Hey there DGC! Novice grower here and I’ve been growing organically for over almost two years now using AACT from boogie brew canada and organic dry amendments from kooteneybiosoil for top dressing. i’ve used Pro mix HP sense i started and haven’t really used any other medium even though i guess this isn’t considered organic i recently found out. i really enjoy growing with these organic inputs but i want to mix things up in one of my flowering tents and try mixing in some synthetic nutrients to see if i can really push these flowers even farther! the issue is i cant seem to find any good reads on the topic!
A few questions i had were…
-When using synthetic nutrients what pH range should i use? (mine currently always sits around 6 naturally and i never adjust it)
-What are a few nutrients to look into? (i’ve been told terpinator is a good one?)
-Are there any good resources you can recommend on the topic?
Thanks for taking the time to read!
It’s not a good idea to use soluble nutrients to an organic system. Mixing immediately available nutrients formulated for inert medias is a recipe for disaster in an amended soil. If you’re not happy with the performance of your plants in soil, then possibly try a small scale hydroponic system to start. Mixing the two without being completely proficient with both philosophies and methods is not advised. Learn them separate and understand what and why your doing things before considering mixing the two or you’ll be asking in a later post why your plants are fucked.
The dude uses synthetic base with with a few more organic amendments to try and get some extra flavor. If you decide to drop the amended soil and just create a peat based medium or go with coco then you’ll be fine. Any nutrient line will be fine gh 3part, remo, veg bloom. Depending on medium will decide your ph. 5.8-6 for coco and keeping peat around 6.3-6.5. Light is the main driver for growth. Terpinator could be added to amended soil also massive from green planet, new mellenium winter frost or even plagron green sensation. These are icing on the cake things.
I can’t speak to The Dudes process, but I use a Scotty-type mix including some (20 or so %) worm castings plus 60% Tupur for the longer sativa flower time+20% perlite. Currently running Veg+Bloom plus silica, Life, cal mag, fish emulsion, bio-fizz (its a Hawaiian microbe that blows roots up), mammoth p, Recharge, GH Rapid start, Mendocino Honey, dolomitic like, little rock phosphate for flower and some frass. I use SLF too. Anyways I am running that Veg+Bloom as base plus organic add ons and loving it. It kind of idiot proofs bottle growing using microbes but watch out as jmystro said, you can over push easily so it’s easy to screw it up and fast. Check out SNS 604B instead of Terpinator- same stuff or at least results, half the cost. I roll 6.2~6.4 ph here when not running pure organic. My mix may be a little airy for you, I’m trying to push up to my legal output limit so I water often and run in radicle bags.
Lime not like ☝🏽
Mixing and matching inputs from different methods is always a bit more complicated and a bit more of a risk. The Dude gets away with it because he’s got years of growing experience and has a good understanding of all the stuff he’s using. He also spent some time working in hydro stores, so he has a lot of knowledge about different products and how they work. Without this kind of experience, mixing and matching different inputs might be a lot more difficult.
I suggest using organics for your base nutrition and adding in some synthetic additives from other lines. (So like maybe biobizz base nutes and some new mil additives like winter frost)
OR
Use synthetics as your base, and use organic additives to add some flavor. (So maybe like canna a+b base nutes with some organic additives like worm castings and Insect Frass)
I think if you follow a plan/recipe for your base nutes it will make it a lot easier to experiment with additives from other lines or grow styles without causing problems.