Howdy guys. I am an organic grower, but have been intrigued by Grow Dots and their “gobstopper” fertilizer release system. My spring run I am switching over to Earthbox Sub-Irrigated Planters which hold about 15 gallons of soil each. My intention is to run two Mephisto SODK (Sour Orange Diesel Kush) autoflower seeds in each of the Earthboxes. I am in an environmentally controlled 5X5 tent with a Mars FC-E8000 light and an AC, heater, humidifier, and dehumidifier in the lung tent that everything circulates through. I would like to compare Grow Dots to a build-a-soil Take and Bake living soil system, which is 70ish gallons total soil for about $330ish. Each Earthbox contains 2 cu ft of soil, so about 15 gallons each which breaks down to about $70/EB using the Take and Bake vs $25ish/ EB using Peat/Grow Dots/Aeration. I need your recommendations as to how I should use the Grow Dots to give them the best shot versus a more expensive organic soil.
I have a fresh bail of Canadian Sphagnum Peat moss, a large bag of Vermiculite, a large bag of charged biochar, and every organic amendment you can think of including multiple worm bins to eat all that leftover organic salad I always seem to buy, but never seem to eat. I will be happy to buy whatever aeration you think is best: perlite, pumice, lava rock, hydroton, rice hulls or use the vermiculite I already have. If you think Coco would be better than Peat, I can buy Coco. What ratio of Peat to which Aeration to how many cups of Grow Dots do you think is right for a 15 gallon SIP system. In your opinion, should I add anything additional into the Peat/Aeration/Grow Dots mix? Worm Castings or compost?
The Take and Bake kit I will treat the same as my normal Organic grows with a top-dress of Craft blend and Worm Castings every few weeks along with liberal application of various microbial products. I currently use Recharge, Down to Earth Fish Hydrolysate powder, Rootwise Microbe Complete, Rootwise Enzyme Elixir, and a veg oriented compost teas during Veg and stretch, then swap over to Rootwise Bio-Phos, Raw Bloom microbes, and Enzyme Elixir for flowering along with a weekly drink of Build-a-Bloom PK booster added into a bloom oriented compost tea. What additives do you think I should use with the Grow Dots? I want to keep things on as even a keel as possible, knowing there is a sizable price difference in Grow Dots and the Take and bake kit already. I also don’t want to overdo anything and burn any of my plants as ultimately it is all my own medicine.
Looking forward to the comparison!
Zardgreaux
(Zard-Grow)
Following! I run just about the same setup! Looking forward to some good comments. My thought is it should work as the earth boxes from factory I think suggest running like strips of salt nutrients in the media for feed don’t they?
Anyhow thank you for the post!
I hadn’t even considered putting the growdots in a line. I figured spreading them through the media like I do with my current organic amendments would be best, but hopefully Scotty or Guru will chime in with their recommendations. I am a relatively new grower that tends to over-complicate things, so looking forward to seeing just how “easy” growing can be.
Well this post has been a bust huh, I was hoping for more response. I wouldn’t put the grow dots in a line, just saying I think the earth box directions state something of the sort. My guess would be that it would work good mixed throughout. I mean the earth box big benefit is ease of knowing when to water and the benefit of the roots being able to get into the Rez in the bottom allowing for some more root mass and oxygen getting to them. Grow dots wouldn’t hinder either of these benefits. I say go for it and give us some feed back!
I just ordered the Take and Bake kit to use. Hoping the boys pipe in during the next Grow Talk show about what they think I should use. Would really like to get started soon.
I also think mix the Growdots throughout the medium. Hoping to hear whether they recommend Coco or Peat and which Aeration they think is best. This is already sort of an unfair fight, so I want to give Growdots their best chance for success.