Growing and maintaining healthy plants is easier when you have some seriously great fertilizers and nutrients. If you’re familiar with the FoxFarm brand, you might also be aware of their recommended feeding schedules.
Their schedules are 12-week-long processes that take your garden from seedlings to harvest using various FoxFarm products to yield the best results. If you want to start implementing the feeding schedule but don’t know where to start, you’re in the right place! We’ll cover the different nutrient options FoxFarm creates, how you can use the schedule and some common FAQs about the process.
FoxFarm Nutrient Options
FoxFarm has a couple of different feeding schedules — including a soil and hydroponics feeding schedule — to help you make the most of your garden’s potential. The FoxFarm products you’ll require, as well as their amounts and when to implement them, depend on which feeding schedule fits your needs. A great way to get started is with the FoxFarm Dirty Dozen Nutrient Starter Kit. The products included in this kit are:
- Big Bloom: This is a liquid plant food that is used on both feeding schedules with every watering.
- Grow Big: This plant food supports vegetative growth.
- Tiger Bloom: Tiger Bloom is a phosphorous fertilizer that encourages bud growth.
- Bush Doctor Flowers Kiss: This solution is a spray-on plant food.
- Bush Doctor Boomerang: This is an application that helps your plants make a comeback in the case of weather effects, temperature effects or accidental neglect. Boomerang is used only in the soil feeding schedule.
- Bush Doctor Kangaroots: This liquid drench is used sporadically throughout the beginning stages of the 12-week schedule.
- Bush Doctor Microbe Brew: This activator helps plants absorb nutrients.
- Bush Doctor Bembé: This concentrate is used every week starting on week eight until the end of the feeding schedule for only the soil feeding schedule.
- Open Sesame: This formula is designed for use during your plants’ early flowering stage.
- Beastie Bloomz: Beastie Bloomz is used toward the end of the flowering stage.
- ChaChing: ChaChing is used at the end of both 12-week schedules each week, starting on week nine.
- Bush Doctor Sledge Hammer: This nutrient rinse encourages water movement through both soil and no-soil media. Using Sledge Hammer, you’ll flush out your system at different points during the 12-week process, depending on which schedule you follow.
The soil feeding schedule requires most of the products outlined above — besides Bush Doctor Flowers Kiss — and a few more. The other FoxFarm products that are used in the soil feeding schedule but are not included in the Dirty Dozen Nutrient Starter Kit include:
- Wholly Mackerel
- Kelp Me Kelp You
- Cultivation Nation Cal-Mag
The hydroponics feeding schedule is less involved than the soil feeding schedule and suggests the following products:
- Big Bloom
- Grow Big
- Tiger Bloom
- Kangaroots
- Microbe Brew
- Open Sesame
- Beastie Bloomz
- Cha Ching
- Cultivation Nation Cal-Mag
There are many pros and cons to growing plants hydroponically or with soil, so if you’re looking to start your garden but haven’t yet, do some research to see which method will work better for your lifestyle!
How Do I Use the FoxFarm Feeding Schedule?
The FoxFarm feeding schedule chart can be overwhelming to look at, but stay with us. It’s easy to understand once you know what to search for. The chart describes a 12-week soil feeding schedule. The graph also describes the amount of light you should expose the seedlings to and which nutrients you should be using on which days, plus their measurements.
The top row on the chart details the number of weeks from when you plant your seedlings until week 12. Below that is a yellow row explaining how much light you should expose your plants to. FoxFarm recommends 18 hours of light for the first four weeks before reducing to 12 hours for the last eight weeks.
The two blue rows underneath the Light row detail electric conductivity (EC) and parts per million (PPM) ranges for the entire feeding schedule.
Each row below the EC and PPM rows details the different FoxFarm products you’ll use during the feeding schedule.
Also marked on the schedule is when you should flush your soil with Sledge Hammer. You’ll use 2 tablespoons of Sledge Hammer per gallon of water for your flush. The timing of the flushes depends on whether your garden is soil or hydroponic.
The measurements listed on the FoxFarm feeding schedule are teaspoon per gallon of water. For example, once you’ve planted your seedlings in a soil application, you’ll add 6 teaspoons Big Bloom, 1 teaspoon Boomerang, 1/2 teaspoon Kangaroots and ½ teaspoon Wholly Mackerel to 1 gallon of water.
Answering Your Frequently Asked Questions
Check out some of the questions below for more tips on following the FoxFarm feeding schedule:
1. How often do I use FoxFarm Nutrients?
Follow the soil feeding schedule up to twice per week for best results. It is also recommended to alternate treatment with regular watering.
2. How are FoxFarm Nutrients calculated?
FoxFarm formulas are greenhouse tested for the best possible quality! FoxFarm also directly oversees the entire production process and produces its products in small batches to ensure the best quality. They have four decades of experience in the industry.
3. Which FoxFarm Nutrients do I use first?
You can use FoxFarm Nutrients in the order listed on the chart. However, it’s essential to remember that you should not mix pure concentrations together. Always add water first before adding additional concentrates.
4. What if my growth cycle is longer than usual?
If you have a longer grow cycle, continue the feeding schedule until your plant harvests. With longer vegetative cycles, repeat week four of the schedule. With longer flowering cycles, repeat week 12.
5. What should I do if I find stress in my plants?
If you sense any irregularities in your plants, flush the soil.
6. Which soil should I use with the FoxFarm feeding schedule?
FoxFarm says you can use any potting soil to transport your seedlings to a larger container. Premium soil also works great alongside the FoxFarm feeding schedules.
Find Your FoxFarm Nutrients at HTG Supply
FoxFarm is one of the industry-leading producers of fertilizers and liquid plant foods, and their products are excellent for every stage of growth.
HTG Supply carries FoxFarm products alongside grow lights, grow tents, air filters and anything else you might need for your garden. Our staff can help you choose the right products for your needs and provide tips on using them. We are known as one of the fastest shippers in our industry in the United States, and you can count on us to have what you need when you need it.
Our selection of FoxFarm products helps get you started. Shop FoxFarm at HTG Supply online today or stop by one of our retail locations to shop in-store. If you have questions or want to speak to a staff member, feel free to contact us online!
