[Mrs.ThC]

Hello, my hubby has been on apart of these forums for years, his knowledge is almost intimidating at times. I can easily say both of us are not masters at the art yet hence my pleading for help. We use coco as a base with a continuous problem with mag def. Also we have a 1000W hps going and he has recently turned off the 600W hps we had going, he had thought we were over doing the light with the amount of garden we have. We also have a 400w going on the smaller plants, what i am really trying to ask is if anyone has any advice on light arangment to get the full potential out of our lights, and also if a certain type of nute levels we should use if we have general hydro, flora gro(only for the babies), flora micro, flora bloom, floralicious plus, and recently CalMag to help with the deficiency. Also we do use pH down, we already know the pH is suppose to be around 5.5-5.0. We constantly feel like we are putting so much into our babies without receiving what we expect in return. Any advice is much appreciated!

[DocLeaf]

Hi,

Nutrients:

Are you hand-watering or using drip-feed system?

If hand watering then you could consider using an alga (seaweed) during flowering to correct mirco-nutrients ,, like magnesium and calcium deficiencies. Likewise piranha or voodoo from advanced nutrients would also help microbial fungi to develop within the coco substrate.

Otherwise we'd mix coco, compost and worm-casts (45%/45%/10%). This will improve plant health overall.

Light:

The greater the light source generally speaking the larger potential yield,, when the plants are healthy.

Aim to get the growing environment correct first,, then worry about lumen.

Hope this helps

[Dutchgrown]

Great advice Doc, as always.

For referencing light, here's a nifty chart that might be of help, but like Doc mentioned, try to get your nutrients dialed in a bit...do you use a PH meter and if so, are you confident it is calibrated for accurate readings?

:

[Mrs.ThC]

I am hand watering... thank you so much for the advice but i was wondering if the piranha and the voodoo would be interfering with the gen. hydro. nutrients that i am using. Also the compost that you mix with your coco... do you just make your own blend?

[steppinRazor]

a tbl spoon of epsom salt per 2 1/2gal has always cured my magnesium problems.. not every watering mind you.

[DocLeaf]

Originally Posted by Mrs.ThC

I am hand watering... thank you so much for the advice but i was wondering if the piranha and the voodoo would be interfering with the gen. hydro. nutrients that i am using. Also the compost that you mix with your coco... do you just make your own blend?

Hi,

The voodoo and piranha should be ok with the gen. hydro nutrients. (my buddy mixes canna A + B and them).

The compost is normally shop bought in EU, biobiz, atami, or plagron.

Hope this helps

[Rosy Cheeks]

Originally Posted by Mrs.ThC

We use coco as a base with a continuous problem with mag def.

I keep hearing about these cal/mag defs in coco, yet I never experienced them myself using mineral based nutrients, only with organic nutes. Why don't you mix some bat guano in the coco, it's chockful of Ca and Mg, and your plants love it.

Originally Posted by Mrs.ThC

Also we have a 1000W hps going and he has recently turned off the 600W hps we had going, he had thought we were over doing the light with the amount of garden we have. We also have a 400w going on the smaller plants, what i am really trying to ask is if anyone has any advice on light arangment to get the full potential out of our lights, and also if a certain type of nute levels we should use if we have general hydro, flora gro(only for the babies), flora micro, flora bloom, floralicious plus, and recently CalMag to help with the deficiency. Also we do use pH down, we already know the pH is suppose to be around 5.5-5.0. We constantly feel like we are putting so much into our babies without receiving what we expect in return. Any advice is much appreciated!

Personally I would have advised you to get two 600w bulbs. I don't know your grow surface, can't be that big if 1600w is too much though. There really is no reason to run 1000w bulbs in such small grows, they're better suited for large canopies and plants.
The potentially best light arrangement would be to have as good light coverage as possible, which means that - to the extent possible - you surround the plants with lights so that all bud sites including the lower ones get covered. For this you need multiple light sources. One single light source (your 1000w bulb) concentrates all light from one direction, it creates heat problems and hot spots, and even if you use reflectors and reflective walls, it won't distribute the light as well as multiple light sources. I say you could have boosted your yield with 30% by going my way, and that statement is based on experience.

This whole 1000w bulb thing is basically just typical macho "bigger must be better" thinking, guys chose their light bulbs as they chose their cars. Let some creative feminine thinking into your growroom next time you change the set-up

Nutrient levels depend partially on how much light you're using. The more lumens that reaches the plants, the more they photosynthesize, the more nutrients they consume. Genetics also play into this, so it's really hard for us to tell you, it's a trial and error thing you must work out yourselves.

Some people like to keep the ph very low, like 5.0-5.5. It is a theory by some that nutrient uptake capacity in Cannabis is most efficient at 5.2, and they generally refer back to this one single research study; "Hydroponic Nutrients" by M. Edward Muckle, to support it. I've set the ph on 5.2 in a side by side grow and noticed no improvement in growth or health from it. Let's also add that bacteria culture in the medium is impaired by such a low ph, but whatever works for you is good enough for me. I generally fluctuate my ph beween 5.5 and 6.0, perhaps you should do the same between 5.0 and 6.0 and keep it where you get the best results.