Soil grow questions & critiques

[quickmaffs]

hey there gents, so my buddies grow is soil based and he mixed bonemeal and bat guano with his soil when he first planted, and then later added like a cup of bat guano and a cup of bonemeal to the top layer of soil at 4 weeks of veg. its week 1 of flower and he just added a 0-0-10 and AV's "budcandy TM" as well a general nute he found that was 3.4-2.1-3.0... should he add another cup of bat guano and bonemeal as well? the bonemea is 0-10-0.

he had purple stalks for a long while, his leaves are drooping at the tips like Qs and his first set of true leaves has yellow spots on the end with the end of several fronds turning yellow. he thinks its a mag deficiency or a potassium deficiency, hence the 0-0-10 with mag. how long should he continue with the nutes? every watering? gonna be using bud candy TM until the week before harvest, right?


first time grower so any advice or help(spoken in dumb mans english please) would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TipsyTrichome]

I grow in soil and when I started out I had the exact same problem you describe. I just kept pushing P&K and Cal-Mag and they just got worse. Problem turned out to be not allowing water to run-off, I now allow a good amount of run off every water. So in my case I guess it was a build up of salts causing nutrient lock. No longer have purple stems or any P-K problems. I use Bio-Bizz light mix and tiny amounts of nutrients if need (don't usually need them) though I do have a weak cal-mag foliar which I do every so often.

 

[TipsyTrichome]

I've never grown hydro but my understanding is, especially in soil, less is more. I've been growing a year next month and this is what I've found but I still class myself as a novice.

 

[Jackalope]

Packaged soils are getting better and better. Especially now they can formulate it just for marijuana. Fox Farm Ocean Forest probable sits at the top of the heap but there are others.
Someone mentioned simple is best with soil. That's the truth. I always run soil that has nutrients in it. Then most of veg is covered and you just have to supplement with guanos the rest of the way. Miracle Grow worked great for this for years. Now days I go with the Fox Farm only because I can.
I had great success with the Miracle grow. I think it is one of the best starter soils out there. It is inexpensive easily available to everyone. Without having to supplement your soil all the time you can concentrate on the plants. Success builds confidence and understanding. Yes you learn from mistakes but why make them if you don't have too. This method lets you understand the plants first. Worry about homemade soils and advanced grow methods after you have been successful a couple times. If you don't want anyone to know LIE. Trust me no one will ever notice.
Miracle Grow has a bad rep for no reason. It has never not worked. Don't let snobbish organic types keep you from a successful grow.