minutes. Then I pull out the fabric pot out and place it into a second bucket (or sink, etc.) to drip. It worked well for me, but I've been warned to be careful to not overdo it with the H2O2. So far, so good.

 

[farmingfisherman]

Yes, I've used H2O2 with success, as well. I grow in 3-gallon fabric pots and they happen to fit inside a 5-gallon plastic bucket. I take the fabric pot, place it inside the 5-gallon bucket and then fill the bucket to the soil line with a diluted H202/water solution and let the fabric pot soak for a couple minutes. Then I pull out the fabric pot out and place it into a second bucket (or sink, etc.) to drip. It worked well for me, but I've been warned to be careful to not overdo it with the H2O2. So far, so good.

I think I heard someone mention that h202 is harmful to the soil microbial life.

 

[tstick]

I think I heard someone mention that h202 is harmful to the soil microbial life.

For sure it will kill all that stuff...It comes down to a trade-off. A couple grows ago, I started to develop a gnat problem. I had been using micos and feeding only fish emulsion and organic ferts -hoping for a healthy root system and nutes that would be readily-available. When I treated the plants in question with the H2O2, I'm sure it killed all the good microbes in the soil....but it did stop the gnats from proliferating. I just switched my regime to synthetic ferts after that and the plants didn't skip a beat. I would have preferred t stick with organic for the entire grow, but I hate gnats.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

1 tiny tiny drop into a gallon (shake well) every time I water cannabis... then do the house plants once every 2 weeks with leftover water. Yellow stickies catch/kill all the adults, Microbe-Lift kills larvae.

Microbe-Lift for the win. I put more than a drop though. I just pour a little in. I do it every watering if they're bad, then less and less. I haven't used any in my 15 gal pots in over month now.

 

[Cynister]

I think I heard someone mention that h202 is harmful to the soil microbial life.

Yes, in large or concentrated doses it would. I use a 3% solution diluted further for general use inside and around the tent with an occasional spray across the top of the soil if I see a nasty little bugger. Mostly, in my situation, I get a few gnats around the dim light coming though the hepa filter on my intake. A spider set-up residence next to the filter and the gnats stopped very quickly. The one that got in I think came with me when I opened the tent flap.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Yes, in large or concentrated doses it would. I use a 3% solution diluted further for general use inside and around the tent with an occasional spray across the top of the soil if I see a nasty little bugger. Mostly, in my situation, I get a few gnats around the dim light coming though the hepa filter on my intake. A spider set-up residence next to the filter and the gnats stopped very quickly. The one that got in I think came with me when I opened the tent flap.

I wouldn't use H2O2 in living soil. Coco with salts sure. But you'll kill some of the good predators that are helping take care of gnats. Those guys alone can take care of all the gnats if you have enough of them.

 

[Cynister]

Luckily it didn't last long, the spider did its work and had to move on to better places to trap more food. That pond was fished-out.