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A question for the growers using Jacks 5-12-26

Jabapc

Member
I'm about ready to start my first grow using Jacks hydro with cal nit.
my nute formula that I want to try is this per Gal.
2.5 grams Jacks
2.5 grams Cal Nit
1/2 gram epsom salt
1tsp Dyna Gro Pro Tekt

if I'm right about this it should give me ppm of

N P K Ca Mg S SI
135 35 190 125 59 61 90

how does it look and any suggestions

oh yeah I'm gonna wait on the Fulvic Acid untill I get this worked out Thanks
 

Snook

Still Learning
I'm about ready to start my first grow using Jacks hydro with cal nit.
my nute formula that I want to try is this per Gal.
2.5 grams Jacks
2.5 grams Cal Nit
1/2 gram epsom salt
1tsp Dyna Gro Pro Tekt

if I'm right about this it should give me ppm of

N P K Ca Mg S SI
135 35 190 125 59 61 90

how does it look and any suggestions

oh yeah I'm gonna wait on the Fulvic Acid untill I get this worked out Thanks

As per Delta9, from the thread Passive Plant Killer (in my sig) 1 part jacks to .67 of calnit.. nuttin else.. I've run it RDWC and passive..

600ppms, period: I use it for veg and bloom.. >> in RO, 370ppms of jacks and fill to 600ppms w calnit. IMO, the more junk you add to the nutes, the more you'll have PH problems...
 
Y

YosemiteSam

It has been a while since I used it but if your math is correct that looks really good with the possible exception of it being a little strong...but that is gonna depend on how much runoff you use. 20% runoff and you are probably good to go. I find that with mo runoff 100 ppm N is enough.

I like the addition of silicate.

Good luck.
 

Jabapc

Member
Thanks Sam, I'll keep you all posted as how it goes.
right now my clones are a little slow rooting ,should have used the heating mat
 

delta9nxs

No Jive Productions
Veteran
I'm about ready to start my first grow using Jacks hydro with cal nit.
my nute formula that I want to try is this per Gal.
2.5 grams Jacks
2.5 grams Cal Nit
1/2 gram epsom salt
1tsp Dyna Gro Pro Tekt

if I'm right about this it should give me ppm of

N P K Ca Mg S SI
135 35 190 125 59 61 90

how does it look and any suggestions

oh yeah I'm gonna wait on the Fulvic Acid untill I get this worked out Thanks

hi, mixing equal weight is wrong. their instructions show several ways to mix it.

they recommend equal volume.

however, as snook mentioned, the best way to mix is by ec or ppm.

you also won't need any magnesium sulfate, the base formula has over 6% magnesium.

i'm going to assume that you don't have a meter and that's why you are talking about mixing by weight.

if you take a 1/4 teaspoon plus a 1/8 teaspoon of each, 3/8 teaspoon total of each, you will get approx 750 ppm or ec 1.5. this is per gallon.

if you do have a meter, you don't need to measure water volume.

600 ppm is 360 ppm jacks and 240 ppm calcinit 240/360=.67

750 ppm is 450 ppm jacks and 300 ppm calcinit 300/450=.67

900 ppm is 540 ppm jacks and 360 ppm calcinit 540/360=.67

i cannot imagine a situation where you will need a solution stronger than this.

i have grown a 22.5 oz plant in a 3.5 gal container of coco with 600 ppm for life with no displays or problems, no additives or boosters or even ph adjusters.

if you mix it properly you won't have any ph issues.

the ratio is 1/.67 jacks/calcinit

d9
 

Jabapc

Member
Thanks Delta9 .
I was going to start out with my formula at about half strength.
I grow in DWC,I have 2 tubs so I'll try yours in one and mine in one,I have no doubts about your formula only mine.
once again thanks for the info
 
i felt like when i ran 1:0.67 jacks:calcium nitrate i ran into cal/mag deficiencies more, although not tooooo often. i ended up going back to 1:1 and have seen zero issues since. i use a tablespoon scoop of each for 5gal of RO water, i forget the ppm that ends up but i think it is somewhere around 850. i've used this with handwatered coco, handwatered sunshine #4, and ebb and flow coco.
 

Jabapc

Member
Hey D9...I weighed out 3/8 of a tsp came out to almost exactly 2.5 grams of each Jacks and Cal Nit .. its about 2.3 actualy so that maybe what I go by seeing as I dont have an EC meter to measure EC..thanks again
 
D

dramamine

Hey, it sounds like you guys may be confusing weight and volume. Japapc, 3/8 tsp of Jacks should (does) weigh more than 3/8 tsp of CalNit....this is because the Jack's is denser, more finely grained. Think of it like salt: a scoop of kosher salt weighs less than a scoop of table salt, because the shape of the kosher salt doesn't pack as densely....leaving more air space in the scoop.

