(POTentially) fun challenge - SOS from an organics newb!

Hey anyone willing and able to help a guy out!

I really want to build a living organic soil. No more measuring out the Fox Farm trio. I just want to water my plants and watch them thrive in their little ecosystem.

I currently live in a developing nation. A tiny little island in the Caribbean. While we do have a lot of things here, I can't run to a garden center or anything like that. I have been trying to find a way to use what I have available to me to mix up something that resembles some of the popular recipes here, but I am struggling.

My hope is that I can show what I have access to, and some of you more experienced folks may be able to come up with something that could work (either water only, or at least water only "most" of the time.

Please note:
-I am working in a small DIY tent in my bedroom (smell and size matter).
-My wife is fine with short term bad smells, but not long term.
-I am going 12/12 from 3 weeks to keep plants as small as possible.
-I'm nearly out of pH up, pH down, and test strips - none of which I have been able to find on island

Here is what I have available:

Base:
Black Gold Natural & Organic Potting Soil Plus Fertilizer
Fox Farms Original Planting Mix
Pro-Mix BX Mycorrhizae
Coco Coir - forgot which brand name

Hoffman horticulture perlite
Vermiculite - forgot which brand

Dry Nutrients:
Natures Solution Sea Kelp https://environmentcelebration.com/products/natures-solution-sea-kelp/
Natures Care Organic Blood Meal
Espoma Organic Earthworm Castings
Encap earthworm castings
Roots Organic Seabird Guano
Jobes Organics All Purpose and Vegetable and Tomato
Espoma Urea

Liquid Nutrients:
Fox Farm Trio (not what I want)
Alaska Fish Fertilizer
Neptune's Harvest Tomato and Veg (not organic)
Neptune's Harvest Organic Seaweed Plant Food 0-0-1

Hydrated Lime
No Rock Dust

I also live by the ocean, so could potentially harvest kelp? I don't know what I would do with it when I was done. Finally, I am getting to know the family that runs the local organic farm on the island. They are Rastas, and I have chatted with them about growing. They will hook me up with some of their compost/personal soil blend, but they are worried about how it will perform on a grow in a potted plant. They grow outdoors (which is technically illegal here, so I can't do it).


If anybody can think of something that will work, I would appreciate you for the rest of my life. Worst case scenario, I'll have to find someone traveling back to the sates soon and make them bring me some pH up/down and test strips so that I can resume my Fox Farms Trio growing.

Thank you so much!

im a crazy coconut water guy id say try that in your water mix. it will more thwn likely fix that plant right up. although those damaged leaves will still likely die off. tough without that ph tester!

Toss those fox farm nutes with the exception of big bloom. That's the only FF trio bottle that is organic. You can add a root zone ph buffer to your soil like crushed oyster shell and then forget about the ph test strips. You may find an alternative locally like clam shell; you can rinse it and crush it into "flour" yourself. Kelp can be found on the beach but must be rinsed of salt and dried. I would start an outdoor compost pile and/or worm bin so you can be self sustainable.
Source some compost and base soil from your Rasta friends. Sounds like they know what's up. Outdoor soil will work about the same in a container but you may have issues indoors with insects/pests.
Smells are not really a thing unless of course you don't like the pungent aroma of ganja. Carbon filtration and an inline fan will pull off most of the heat and reduce odor.

Richard Drysift said:

Toss those fox farm nutes with the exception of big bloom. That's the only FF trio bottle that is organic. You can add a root zone ph buffer to your soil like crushed oyster shell and then forget about the ph test strips. You may find an alternative locally like clam shell; you can rinse it and crush it into "flour" yourself. Kelp can be found on the beach but must be rinsed of salt and dried. I would start an outdoor compost pile and/or worm bin so you can be self sustainable.
Source some compost and base soil from your Rasta friends. Sounds like they know what's up. Outdoor soil will work about the same in a container but you may have issues indoors with insects/pests.
Smells are not really a thing unless of course you don't like the pungent aroma of ganja. Carbon filtration and an inline fan will pull off most of the heat and reduce odor.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I absolutely plan to get away from the Fox Farm stuff ASAP. I just need to get a good water only recipe down. Their concern I think is primarily with the size of the space/pots I am working with. From what I can tell, they are accustomed to growing massive plants with huge yields, and I am going 12/12 from seed in a 3 gallon pot. My guess is that it is going to work, but I am going to get much smaller plants/yields than they are accustomed to (obviously). They both don't quite understand why I would put the work in for small yields, which is fair haha.

You have pretty much all you need to grow small plants with "mostly" just water only for awhile. No reason you couldn't start some plants in regular bagged soil as it is and then pot up to a fully amended mix on standby for flowering. All you need is a sustainable source of active compost. And maybe some local cuts from friends...
Worm castings, a bit of D-lime, and a slow release npk input or 2 is all you need to add to the soil at each recycle to use it again. Just let it set for a month each time you do. NPK inputs and minerals are not as important as maintaining a high level of microbial activity. Your mix will get better each time you amend it and usually takes a few recycles to get there.
Your friends are not wrong; can't expect much from 3gal pots 12/12 from seed. You would be better off going with rooted cuttings and then using every bit of your available grow space by filling it in with a SCROG or SOG. A SOG is the only way I think you could pull it off going 12/12 from seeds. A properly trained and vegged plant could easily yield more than a SOG but sounds like you are looking for a fast turnaround. Yields are governed mostly by the wattage/quality of your lighting and the time spent vegging and training them out. It's usually worth the extra effort.
If grow space is at a premium consider building multiple grow areas if possible; that way you can keep everything small and still be somewhat perpetual. Use the power of 3.... Consider building three separate grow areas if you can. A small yield isn't so bad if you have more plants already ready already. Then it's sorta like baking cookies; take the done ones out and just pop in the next batch.