Diary PCBuds mini-grow

[PCBuds]

that purpling looks more deficency related than cold.

phosphorus and maybe magnesium is what it looks like to my eyes..

however not much to it, this late in bloom, next run make sure you use a little more P

shrimp/crusteatan meal and a good rock dust would do well for you.

I'm using MaxiGrow and MaxiBloom at about 1/4 strength along with a tablespoon of molasses per half gallon of degassed tap water at every watering.


I'll be sure to stir more garden lime into the grow media before I start my next plant.

 

[indagroove]

I'm using MaxiGrow and MaxiBloom at about 1/4 strength along with a tablespoon of molasses per half gallon of degassed tap water at every watering.


I'll be sure to stir more garden lime into the grow media before I start my next plant.

Why 1/4 strength? Garden lime is great.. for the garden in your yard, but it doesn't really have enough time to break down in short lived Cannabis container gardening. Molasses is to feed the microbes in your soil, not the plant itself. Are you adding any extra CalMag or epsom salts? It's generally needed for high intensity LED grows.

 

[PCBuds]

The package says "Use the nutrients once or twice a week and plain water in between" so I use 1/4 strength at every watering so I don't have to keep track.

The nutes have calcium, magnesium, and sulfur as well which apparently is missing in other fertilizers.

The molasses also has calcium and magnesium and gives the buds a nice sweet taste.

I'm also using anaerobic bacteria that eat the molasses and help make the nutrients available to the plant.

I could increase my nutes a bit but I don't want to have salt buildup and have to worry about flushing.



This is my first grow with the LED strips so perhaps the plant does need more nutrients.

 

[indagroove]

The package says "Use the nutrients once or twice a week and plain water in between" so I use 1/4 strength at every watering so I don't have to keep track.

The nutes have calcium, magnesium, and sulfur as well which apparently is missing in other fertilizers.

The molasses also has calcium and magnesium and gives the buds a nice sweet taste.

I'm also using anaerobic bacteria that eat the molasses and help make the nutrients available to the plant.

I could increase my nutes a bit but I don't want to have salt buildup and have to worry about flushing.



This is my first grow with the LED strips so perhaps the plant does need more nutrients.

I'd strongly suggest adding some extra Mag by way of epsom salts to your feed schedule. It's cheap as chips and really helps with LED grows.

 

[PCBuds]

I'd strongly suggest adding some extra Mag by way of epsom salts to your feed schedule. It's cheap as chips and really helps with LED grows.

Okay, ...
I've got some.

How much do I use?

 

[indagroove]

Okay, ...
I've got some.

How much do I use?

I go with 1/2 teaspoon/gallon. Some people use more. You can also use it as a foliar spray for more immediate effects during veg.

 

[PCBuds]

There's not much left but I don't need much. Lol

 

[PCBuds]

Maybe I can mane my own CalMag...
Lol











I could dissolve a tablet in vinegar or lemon juice to release the Ions. Lol

200 mg of elemental Calcium.

 

[PCBuds]

Aaah what the hell...







I'll let this marinate for a while and toss it in my nute mix.







I might propagate my plant or kill it.

We'll see. Lol

 

[PCBuds]

I dumped it down the drain...


I've got calcium and magnesium, in my water, my nutes, my molasses, and in my garden lime.


I really think she's purple from the cold.


It happened last year with my outdoor plant.







My own fingers have turned purple from the cold.
(I live in Canada, we live in igloos. Lol)

 

[indagroove]

You do your thing, but I know when I started growing with LED's and my plants were looking unhappy I added extra Mag by way of epsom salts, and they perked right up real quick. It's fairly common for LED growers to add extra Mag or CalMag to their feed, even when using a complete fertilizer.

 

[PCBuds]

Back during the polar vortexes of 2015, I decided to make ice sculptures...

My fingers were purple. Lol




















One more cool picture of my living room window...

