Best version of CalMag

[jammie]

Decent base nutrients need no cal/mag supplements.

thats the correct answer. all these extra nutes and supplements just throws the nutrient balance off and causes lockouts and od's.

 

[B. Self Reliant]

I think people who use calmag regularly use r/o water and I feel like it's important in that regard. I noticed at first when I switched from well to r/o water there were problems until I used calmag and I am running rezipe 6/9 micro/bloom in coco. 2 ml per gallon seems to do it on top of the 0 ppm r/o water.

I agree, a large percentage of growers I know who use a CalMag supplement regularly use 0 PPM RO water. I never analyzed my tap water or anything crazy like that, but as a grower who runs 100% RO water from cloning to flush I see problems when I don't add any. I'm not saying its the best option, but it's always worked for me & it's very simple.

Up until recently I've been using Advanced Nutrient's SensiCal Veg for both veg & bloom @ about 125 ppm's. That number tapers off near the end of flowering. Has worked for years.

 

[jammie]

hey B- just call your local water company and ask for an analysis. chances are its listed on their web site. if they should ask why, just tell them you'r growing some orchids

 

[YosemiteSam]

Hi Sam, so I take it you mean that formula as a total, including your water source's nutrients?

I see 1:1 N:Ca recommended a lot. Interesting you're on 2/3rds the calcium of that. Does your suggestion take into account the foliar Ca applications I saw you mention on another thread?

Would you say it's harder to lock out Ca if you supply some thru irrigation, and some thru foliar? I'm guessing you would have to be on top of reading the plants to pull it off successfully? Cheers.

Oh, bonus question!: If one had a Ca lockout, would foliar Ca supply the calcium that is being locked out via the irrigation feeding?

I base my Ca on K and Mg rather than N. The cations compete with each other and that is where you get lockouts. I like the K:Ca:Mg ratio of 4:2:1 and then I run the N based on what the plants need...or more accurately what I think they need.

I do not include foliar fed Ca in the nute profile. I use either Ca25 or Albion Metalosate Ca. The reason I do that is because of Ca being so immobile in the plant compared to other elements...in particular N. According to Albion (I know, not the best source since they are selling something) N is 20 times more mobile than Ca. I feel spraying it gets it where you need it much more easily.

I foliar feed Ca every other week. Never seen a single bad thing happen as a result.

bonus question...definitely, you will see a difference almost overnight if you diagnosed the problem correctly.

 

[TheCatsMeow]

TheCats...my opinion...chems are heavy feeders. They not only need more Ca and Mg...they need more of everything else N, K, etc. Ratio wise though I do not believe they are so different from Blueberry. You can address this two ways...feed a heavier EC (same formula but more concentrated) or (if your media will allow it) simply water them more often than the Blueberry. Merely adding CalMag could throw your K:Ca:Mg ratio off and make less K available...not a good thing in late flower.

It is my opinion that Mg is also a contributor to less than ideal taste late in flower along with N. Mg is the element at the center of the chlorophyll molecule. Excess N and high chlorophyll seem to be the main offenders for taste.

Whether or not CalMag is needed depends on the base formula and your water source. Making a blanket statement without considering water could be a disservice to the person asking the question.

I like, for general purposes, a formula of 3-1.2-4-2-1 N-P-K-Ca-Mg.

Ca is normally the one you really need to watch out locking out. It is the least mobile in the plant making it the most likely to be locked out...it travels exclusively through the xylem.

so now that im approaching the start of week 5 should i lower my use of cal/mag and in addition raise the level of my ec to compensate for the lack of cal/mag additive??

 

[tr1ck_]

I know the overall opinion is cal/mag late in flowering is not the best idea. However is it still necessary when using 0ppm ro/di water?

I am just starting week6 on a 10week strain in organic soil and have run out of cal/mag. I was previously dosing with botanicare calmag+ up to ~120 ppm. Should I quit grab some calmag? Or just finish without it.

 

[JAY LENWEED]

Not necessarily. I run Maxibloom or Lucas formula with tap water and don't ever use any supplements. Haven't used any for 3 years now.

True forgot I use RO water

 

[YosemiteSam]

TheCatsMeow...it depends on what your base nutes and water contain. Just saying yes or no without understanding your nute profile would be irresponsible. Personally I like to back off on all nutes after week 5 to let the plant finish. I typically cut back more on N and P but maintain some level of all of the minerals to the bitter end.

My thinking is that with fruit it is important to maintain K and Ca levels all of the way to harvest...if you don't sugar production and overall plant health suffer. I want to lower the things that hurt taste but maintain the things that contribute to taste.

 

[ShroomDr]

Oh, bonus question!: If one had a Ca lockout, would foliar Ca supply the calcium that is being locked out via the irrigation feeding? ANSWER: yes it will!

High rH will lock out Ca, foliar aint gonna help that.

(If the plant cant transpire, it cant move Ca up the plant).

Its not a true 'lock out', but that is what most looking for a solution to the problem would be referring to it as.

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While i was still learning, i was fucking up and got the Mg:Ca close to 1:1, and i think that was locking the Ca. (I use tap water, [~0.3ec], but i dont know its actual makeup.)

But... Some bitches just love that Mg. The standard quoted K:Ca:Mg is 4:2:1, ive also seen 8:4:1.

I reuse my coco, so i think that added to the K,
i also assume my Tap has a fair amount of Ca,
so i like my supplemental fertilizer ratio K:Ca:Mg, its maybe 6:3:2. Somewhere around there.

 

[Darth Fader]

So for a mild Mg deficiency, at what rate (ppm) should I foliar feed? I'm planning to mix epsom salts with a surficant and it's much more accurate to shoot for a certain ppm level than "x grams/ per". Also, at what rate would you supplement ro water for normal feeding?