Newbie with a newbie fertilizer question

I'm about to start my first grow and I'm setting up the pots now. For soil I bought the EKO brand compost mix. I also bought Alaska Fish Fertilizer (deodorized fish emulsion) which has a rating of 5-1-1.

I have 2 questions......

1) The lady at Home Depot told me that because the compost in the dirt isn't fresh I can start using the fertilizer from the first day. Is this right?

2) I read that when transplanting the rooted clones to my pots I should first saturate the soil with water. After balancing the PH in the water should I add fertilizer when saturating the soil to get it ready for the transplant? If yes, should I use a full dose, half dose, quarter dose,.....?

DannyGreenEyes said:

I'm about to start my first grow and I'm setting up the pots now. For soil I bought the EKO brand compost mix. I also bought Alaska Fish Fertilizer (deodorized fish emulsion) which has a rating of 5-1-1.

I have 2 questions......

1) The lady at Home Depot told me that because the compost in the dirt isn't fresh I can start using the fertilizer from the first day. Is this right?

2) I read that when transplanting the rooted clones to my pots I should first saturate the soil with water. After balancing the PH in the water should I add fertilizer when saturating the soil to get it ready for the transplant? If yes, should I use a full dose, half dose, quarter dose,.....?

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To answer question number one I would say the lady from Home Depot doesn't know what she's talking about.

A compost does not have to be fresh to have nutrients in it. The longer it sits (depending on what's in it) the more nutrients that will be available.

If you are going to transplant in the compost(Hopefully you will mix with an organic base) you will be ok.

2nd question - transplant first then saturate the soil

Oh and the fertilizer you have now will be great for vegging the plants, just make sure you get some organic bloom fertilizer when you start to flower

Neptune's fish fertilizer is great for flowering

keico said:

To answer question number one I would say the lady from Home Depot doesn't know what she's talking about.

A compost does not have to be fresh to have nutrients in it. The longer it sits (depending on what's in it) the more nutrients that will be available.

If you are going to transplant in the compost(Hopefully you will mix with an organic base) you will be ok.

2nd question - transplant first then saturate the soil

Oh and the fertilizer you have now will be great for vegging the plants, just make sure you get some organic bloom fertilizer when you start to flower

Neptune's fish fertilizer is great for flowering

Click to expand...

Thanks for helping me out with this, but I still have a question or two.

What the lady said about the compost mix is that the part that would burn the plants roots if you have too much (the 5 in 5-1-1 I think) wont burn the plants if it's not fresh. I really don't know much about fertilizer. Is there any way to test the dirt to tell if you need more fertilizer?

I'm buying the clones from dispensories and never thought to ask about the type of dirt that they're in. Is mixing a small ammount of chemical dirt (if the plants already in it) and compost dirt a bad thing, or just not as good as 100% organic?

I'll buy the bloom fertilizer this week so I have it when I need it. Do you know what the rating is? (I'm trying to learn)

On the bloom fertilizer, I just went to the website. They have a fish/seaweed blend with a 2-3-1 rating and they have a fish with a 2-4-1 rating. I guess the second number is the one that's important for flowering. If that's true then the fish one is the one I want. But if I run across another fertilizer with a 2-5-1 rating is this any better, or is level 5 overkill?

One more question. If the first number in the rating is important for growth during the veg cycle and the second number in the rating is important for the flowering stage, then does the 3rd number in the rating have any beneficial value?

DannyGreenEyes said:

Thanks for helping me out with this, but I still have a question or two.

What the lady said about the compost mix is that the part that would burn the plants roots if you have too much (the 5 in 5-1-1 I think) wont burn the plants if it's not fresh. I really don't know much about fertilizer. Is there any way to test the dirt to tell if you need more fertilizer?

I'm buying the clones from dispensories and never thought to ask about the type of dirt that they're in. Is mixing a small ammount of chemical dirt (if the plants already in it) and compost dirt a bad thing, or just not as good as 100% organic?

I'll buy the bloom fertilizer this week so I have it when I need it. Do you know what the rating is? (I'm trying to learn)

Click to expand...

Ok give me a moment I am looking at EKO website for info on the compost mix you have.

Ok i also had to refresh my mind on the alaska fish fertilizer,

This is what I would do

Do not mix chemical soil with any type of organic soil fertilizer, The chemical ferts will kill the beneficial microbes in organic soil that feed the plant

Also Take that compost and mix it with some peat moss (Not Miracle grow Peat moss) use premier which can be found at home depot lowes and ace hardware.

Use a 60% peat and 40% soil mixture.

Now Get some dolomite lime, Miracle grow Bone meal fertilizer and Miracle gro blood meal fertilizer

Try to find some perlite that has zero added nutrients. Once again do not use miracle gro perlite.

Now here is the recipe that I use, and it for 3 gallon pots. (This is not my recipe. It was taken from another site, and is proven to be very effective)

Blazeoneups soil recipe for a 3 gallon pot

16 cups soil foxfarm Ocean forest potting soil (You can use the compost you have to replace the foxfarm )

32 cups Premier peat moss

2 tablespoon MG bone meal

2 tablespoon MG Blood Meal

14 cups perlite

2 tablespoon dolomite lime or 1 tablespoon if you are using promix/sunshine mix #4

Follow this recipe and all will be well.

Now with this recipe the benefits are No PH problems and you really don't have to add any fertilizers

Maybe some towards the end of flowering.

