100% Sativa Nutrients Low N High P/K Questions

[Dr.King]

I have grown 4 different 100% Sativas and a few 70/30s like Colombian Gold all grown with my normal nutrients schedule. They all turned out beautiful but I'm thinking about going low N, high P/K during mid-flowering this time around. My other Sativas seemed to have more leaf-to-bud ratio while still being very large colas so I hope this will help create more fox-tailing. I normally use Advanced Nutrients PH Perfect Sensi A+B, Overdrive, B-52, Big Bud, Sensizym, Bud Ignitor and Nirvana. It seems like a lot but I for one noticed increases when using these however this line-up seems a bit to much for 100% Sativas.

With each feeding the girls are getting 6% N, 3% P, 10% K during Veg. In flowering it verys from 6% N, 12% P, 17% K to 6% N, 9% P, 12% K. If I plan on using low N, high P/K should I continue using Advanced Nutrients as my feeder or change it completely? Can Advanced Nutrients even be used as a low N high P/K feeder? If so how should I go about feeding. I can post pictures of my Sativas if need be. Just really wanting to get the most out of my girls so I can see the sexyness . Thanks for the information and help.

 

[rüdiger]

i think ace forum should not be a general platform about nutrition questions.


maybe this is better to post in nutrient forum

 

[Dr.King]

My bad, I just thought this was a really good source for sativa information. All my strains are by Ace seeds, I was in hope of getting more "Ace" users to chime in on this topic. I have found that some users don't browse the forums and tend to stick to a few sections of the forums. I was hoping that a former Ace sativa grower might fill me in and help guide me on the right path. Genetics play a big role in nutrients I would think.

 

[rüdiger]

my bad, i did not know your strains.

as you seem to have same goals regarding nutrition im intrested to see your plants and will try to help you for sure!

you could use this thread as a report, im sure dubi could change the title then.

 

[dubi]

Hi Dr.King,

I'm more an organic grower and i usually don't use many products to take care of the plants.

I just like to prepare a rich mix of soil with guano and worm casting as a base. Sometimes (for transplants mainly) i like to use a rooting product like Rhizotonic, and organic fertilizers when the plants ask for a bit more of food. I like Bio Bizz and Bio Canna although they are quite soft compared with Advanced serie.

Lesser is more when the goal is quality (you get best terpenes, more natural aromas, smoother smoke, healthier smoke and more satisfying experience overall).

If you are more into get heavy yields or if you need to feed plants that are heavily seeded, then is a different thing, and makes sense to force the plants with more fertilizer.

Honestly i don't like to tell other growers how to feed their plants, as long as they are happy with their style and results. I know lot of people that are very happy with their results using chemical Advanced line. If that's your case then continue using the fertilizers you are familiarized with. I don't use Advanced, just because i like organic and i don't like to use a dozen of products to take care of a plant.

I'm quite disconnected of the newer fertilizer products for the past 10 years, but it's my guess that most of the new products released by fertilizer companies are not necessary, they just release them to full up more market spaces and to have more products to sell.

I use more or less the same soil mix for sativas and indicas, then i personalize the fertilizer dose for the concrete needs of a strain or the individual.

Landrace sativas (or landrace based hybrids) overall need lesser fertilizers but of course depends on the strain, please let me know what ace strains are you growing so i can provide more concrete recommendations.

 

[Dr.King]

Hi Dr.King,

I'm more an organic grower and i usually don't use many products to take care of the plants.

I just like to prepare a rich mix of soil with guano and worm casting as a base. Sometimes (for transplants mainly) i like to use a rooting product like Rhizotonic, and organic fertilizers when the plants ask for a bit more of food. I like Bio Bizz and Bio Canna although they are quite soft compared with Advanced serie.

Lesser is more when the goal is quality (you get best terpenes, more natural aromas, smoother smoke, healthier smoke and more satisfying experience overall).

If you are more into get heavy yields or if you need to feed plants that are heavily seeded, then is a different thing, and makes sense to force the plants with more fertilizer.

Honestly i don't like to tell other growers how to feed their plants, as long as they are happy with their style and results. I know lot of people that are very happy with their results using chemical Advanced line. If that's your case then continue using the fertilizers you are familiarized with. I don't use Advanced, just because i like organic and i don't like to use a dozen of products to take care of a plant.

I'm quite disconnected of the newer fertilizer products for the past 10 years, but it's my guess that most of the new products released by fertilizer companies are not necessary, they just release them to full up more market spaces and to have more products to sell.

I use more or less the same soil mix for sativas and indicas, then i personalize the fertilizer dose for the concrete needs of a strain or the individual.

Landrace sativas (or landrace based hybrids) overall need lesser fertilizers but of course depends on the strain, please let me know what ace strains are you growing so i can provide more concrete recommendations.

Thanks a ton for all the helpful information. I do like Advanced Nutrients for my Indicas. However after growing a few Sativas with AN they tent to have more leaf and much less foxtailing. Next run I plan on switching to Organics for my Sativas as recommended. This run I plan to cut the AN doses in half by mid flower then slowly stop feeding. In the mid stage of flowering I will increase the enhancers that provide more P/K too see how that works. These are test so they will be done in small increases. In theory it should work but who knows.

I am running 1 Zamaldelica(3'f x 5'f), 1 Malawi(5'f x 5'f) and 3 Bangi Haze(Single colas). Can't wait for my next run as it will include most of the Haze lines and a few Thai selections. Thanks again Dubi.

