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SOIL Why is Fox Farm soil SOOO Acidic??
- Thread starter No3odiesShad0w
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No3odiesShad0w
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Well IDK about growing the best... It's just taller but doesn't look as healthy as the others. When it starts flowering it's really going to show. All the leaves will fall out within the first month. The buds won't grow well etc etc. I'm not sure why it's growing faster than it's counterpart but that's why I'm experimenting. I'll keep posting updates.
As far as the watering goes. Yes you're correct. It has been wet because i needed to test the soil pH so i had to water enough to get drip out of the bottom. I was worried about it as well.... Hopefully the pH is close enough. I don't want to water log it again. I even tried to flush it a little bit the last time. No more FF. I don't need these problems. The seedlings in the Espoma look nice!
As far as the watering goes. Yes you're correct. It has been wet because i needed to test the soil pH so i had to water enough to get drip out of the bottom. I was worried about it as well.... Hopefully the pH is close enough. I don't want to water log it again. I even tried to flush it a little bit the last time. No more FF. I don't need these problems. The seedlings in the Espoma look nice!
No3odiesShad0w
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Not to mention my last plant, the soil was so acidic it started to grow bananas on me. First Time i got a herm plant and it might even have seeds. ... I don't need pollen in my grow room!
it's also why i bought seeds for the first time instead of relying on free seeds. The ones i bought sprouted in 2 days and they're growing much better than all the mystery seeds i got.
it's also why i bought seeds for the first time instead of relying on free seeds. The ones i bought sprouted in 2 days and they're growing much better than all the mystery seeds i got.
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No3odiesShad0w
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Nice! I actually have a nice printed chart on my wall because this isn't the first time I'm dealing with overly acidic soil . At first I thought it was the water so I started buying gallons of water from the store.... But the problem continued. Eventually i tested the soils I've been using and that's when i discovered the issue was the FF soil
No3odiesShad0w
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RetiredGuy
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Interesting, looks like two completely different strains.I see a purple stem in one photo. Curious if you see more purple stems in the low pH soil. I had a lot of purple which I understand may or may not be signs of a phosphorus deficiency ( could also be normal in some strains).
No3odiesShad0w
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That's exactly why i wanted to do this side by side grow. The shorter one might be stunted. It was going well at first and the soil pH was okay, now i think the pH went down again because it's really growing slowly all of a sudden....
I had to raise my light because i noticed the tops growing really small on the bigger one. I might have to put raisers under the others to keep them the correct distance of this one keeps growing so fast.
The shorter one has a bit of heat stress but that's going away. The color and the leaves look great.. you'd think it would grow faster....
Not sure what they put in the soil that makes it get so acidic because even after adjusting the pH, it seems like it's back to being acidic. Crazy how acidity can make plants look so different. With all the pH issues I'm sure there's nutrient deficiencies. Everything will be revealed now that it started to bloom
I'm scared to test the pH. They've had it wet for some time now. I need to let the roots breathe. It's possible the stunting can be because of the persistent wet soil in trying to get the pH right.
I had to raise my light because i noticed the tops growing really small on the bigger one. I might have to put raisers under the others to keep them the correct distance of this one keeps growing so fast.
The shorter one has a bit of heat stress but that's going away. The color and the leaves look great.. you'd think it would grow faster....
Not sure what they put in the soil that makes it get so acidic because even after adjusting the pH, it seems like it's back to being acidic. Crazy how acidity can make plants look so different. With all the pH issues I'm sure there's nutrient deficiencies. Everything will be revealed now that it started to bloom
I'm scared to test the pH. They've had it wet for some time now. I need to let the roots breathe. It's possible the stunting can be because of the persistent wet soil in trying to get the pH right.
No3odiesShad0w
New member
Yeah the red or purple stems is a first sign that something isn't right. Everytime i had acidic soil, the stems would all be red. Then it started showing on the leaves. I know now it was my soil
No3odiesShad0w
New member
Update***
So it's looking like the soil is finally within range. The plants are blooming and look healthy. Now just to keep to a watering schedule and things should be good. I planted 4 more seeds in different combinations of soil and perlite. We'll see as we go what happens.
