Pro-Mix

bpiela

bpiela

Hello all,
 
I have moved 6 or so potted pepper plants indoors in an attempt to over winter them.  So far, all I have done is put them under lights and water them a little.  The soil in the pots is currently the same they had been growing in all last season, regular Miracle Grow Potting Soil.  The plants did well with the Miracle Grow Soil.  But now, in my basement, under the lights, I think it is time to change to something different.  I am getting a good aphid infestation going, so I was thinking about soaking the plants in Insecticidal soap, pulling the plant from the containers and possibly trimming the root ball, maybe trimming the plant a bit and then replanting back into the same container with new soil.  Is something like Pro-Mix a good idea here?  Can I just use 100% Pro-Mix?   I was thinking about using the Pro-Mix HP Biofungicide + Mycorrhizae.  I am not sure if I need any more additives to the soil or not. 
 
Thanks in advance for your help!
 
 

 
 
bpiela said:
Hello all,
 
I have moved 6 or so potted pepper plants indoors in an attempt to over winter them.  So far, all I have done is put them under lights and water them a little.  The soil in the pots is currently the same they had been growing in all last season, regular Miracle Grow Potting Soil.  The plants did well with the Miracle Grow Soil.  But now, in my basement, under the lights, I think it is time to change to something different.  I am getting a good aphid infestation going, so I was thinking about soaking the plants in Insecticidal soap, pulling the plant from the containers and possibly trimming the root ball, maybe trimming the plant a bit and then replanting back into the same container with new soil.  Is something like Pro-Mix a good idea here?  Can I just use 100% Pro-Mix?   I was thinking about using the Pro-Mix HP Biofungicide + Mycorrhizae.  I am not sure if I need any more additives to the soil or not. 
 
Thanks in advance for your help!
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currently using soil (Like the brown stuff from your garden.) or media (peat/choir mixed with perlite.)?
 
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I know what Pro-mix BP is, was wondering if you were switching.
 
I've mostly been using Pro Mix premium organic blend in fabric pots with some worm castings as fertilizer and while the plants seem to do great in it for a while they all seem to start struggling once they get into the bloom phase, which makes me feel like the soil is lacking in some manner of nutrient.
 
It's still given the best bang for the buck as far as locally-available premade mixes go. They do have Foxfarm Ocean Forest but the stuff costs almost three times as much.
 
I have been using Potting Soil in my containers and I was thinking about switching to the Pro-Mix.  Since my plants are fully grown, should I be considering some other kind of brown stuff to grown them in?
 
i`ve had great results with Miracle Grow potting soil. you just need to get the aphids under control. neem oil along with Dr Bronner`s soap kills them. a search here should get you the info on killing aphids. good luck.  :cheers:
 
Takanotsume said:
I've mostly been using Pro Mix premium organic blend in fabric pots with some worm castings as fertilizer and while the plants seem to do great in it for a while they all seem to start struggling once they get into the bloom phase, which makes me feel like the soil is lacking in some manner of nutrient.
 
It's still given the best bang for the buck as far as locally-available premade mixes go. They do have Foxfarm Ocean Forest but the stuff costs almost three times as much.
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Have you reapplied any more fertilizer once your plants started blooming?
 
I've tried a bunch of stuff in light applications like worm castings, CNS17 Grow, fish fertilzer, and humic acid all spaced a week apart or more to avoid overdosing but nothing seemed to get my ajo limons to perk up and start having big leaves and lots of pods again like they did initially.
 
One of them is totally dead at this point while the other two have lost most of their foliage and any new growth they push out dies off again rather quickly and I'm not really sure what the issue is.
 
I feel like I should just dig them out and replant them in new soil at this point.
 
