Flushing remove microbes?

[ifsixwasnin9]

Does flushing with a retail solution remove and/or kill microbes in soil? I may need to flush due to nutrient lockout and get my soil back to 6.5-6.8. (Currently at 6.1 and adding dolomite lime over last week is not working that well and Ca solidifies in the soil when it dries which decreases aeration, etc. Was adding 1 tsp dolomite lime per 1 qt water almost every day. I water every day.)

I read that ph up solutions (potassium bicarbonate) may increase salts in soil and then may later need to be flushed.

 

[Locked]

What kind of nutrients do you use to feed? The reason I ask is because unless you are running a truly Organic grow you most likely don't have or need a micro herd in your soil. When you run an Organic grow you don't use chemical nutrients, you use all natural organic nutrients that need to be broken down by your micro herd in your soil and then made available to your plants. . You don't need to ph your water or feed because the microbes do the work. PH'ing is only need in non organic grows. Chemical nutrients kill any microbes in the soil anyway, that is why you need to ph your water and feed. I hope this makes sense.
Bottom line, unless you are running an actual Organic grow don't worry about killing any microbes in your soil. I don't flush but one reason I would is for a salt build up. I hope you get it fixed, green mojo.

 

[ifsixwasnin9]

Using Foxfarm. They aren't organic nutrients? They are made entirely from organic sources. When you say "chemical nutrients" do you mean synthetic (man-made, inorganic)? (I think the (organic) Advanced Nutrient line is buffered so pH is not needed.)

 

[Rosebud]

I grow organic dirt. Some fox farm nutes are organic some aren't. I don't flush at all. To answer your question you may drown a few beneficials and lose some but probably not all of them. I don't ph either. Green mojo and good luck

 

[ifsixwasnin9]

I don't know what a beneficial is. Guess I'll try to raise pH with solution then if lockout still occurs I'll flush with mild nutrient solution. I read mild nutrient solution is better than just water.

 

[Rosebud]

beneficial micobes, nematods, etc. Are you running organic? Is so you don't get nute lock out. Do you have a picture? I am sorry i don't know anything about flushing really. But if you have used too much nutes i would use plain water.

I see duck down there, he will help you out. good luck.

 

[pcduck]

I think what HL is saying is that in a feed the soil grow pH is maintained by the soil/microbes and with a feed the plant organic grow, the pH must be maintained by the grower.

What type of organic grower are you?

I would not use AN in a feed the soil grow as it is to heavy in humic acids for my feed the soil grow.

 

[ifsixwasnin9]

I just assumed all soils contained certain number of microbes in order for growth to take place. Guess I'm not organic. Soil is all organic (Blackgold) but using FF which is partially chemical I guess. Very confused. I guess organic is much more involved.

 

[Rosebud]

It doesn't have to be that involved. I started with a fox farm ocean forest. I didn't add anything to it for 5 weeks (a little too long) then I used roots organic nutes, ( i don't use them anymore, but they work for a simple organic grow. that was it....then i added microbes, then i started doing my own soil. It took a few years to get here.. My point is it can be easy or complicated. Don't give up.

 

[ifsixwasnin9]

I can't get into making my own teas so I guess I can never be an organic grower (?) What should I read to get me started on organic growing?

Fastest I've ever grown plants. (Skunk, NL. Blackgold soil and soil conditioner.) Went to 12/12 in 35 days, first flowers 41 days into grow, first triches 56 days into grow. Now starting flower week 4.

 

[Rosebud]

I wish we could see the colors of the leaves, are they yellow? She looks hungry to me.. Others that know more then me will stop in..you don't have to make teas to be organic. I would read up on the organic section here. There is a lot of good reading there.

 

[Wetdog]

Uuuuuuhhhhhhhhh ........

Stop with the dolomite, I think you have enough.

You're treating it as a soluble and being nothing but ground up ROCK, it is far from soluble. If not mixed in at the beginning, it will take a couple of weeks to even start working. But it WILL work, just give it time. Just keep scratching it in the surface and it will work it's way into the soil. Next time, add it to the mix before you plant.

You should have some microbes going on just from the soil you used.

Do what Rosebud says AFA the organics section, but perhaps not with these plants. They look to be close to finishing so it's kinda late to try and fix anything. You would probably do more harm than good.

Next grow though .................

Wet

 

[ShOrTbUs]

lots of organic liquid nutrients on the market contain chelation salts.
the salts break down organic matter so that it can be absorbed by the roots. which is the microbes job. since the microbes do not have a job, they die. your microbes are long since dead if you vegged with FF Grow Big.

so you can rest assured that no harm will be done if you use ph up/down when watering.
from the pics it looks as though the nutes are doing their job quite nicely.

another couple weeks to go, from the looks of them.

:48:

 

[ifsixwasnin9]

Next time, add it to the mix before you plant.

The organic soil and soil conditioner (worm castings, bat guano, bone meal, kelp) I used both contained dolomite lime in them and vegetation went very well. And the plants are still doing well: Fan leaves at very bottom turning yellow, all new leaves are dark green and flowering progressing well. Just not satisfied with 6.1 and 6.3 pH over last 7-9 days. Flushed them today.

 

[Hushpuppy]

I haven't used FF but from what I have heard from others who have, it needs to be flushed at least once during flower because the FF tends to build a lot of salt in the soil. If you want to keep it simple then stay with a chemical nute like General hydroponics flora 3part or (my favorite), AN's Jungle Juice. But I can tell you that it is worth looking into organics as you get richer flavor and smell with organics over synthetics. But it is a challenge, for some, to fully grasp the nuances of using organics.

If the plants look ok at the top 2/3 of the canopy then I wouldn't worry too much at this point, especially since you have already flushed them. I would say to see if the PH levels out some in the next few days. If it doesn't then get some PH adjuster to add to your water/nute solution

 

[7greeneyes]

I don't get salt buildup but then again I have an airy mixture and I believe that helps. It's not that difficult maintaining the proper ph.

For Mediums I use:

rooted cuttings get 50-50 ,mix of mgss and ffof/hf

potups from rooted clones get a 30-30-40 (HF,OF,Perlite)

I use the trio as per their schedule + the Cha ching during the appropriate phase of flower.

Only problems I ever had was strain specific and the strain in question being a White widow hybrid which is already semi-tetchy to too much nitrogen (which FFOF has quite a bit, so buffer accordingly).


You can produce dank, it's just knowing when and what concentrations of soil to use.


When or if you do flush. Flush with plain water to three times the capacity of its current container. Then and only then after it dries out enough again, then give it a light nute solution. If you're worried about wiping out your microbes, pick up some great white or some other myco-innoculant and give the colonies a boost.


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