Organic Farming with drippers and resevoir?

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BRANDON77

Well-Known Member
Im in the middle of expanding. I should have my drip irrigation up and running in about a week, this will drastically change how ive been watering and feeding obviously....ill basically be starting over from scratch.

Ive settled on Fox Farms Coco Loco...it is heavily amended coco coir, I plan to add kelp meal, alfalfa meal, azomite and dress the top with diatomaceous earth. I have an air pump and also plan to use Mykos and Azos. I have a 55 gallon drum and resevoir and will be running drippers to the plants.

Should I run any nutes in resevoir? What are some good organic options, Im not sure I even need any....as Im converting to organic, I have a large bucket of GH Maxibloom I was using as a Lucas Formula substitute and cal-mag that I would normally run in resevoir at 400ppm

I normally feed my bloom room at 800-1000ppm in canna coco coir that is unamended.
 
Johnei

Johnei

Well-Known Member
Anything organic in the rez and it'll get nasty clog all lines drippers everything, and even if cleaning washing inside lines will grow bad shit that will stay there and keep perpetuating nasty shit into the system. I wouldn't. A good ammended mix is all you need, just make sure youo cover all the nutrient bases in the mix and then yeah, can run a clean water rez so you dont have to water by hand. My advise. And synth nutes shouldn't be necessary.

And can use the microbe concoctions watered in by hand to inoculate those infrequent times.
 
Rasta Roy

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
I would do a home made mix and just run plain water friend! As someone pointed out above, organic nutes can clog drip systems easy, and even salt based nutes will leave behind residue that causes issues over time.

I would run a mix that's solid on water retention but is still nice and light.

The coco loco mix is a little expensive in my opinion I would hit up a garden supplier or nursery store to get your base components, and then pick up the fancier amendments online or at a grow store.

15% peat moss, pine bark, or coco coir
35% aeration (I prefer Perlite or rice hulls but course Sand, and pumice are other options
50% composted organic matter (this could be compost, composted cow or horse manure, worm castings, leaf mold). I prefer a combination of as many different kinds of compost I can but whatever is available to you and the best quality iswhat you should lean on.

Neem Seed Meal or Neem Cake 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Crab shell meal or shrimp shell meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Fish Bone Meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Gypsum 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Langbeinite 1/4 cup per cubic foot
Kelp meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Alfalfa meal 1/4 cup per cubic foot
Oyster shell flour 1/4 cup per cubic foot

I would mulch your plants with straw or wood chips to also aid in moisture retention and keep your roots nice and cool. That mix will carry you from start to finish unless you're using small containers. That's just the first time you run the mix, when you recycle it you can get away with just adding in some more composted manure and worm castings, a touch of neem seed meal and alfalfa meal if you're feeling especially rich. I just did this with some 100 gallon soil beds and they are doing great.
 
Thai_Lights

Thai_Lights

Well-Known Member
Also to the Op - how did you like Lucas formula? Does it yield better then other nutrient companies you've used?
 
714steadyeddie

714steadyeddie

Well-Known Member
Rasta Roy said:
I would do a home made mix and just run plain water friend! As someone pointed out above, organic nutes can clog drip systems easy, and even salt based nutes will leave behind residue that causes issues over time.

I would run a mix that's solid on water retention but is still nice and light.

The coco loco mix is a little expensive in my opinion I would hit up a garden supplier or nursery store to get your base components, and then pick up the fancier amendments online or at a grow store.

15% peat moss, pine bark, or coco coir
35% aeration (I prefer Perlite or rice hulls but course Sand, and pumice are other options
50% composted organic matter (this could be compost, composted cow or horse manure, worm castings, leaf mold). I prefer a combination of as many different kinds of compost I can but whatever is available to you and the best quality iswhat you should lean on.

Neem Seed Meal or Neem Cake 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Crab shell meal or shrimp shell meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Fish Bone Meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Gypsum 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Langbeinite 1/4 cup per cubic foot
Kelp meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Alfalfa meal 1/4 cup per cubic foot
Oyster shell flour 1/4 cup per cubic foot

I would mulch your plants with straw or wood chips to also aid in moisture retention and keep your roots nice and cool. That mix will carry you from start to finish unless you're using small containers. That's just the first time you run the mix, when you recycle it you can get away with just adding in some more composted manure and worm castings, a touch of neem seed meal and alfalfa meal if you're feeling especially rich. I just did this with some 100 gallon soil beds and they are doing great.
Click to expand...
Could you substitute langbeinite for basalt?
 
vostok

vostok

Well-Known Member
Johnei said:
Anything organic in the rez and it'll get nasty clog all lines drippers everything, and even if cleaning washing inside lines will grow bad shit that will stay there and keep perpetuating nasty shit into the system. I wouldn't. A good ammended mix is all you need, just make sure youo cover all the nutrient bases in the mix and then yeah, can run a clean water rez so you dont have to water by hand. My advise. And synth nutes shouldn't be necessary.

