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4th grow in Promix - I still suck - Help
- Thread starter Jonnysact
- Start date
Hey Tom. My lady is starting to get thirsty and will no doubt need a watering tomorrow. Looks like Chimera is busy with life things. Might I ask what you "target neutral area" ph is? Right now, the last watering at 7.5 with feed gave me a runoff of 7. Should I continue to water and feed at 7 considering the ph still drops and I want to be between 6.3 and 6.8 in runoff?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Tynehead Tom
Well-known member
I don't want to give you the wrong advice hehehe My plants are in sunshine 4 that has no base nutes from the bag, so all they get is what I put in. You started these in a mix that already had base nutes if I remember from the beginning of the thread.
K, if it were me, I would feed at 6.4 to 6.5 for 2 feedings then for your flush the PH should be 6.8 to 7.0 , I favor 6.8 .lowest "soil" PH I have measured so far has been 5.8 and this is okay for me. It tells me my plants are feeding from the buffet and getting what they need. Visually, my plants are looking great and busting with vigour.
I'd humbley suggest the next plants you grow, find a soil less mix with no base nutes, premix with fine powdered dolomite lime. It's got granules like table salt but watch because it comes in many sizes from dust like powder to pellets the size od rabbit feed hehehe
I wet the soil out with 1/2 strength nutes at 7. ph
Then I follow my feed schedule above , adjusting nute strength as required for stage of plant growth.
you must remember tho, I have been absent from indoor growing (except for viney houseplants
) for the past decade , so weigh my advice accordingly
I'm working off my old notes.... and am also learning many new things taking part in various threads here on icmag.
you'll get it all worked out jonny, you've got some perserverence
edit to add: the grow I have right now, I started Mar 1st from seed. At the peak of my growing years ago me and a partner were running 2 , 3 to 5000watt flower rooms, a veg room, cloning room, seedling veg room and flowering room for testing crosses and hunting for traits. A male veg room and 2 sealed 400 watt flowering chambers for flowering males and making seeds. Back then we used a grocery list of additives and supplements and even different food altogether. Growing 17 varieties at one time, some needed totally different PH, nute strength/profile/soil moisture and on and on.
now, 10 years later, I look at all my notes and 1/2 the stuff isn't available, or called something else and getting set up for my little garden made my head spin LOL
so I went back to basics, sunshine mix 4 , premixed with dolomite, General hydro flora , Luca formula for soilless mix, so far it's been like riding a bike It's so easy to start getting sucked down the rabbit hole chasing perceived problems but I "think" most would agree with me when I say that if the PH of your feed solution is around 6.5 and thru the course of the plant feeding on the nutes you gave, the soil swings down to 5.8 by next feeding..... your plants are getting their nutrition.
In hydro systems guys watch this fluctuation and use it as a signal to "add back" the nutes the plant ate, thus bringing the PH back up to where it started.... dropping down again as the plants take the nutrients they need. The plants need this swing as at different PH levels thru the swing, essential foods become available.
I think I have it right, but would love to have Chimera or others chime in so that I'm not giving you bad advice LOL
K, if it were me, I would feed at 6.4 to 6.5 for 2 feedings then for your flush the PH should be 6.8 to 7.0 , I favor 6.8 .lowest "soil" PH I have measured so far has been 5.8 and this is okay for me. It tells me my plants are feeding from the buffet and getting what they need. Visually, my plants are looking great and busting with vigour.
I'd humbley suggest the next plants you grow, find a soil less mix with no base nutes, premix with fine powdered dolomite lime. It's got granules like table salt but watch because it comes in many sizes from dust like powder to pellets the size od rabbit feed hehehe
I wet the soil out with 1/2 strength nutes at 7. ph
Then I follow my feed schedule above , adjusting nute strength as required for stage of plant growth.
you must remember tho, I have been absent from indoor growing (except for viney houseplants
) for the past decade , so weigh my advice accordingly I'm working off my old notes.... and am also learning many new things taking part in various threads here on icmag.
you'll get it all worked out jonny, you've got some perserverence
edit to add: the grow I have right now, I started Mar 1st from seed. At the peak of my growing years ago me and a partner were running 2 , 3 to 5000watt flower rooms, a veg room, cloning room, seedling veg room and flowering room for testing crosses and hunting for traits. A male veg room and 2 sealed 400 watt flowering chambers for flowering males and making seeds. Back then we used a grocery list of additives and supplements and even different food altogether. Growing 17 varieties at one time, some needed totally different PH, nute strength/profile/soil moisture and on and on.
now, 10 years later, I look at all my notes and 1/2 the stuff isn't available, or called something else and getting set up for my little garden made my head spin LOL
so I went back to basics, sunshine mix 4 , premixed with dolomite, General hydro flora , Luca formula for soilless mix, so far it's been like riding a bike
It's so easy to start getting sucked down the rabbit hole chasing perceived problems but I "think" most would agree with me when I say that if the PH of your feed solution is around 6.5 and thru the course of the plant feeding on the nutes you gave, the soil swings down to 5.8 by next feeding..... your plants are getting their nutrition.In hydro systems guys watch this fluctuation and use it as a signal to "add back" the nutes the plant ate, thus bringing the PH back up to where it started.... dropping down again as the plants take the nutrients they need. The plants need this swing as at different PH levels thru the swing, essential foods become available.
