This whole half strength nute thing is out the window for me

[nachoconqueso]

It never made sense to me. I just put some seedlings from plain water right to full strength Head formula as soon as I saw roots on the side of my little plastic cup. They loved it and the cotyledon hadn't even come close to beginning to yellow. We're talking first set of leaves and all. Clones should respond well. You might be slowing down the grow show by using half strength nutes. Besides, I can't be the only one who hates mixing up new solutions.

 

[aridbud]

I suppose it depends on what type of nutrient mix you are using and the fact you are using coco instead of soil which holds in nutrients. And most likely you are growing photoperiod. Notice a plethora of inquiries showing/describing burnt leaves, yellowing on any mj forum as there are numerous ones out there....and most are caused by fertilizer burn.

Similarly it's like a Dr. Rx-ing a different dose or trying out a different medication. It's best to start out with 1/2 dose so body can adjust to a new drug, then go to full strength.

Glad to hear your plants are liking the 'formula' YAY!
GROW ON!!

 

[nachoconqueso]

Yep we're talking coco here. Heads is a pretty low ppm "dialed in" formula that's almost a standard now. It might be good to go full strength all the way. Lots of coco users have formulas with different brands that are just as dead on. I wouldn't be surprised if those were fine at full strength too.

 

[FlaDankster]

Lighter nute mixes tend to give a better finished product.Just because a plant looks good to the eye does not necessarily mean anything.The final product tells the truth and i have found giving smaller amounts a bit more often gives a better product than tryin to super charge them.

Some strains can eat heavy and not be as effected as others.Some don't require much food at all.Much easier to add more nutes if need be or desired than to flush them out.

6/9 isn't very strong to begin with.....just about right to me.

 

[BrnCow]

Might want to tell us what brand of nutes you are using...and read a whole lot more before you rewrite any rules here...1/4 nutes is a good starter for AN

 

[GreeeeN GRassss]

theres no "rules" when it comes to growing, if it works for him then do it...

 

[papaduc]

It depends what you mean by full strength. Only thing that matters is the EC and what it's made up of.

 

[siftedunity]

ive found that less is more in the long run but as said above, if it works run with it.

 

[nachoconqueso]

Might want to tell us what brand of nutes you are using...and read a whole lot more before you rewrite any rules here...1/4 nutes is a good starter for AN

It is you who needs to read a lot more. How rude of you to tell me to read more and question what nutrients I'm using when I clearly stated that I use the Head formula. Anyone who has spent more than half a grow in coco has read about what is in that formula. Hell, there's a whole stickied thread right at the top about it. I'd expect this kind of blindness from an AN user. I can read. Obviously you can't.

It works guys. Get over it. Full strength Head, start to finish. You're depriving plants that are ready to go. 1.4ec using tap at 0.1-0.2ec. Seedlings grow slow enough as it is and you have an opportunity, due to cocos unique characteristics, to really speed things up and all you can say is no I won't try that. Interesting mind frame here. You'll never be the best with an attitude like that.

 

[papaduc]

From a stylistic point of view, I sort of agree and disagree in equal measure with what you're saying here.

I agree fully with not following "Half strength" "quarter strength" guidelines. They're meaningless if only for the fact that different manufacturers give guide amounts that will give completely different EC figures.

But I also don't agree with following start to finish guides such as head formula as though they're a triumph for simplicity.

The basic application of simple gardening principles - like feeding your plant with a bottle of plant food - have, as the authors of head formula guides rightly point out, been lost on indoor cannabis cultivators.

The idea that you've got to focus on 6 or 7 different areas of plant metabolism and buy 6 or 7 specific products to do so, has engulfed the indoor cannabis culture. It's swallowed it up whole.

It's a victory for marketing and advertising over gardening and nature.

This complication of a very simple thing - feeding a plant with basic balanced plant food - leads to problems for a lot of growers who've never had hands on gardening experience of any kind before planting a cannabis seed in a pot and switching a light on.

But I think that while things like the head formula are very much a step in the right direction in regards to simplicity, I think they also take a wrong turn and highlight another ignorance in the cannabis culture - the investment in `systems` or `formulas` which will lead you away from danger.

If a ten bottle regime is your like your kids hanging round with ten people telling them to do ten different things, the head formula is you telling them they can only have one friend and you will choose that person for them.

It's true that rigidly sticking to a certain formula might keep people away from trouble, but is it not keeping them away from learning?

I'm almost as much against that as I am beginners having problems as a result making up feeds with ten bottles based some online hoodoo merchant.

A lot of people who use the head formula or some other set ratio start to finish, would be stuck if you gave them another bottle of plant food, a shrub, and told them to grow it using that. That's not good, and like I say, it highlights how following a set guide of any kind should be secondary to learning basic growing.

I think both methods detract from someone acquiring a proper feel of how to grow and feed a plant.

Most 1-part base nutrients have everything in it our plants need through veg; In flower we just apply another basic gardening fact - that fruiting plants need less nitrogen and more potassium.

You're right in saying that plants flourish on proper strength nutes from the start, but you don't need the head formula to do it.

 

[theJointedOne]

there is no black and white , its shades of gray man

 

[Mister_D]

It really comes down to what you define "full strength" as. To me full strength is 1.5EC, though I rarely feed anything over 1.2EC. To someone else 2EC or even 3EC might be considered full strength. In this case starting at half strength would be wise.

 

[Cereals]

I think it depends on a number of things, including the strains you are running, and method of growing.

That being said, I use the "aggressive" schedule for my nutes.

 

[TheCleanGame]

---snip---

 

[dansbuds]

This whole half strength nute thing is out the window for me

for 1 thing .... heads formula is not a nutrient . its a nutrient formula . the whole half strength thing .... is not about a certain or any formula ... its about nutrient lines . 90 % of the nutrient lines have a recommended feeding schedule . & that is what your supposed to be starting at half strength with , not an already figured out formula of a certain nutrient line . dig it ???
if your using the Heads formula at half strength , then the error is yours not the formulas . sorry dude .

 

[Snow Crash]

Here's all you need to do:

Take the Percent on the bottle. Multiply it by the ml used per gallon.

Now multiply that by 2.65.

This is a ppm estimate for that element. Do the simple math and you can run any nutrient program at the strength that makes sense for your plants. No need to trudge blindly behind a feed scheduled when armed with the knowledge of what the solution contains.

(Phosphorus is actually only 43% of what's on the label, multiply that ppm by 0.43)
(Potassium is actually only 84% of what's on the label, multiply that ppm by 0.84)