Now Alaska fish fertilizer could be used but I would start off small while vegging. Remember they already have what they need


Hope this helps

DannyGreenEyes said:

On the bloom fertilizer, I just went to the website. They have a fish/seaweed blend with a 2-3-1 rating and they have a fish with a 2-4-1 rating. I guess the second number is the one that's important for flowering. If that's true then the fish one is the one I want. But if I run across another fertilizer with a 2-5-1 rating is this any better, or is level 5 overkill?

One more question. If the first number in the rating is important for growth during the veg cycle and the second number in the rating is important for the flowering stage, then does the 3rd number in the rating have any beneficial value?

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2-4-1 is enough

Personally I recommend Neptune's harvest

www.neptunesharvest.com

K stands for Potassium

It helps the plant to take up the nutrient

Simplest answer I can give

You don't need much

One tablespoon of organic unsulphured molasses can be purchased at a grocery store

This will give it the potassium

Pete Moss? That's the first time I heard of that, not that it means much with me being a newbie. lol. Does that help with getting air to the roots or something?

Ok, I can handle getting the pete moss, I was going to have to buy more dirt anyway, now I wont (maybe). I have eight 5 gallon pots so I gotta mix a bunch of soil. What's the best way to premix, a 10 gallon bucket maybe?

I have to try to conserve money since this is my first grow and I wasn't really prepared financially. So if I use the Alaska Fish Fertilizer during veg and switch to the Neptune's Harvest Fish when I start them in the Flower Stage, can I get away without buying the bone or blood meal? I basically have to decide between buying the Neptune's Harvest Fish or the bone & blood meal. Which way would give me better results?

I should also explain that I'm only going to vegging them for a month and then I'm going to have to force them into Flower. My money simply wont stretch 4 months. I figured that might be important in deciding fertilizer.

And I'll be growing Sour Diesel, Cirtrus Diesel, Blueberry, and Grape Ape just in case that's important.

Thanks again for all your help.

DannyGreenEyes said:

Pete Moss? That's the first time I heard of that, not that it means much with me being a newbie. lol. Does that help with getting air to the roots or something?

Ok, I can handle getting the pete moss, I was going to have to buy more dirt anyway, now I wont (maybe). I have eight 5 gallon pots so I gotta mix a bunch of soil. What's the best way to premix, a 10 gallon bucket maybe?

I have to try to conserve money since this is my first grow and I wasn't really prepared financially. So if I use the Alaska Fish Fertilizer during veg and switch to the Neptune's Harvest Fish when I start them in the Flower Stage, can I get away without buying the bone or blood meal? I basically have to decide between buying the Neptune's Harvest Fish or the bone & blood meal. Which way would give me better results?

I should also explain that I'm only going to vegging them for a month and then I'm going to have to force them into Flower. My money simply wont stretch 4 months. I figured that might be important in deciding fertilizer.

And I'll be growing Sour Diesel, Cirtrus Diesel, Blueberry, and Grape Ape just in case that's important.

Thanks again for all your help.

Click to expand...

You will be using more Peat Moss than soil, and it is cheap anyway.

So you won't really be spending much extra

I don't know how much your compost mix cost either

But the blood and Bone meal not are needed. You will just have to watch the plants and fertilize as needed.

Stick with the Bloom fertilizer for now you should be ok.

But defiantly get some dolomite lime, it will help buffer your soil and keep the pH in check

As far as the different strains I can't really offer advice on them as I have never grown those strains before

Good luck. it will all work out for you

keico said:

You will be using more Peat Moss than soil, and it is cheap anyway.

So you won't really be spending much extra

I don't know how much your compost mix cost either

But the blood and Bone meal are needed. You will just have to watch the plants and fertilize as needed.

Stick with the Bloom fertilizer for now you should be ok.

But defiantly get some dolomite lime, it will help buffer your soil and keep the pH in check

As far as the different strains I can't really offer advice on them as I have never grown those strains before

Good luck. it will all work out for you

Click to expand...

Thanks again. If the pete moss doesn't cost too much maybe I can buy the bone & blood meal. But I remember seeing that they were kind of expensive, I'll do my best to get them and the bloom fertilizer.

If all the lime really does is regulate the PH I'll skip it on this grow. The PH balance seems pretty easy to regulate. I bought a tester that will test both dirt & water so as long as I make sure that the PH of the dirt & water equals 12.5 when added together I think I'll be ok. (I'm not sure what buffer my soil means)

Thanks again for your help. I'll be constantly experimenting with different grow techniques to increase quality & yield and I'll be posting a journal probably starting tommorow. Feel free to stop by, hopefully I'll be able to return the favor with successfull experiments. (ie: growing with UVB, clipping leafs, using root stimulator, etc...)

DannyGreenEyes said:

Thanks again. If the pete moss doesn't cost too much maybe I can buy the bone & blood meal. But I remember seeing that they were kind of expensive, I'll do my best to get them and the bloom fertilizer.

If all the lime really does is regulate the PH I'll skip it on this grow. The PH balance seems pretty easy to regulate. I bought a tester that will test both dirt & water so as long as I make sure that the PH of the dirt & water equals 12.5 when added together I think I'll be ok. (I'm not sure what buffer my soil means)

Thanks again for your help. I'll be constantly experimenting with different grow techniques to increase quality & yield and I'll be posting a journal probably starting tommorow. Feel free to stop by, hopefully I'll be able to return the favor with successfull experiments. (ie: growing with UVB, clipping leafs, using root stimulator, etc...)

Click to expand...

you'll get it right and then sware by it cause it works.gl you on your way now,i just hope you got lots of light,clean water and lots of fresh air.cool,get your grow on