seeds Cut Ocean Forest for Seedlings

Ignite

Ignite

Hey guys...I'm getting ready to start making my last purchases in preparation for my 2014 grow and I have a few quick questions before I checkout.
 
I'm going to be starting my seeds in rapid rooter plugs under a dome.  Once they pop I'm going to cut the lights on and wait for their true leaves to form.  After they have their true leaves they'll be leaving the rapid rooter tray and heading into solo cups filled with soil to continue growing.  My local hydro shop is a Fox Farms dealer and is giving me a deal on Fox Farm's soil.  They sell Pro-Mix but it has a 2 day lead time to order and provides way more soil than I currently need.
 
1.  If I use Ocean Forest soil, will it be too hot for my seedlings with only true leaves?  If so, will cutting it with perlite at a 3:1 ratio reduce it enough or is their anything else I can add to help reduce the burn.  What about adding Light Warrior?
 
2.  Would Happy Frog or Light Warrior be better for seedlings this young?  
 
I'm putting 50 seeds in rapid rooter plugs with hopes that 35 or so germinate.  These plants will be living in solo cups until mid March when they go outside in raised beds.  I don't mind supplementing Happy Frog or Light Warrior with nutrients, and I could certainly mix two of them if needed.  
 
I have a feeling that I'm really overthinking this things, but the engineer in me just has to have everything planned and ready to go before executing the grow.  The biggest hang up I am having is what to with my little sprouts as they pop up in the rapid rooters.  Do I immediately move them from the dome and place them in soil, leave them in the dome under lights until true leaves show and then move over to soil, or yank the plugs from the dome tray and place in another tray under lights and out from the dome?  I could simply remove the dome once the first sprout shows, but couldn't this cause the others to dry out?
 
Thanks and sorry for the essay...I won't ask the same question twice.
 
I put my seedlings on Ocean Forest and don't have any problems with them. Now if you can get Happy Frog or Light Warrior cheaper I'd go with them. The Ocean Forest is great soil but down here its more expensive.
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]Here is what I do. Seeds in rapid rooters or soil trays with cells, moisten, cover with dome, and plug in seed mat. I leave them in there until they outgrow the cells usually 2 true leaves, then transplant into red cups or other container and I add perlite heavy to all my soil. Fox Farm will work but it does run very hot. Happy Frog or Light Warrior would be better but use what you have to.[/SIZE]
 
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rebelgrower3 said:
I put my seedlings on Ocean Forest and don't have any problems with them. Now if you can get Happy Frog or Light Warrior cheaper I'd go with them. The Ocean Forest is great soil but down here its more expensive.
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That's the great thing about this shop...the prices.  I can get the 1.5cu/ft bag of Ocean Forest for $14.99, Happy Frog is $13.50, and Light Warrior is $13.50.  Pro-Mix is $22.95 but comes with way more than I need.  I think I'm going to go with Ocean Forest and simply add a little perlite into it.  
 
 
Brain Strain Pepper Head said:
[SIZE=10.5pt]Here is what I do. Seeds in rapid rooters or soil trays with cells, moisten, cover with dome, and plug in seed mat. I leave them in there until they outgrow the cells usually 2 true leaves, then transplant into red cups or other container and I add perlite heavy to all my soil. Fox Farm will work but it does run very hot. Happy Frog or Light Warrior would be better but use what you have to.[/SIZE]
 
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So leaving them in the dome doesn't cause them to dampen off?  This is what I was going to do, but I read on here that I shouldn't do that and they should be moved from under the dome asap.  Leaving them in until all have sprouted or grown to the mentioned size makes things much easier for me.  I knew I was probably over complicating things. 
 
You should germinate in a non nutritive media and then transplant them to a mix that includes ocean forrest much later.  Im pretty sure light warrior is purposefully composed for seedlings/cuttings.  I honestly would not recommend exposing them to ocean forrest until they are a foot tall.  So with your setup... once they have developed their true leaves just transplant them into straight promix and save the good stuff (ocean forrest) for when the plants can really use it.
 
And I usually leave the dome on until over half of the seeds have germinated in that tray... then take it off or you will run the risk of dampening off... that is unless you are manually changing the air out a few times per hour.
 
