H3ad 6/9 cal/mag problems

[slowandeasy]

I use RO water and had the pH at 5.5 that is when the spots appeared and the yellowing. I upped the pH to 5.9 for 2 days, and the problem got worse. I have Magi-Cal, and will use it if needed...but both H3ad and Rez say not to with the 6/9 formula. I am going to try one plant with tap water and pH 5.5. I just found out they do not use Chloramine, and the ppm is low on the tap water.

Hopefully that works, if it does not I will try the Magi-Cal. The spots look like Calcium, but I am wodering about the yellow spots too. The ppm of RO water and 6/9 is 650 on .5 scale. My tap water is 100-150 ppm, so I will make one jug using that, and one jug with 100ppm of Magi-Cal if needed. Anyone else care to chime in?

 

[slowandeasy]

Problem has now started on 2 more plants I have. I made up some nutes using tap water tonight, and gave it to 1 of the plants...we shall see what happens. Anyone have advice? Thanks

 

[greenatik]

h3ad also stated in his thread, after multiple users complained of having mag deficiencies using 6/9 + r/o, that he was unaware of its necessity because he never uses osmosis. either use the tap + 6/9 or use the osmosis + 6/9 + calmag. i'd go the osmosis route personally because it gives you total control

but to rule out other future problems... what kind of coco are you using? did you pre-rinse it?

"seems like the r/o is the common thread in the problem...
Try out the additive for sure... i've never lived anywhere where i had to r/o my tap water, so it is not a problem i have ever encountered... thanks for sharing, r/o users." ~h3ad

 

[slowandeasy]

H3ad and Rez, both say Cal-Mag is a waste and adjusting pH is the best way to treat it. Today made up a jug of 6/9 Tap and a jug of 6/9 with Magi-Cal. I am trying some with tap and some with Magi-Cal. I added 100 ppm of Magi-Cal and Tap is also 100ppm. We shall see what works best, they are both pHed to 5.5. We shall see what works better or if it works at all.

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

H3ad and Rez, both say Cal-Mag is a waste and adjusting pH is the best way to treat it. Today made up a jug of 6/9 Tap and a jug of 6/9 with Magi-Cal. I am trying some with tap and some with Magi-Cal. I added 100 ppm of Magi-Cal and Tap is also 100ppm. We shall see what works best, they are both pHed to 5.5. We shall see what works better or if it works at all.

They also use tap. Problems seem more frequent when people use RO.

 

[slowandeasy]

They also use tap. Problems seem more frequent when people use RO.

They both say 6/9 should be good even with RO water....but I see a common theme with RO users. I switched to Tap tonight and trying Magi-Cal on a couple. Hopefully that helps.

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

Also, all tap is not created equal. Two guys may have tap water of 0.3 EC, which is completely usable, but the stuff in the water may be completely different.

 

[slowandeasy]

Measured tap it is 100 ppm. Let it sit out 24 hours and added 6/9. PPM 750 @ .5
I agree everyones tap is different. Always did DWC and RO water, so I knew exactly what was in the mix. I knew going into coco that some people have problems with RO water, which is why I have Magi-Cal on hand. I did a jug of 6/9 RO and Magi-Cal, and feeding 2 plants that and the rest are now getting 6/9 tap. Hopefully it helps.

 

[W.P.]

Let me know bro. That should take care of you.

 

[Thundurkel]

I'll answer this.
In coco coir,use pH 5.5 nutrient solution,PERIOD.
NOT 6.0 pH,it's half a point WAY too high and nutes lock out.
In rockwool,use pH 6.0 and test your runoff regularly.
Keep your PPMs at 1000-1100,unless you really (really!) know your shit.
Cal-mag,is completely a waste of money,it's un-needed.... So fuck that noise.
The Answer Is....you guys are running your PPMs WAY too high-I'd bet a bunch of you are running,if checked,+1400 PPM,and if that's so,pH is irrelevant....you're fucked,burned,& locked-out.
The Bottom Line: Stick a $200USD digital Hanna Gro-Check in your reservoir....
That will solve your issues-trust me,I know.
I've NEVER had issues,personally....ever.
Listen to what I'm saying,and you won't,either-I've been using The Recipe since I started with the "Lucas Formula" baseline and re-designed it,many years ago....starting in Pro-Mix,and ending in coco-and it's never given me anything but top-shelf bud.



Cheers!

Reading along I kept saying why hasn't anybody chimed in and told the guy that it's his PH! He needs to run it at 5.5 and his problem would go away. Then I see good ol Rez come through and drop some knowledge that's what's up!

