- I've never been a fan of top dressing for this reason, unless you top dressing with a fertilizer that can be broken down by water and leech into the soil (dry amendment fertilizer). When it comes to things like Kelp meal, bone meal and crushed Malted barley, they take time for the microbes to break them down. So I would add them to the soil in the beginning when I was mixing the soil for the plant. I find the trick to organics is to work 2 weeks ahead of where your plant are. So if I'm going to flip to flower in two weeks time, I already start with the organic material needed for Phosphorous and Potassium to give it 2 weeks to at least start breaking down. However, keep in mind, just because the raw material exist in the soil, doesn't mean the plant will use it or it will affect the plant. An example of this is the kelp and bone meal, you can add it to the soil in the beginning and let the microbes do their thing, When you flip to flower, those broken down nutrients will then be instantly available to the plant when it wants it. Crushed Barley needs to be worked into the soil in the beginning, when it gets wet it will build out a mycelium network throughout your soil and feed your microbes.
- I answered your Environoc question in the other thread. It won't hard the plant if you do it throughout flower, it's just not needed as it's a waste.
- I have never found a use for a compost tea, I prefer to use VermiPure Tea (https://hydroponic.co.za/hydroponics/umoja-organics-vermipure-worm-tea/) and Environoc 401 instead for the microbe loading. Then normal nutrients for the other NPK stuff.
If you looking to do organics on the cheap, try out the Bud Juice nutrient range, I'm busy using it at the moment on a grow and its seems really good for something you only give once a week.