Takanotsume said:
I've mostly been using Pro Mix premium organic blend in fabric pots with some worm castings as fertilizer and while the plants seem to do great in it for a while they all seem to start struggling once they get into the bloom phase, which makes me feel like the soil is lacking in some manner of nutrient
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There is no such thing as a "bloom phase" when it comes to pepper plants.  Given proper conditions, peppers will bloom constantly, and indefinitely.
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I'm not telling you this to be a contrarian - but rather to use it as a clue, to what might be going on with your grow. (hint: it's almost certainly something environmental)
 
Takanotsume said:
I've tried a bunch of stuff in light applications like worm castings, CNS17 Grow, fish fertilzer, and humic acid all spaced a week apart or more to avoid overdosing but nothing seemed to get my ajo limons to perk up and start having big leaves and lots of pods again like they did initially.
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The question that I would have is, have you ever managed a successful grow, from beginning to end?
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What you mentioned in that first sentence, sounds an awful lot like incessant tinkering.  It would be really difficult to ever diagnose a plant issue, if you just successively throw a series of assumed fixes at the alleged problem(s).
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When you are trying to figure out how to grow successfully in your area, the very best thing you can possibly do, is to select one variety, and grow multiples of it, with differing parameters.  In the entire process, stay the course, and don't try to reactively correct what you assume to be a problem.  You will eventually figure out what works best, and can refine, rather than stage a full scale revolution.
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I wish I were disciplined enough to use my free time to writing up a newbie growing tutorial.  This would be the first set of points that I would address.
 
Also...  Big leaves and pods always happen at the beginning of a growing season, before your most extreme weather kicks in.  For me in Florida, that's always March through May.  After that time, the weather dictates 100% what my plants look like and there is nothing that I'm going to do, that's going to change that. (and while they produce, my plants often look like shit)
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You may need to temper your expectations.
 
Are environmental factors potential causes for calcium deficiency?
 
That seems to be what all of my plants are currently suffering from to some degree as the new leaves/buds are often coming out deformed and with varying degrees of browning; sometimes to an extent where they just fall off before they even get going. It's turned up rather suddenly in some plants that were growing fine without any tampering outside of a thin layer of worm castings and a sprinkle of azomite applied when they were first potted up into their final seven gallon pots.
 
Takanotsume said:
Are environmental factors potential causes for calcium deficiency?
 
That seems to be what all of my plants are currently suffering from to some degree as the new leaves/buds are often coming out deformed and with varying degrees of browning; sometimes to an extent where they just fall off before they even get going. It's turned up rather suddenly in some plants that were growing fine without any tampering outside of a thin layer of worm castings and a sprinkle of azomite applied when they were first potted up into their final seven gallon pots.
Click to expand...
 
If you have done even half of what you say that you've done, with regards to adding a lil' of this, and a lil' of that, there is no way on glob's green earth that you have a calcium deficiency.  Very few growers, short of pure hydro growers, ever experience a true calcium deficiency.  Just because a plant looks calcium deficient, doesn't mean that it is.  (it might be unable to utilize whatever nutrition it has, even while it sits on an island of plenty)
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You need to be looking at something else. 
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I remember when we tried going through this before, I gave up on you, because you were too impatient and reactive.  But I am steadfast in any previously given advice.  If you're going to try to single out specific nutrients, and try to tailor a plan of action around something less than a complete, holistic mindset, you will be stuck in an infinite loop. 
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OP - sorry for the hijacked thread.  
 
solid7, what are your thoughts on using Pro-Mix in general?  I was thinking that since I was going to be flooding my plants with Azamax or Insecticidal Soap that I could transplant from the MG soil I used during the grow season this past year to Pro-Mix, possibly trimming roots and doing some basic maintenance.  Do you think that will help the plants (aside from bug infestation) or am I wasting my time?  Thanks!
 
I think Pro-Mix is fine... It's just really expensive. Caveat: I make all my own mixes, except for one that I buy in bulk. (It's almost completely composted pine bark)

Personally, I'd probably persevere with battling the pests, and just up pot into new mix, when necessary.
 
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