Like d9 said above, the Jack's formula is designed to be applied in equal volume, not weight. As in, the same sized scoop of each. It's also nearly effortless, and is designed to be so. That said, applying extra CalNit may initially cause the plant to get nice and dark green, yet it deprives the plant of the other half of the formula.

I've found that diesel strains demand more mag than Jack's offers, but many strains do not.
 

Jabapc

Member
heres the information I went by when I decided to start using Jacks.
these are cut and pasted from a thread here on dry nutes mixing your own

This is the Jacks at 100% or 3.7 grams of dry pwoder per gallon of water, before the added Calcium Nitrate

Total ppm
Nitrogen (All Nitrate) N 50
Phosphorus P 52
Potassium K 215
Magnesium Mg 63
Sulfur S 82
Iron Fe 3
Manganese Mn 0.50
Zinc Zn 0.15
Copper Cu 0.15
Boron B 0.50
Molybdenum Mo 0.10

After the added CaNo3 the N is boosted to N: 150 ppm,
and Calcium as Ca: 116 ppm Ca so if you mix at 100% strength Jacks with 100% Calcium nitrate(2.44 grams per gallon) you have a formula of....

Total ppm
Nitrogen (All Nitrate) N 150
Phosphorus P 52
Potassium K 215
Calcium C 116
Magnesium Mg 63
Sulfur S 82
Iron Fe 3
Manganese Mn 0.50
Zinc Zn 0.15
Copper Cu 0.15
Boron B 0.50
Molybdenum Mo 0.10

Ok as I now see it......

1 gram of Jacks Hydroponic in 1 gallon of water = aprox

N=13 ppm
P=14 ppm
K=57 ppm
Mg=17 ppm
S=22 ppm
Ca=0 ppm

1 gram of Calcium Nitrate in 1 gallon of water = aprox
N=41 ppm
Ca=50 ppm

Epsom Salt is Magnesium Sulfate and its per gram in a gallon of water..
Mg=26ppm
S=34ppm

the "crysmatic formula" that i like is basically 2-1-3-2-1. ppm is roughly:

N 149
P 46
K 188
Ca 147
Mg 73
S 85

3.3 g jack's pro (per gallon)
2.5 g calnit0.4 g epsom
0.05 g CaCl2 (optional imo)

honestly I dont know for sure about any of it I'm just going by what every one here has figured out already and hoping for the best..we'll see
 

delta9nxs

No Jive Productions
Veteran
Hey d9,

Why is mixing by EC better than by weight?

hi, hg23!

it is a lot more accurate, i hit the numbers i want almost exactly every time.

it is easier and less time consuming as you don't need to know the water volume.

i mix in a clean container filled with ro water. i don't know the volume of water exactly.

i know the approx water level in my mixing container to add x tablespoons of jacks for my target ppm. i add that first, stir it in well and check ec. if it is too low you add more jacks at this time. if you have overshot you correct with more water.

stir well. i use a pump to recirculate and a boat paddle. you'll see a little white stuff in the bottom initially. that is the magnesium sulfate. it takes a little longer for it to dissolve.

after it has dissolved and your jacks ppm is correct add the calcinit.

again stir well and bring the ec up to the desired level.

always add the calcinit last. if you add more magnesium sulfate do it after the jacks and before the calcinit to avoid reactions.

i then pump this up into my volume tanks which feed my system.

the advantage to mixing a fresh batch in a separate container and then adding to existing solution is that you are adding a premixed, stable solution to a premixed, stable solution.

this does not allow reactions to take place that can occur with adding concentrated nutrients to a stable working strength solution.
 

delta9nxs

No Jive Productions
Veteran
i felt like when i ran 1:0.67 jacks:calcium nitrate i ran into cal/mag deficiencies more, although not tooooo often. i ended up going back to 1:1 and have seen zero issues since. i use a tablespoon scoop of each for 5gal of RO water, i forget the ppm that ends up but i think it is somewhere around 850. i've used this with handwatered coco, handwatered sunshine #4, and ebb and flow coco.

hey, banana buds!

if you use jacks at 1/.67 alone in ro water you will never have a "calmag" issue.

what you may be seeing is some inter-veinal chlorosis on leaves away from the light.

magnesium is the central molecule in all chlorophyll types. cannabis leaves require light to produce chlorophyll. without light the leaf is not in full production.

look to see if you have the same symptoms on leaves facing the light. if you don't, you don't have a deficiency. you can ignore these symptoms.