 

[slowandeasy]

5.5 did not make my plants do good at all! That was with 6/9 and RO water. Now I use 2 ml of Magi-Cal and have pH at 5.9. Things look perfect now. Maybe 5.5 is strain dependent or because of his tap water works well at 5.5...but it is not a magic number!

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

As much respect I have for Rez, a solid 5.5 has not been optimal for my plants in my limited experience. My plants have done much better with 5.6-6.0, and many growers seem to agree.

 

[Castelvetro]

if your plants do better with advice differant then what the ''masters'' say listen to your results n move on.

 

[Thundurkel]

so far 5.5-6.0 is perfect for my tap water and when I have had problems they were fixed by dropping the ph but that's just my exp..

 

[Carl Carlson]

5.5 did not make my plants do good at all! That was with 6/9 and RO water. Now I use 2 ml of Magi-Cal and have pH at 5.9. Things look perfect now. Maybe 5.5 is strain dependent or because of his tap water works well at 5.5...but it is not a magic number!

I think it was the addition of Magi-Cal, not micro-managing the pH of the water that was your solution.

You are using R.O. water which has zero acid buffering capacity, or alkalinity.

If anything, you should watch out for the pH of the coco going down during the course of the grow, but the GH nutes are pretty low in terms in terms of acidic nitrogen content so you might still be ok.

Either way, to sum up, the pH of your RO water has little to no immediate affect on the pH of the coco, in fact, because of the zero alkalinity, the coco probably changes the pH of your irrigation water to match it's pH pretty much instantaneously. I hate to say it, but unless we're talking about over periods of time, by changing the pH to 5.9, you didn't do what it is you thought you did and the opposite is occurring in the short run.

If none of this still doesn't make sense, try my sig. on for size:

 

[greenatik]

so far 5.5-6.0 is perfect for my tap water and when I have had problems they were fixed by dropping the ph but that's just my exp..

but its been stated multiple times that the problem is 6/9 + r/o water, not tap..

 

[slowandeasy]

so far 5.5-6.0 is perfect for my tap water and when I have had problems they were fixed by dropping the ph but that's just my exp..

5.5-6.0 is a huge range! Rez says 5.5 PERIOD. For me, it did not work with RO water. So telling everyone having your pH at 5.5 will fix your problem is not always true.

Carl,
I am not saying that 5.9 is what helped. I know it is the Magi-Cal. 5.9 with Magi-Cal is working great, and so is 5.7 on some other plants. Once clones take I am going to try 5.6 on some, 5.8 on some and 6.0 on some. All with the same amount of Magi-Cal. I will see what works best. My tap is 100ppm, and plants hate it for some reason. So I opt for RO water, which does not work well without Magi-Cal at any pH...for me atleast. This is my 1st round at Coco, have always done DWC. So it is a learning experience.

 

[!!!]

I realized at long last that using bricked Botanicare, even cut with perlite, watering every day was making the medium soggy and leading to root die back in seedlings and young plants. He swears along with others that this is physically impossible in coco, but the symptoms said overwatering, and treating them for overwatering, with pH and other factors stable, has lead to their recovery.

Yes! One should look at their plants and not a specific feed regimen, as these are highly dependent on environment and genes.

Example: I use CocoTek mixed bricks, and it seems impossible to overwater. In fact, if I don't water daily, the medium begins to dry out and nute concentration increases, resulting in nute burn (even if I'm not feeding.) Of course, my temp is high, humidity is low, and the mixed coco contains a lot of fiber and croutons/chips.

 

[WhateverComes]

have since moved back to organics, but i always had cal/mag problems when runnin the rez recipe in coco. maybe thats because when i was running it, The Recipe said SPECIFICALLY to run it at 6.0. funny now rez is going round saying 5.5. would have been nice to know that 2 years ago. just saying......

 

[Herborizer]

5.5 did not make my plants do good at all! That was with 6/9 and RO water. Now I use 2 ml of Magi-Cal and have pH at 5.9. Things look perfect now. Maybe 5.5 is strain dependent or because of his tap water works well at 5.5...but it is not a magic number!

Are you still running 6/9, PH 5.9, and 2ml of Magi-Cal? Also, what kind of Coco are you using?

I am also one of those people that prefer RO water. I am looking for the perfect formula with RO. Personally, I am using Canna COCO. Part of me just wants to scrap the GH nutes and buy Canna COCO A/B to make things simple. Though, I have mothers growing and those mothers have always got GH Flora... I would prefer to stick to one nute brand. Not sure if my mothers (growing in rockwool) will like Canna Coco A/B nutes. Not even sure what ratio they would get either.