I think I have it right, but would love to have Chimera or others chime in so that I'm not giving you bad advice LOL
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Bwanabud
Active member
Tom, in my experience be very careful with the Lucas system...it tends to be very strong and destroys the quality of your media in short order. You will end up with N/Mg deficiency, and really in lock out mode.
Secondly, not to contradict your post: But the scenario you posted about the media ph dropping after feeding, isn't related to the plants "using" the nutrient as much as it's the salt base driving the 5.4-5.6 virgin ProMix back to it's starting place. If you water at 6.5 and run off is 5.6 at next feeding, you are in dire need of a wash out...and fast. As Chimera posted earlier starting high at 8-8.4, flushing down to a final 6.8 with nutrients...eliminates the build up, salt, N/Mg deficiency,,,which then morphs into other deficiencies.
Secondly, not to contradict your post: But the scenario you posted about the media ph dropping after feeding, isn't related to the plants "using" the nutrient as much as it's the salt base driving the 5.4-5.6 virgin ProMix back to it's starting place. If you water at 6.5 and run off is 5.6 at next feeding, you are in dire need of a wash out...and fast. As Chimera posted earlier starting high at 8-8.4, flushing down to a final 6.8 with nutrients...eliminates the build up, salt, N/Mg deficiency,,,which then morphs into other deficiencies.
Tynehead Tom
Well-known member
yes, I'm getting that
I'm going to finish this flowering run (5 to 6 weeks) and do just as you guys suggest the next run, starting with the plants vegging right now.
while "I" think my plants look awesome and are performing as well as I could hope, I'm happy to receive the advice and improve the journey
Thank you!
The first plant is already showing how happy she is now. Green stems and growth is happening quite quickly now.
I'm going to update my original post to sum up the experience cause I think this case is closed. Thank you to all of you for your incredible support and expertise. A big thank you to Chimera. Your solution had me spend approximately 16 hours in total flushing 4 plants to get the medium back to a neutral state but it was a fantastic learning experience and one I won't forget.
Tynehead Tom
Well-known member
there are truly some excellent people here, I can feel the karma flowing
and ya, how bout them pics hehehe
and ya, how bout them pics hehehe
PoweredByLove
Most Loved
did you ever solve your issues? i didn't feel like reading 9 pages. but your issue is hungry plants. you needed to add more food. or transplant. those pots are too tiny for doing straight organic without having to add some sort of additional nutes. you need to give plants in organic/soil media more root space because the food isn't going to be as available as when you pour on some bottles.
i see people are wondering where you went...i hope you were able to solve your issue. in the future i would transplant into a larger pot right before the flip. they will need a lot of food during stretch and early bud formation and if you run out of food too soon you end up with pale deficient plants like you have. i learned the hard way. benefit from my experience.
i see people are wondering where you went...i hope you were able to solve your issue. in the future i would transplant into a larger pot right before the flip. they will need a lot of food during stretch and early bud formation and if you run out of food too soon you end up with pale deficient plants like you have. i learned the hard way. benefit from my experience.
Hi Power,
I can see that you didn't read the thread. The ladies were indeed hungry, but not due to being underfed. For people like me who run micro grows, potting up isn't always an option. I did, however, include a summary in the very first thread for people such as yourself, and the average online reader, who just want the quick and dirty.
Here is the first plant that went through Chimera's process
I can see that you didn't read the thread
. The ladies were indeed hungry, but not due to being underfed. For people like me who run micro grows, potting up isn't always an option. I did, however, include a summary in the very first thread for people such as yourself, and the average online reader, who just want the quick and dirty.Here is the first plant that went through Chimera's process
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PoweredByLove
Most Loved
that plant is still hungry. needs more mag. add epsom salt 1tsp per gallon or top dress with some dolomite lime. it acts a little faster if you dissolve it in water as much as you can.
Tynehead Tom
Well-known member
Hi Power,
I can see that you didn't read the thread
Here is the first plant that went through Chimera's process
View Image
awesome man, so glad to see this worked out for you! Hope you didn't mind me taking advantage of this thread to soak up the advice as well hehehe
Stick with Chimera and Bwanabuds advice dude, the results are right there.
I know I'm paying much more attention to my runoff now and I sent my well water to Kamloops to get tested in a lab
Bwanabud
Active member
awesome man, so glad to see this worked out for you! Hope you didn't mind me taking advantage of this thread to soak up the advice as well hehehe
Stick with Chimera and Bwanabuds advice dude, the results are right there.
I know I'm paying much more attention to my runoff now and I sent my well water to Kamloops to get tested in a lab
Depending on the results of your testing, you may find no need to add Ca...especially if it's over 40-50ppm. I run all well water here with a blend of rainwater at times, my well water averages 60ppm total, rain water 7ppm.
Water/feed at 6.8 and maintain 6.3-6.7 on run-off, I always let the water flow for 15 seconds or so before I snatch for runoff testing. Watch you don't push your K numbers too high in mid-late bloom, or lock out will start again...and tougher to fix.
