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Roots Organics: Terp Tea

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-CJ Pellegrini-

“Activate the aromatic power of your garden’s natural terpenes.”

If you’re looking for a versatile, organic, easy to use nutrient for your heavy-feeding plant varieties, Roots Organics: Terp Tea is the nute for you. We decided to test out this one-part grow and one-part bloom formula on our current batch of Citrus Cherry smokable hemp, and we couldn’t be happier with the results so far. The 7-1-1 Grow formula, which we tried first, is derived from sustainably-sourced bat guano, fish bone meal, langbeinite, kieserite, non-GMO soybean meal, feather meal, chicken manure, kelp meal, and dolomite. These ingredients are packed with nitrogen, which your plants need to push out lush vegitative growth. Additionally, it also contains microbial-boosting non-plant ingredients like humic acid, beneficial bacteria, and beneficial fungi, which help your plants actually access all that nitrogenous goodness.

There are two feeding styles you can use with Terp Tea. You can either mix it dry directly into your growing media during your initial planting so that it releases slowly throughout the growth period, or if you want a little more control, you can brew it into a tea and direct feed your plants.

We chose the controlled direct feeding method with our plants, so the day before we want to feed them, we mix 1 Tablespoon per gallon of water, and let that brew in an aerated solution overnight. The next day everything is all ready, so as soon as the lights come on and we open up the tent, the plants get their food! It’s that easy, and the slightest touch of a leaf fills the area with the juicy smells of a happy hemp plant.

We’re in the early flower stage right now and we just switched over to the 3-7-4 Terp Tea Bloom. We expect to see excellent results through the upcoming weeks with big buds coming soon. So if this interests you and you really want to activate the aromatic power of your garden’s natural terpenes, stop on by, check out the plants, and grab yourself a bag of Roots Organic: Terp Tea.

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Comments

  1. So I want to get away from advanced nutrients. I get great results but it cost an arm an a leg. With these 2 bags I will be able to grow my crop up to harvest. Is that what you are saying?

  2. After coming close to the end of our growing cycle, we also recommend supplementing the terp tea with Roots organic liquid Budda grow and bloom in addition to steady feeding of cal mag.

  4. What is a recommended feeding schedule for liquid Terp tea application? I am in veg with 15gal pots.

  5. Hey Scott, Here’s the link to the feeding schedule directly from Roots. At the top of the page you can select the type of product, your growing cycle, and your container size (Terp Tea is under “Dry Nutrients”). The Roots Page should give you what you are looking for, dialed in for your specific circumstance.

  6. Hello I am wondering About the feeding schedule for the terp tea, I plan to top dress with it. Mainly curious on how often to top dress. Thanks in advance. Please email me with answer. 🙂

  7. To top dress with Terp Tea, apply 1 tsp. per gallon of soil or growing media. That can be done once per week according to the Roots Organic Dry Fertilizer Feeding Schedule. We also emailed you this response directly!

  8. I have always had a question when using nutrients during my first year growing. The question is, when I have the tea brewed do I replace my normal watering, let’s say 2 gallons of water, with 2 gallons of tea at the prescribed interval?

  9. Hey Lee, Yes, on feeding days (per the recommended schedule from Terp Tea), replace your normal regular watering amount with the same amount of brewed Terp Tea in solution.

  11. Hi Seth. It would be the same frequency as for dry, top-dressing application. Full, customizable feeding schedule can be found on the roots website (http://rootsorganicssoil.com/feeding_schedule.html). The benefit of brewing the tea is to increase the amounts of beneficial bacteria. The NPK levels will stay the same whether its brewed or not.

  13. Hi Wayne,

    The terp tea grow and bloom are a complete nutrient for growth and bloom. So if you are using it as a tea weekly, there are enough macro, micro nutrients, and beneficials in it to just use that product. But if you want to feed the microbes, you can always use some non sulfured molasses for them. Cheers!

  14. Hello, unfortunately I do not have a pump to aerate the compost tea. How long of an anaerobic compost tea shelf life do I have before the tea spoils? (Ex. I made the tea 36 hours ago and have only stirred periodically) and left the lid off )

  17. We will ph the tea between 6.0 – 6.4. Its typically pretty low and we’ll use the nectar of the gods Up, which is organic.

  18. Hi Jordy,

    This is a complicated question to answer without a dissolved oxygen meter, but I would say your best measure would be your nose. Give the tea a stir, and if it smells bad do not use it. It is probably safe to assume that many of the microbes have crashed, but you will at least get some soluble nutrients if it smells OK.

    Cheers!

  19. Hello, have a question. I’ve been using the Auroua line for years, inside. I am growing in a greenhouse and have been using Terp Tea as well as a my recipe alternating weeks. I have switched to the bloom terp tea and stopped using my tea. The plants are well over 9 Ft however the buds are little airy. This Has never been a problem in my flower room with the same genetics. Is there anything I can add to get the density in the buds? I have a lot of experience with terp tea but it’s all indoors.

  20. Hi Jay,

    The only way to increase the flower density is going to be high amounts of Phosphorus and Potassium. If you are staying organic, the best way would be to add more sulfate of potash and soft rock phosphate. If you don’t need a lot of calcium, use the High Phos Guano from Roots Organics. That will help increase your density problem.

  21. If I PH the water before I brew it will I have to do it again when ready to feed? How long does a batch of Tea last on the shelf?