So it's looking like the soil is finally within range. The plants are blooming and look healthy. Now just to keep to a watering schedule and things should be good. I planted 4 more seeds in different combinations of soil and perlite. We'll see as we go what happens.
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No3odiesShad0w
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No3odiesShad0w
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All 4 babies sprouted of the auto Northern lights. So far 100% germination rate with these seeds from seedsupreme.
with these 4 i decided to mess around with soil, perlite ratios. Also messing with the autoflower soil from Nature's Living Soil. Living Soil technique. 2.7oz/gallon 1 gallon buckets with 30% perlite mix. Center for seeds 50/50 soil/perlite mix
​​​​​​1. Espoma 30% perlite (back left) 2. Espoma 50% perlite (back right)
3. 50/50 Espoma/ Fox Farm (front left)
4. Fox farm/perlite (front right)
with these 4 i decided to mess around with soil, perlite ratios. Also messing with the autoflower soil from Nature's Living Soil. Living Soil technique. 2.7oz/gallon 1 gallon buckets with 30% perlite mix. Center for seeds 50/50 soil/perlite mix
​​​​​​1. Espoma 30% perlite (back left) 2. Espoma 50% perlite (back right)
3. 50/50 Espoma/ Fox Farm (front left)
4. Fox farm/perlite (front right)
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No3odiesShad0w
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No3odiesShad0w
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As you can see, the plant that had the most soil pH issues is doing the worst despite growing about 6 inches taller than it's sister plant. The leaves are super droopy probably due to all the pH fluctuations. Now I'm not sure if it's acidic or basic. I haven't pH'd the soil in a 2 weeks. I don't want to water log it. It's possible it has root rot. The stems are red so there's def problems with nutrients.
Meanwhile the other plant is doing great. In color, height and flower development it's more or less on track. The leaves on the bottom are yellowing but that's too be expected.
All 4 of the babies are doing great! They're on day 12 and they're all between 3-4 inches. I don't think the autos like the Espoma soil by itself. Seems very.... Heavy and dense despite the perlite but they still look healthy either way.
Week 9 will be November 16 so I'm expecting the flower growth to really ramp up in the next 2 weeks. I have them a teaspoon of some flower boosting top dress
Next soil I'm going to try is roots organics. ... Still trying to find a soil that i like
Meanwhile the other plant is doing great. In color, height and flower development it's more or less on track. The leaves on the bottom are yellowing but that's too be expected.
All 4 of the babies are doing great! They're on day 12 and they're all between 3-4 inches. I don't think the autos like the Espoma soil by itself. Seems very.... Heavy and dense despite the perlite but they still look healthy either way.
Week 9 will be November 16 so I'm expecting the flower growth to really ramp up in the next 2 weeks. I have them a teaspoon of some flower boosting top dress
Next soil I'm going to try is roots organics. ... Still trying to find a soil that i like
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3Berries
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My last photo grow was one Happy Frog and the other Ocean Forest. Both suffered in flowering from some sort of nute issue, the Ocean Forest the worst. (maybe light related) Though both gave out a good harvest quantity wise. I have an auto in Ocean Forest now that I amended quite a bit. Added perlite, limestone and a bit of langbeinite. So far so good on that one. Just starting to flower. It was a bit rough starting out. Next auto grow is starting with a solo cup core of the ProMix with the rest the Ocean Forest.
No3odiesShad0w
New member
3Berries. Everyone's been saying that all the Fox Farm soil formulas have changed. The ocean forest is hotter than it's been in the past. The happy frog is a lot more acidic than it's been in the past. Not sure what's going on with them. The plants still seem to like the Fox Farm soil over the Espoma it seems (well once the acidity issue is addressed). Seems like the Espoma is very dense and pH is around 7. The perlite helps a lot. I still want to try a few other soils. Still haven't found the one i like best. I heard great things about Roots Organic. I wanna try that one next. Amend the soil with guano, castings, fish bone, fungus, etc etc to make a nice light living soil.