 

[de145]

Dr. King, I have grown Ace sativas for years and I scrog. I have experimented with feed and other things for years and come to the fairly recent conclusion that all my long internode stretchy sativas are best grown with bloom formula throughout their lifetime. I use maxibloom which is essentially the Lucas formula which you can look up elsewhere.

They are far too stretchy to use "veg" nutes at *any* point in my grows. Conversely I also grow some very dense indicas and I use veg nutes exclusively during vegging and I have it dialed in now to the point where both kinds stretch about the same amount during bloom.

I like to feed my sativa's as little as humanly possible so I keep pretty good records and experimented with reducing the feed constantly to the point that I never need to flush and the leaves by harvest time are faded out very nicely.

Most long time sativa growers I know of also try to feed as little as possible for best quality as Dubi says and this is why I avoid organics where you make a mix at the start and don't feed throughout because ironically I found they get too much nitrogen and don't finish very faded, way too green and thus harsh smoke. You lose control when you grow that way.

But whatever works, definitely restrict nitrogen whatever you do, get good at reading your plants, pay attention to leaf colour and internode length and finally consider the lucas formula throughout.

 

[Terpene]

I have grown 4 different 100% Sativas and a few 70/30s like Colombian Gold all grown with my normal nutrients schedule. They all turned out beautiful but I'm thinking about going low N, high P/K during mid-flowering this time around.

I can post pictures of my Sativas if need be. Just really wanting to get the most out of my girls so I can see the sexyness .

Lesser is more when the goal is quality (you get best terpenes, more natural aromas, smoother smoke, healthier smoke and more satisfying experience overall).

If you are more into get heavy yields or if you need to feed plants that are heavily seeded, then is a different thing, and makes sense to force the plants with more fertilizer.

get good at reading your plants, pay attention to leaf colour

I have run plants with nothing but water in good soil and run them with ferts in good soil and the last point that I quoted from DE145 seems to be the best indicator of what you can get away with.

Sativas are more sensititve to nutrients than production indicas and need to be juiced with a light touch. Based on the level of detail in your first post, I'd say you fully understand this concept.

I wouldn't worry too much about flushing out nitrogen either. I don't believe flushing is as necessary with organic soil as it is when you're chemically pumping them up (aka hydro). Ive run just about everything in Ace's lineup and my healthy green at chop plants and my heavily flushed colorful plants taste exactly the same (fantastic) when dried and when cured. I do notice that my heavily flushed plants tend to throw more late flowering nanners, but not much else.

Lately, I've been pushing harder than usual, including veg nutrients (which I never use) - mainly to see what I can get away with within each line. I have not seen any abnormal stretching or clawing, though I am still pretty light on the nutrients compared to some of the ridiculous 1500-2000ppm crowd. I don't have an exact number, but I'm seeing solid results dosing at roughly 1/3rd of what is recommended on the packaging if that helps you at all.

If you're looking for huge spears, I've always found that with sativas stem size matters more than nutes, soil volume, lighting, etc. The bigger the plant, the bigger the buds. The larger plants do require more room, soil, nutes, etc, but in my mind the size they produce is directly related to how much material the main stem and branches can suck through them to their bud sites.

My point is, sounds like you're doing it right. Light nutrients with added intensity as the plant tells you what it likes and make sure to back off when you see any type of negative reaction.

 

[Dr.King]

Thanks DE145 and Terpene. I always start off slow with veg nutrients 1/4, 1/2 then full strength till flower for all my plants. The Sativas I have grown seem to enjoy the veg nutrients and always have plenty of side branches/nodes.

I had previously planned on scrogging my Malawi out in my 5f x 5f tent. However flowering time fit perfect so I could fit it into my other 5f x 5f tent which has a 2.5f x 2.5f Acapulco Gold and a 2.5f x 2.5f C99. The Malawi was moved into that tent and scrogged under a 2.5f x 5f screen instead. I decided to do this because during my last grow during flowering I threw a Mango Haze in a 3 gallon smart pot in the back of my tent which yielded 3.5oz dry in 3 months. Planning to run a full 12/12 seed to flower 5f x 5f tent, mostly Ace gear. Looking for 16 total females to flower into single colas which are in 3 gallon smart pots. Starting off with 22 regs, 8 Old timers, 8 Bangi Haze, 4 Green Haze. The other 2 are Cali Conn GSC regs I just threw down due to interest that were freebies. After hearing more and more from top breeders, most advise to germinate their seeds directly into the soil.

I don't know if it's beginners luck or not but after doing this method 22/22 have popped out within 4 days. No dome, during the day temps ran 78-50% humidity, during time temps ran 68-70% humidity. Biggest thing breeders recommend were to us a spray bottle to coat the top of each pot each day if needed. The only part that really needs to be sprayed is on top of the seed, don't be directly over it either. I aimed 4 or 5 inches away and sprayed 10 or 15 times a day trying to ensure the medium stayed wet. Now I am just hoping for 16 females. More details and photos to come.

 

[dubi]

Thanks Dr.King! Please keep us updated with the progresses or let us know if you have any doubt during their development.

Best wishes!

 

[Dr.King]

Thanks Dr.King! Please keep us updated with the progresses or let us know if you have any doubt during their development.

Best wishes!

Here's a quick photo of the whole room. Mix of Bangi haze, Green Haze, Oldtimer haze, GSC, 2 Malawi clones going at the very bottom.