  22. Hi Jay, You will want to pH balance after the tea is brewed. Usually the pH likes to fall pretty low during the brewing process. If you put the tea in the fridge after brewing, it can last up to 2 weeks. Cheers!

  25. Hi Im new to organic growing I’m using terp tea grow at the moment and I ordered three other products to get me through the vegging period of a cannabis plant,,but after some reading i think i ordered too many things….this is what i ordered , Essential Earth, Oregonism XL granular as well as Uprising Foundation Fertilizer… my question is do i need these or should i just be using terp tea grow alone for veg and terp tea bloom for flowering….

  26. HI Kenneth,

    You can do alternating feedings with the Foundation and Terp Tea Grow. They are a little different in composition and we could see benefits of using both. The Oregonism XL can be applied weekly to keep the beneficial microbes going. The Essential earth is really the only one that wouldn’t need to be used, since the Terp Tea already has the Humic acids in it. Hope that helps!

  27. Hi I was hoping to get a little guidance..

    This is my first time growing with roots organic and I just want to make sure i don’t mess anything up.

    I purchased their roots original soil and their lush soil. I wanted to start my seeds off in their original and then transplant to the lush. Currently I’m in 18 oz solo cups and will be transplanting to 1 gallon smart pots and then either 3 or 5 gallon, not sure which yet.

    When would I incorporate the lush? Would it be in the 1 gallon pot(veg) or wait till I do that second transplant to the 3 or 5 gallon pot?

    My second question is about their terp teas. I purchased terp tea grow, terp tea bloom, microbe charge, oregonism xl, elemental calmag, and trinity. I’m having trouble with my tap water ph going sky high after aerating my water with water stones/air pump. My tap comes out at 7.8 and after aerating it goes up to around 8.8 plus/minus. I read that using ph down can harm the microbes so I don’t know what I should do? Some say the soil will buffer in its own but I find that hard to grasp with such high ph level. Thanks for any and all help!

  28. Hi Chris, If you are going to be using all of those terp teas, I would transplant into the lush around the 1 gallon time. It is easy to overfeed using that lush soil; thats why it’s their super soil to keep you from having to feed that often.

    As for the pH issue, I’ve never had a problem using phosphoric acid as a down and messing with my microbes, Chlorine on the other hand will. If you just absolutely don’t want to use phosphoric, Nectar of the Gods hades down is citric acid. You can even make your own solution if you just want to get straight citric acid in the brewing section of our store. But we would absolutely pH balance to around 6.0 – 6.5. At over 8 pH none of the nutrients will be available for your plants. Hope that helps!

  29. Hi Ashley, thank you so much for that helpful response! I’ll
    be sure to transplant into lush for my 1 gallon transplant, and I’ll hold off on any feeding for awhile after!

    Sorry to ask another question, but I recently purchased a hydrologic stealth RO 150 reverse osmosis system, I’ve read that I would need to add calmag back in due to what the RO strips… when would I start to do that and how often would I do it? Is there anything else I need to be aware of with using RO water?

    Also, I was maybe thinking of doing a majority of top feeding with a few teas here and there. What would be the top feed amount I would use? I looked at roots website for the dry nutrient feeding and the smallest pot is 10-20 gallon range.. I’m more of in the 1-5 gal range so just not sure how much measurement wise I’d use?

    Thanks again! Happy holidays!

  30. Hey Chris,
    Using RO water, you need to add Cal Mag every time you use it because the PPM is 0. Using 0 PPM will strip all the nutrients from your plants. I typically add I Tbsp per 5 gallon bucket of RO water and it gets me around 150 PPM.

    As for the dry amendments, you are using the Terp tea, correct? I use 1 Tbsp per gallon of water or 2 Tbsp for top dressing. If you are using the Foundation, it is a little different. You use 1 – 2 tsp for a 1-5 gallon pot. Cheers!

  31. Hi Ashley ! I noticed on the feeding schedules there are many more teas listed , would It be best to use all of them or is the terp tea grow and bloom good enough ? And if I was to use the other stuff listed on the same days can I mix it all together and brew it or do I have to do separate feedings for separate days ? Thank you

  32. Hey George, I conferred with Ryan, hydro expert at our Greensboro location and he says: It never hurts to use all of the other Terp Tea blends. It will help to increase yields. They can all be used at the same time, but the Terp tea bloom booster is only used from weeks 4 – finish of flowering. Hope that helps- cheers!

  33. Hey I’m in first week of flowering and I’m top dressing with terp tea bloom in 5 gal pots. I’m using coast of Maine platinum medium. My question is how often do I feed?

    Another question is there anything else I should be adding to my plants with the Terp tea bloom to make my buds denser? Or the tea is all I need?

  34. Hey Rell, in the Coast of Maine we would advise feeding once a week. If you want denser flowers, you can use the Terp Tea Bloom Booster. Best of luck!

  35. really need help I want to start a full organic grow with little to do just water and feed what root organic soils I get with dry nutrients? thanks in advance

  36. Hey Carlos,
    The Lush soil from Roots organics has the most nutrients and then can be fed with the Terp Teas.

  37. Hi, this is my first grow, ff ocean soil in 10 gallon pots. I bought this after I planted. I have applied once. Can I just mix with my water and ph up and pour or do I have to do it dry on the soil? The first feeding I had just mixed it, they seemed to like it.

  38. Hi Chad,
    You can just add this to the water and pH balance afterwards, and you’re good to go.

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