Neem cake and langbeinite

Hi guys.

First time organic grow for me, I got the products mentioned in the title as a freebie from the place I ordered my living soil.

My girls are 12 days old. I was thinking about making a compost tea and including these ingredients with some molasses as well.

Would love to hear any thoughts from more experienced growers as I’m sure there are many on here.

Thanks in advance

I would 100% Not use the lengbeinite. That stuff is pretty strong and a ton of K, all at once can yellow your leaves and make them drop off of a big plant, let alone a tiny young one.

A pinch of neem may be OK but I've read on here that it can kill off microbes and damage young plants, so do be careful.

Compost tea is totally fine so don't be afraid to use that, just be careful with too many nutrients when your plants are tiny. Sometimes it's best not to do too much.

youraveragehorticulturist said:

I would 100% Not use the lengbeinite. That stuff is pretty strong and a ton of K, all at once can yellow your leaves and make them drop off of a big plant, let alone a tiny young one.

A pinch of neem may be OK but I've read on here that it can kill off microbes and damage young plants, so do be careful.

Compost tea is totally fine so don't be afraid to use that, just be careful with too many nutrients when your plants are tiny. Sometimes it's best not to do too much.

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the in depth reply mate, much appreciated. I’m pretty new to this so just working this out as I go along.

When you say that I would be fine to use ‘compost tea’ I was under the impression I had to make my own compost tea, do you mean there is a tea I can buy?

Sorry if these questions seem stupid.

Yeah, usually you make your own compost tea, to get a bunch of microbes from the compost into the water and then into your soil. If you just use compost or earth worm castings(plus a little kelp/ molasses for the microbes) you just get microbe tea. This is fine for small plants, there's nothing in there to burn them. More microbes should help make nutrients already in your soil more usable by your plant.

You can also soak stuff like neem meal or langbeinite (or guano or whatever) in water to make nutrient teas, to get water soluble nutrients to pour into your soil. For when your plants are bigger and are starting to deplete the soil. If you mix the nutrient tea too strong it can burn or damage your plants. It's easier to mess up when the plants and roots are small.

Rabcbd said:

Hi guys.

First time organic grow for me, I got the products mentioned in the title as a freebie from the place I ordered my living soil.

My girls are 12 days old. I was thinking about making a compost tea and including these ingredients with some molasses as well.

Would love to hear any thoughts from more experienced growers as I’m sure there are many on here.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

I use both amongst other things.

youraveragehorticulturist said:

I would 100% Not use the lengbeinite. That stuff is pretty strong and a ton of K, all at once can yellow your leaves and make them drop off of a big plant, let alone a tiny young one.

A pinch of neem may be OK but I've read on here that it can kill off microbes and damage young plants, so do be careful.

Compost tea is totally fine so don't be afraid to use that, just be careful with too many nutrients when your plants are tiny. Sometimes it's best not to do too much.

Click to expand...

I read that too, but I have gotten the opposite effect. I have a layer of bacteria and fungi on top of my soil. I have asked seasoned organic guys, well who I consider them to be here atleast, on an explanation for so much activity but have not gotten a response. I will be mixing this in the soil next time instead of top dressing.

toomp said:

I read that too, but I have gotten the opposite effect. I have a layer of bacteria and fungi on top of my soil. I have asked seasoned organic guys, well who I consider them to be here atleast, on an explanation for so much activity but have not gotten a response. I will be mixing this in the soil next time instead of top dressing.

Click to expand...

If you mean the mycelium layer on top of the soil from top dressing with good organic nutes, then that's a good thing. Fungi, worms, and bacteria love that shit.

Rabcbd said:

Hi guys.

First time organic grow for me, I got the products mentioned in the title as a freebie from the place I ordered my living soil.

My girls are 12 days old. I was thinking about making a compost tea and including these ingredients with some molasses as well.

Would love to hear any thoughts from more experienced growers as I’m sure there are many on here.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Langbeinite or Sul-Po-Mag is good. Just don't overdo it.

Thanks very much for the replies! They look pretty healthy at the minute I’m in about day 16, think I’m gonna water in a couple of days with some coconut water and leave them to do their thing for a bit.

my temps are getting down to about 13c at night which is worrying me especially because they are autos.

PadawanWarrior said:

If you mean the mycelium layer on top of the soil from top dressing with good organic nutes, then that's a good thing.

Click to expand...

Yea that. I always seen guys with it. I never had it. Added neem the next day you water it then boom. Very pleased with this.

Langebeinite is fantastic...I would definitely use it. I use around an 8th of a cup per 2 cuft of soil for the langebeinite and half a cup per cuft of the neem.