Correct with organic you feed the soil… The soil feed the plants…
With synthetic nutes you feed the plants not the soil.
All depends on how advanced you want to grow… but the min you need is 3 products
This is what I pay
All purpose 444 2kg $13.83 (for Veg)
Power Bloom 2-8-4 2kg $14.39 (for Flower)
Worm Casting (I’m using a local company it’s alot cheaper) 25L bag $46.12 (I think Gaia worm castings are around $15.00 for 2L)
You can buy 10 and 20 kg bags for a lot cheaper per Kg but it’s alot of product
Honestly this is a hard question to answer because it all depends on your soil… The right soil with a big pot and you will not even have to top dress at all…
But let’s say this… Good soil in a 5 to 7 gallon pot yes top dress around 3 times…
Worm castings is a must it the king that breaks down the soil…
requirement is you must not use Non chlorine water… Chlorine kills living soil…
No synthetic products period… it will kill your soil…
If you kill the soil the soil will not make food for the plants
Hope this helps
Note: Price is in Canadian funds