Does this work?

OffThaRichtor

New Member
I am brewing some fox farm soil in water for feeding plants because I don't have any nutrients... has anyone ever tried this? I have 2 liter bottles with 1 cup fox farm ocean forest soil in them and they are in the sun with the caps on... any advice would be greatly appreciated!



Guaranteed people are going to say "buy nutrients" ...

But why buy, if my plants have grown up on this soil and I have over half a bag of soil left over that I didn't use, and the plants are loving it... I haven't added any supplements and they went in the soil 2.5 months ago, after popping seeds... they are just over 29 inches tall :) using 4 100 watt cfls and 2 300 watt Flood lights in the middle of the grow room so that the light is shared amongst all 4 plants... the cfls are directly over the top of each plant.

420-magazine-mobile1846477350.jpg


420-magazine-mobile807011306.jpg


420-magazine-mobile442932630.jpg
 
Guaranteed people are going to say "buy nutrients"

I'll just do a variant of that:

Save the soil for the next grow, as nutrients are cheaper ;)

I would think you wouldn't have any control or any idea what it is getting doing it that way, may be too much nutrients or not enough but you would have no idea really IMHO. That or you could have just put soil on top as your buckets aren't full and just watered thru it. I haven't seen any threads on where anyone has tried that, but that doesn't mean nobody has tried it, maybe someone will chime in that has.
 

I'd lose the aluminum foil and those 300-watt heaters before I ever even thought about what I was or was not feeding my plants, lol. And get those CFLs down close to the plants if you want them to stop doing the Stretch Armstrong imitations. I mean, if you're just growing them for houseplants, that's a different matter entirely, I suppose... But if that's the case, you could have used a lot less soil and any old flowerpots or other containers instead of spending enough on four buckets at Home Depot to have bought some basic fertilizer out where they sell their plants and gardening stuff. That might seem kind of harsh - but you're not doing those poor plants any favors starving them of light like that.

BtW, are you sure those are actually 100-watt CFLs and not 23-watt or 26-watt ones? Most of the 85+ watt CFLs that I've seen look more like this:
Parmax_rosebud.JPG


Err... The one on the left, I mean. IIRC, that was either a 100-watt or a 105-watt one. The one on the right is a standard residential 23- or 26-watt CFL, shown for scale.

You can grow cannabis with 23-watt CFLs. But it'll take a whole lot more than four to do any good with those plants.

Guaranteed people are going to say "buy nutrients"
emoji23.png
emoji23.png
emoji23.png


But why buy

Because most people, after going through the hassle of growing cannabis plants, expect to be able to harvest at least a LITTLE bud. For that, your plants will need nutrients.

Look, I understand the desire to save money. And from your setup, it's clear that you don't have much to spend on things (or maybe this is just something you've got hidden in the corner of Mom and Dad's basement, but I hope that's not the case!). I'm poor, too. I can't believe that I'm recommending a product that's now a part of the Scotts Miracle-Gro monster, but if you can't afford anything better, go order some General Hydroponics MaxiSeries dry nutrients. Or run to WalMart or Target and pick up a little bottle of Osmocote Plus for like six to ten bucks, that ought to be enough for those four plants. But you'll probably have to add some magnesium, calcium if your water isn't providing enough or what it does contain isn't in a form that the plants can access, and when (if) flowering starts to take off, you'll want to give them some extra phosphorous and potassium.

I don't have much and don't know when I'll be able to buy more, but if you were my neighbor, I'd offer to share what I have with you. Well, assuming you got some light in there, of course, I'm not going to waste the stuff. But, anyway, try asking around amongst your friends, family, and neighbors. You don't have to open such conversations with, "Hey, I'm trying to grow cannabis and..." if paranoia - or common sense - is a factor. Just tell them you've got some tropical flowering houseplants or something of that sort. Or tomato plants, lol.
 
Richtor, not all of the nutrients in the soil are water soluble, so soaking the soil in water probably won't get you all the nutes that your plants need. Let the soil dry out a bit and then top your buckets up closer to the rim; the roots will grow up into the soil.

If you start flowering the plants now, they're small enough that you might be able to get away without adding any more feed beyond topping up the buckets. If you were growing under serious lights, your plants would be bigger and your soil would likely be depleted of one or more nutrients by now. Since they're still pretty small, it's possible that there's still enough in there. But adding a bloom-boosting fertilizer will almost certainly increase your harvest.

Aluminum foil isn't the best choice as a reflector. It doesn't reflect anywhere near the light that mylar does. It's also prone to wrinkling, which is said to cause hot spots because light gets focused in spots on the plants instead of spreading evenly across them, and leaves can get burned as a result. (Though I don't think that's likely with your lights. ;) ) I think that the styrofoam panel on the left in your pics is good stuff. At least I hope so--it's mostly what I use.

It's possible to flower under 23-watt CFLs. The most mind-boggling weed I've ever smoked (and I'm not new at it) came out of my closet under half a dozen 23-watters. It was all genetics--I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I don't remember how much I harvested, but it wasn't much--maybe an ounce, but probably less. And the buds couldn't have been too chunky. Again, I don't remember for sure. I just remember still being thoroughly stoned four hours later.

But I digress. Don't let Tortured put you off. But do get the lights closer. You want them almost touching the plants--an inch or less is good. And as far as the 300 watt lights... unless the room you have them in is cold, they're probably not doing you much good. Incandescent lights don't put out much of the light that plants like. (More technical explanations can be found if you're curious.) Swap them out for two more CFLs--the bigger the better.

Be realistic about what you're going to get out of your plants. They won't be loaded down with rock-hard nugs, and unless you're really lucky with the genetics, it probably won't be super potent. But it will get you high. And it'll be your weed. And it'll be awesome.
 
But I digress. Don't let Tortured put you off.

No, PLEASE don't let me discourage you. That was not my intention!
 
Back
Top Bottom