Noah Yates said:
You should germinate in a non nutritive media and then transplant them to a mix that includes ocean forrest much later.  Im pretty sure light warrior is purposefully composed for seedlings/cuttings.  I honestly would not recommend exposing them to ocean forrest until they are a foot tall.
 
And I usually leave the dome on until over half of the seeds have germinated in that tray... then take it off or you will run the risk of dampening off... that is unless you are manually changing the air out a few times per hour.
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Seeds will be germinated in rapid rooter plugs, and then transferred into soil once needed.  
 
The dome will lifted and left off for about 10 minutes every 8 hours or so to allow the fans to circulate air over them.  I'm also going to open the vents and ensure a gentle, small amount of air flow is able to reach inside the dome.
 
Ignite said:
 
That's the great thing about this shop...the prices.  I can get the 1.5cu/ft bag of Ocean Forest for $14.99, Happy Frog is $13.50, and Light Warrior is $13.50.  Pro-Mix is $22.95 but comes with way more than I need.  I think I'm going to go with Ocean Forest and simply add a little perlite into it.  
 
 
 
So leaving them in the dome doesn't cause them to dampen off?  This is what I was going to do, but I read on here that I shouldn't do that and they should be moved from under the dome asap.  Leaving them in until all have sprouted or grown to the mentioned size makes things much easier for me.  I knew I was probably over complicating things. 
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I have big turbo fans moving air so I never have any problems dampening off
 
Ocean Forest is far, far superior to any other Fox Farm soil. Happy Frog is a little hot but has the added Mycho, but there isn't as much perlite and actual soil in it. It's a ton of fine wood chips. Based on my experience with Happy Frog, I won't use it again! Ocean Forest is great right out of the bag. I always add Extreme Gardening Mykos tho. I use Ocean Forest start to finish, great for seeds, seedlings, established plants. You won't need to feed for a little while or even till they go into their final homes, depending on how often you pot up. Do yourself a favor and use the Ocean Forest. It's awesome stuff!!!!
Noah Yates said:
You should germinate in a non nutritive media and then transplant them to a mix that includes ocean forrest much later.  Im pretty sure light warrior is purposefully composed for seedlings/cuttings.  I honestly would not recommend exposing them to ocean forrest until they are a foot tall.  So with your setup... once they have developed their true leaves just transplant them into straight promix and save the good stuff (ocean forrest) for when the plants can really use it.
 
And I usually leave the dome on until over half of the seeds have germinated in that tray... then take it off or you will run the risk of dampening off... that is unless you are manually changing the air out a few times per hour.
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This I don't agree with. That could be a very long time til they are a foot tall. I've had plants that have never reached a foot tall all year even, and yes of course I had some monster plants too. It's just really bad advice here. @ Noah, have you ever even used Ocean Forest? To me it sounds like you haven't. You also say leave the dome on til half the seeds germinate. I totally disagree again. Ignite, pull them out daily as they sprout and plant them into solo cups with Ocean Forest as you intended to do and keep the dome on the rest of the rapid rooters. Your plan was spot on.
 
Jamison said:
Ignite, pull them out daily as they sprout and plant them into solo cups with Ocean Forest as you intended to do and keep the dome on the rest of the rapid rooters. Your plan was spot on.
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Thanks! I was thinking on the way home that the rapid rooter plug will protect the root and sprout during its first few days, the ocean forest will be ready once the system breaks through and needs more nutrients.

I ended up going with the Ocean Forest soil. I didn't purchase perlite yet because I want to try the soil "as-is" at first. The smallest bag they had was 4cu/ft, which is way more than I could use right now. The guy at the hydro shop said it shouldn't begin to compact right away and should be good to go for the amount of time it will be used. I also purchased the Xtreme Gardening sample kit and will be adding mycos to the soil along with a small amount of azos.

Thanks again!
 
For seed sprouting I now cut my Ocean Forest with coco choir, perlite and azomite etc. But when i first started using it, i used it straight up, it never burned any of my seedlings, nor the young transplants.
 
Normally the price would keep me away, but i got lucky with a store that sells Ocean Forest and Happy Frog for $10 per jumbo bag, 1.5cf and 2cf.
 
