Does someone mind answering my noob questions

hi guys,

I’m getting ready for my first organic grow // trying to learn as much as possible with my minimal micro biological understanding. So my plan is to mix a supersoil compost with a small amount of perlite/peat moss and fill bottom half of pots. Top up with my regular potting mix. I’m basically confused about the feeding aspect; is this going to be enough to get me through the grow or will I need to supplement with teas or molasses? If someone would mind explaining this for me it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

jayzigger said:

hi guys,

I’m getting ready for my first organic grow // trying to learn as much as possible with my minimal micro biological understanding. So my plan is to mix a supersoil compost with a small amount of perlite/peat moss and fill bottom half of pots. Top up with my regular potting mix. I’m basically confused about the feeding aspect; is this going to be enough to get me through the grow or will I need to supplement with teas or molasses? If someone would mind explaining this for me it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

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The way you worded this statement... "a small amount of perlite" will not suffice. drainage materials should constitute 30-40% of the total volume of the mix, or you will get compacted muddy soil that doesn't breath well, and your roots will suffocate and rot when dealing with an organic mix. It just holds a lot of water and there are a lot of fine particles that will fill air spaces.

Also, there is no need to put such a hot mix in the lower portion of the container, i know it works for sub... but its not necessary. There is no way for me to determine if that will be enough food for you though, we'd need to know more about what your actual process/recipe look like for a supersoil compost... or just a super compost Molasses minimally feeds plants with potassium, other than that, it will mostly just feed the microbes, which is good cause you want healthy populations but it can be over used... so less is more.

What shulby said... Dont skip on aeration.. It is my biggest portion in my mix.. Not by a lot.. But it is the dom %...i would stay away from layering ..mix that stuff all together.. Much better imo... And no.. U will need to top dress and or feed w teas to pull a super healthy plant all the way through.. Like shulby said we need to know what u are mixing so we could tell u what would prob be needed later on... Molasses is not for feeding plants.. Ppl say it is.. And it will slightly feed them.. But all it is for is a microbial tea as a sugar source to feed the microbes.. Or added to a water to feed the heard... Get a handle on microbes.. You dont need to know everything.. But get a good grasp..learn how to create diversity.. Feed them... Keep a healthy web.. And learn to feed the soil..your plant will let u know what it needs.. And it will need nutes w any mix

always baffled by putting the "super soil" on the bottom. see in nature, where plants evolved to thrive, its the opposite. compost(or natures super soil) is on top then as it rains or you water and the nutes run down through the soil.
my mix is 1 part(aka 33%) peat/coco 1 part perlite 1 part compost/manure then my amendments.

top dress as you grow through the stages, this allows you to alter the npk in the root zone for the different stages. compost teas help keep the microbe numbers way up (also can be tailored for growth stage).

I love using microbial teas.. True well made ones.. But use in excess can actually disrupt the heard a lot more than it does help... Tbh.. If u make ur own soil... And do it right... U either wont need one really.. Or u will or should only need one at mix to jump-start.. Which i always do... And maybe one later on... But i wont lie.. I tend to add more than i should...

GoRealUhGro said:

I love using microbial teas.. True well made ones.. But use in excess can actually disrupt the heard a lot more than it does help... Tbh.. If u make ur own soil... And do it right... U either wont need one really.. Or u will or should only need one at mix to jump-start.. Which i always do... And maybe one later on... But i wont lie.. I tend to add more than i should...

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i pretty much stopped doing them for a long time. grows were going great until my soil went slightly alkaline, now yields are suffering... but i'm working on it . but yeah... really if you have a good recycled mix.... there is not much benefit from adding compost teas IMO. The organisms that do well in your environment will persist from grow to grow, and the ones that struggle will die off, natural selection!

I am going to start playing around with hormones though, mainly cytokinins during certain stages of the grow, and try to influence the plant a little bit. A dose of coconut water at the right time can be very beneficial

stoned-monkey said:

always baffled by putting the "super soil" on the bottom. see in nature, where plants evolved to thrive, its the opposite. compost(or natures super soil) is on top then as it rains or you water and the nutes run down through the soil.
my mix is 1 part(aka 33%) peat/coco 1 part perlite 1 part compost/manure then my amendments.

top dress as you grow through the stages, this allows you to alter the npk in the root zone for the different stages. compost teas help keep the microbe numbers way up (also can be tailored for growth stage).

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exactly! organic layer on top, parent material/mineral layer below that!

I love using coconut water... I cant get fresh green ones.. I use the harmless harvest brand sometimes... I was gonna try to start making ssts but apparently coco water does a lot in that depo

Im gonna try some fungal dom teas and some bacteria teas this yr.. Maybe a lacto serum or two also... Also gonna foliar feed more often... I didnt get to much last grow... I love a good foliar feeding

GoRealUhGro said:

Im gonna try some fungal dom teas and some bacteria teas this yr.. Maybe a lacto serum or two also... Also gonna foliar feed more often... I didnt get to much last grow... I love a good foliar feeding

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yeah i'm gonna start working with some aloe foliars in the beginning of flower for the salicylic acid mostly, anything else is just an added benefit

Ima huge fan of aloe in foliar.. Foliars n general ...but i really like aloe

jayzigger said:

is this going to be enough to get me through the grow

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whether your soil will get you through the grow depends on things like the size of your containers, veg time, plant size.
As my girls go into flower I clone them and veg till flowering cabinet is harvested and ready for a new crop. I flower in 5 gallon smart pots filled with well amended soil. This is usually not enough to get them through to the end so I feed a light regiment of Earth Juice (full line) alternating with water only. If I notice tip burning, over feeding, I back off the Earth Juice Nutrients. If I notice deficiencies starting to develop I'll up the feedings. Hope this helps.

Thank you everyone for your kind responses, I will take all of this into consideration and let you know how I go in a few weeks! Cheers.

When you are starting out with a new mix it takes a few recycles before it really starts to work well. This is because whatever was added to an organic soil takes time to become available to the plants through microbial activity. In the beginning you'll need to add teas more often to keep the microbial party rocking and you may also need to give fertilizers to keep your plants a healthy green. "Super" soil by itself might not sustain them through to harvest time so plan on progressive transplanting and/or top dressing with compost. Compost is the key to it all. Worm castings are great as a top dressing and the fresher it is the better.
You can give your plants soluble fertilizer like liquid fish if they need a boost but try give it to them during veg phase into early flowering. It can pissoff the fungi once your container is dominated by mid/late flower phase. Another cool trick is to push in a couple Jobes organic spikes just before flipping to bloom phase which will feed for 8 weeks.