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Do you use liquid nutes in the Ocean Forest or do you transplant into something like strawberry fields for bloom?
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Do you use liquid nutes in the Ocean Forest or do you transplant into something like strawberry fields for bloom?
3Berries
New member
The Fox Farm soils I'm using up with my autos. Don't plant on going back to them for photos. I use Miracle Grow soluble for NPK nutes. One for veg and one for Bloom. KCO3 for pH up, a bit of Epsom salt and well/rain water for my calcium. Once in a while some CaCl for a straight shot of Ca++. But not much nutes are needed in the Fox Farm soils. I have gone to ProMix Bx which basically has little to no nutes so it fits my style and nutes better. Got some about half way through flower and showing some nute deficiency/light stress as I'm only giving nutes when it is showing deficiency and they really do not need watered but once a week or so. I have to be careful.
No3odiesShad0w
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Update We're on week 7 for bloom and on week 2 (not counting the first week of germination) for the babies
One of the plants is in full bloom..... At the beginning of week 7, she's looking really good. Plenty of growth in the next week and at this pace she's going to be big.... Some pH issues but much better than droopy....... Droopy on the other hand is a lot less droopy looking. The leaves perked up a bit after i did a light flush to get rid of that baking soda. Not expecting anything from it so I'm going to use it for some water testing.
The babies are just coming up on week 2 and they're big!! One has a bit of nitrogen toxicity it looks like but it will be okay. The new leaves look fine. The rest are coming along and will be starting some LST on these to get those yields up a bit 😀ðŸ‘.
Some decent genetics from seedsupreme I'm pleased with them.
I'm thinking of getting the Auto Super Mix pack from ILGM. Comes with GG4, GSC and Bruce Banner. All 3 favorites of mine and I'm loving growing autos.
Out of the 4 babies 1 is doing the poorest and that's the one in just Fox Farm happy frog. The leaves look like it has nitrogen toxicity or wind burn or acidic soil..... My guess acidic soil the ones in the Espoma and the various espoma/fox farm mixes are doing much better. The ones with the FF as seed starter and Espoma as the main soil are doing much better than the other way around.
This is turning out too be a really fun experiment both with soils and ratios but also water.
One of the plants is in full bloom..... At the beginning of week 7, she's looking really good. Plenty of growth in the next week and at this pace she's going to be big.... Some pH issues but much better than droopy....... Droopy on the other hand is a lot less droopy looking. The leaves perked up a bit after i did a light flush to get rid of that baking soda. Not expecting anything from it so I'm going to use it for some water testing.
The babies are just coming up on week 2 and they're big!! One has a bit of nitrogen toxicity it looks like but it will be okay. The new leaves look fine. The rest are coming along and will be starting some LST on these to get those yields up a bit 😀ðŸ‘.
Some decent genetics from seedsupreme I'm pleased with them.
I'm thinking of getting the Auto Super Mix pack from ILGM. Comes with GG4, GSC and Bruce Banner. All 3 favorites of mine and I'm loving growing autos.
Out of the 4 babies 1 is doing the poorest and that's the one in just Fox Farm happy frog. The leaves look like it has nitrogen toxicity or wind burn or acidic soil..... My guess acidic soil the ones in the Espoma and the various espoma/fox farm mixes are doing much better. The ones with the FF as seed starter and Espoma as the main soil are doing much better than the other way around.
This is turning out too be a really fun experiment both with soils and ratios but also water.
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No3odiesShad0w
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You know..... I have HUGE bottles of the General Hydroponics line of nutes. I got them for basically nothing..... I tried using them a while back and honestly.... Had no idea what i was doing it was a disaster 😅. In my garden i always grew with compost so all the feeding schedules and pH adjustment with the ph up and down was all such a pain in the ass. I put the nutes away and just started compost growing and never looked back....... Buuuuuuuuuttt ...... With all this fun experimenting and all the knowledge I've gained, I've been considering maybe giving them a try. Do a side by side compost vs liquid nutes. I know ppl have done that already but i haven't and would be super fun to do.