-
Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
-
Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!
Science behind pumping 800ppm Potassium
- Thread starter Hwmpunk
- Start date
Lyfespan
Active member
high calcium allows for more K is what im seeing. also its not one source for things, calcium nitrates, sulfates, carbonates, and chlorides are being used here as well as many different forms of K.
jackspratt61
Active member
Please share on the different forms of K being used and when?
It is an interesting theory.
I can offer my observations and you can draw your own conclusions. It is not uncommon to see 7-8% K in tissue analysis. It is also guaranteed you are going to to see more, darker ash.
It is also guaranteed soil tests are fucked up at that point.
My highest yields/best quality has been around 2.5-3% K in tissue
I can offer my observations and you can draw your own conclusions. It is not uncommon to see 7-8% K in tissue analysis. It is also guaranteed you are going to to see more, darker ash.
It is also guaranteed soil tests are fucked up at that point.
My highest yields/best quality has been around 2.5-3% K in tissue
CaptnCrunch
Member
I've always kept the N up until almost the end of flower
that can make for a "healthy" looking finish but higher N levels late in flower lower terpene levels.
(and of course, pot without terpenes is just fancy hay...)
Wow, love to meet that guy!
If one understands the cycles, pushes the cycles, it is pretty amazing how far we go and still get amazing quality and at the same time increasing yields. Important to have both.
High K at the end of the cycle(s) matures up everything. Which at the end of flower means moving everything up to the flower.
I insist that folks stay a week ahead of what they plan on doing, one week early. So if the program is to mature up and I have enough Ca to cover my bet, I will push 13 gr of K sulfate per gallon on ONE PLANT, one week ahead of time. If I see positive response, the plant has spoken. We're good to go.
This can be confirmed with a refractometer.
This is all about nutrient density. Knowing when to push and knowing when to pull.
jackspratt61
Active member
You would like that guy I suspect!
Slow...so k2so4 definitely increases terpene levels compared to mkp when used this way, yea?
If you go a hair early do you see the cycle time cut by a week or two? Ever use it to balance out finishing time to equalize work flow? Like make an 8 week strain last 9 or a 10 week strain finish in 9
If you go a hair early do you see the cycle time cut by a week or two? Ever use it to balance out finishing time to equalize work flow? Like make an 8 week strain last 9 or a 10 week strain finish in 9
Slow...here is another question that would not apply to soil but let’s say a hydro feed in rockwool. I try to absolutely minimize Na, Mg and K during frame build. Would you see any reason early for K to be more than 1/2 Ca? Given CaNO3 being my N source
Edit...and by minimize I mean almost to the point of symptoms showing but not quite
Edit...and by minimize I mean almost to the point of symptoms showing but not quite
Seems to be the right proportion.....
Most definitely terp increase with the KS.
Most definitely! On lots of crops you can push maturity, but you better have everything right if you push!
canna.ballistic
Active member
Another little gem of information from SlowNickel ... I very much appreciate when some numbers are given, as it gives me a reference to apply to my grows ... thanks to SN and the others who regularly share their nutrient knowledge on a couple of these threads !!
I have been applying about 10g per two gallons per plant per week for big outdoor plants (10' to 12') towards the end of flower. How far could the K sulfate be pushed with big outdoor girls (assuming the Ca is available) ??
I am assuming the 13g per gallon is to keep the EC within reasonable levels. I will certainly increase the K Sulfate to about 20g per two gallons per plant for my remaining girls this season ... but could the K sulfate application be safely pushed even further to say 50g per four gallons per plant in the last couple of weeks to finish off big girls, or is that just crazy talk ?!?
I have been applying about 10g per two gallons per plant per week for big outdoor plants (10' to 12') towards the end of flower. How far could the K sulfate be pushed with big outdoor girls (assuming the Ca is available) ??
I am assuming the 13g per gallon is to keep the EC within reasonable levels. I will certainly increase the K Sulfate to about 20g per two gallons per plant for my remaining girls this season ... but could the K sulfate application be safely pushed even further to say 50g per four gallons per plant in the last couple of weeks to finish off big girls, or is that just crazy talk ?!?
So I will come clean. Coco, hydro. I figure the end of frame build is end of week 3. So end of wk 2 I go 1-x-2.4-1.2-.25.
The exact K you run depends on how much soluble K is in your coco. EC depends on environment.
In this case humidity is 37% so I cannot really push EC. So I am at 2.4 fed 12x per day.
Yield is double the traditional avg. At the same time total thc is 1.64x tradition. Cycle time is down 1 week
I am certain I have not reached the upper limit on K yet. Baby steps from here on out though
Edit...gg4 close up, judge quality for yourself
Ibechillin
Masochist Educator
In Harley Smith's article on Phosphorus over at maximumyield he mentions boosting P during seedling stage and stretch since its used in energy for the plant and root development, then boosting K towards the end for finish. Anyone boosting P during stretch?
https://www.maximumyield.com/why-your-garden-needs-phosphorus/2/1384
Here is his article on boosting K at end of cycle:
https://npk-university.com/resources_BOOSTING_Your_Harvest_WITH_POTASSIUM_SUPPLEMENTS.html
https://www.maximumyield.com/why-your-garden-needs-phosphorus/2/1384
Here is his article on boosting K at end of cycle:
https://npk-university.com/resources_BOOSTING_Your_Harvest_WITH_POTASSIUM_SUPPLEMENTS.html
That's the way I've been doing it outdoors with pretty good results. I start pushing P just before transition to bloom and K once it stops stacking. Indoors I used to push P and K heavy as soon as I switched to 12/12 with fish hydrolysate something like 0-12-12 and had real good results. So I'm thinking some type of hybird of the two might be best outdoors. I'm still experimenting.
TnTLabs
Active member
yo j, no offence, but that gg4 bud aint looking very special...
guessing its from around week 4?? before it starts to bulk, so hard to judge quality...
but why are you running humidity so low?? its stressing the plants... vpd is not a rule but it sure does help keep things going smoothly...
im guessing as you are in a greenhouse you are trying to keep rh low to avoid PM problems etc... and then pushing K to get the yield you are loosing from running rh so low??
what is your water base EC ... total EC 2.4 is doable, sure, your plants are big... but do you flush once a week?? maybe im missing infos, but in coco you are bound to run into overfeeding this way UNLESS you do flushes regularly... as always there will be a salt build up over time and once it hits a peak of about EC 3.0 is when you start going downhill..... a few days at 2.4 will quickly get you there...
no reason to go over EC 2.0 in coco, especially if feeding 12x a day... but thats just my opinion
TnTLabs
Active member
Slow...i thought you had left this place...
nice to see you around!!
yeah i can back that up... Ksulfur is the one to get quality!
i also run Mg and B pretty high, and Si is used all the way from veg through to flush...
Slow, any infos on adding Copper to boost enzyme activity...
or is copper generally speaking in abundance in most soils..
i know you are going to say do a soil test to make sure i have adequate levels... and yep you are right...
been playing around with diy zink citrate as i use citric acid as my ph down anyway... hard to come to any conclusions yet though
The theory that Ca:Mg:K need to be supplied in correct ratio has been proven to be total b.s. You just need to have enough of each in solution. Furthermore, increasing K allows plant to a) pick up more CO2, and b) shuttle more anions through sap. IDK if running 800 ppm of anything is a good idea... but
I'm curious to what level you can push a plant. Can you always increase nutrients as long as you are adding more of the limiting factor?
I'm curious to what level you can push a plant. Can you always increase nutrients as long as you are adding more of the limiting factor?