the jacks has a huge amount of magnesium in it compared to almost any other brand. over 6%.

i have never seen or heard of a mag deficiency with jacks used as i have outlined it here.

if you do have symptoms on the leaves facing the light it is more likely that you have a stimulation or an antagonism caused by a third or more substance or substances.

d9
 

delta9nxs

No Jive Productions
Veteran
Hey D9...I weighed out 3/8 of a tsp came out to almost exactly 2.5 grams of each Jacks and Cal Nit .. its about 2.3 actualy so that maybe what I go by seeing as I dont have an EC meter to measure EC..thanks again


this is an illustration of how using a meter is more accurate.

at 1/2 tsp per gal of each, which is jacks recommendation for small batches, the weights should be 3.6 gr jacks and 2.4 gr calcinit. i got this with an ohaus dial-a-gram triple beam. repeated trials and averaged. this gets you ec 2.1 or 1050 ppm at the .5 conversion.

so 3/8 tsp of each should get you 787.5 ppm.

if you look at jacks bulk mixing instructions they show 130 oz's of jacks to 1000 gals.

then they show 86 oz's of calcinit added to the same 1000 gals.

the ratio by weight is 86/130 or .66153. this is almost the same ratio as mixing by meter, but not quite. this also gets you 1050 ppm.

this simple coincidence has confused a lot of folks.
 

delta9nxs

No Jive Productions
Veteran
Total ppm
Nitrogen (All Nitrate) N 150
Phosphorus P 52
Potassium K 215

using a common denominator of 50 we see that this comes out to

3/1.04/4.3 very close to the 3-1-4 ratio that everyone has been talking about for a while now. AN is close to 3-1-4.

i have been using jacks for about 2 years now and have been growing large, healthy plants with it at 600 to 750 ppm for life. no displays or symptoms whatsoever.

from 8" cutting to huge finished plant. no additives, boosters, or ph adjusters.

this is a very well thought out and complete program from jrpeterslab.

i feel that anyone experiencing problems with this product are using unsuitable tap water, ph adjusters, or additives. all of which should be left out of your reservoir.
 
Last edited:

delta9nxs

No Jive Productions
Veteran
"I've found that diesel strains demand more mag than Jack's offers, but many strains do not."

hey, buddy! i'm about to find out. i'm about to pop about 100 ecsd beans.

i do have ecsd x g13 finishing up right now that has not shown a need for more mag.

this product is adjustable. every plant or crop will be at least a little different.

this is why the jacks instructions show how to add magnesium and how to bump up the calcinit.

this is where everyone needs to proceed with caution.

i'm dead set against the use of combined calmag products. i think the calcium and the magnesium should be added separately and in the order shown.

more control.
 
D

dramamine

Nice post, delta. That's the thing about Jack's that really works for me...it's totally adjustable. Nice for multi-strain gardens.

On magnesium vis a vis diesel strains, I've found it can even be just a pheno or two within the cross that gets greedy. I understand the original clone does tear through it, but the outcrosses I've grown vary in their demands. Certain specific expressions just want way more. And, shit dude, that ecsd x g13 sounds deadly!
 

high life 45

Seen your Member?
Veteran
This is golden info...

this product is adjustable. every plant or crop will be at least a little different.

this is why the jacks instructions show how to add magnesium and how to bump up the calcinit.

this is where everyone needs to proceed with caution.

i'm dead set against the use of combined calmag products. i think the calcium and the magnesium should be added separately and in the order shown.

more control.
 
G

Guest 142956

I certainly bow to the mathematitions here. My testing is less scientific though. I start low or at reccomended levels by volume. My plants showed a lot of purple on both the stalks and leaf stems, something not seen using other ferts and I took this as the plants needed more fert strength so I doubled it to a teaspoon per gallon each part and 1 teaspoon of epsom salts per gallon. My results are excellent at this seemingly high level. I use tap water not RO. My plants have just a tinge of purple at the petioles and seem to really be loving life, no dead leaf tips or any other bad signs. The smoke is great, flavor fine and very pretty buds. I would have never tried Jacks if it were not for Delta9x's PPK thread and am very happy I did.
 
For those using Jacks straight through with no boosters, do you adjust your ratios as flowering winds down? I.e., less calcinit and more of the Jack's "base"?

Also wondering (for those who use additives), what change if any they make to the base formula when using said additives. Am going to do a heads up of Jacks (straight through, run at 1/2 tsp/gallon of each) vs. the same base + Big Bud and Overdrive.

Conditions are identical for each group, the addition of Big Bud and Overdrive will be the only variable.

Thanks.
 
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