Jamison said:
@ Noah, have you ever even used Ocean Forest? To me it sounds like you haven't. You also say leave the dome on til half the seeds germinate. I totally disagree again. Ignite, pull them out daily as they sprout and plant them into solo cups with Ocean Forest as you intended to do and keep the dome on the rest of the rapid rooters. Your plan was spot on.
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I have used ocean forrest.  Its extremely rich and is intended for mature plants.  Its not recommended for seedlings or cuttings.  Plants under a foot (well... lets make that 8 inches... in the original post i should have said about a foot (as that is what i usually say)) cant really work with that soil (cannot take full advantage of it and sometimes even become overwhelmed by it)... they will be better off being transplanted into promix as seedlings, fed with light doses of your nutrient source of choice, and then being transplanted into the ocean forrest when they are a month or two more mature.... and if you are having a hard time getting your plants to grow taller than a foot then problems like nutrient burn could be to blame (I know, I know :P just joking)... the point is that it is dangerous to use that stuff so quickly.  You will find yourself in a very, very small camp if you are advising people that its ok to transplant seedlings into OF or that its even ok to germinate in that media.  And it is true that not every bag of OF is the same... maybe my source gets a slightly stronger cut. (it is the the various organic meals they include that make it so rich.)
 
Here is a plant that is not ready for ocean forrest IMO:
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Here is a plant that is ready for ocean forrest IMO:
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Those two plants are approximately 1 month apart in age.
 
Dont risk planting your precious babies into such a rich soil.... rather wait until they are plants... not seedlings.  At that point they will* certainly* be able to take full advantage of the nutrients and will explode.  Be patient.
 
And as for the dome... I just commented with what I do... I did not say that is what he should do.  I have fancy domes that self-ventilate... so my process is a little different.  Although reading back.. that does come off like really bad advice... (too sweeping of a generlized prescription for a delicate case-by-case subject)
 
Isn't ocean forest organic?
 
It's been my understanding that keeping chemicals away early on is a good idea (if you use chems), however organic composted materials impact seedlings quite positively. There aren't many spots in nature that are thriving whilst being completely void of nutrients of any kind.
 
I would bet a pretty penny a plant in a natural nutrient rich medium would make it to a foot much sooner and much more robustly than a plant in a mostly void medium such as straight coir or peat.
 
My starting mix this year is chock-full of homemade worm-castings among other things. I'm betting they'll take off pretty quick.
 
Yeah... it is organic... but those meals are effectivley super-concentrated... it is not true that organics cannot burn plants...  worm castings are my favorite nutrient period... and you cannot burn plants with worm castings.
 
Interesting. Upon further reading on the marijuana forums I see a few threads that agree that it is concentrated and may burn. I've also read some that says it won't and some that says the burning only occurs if attempting to root cuttings/clones.
 
On that note, I'd probably cut with coir and compost if I was planning to use it on all my starts since I have no personal experience with it yet and maybe try a few extras in it straight up just to see for myself.
 
Also, and I didn't see this covered, the perlite isn't used to "cut" the nutes -- it's used to aerate the soil. I'm not familiar with O/F but if it's heavy and likes to compact I'd definitely add some perlite. You'll use the rest of the bag in the spring! ...I see a lot of growers on the herb forums add perlite to their O/F.
 
You can, however, over-apply castings... which results in "heavy" soil that will never dry out.
 
And Aaron... OF is as fluffy and light a soil as it gets... but its those meals that pose the threat.
 
We'll see if it's too hot for my young plants, I'm going to give the ocean forest a shot to see how it works out. I'm going to start a grow log in about 2 weeks when I start my seeds so the results will be posted there.

A co-worker and good friend purchased a bag of light warrior today to mix with his compost. He gave me half of the bag so I may cut some of the ocean forest with it to see if it makes any difference.
 
It'll be totally fine if you mix it wth Light Warrior, no worries. And when you eventually pot up, you can mix in the rest of your Ocean Forest.
 
Good luck with your 2014 grow.
 
Steve
 
Experiment, and you'll learn first hand. Find what's best for you.

Do one with added perlite and coco and one without or one with just perlite and OF.

It's up to you. I always put down extra seed incase I want to try something out or if something happens. Having extra seedlings is always good ;). Good luck and post your results.

-Walt
 
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