And can use the microbe concoctions watered in by hand to inoculate those infrequent times.
Click to expand...
THIS:
 
B

BRANDON77

Well-Known Member
Rasta Roy said:
I would do a home made mix and just run plain water friend! As someone pointed out above, organic nutes can clog drip systems easy, and even salt based nutes will leave behind residue that causes issues over time.

I would run a mix that's solid on water retention but is still nice and light.

The coco loco mix is a little expensive in my opinion I would hit up a garden supplier or nursery store to get your base components, and then pick up the fancier amendments online or at a grow store.

15% peat moss, pine bark, or coco coir
35% aeration (I prefer Perlite or rice hulls but course Sand, and pumice are other options
50% composted organic matter (this could be compost, composted cow or horse manure, worm castings, leaf mold). I prefer a combination of as many different kinds of compost I can but whatever is available to you and the best quality iswhat you should lean on.

Neem Seed Meal or Neem Cake 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Crab shell meal or shrimp shell meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Fish Bone Meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Gypsum 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Langbeinite 1/4 cup per cubic foot
Kelp meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Alfalfa meal 1/4 cup per cubic foot
Oyster shell flour 1/4 cup per cubic foot

I would mulch your plants with straw or wood chips to also aid in moisture retention and keep your roots nice and cool. That mix will carry you from start to finish unless you're using small containers. That's just the first time you run the mix, when you recycle it you can get away with just adding in some more composted manure and worm castings, a touch of neem seed meal and alfalfa meal if you're feeling especially rich. I just did this with some 100 gallon soil beds and they are doing great.
Click to expand...
great info....mulch means just put on top of the soil as a top dressing ? or...?
 
B

BRANDON77

Well-Known Member
Thai_Lights said:
Also to the Op - how did you like Lucas formula? Does it yield better then other nutrient companies you've used?
Click to expand...
I like lucas a lot better than using a 3 part. ill never go back, in fact, learning about lucas is what got me to look into organics.
 
B

BRANDON77

Well-Known Member
I get 2 cu ft of FF Coco Loco for $10, seems cheap for what it is...its about double that or more on amazon.
 
B

BRANDON77

Well-Known Member
it made me look into what I was doing more intstead of blindly following a feed schedule...went from 3 parts to 2....now im using a 1 part
 
Thai_Lights

Thai_Lights

Well-Known Member
BRANDON77 said:
it made me look into what I was doing more intstead of blindly following a feed schedule...went from 3 parts to 2....now im using a 1 part
Click to expand...
And yields and quality have been the same? Compared to say botanicare or advanced nutrients or something else of the like?
 
B

BRANDON77

Well-Known Member
Yes. Most nutrient companies offer all the same shit. Maxibloom by GH is all you need really. My biggest noticable supplement was humic/fulvic addition.
 
B

BRANDON77

Well-Known Member
But I just went from canna coco coir which is unamended to fox farms coco loco which is heavily amended. I had about 20 in each media and side-by-side it became incredibly noticeable that having amended soil made a huge difference
 
Thai_Lights

Thai_Lights

Well-Known Member
Wouldn't having amended soil and using Lucas formula make it really not the Lucas formula because the soil is heavily amended plus your adding 7 grams per gallon of maxibloom. And if using a heavily amended soil with nutrients wouldn't that mean there is better nutrients out there then maxibloom?
 
Rasta Roy

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
714steadyeddie said:
Could you substitute langbeinite for basalt?
Click to expand...
No, Langbeinite gives you water soluble potassium, magnesium, and sulfur. A good quality basalt will probably give you a nice range of trace minerals, micronutrients, maybe some phosphates or potash depending on the source. But they become a nutrient in the soil, slowly over time as the basalt erodes and breaks down. Where as Langbeinite, like gypsum, sweats out a bit of plant accessible nutrient every time you water.

All that being said...you are getting sulfur from the gypsum, and magnesium and potassium is supplied by a number of the other amendments. So if you can't access it, not the end of the world. I just like the boost the Langbeinite gives virgin soil!
 
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