 

[PCBuds]

 

[SuperBadGrower]

Maxibloom 1/4 dose is 2.5 g/gal (approximations):
N: 35
P: 43
K: 78
Ca: 32
Mg: 23
S: 26

tap water is 30-100 ppm Ca? Mine is 60

That's low, but if you don't flush out peat even low or normal dose can accumulate to 6 EC runoff down the line. Who knows what the real nutrient condition of the medium is?

(Looking at the numbers I would use the maxigrow 5g/gal, full cycle with runoff
way too low N in maxibloom for me
Good ratios for coco not too obscene with K.
Maxigrow with my tap, N-P-K-Ca-Mg, (tap Ca = 63): 113-28-150-143-30
Now thats a bloom formulation. I would add magnesium sulfate to 50 to 80 ppm Mg
Then when you add phosphoric PH down, P increases to about 40)



~70F day temps may be suboptimal with led but should not create such intense purpling. Streaks of purple on the stem are normal but overall purpling is usually a sign of deficiency.

however, if you hit stems with high blue light, they will 100% turn purple. A guy on another forum wraps blue lights around his stems and they have 1 mm internodes and are super purple. Since your plant is hit from all sides, it is a possible cause, or aiding factor.

In those pictures in week 4/5 the plant's shape is looking good, so it does not look like light stress or environment stress there. but the leaves are rather pale. Ideally by that point you still want them thick and deep green.


Not gonna point at elements but I would agree to up the dose. it looks slightly deficient in multiple things. (week 4/5/6)
After that, well, many people like to starve the weed from nutrients so I guess it's normal for plants to look starved by week 8/9. I don't really do that kind of stuff

Kinda hard to say for sure though... some peat mixes have a very high CEC and water holding capacity and you never will know how much is actually in there

 

[PCBuds]

I'm growing in about one part Coco, one part Perlite and one part worm castings.

I just checked my tap water and got 108 ppm but I don't know how much of that is calcium?

My plant went from the window with two 10 Watt SILs right into the closet with all the LED strips.
Almost all of the bigger leaves turned yellow and I plucked them all off.

Then I found out my SIP cooler wasn't wicking and was dry right to the bottom so I dug down on both sides and installed wicks.



I will increase the nutes and add a bit of Epsom salt but I don't have any Magnesium Sulfate.
That might be hard to source right now with the Covid going on.

Can you buy it at a pharmacy?

I ordered a new LED driver on Amazon a month ago and it still hasn't shipped.

 

[PCBuds]

I do have this stuff but there's no too much of it.











It says it makes up to 200 gallons so it should be enough for my next plant.

 

[SuperBadGrower]

Ohh, sorry man, I thought it was peat you're growing in all this time. Haha

Yeah in that case bottom feeding that mix I would honestly just try dosing 4g of the maxi stuff per gallon every time! Never used worm castings though. It's in peat mixes, and those can run out of food pretty quick. (But they probably put as little as they can in there)

 

[PCBuds]

I forgot that I had that CalMag. I found another package of it too.


I mix up my nutes by the 1/2 gallon so that means I need to measure out 1/32 - 1/16th of a teaspoon which I'm sure to screw-up.


I de-gas my tap water in a 15-liter bottle.






Could I put the CalMag directly into that big bottle?

Will it "spoil" or anything?

I figure it will give it plenty of time to dissolve.
It says it's water-soluble but I remember it didn't want to dissolve easily.

 

[PCBuds]

My window sill SIP containers are working great!!

The plants seem to like it.






The smaller plant has sprouted roots through the inner container and down into the water.







The water is a little funky but the plants don't seem to mind and it doesn't stink.


It's great to just watch the water level and add water when necessary.
No guessing or over/under-watering.

 

[PCBuds]

Yeah in that case bottom feeding that mix I would honestly just try dosing 4g of the maxi stuff per gallon every time! ...

That works out perfectly for me.

I have been using 1/4 teaspoon in 2 liters now I can just simply double it to 1/2 a teaspoon. (assuming my math is correct?)


2 liters works perfectly for the closet.
When the float hits the bottom, 2 liters brings the level up to about 1 1/2" of airspace below the grow media.


2 liters works great for the window plants too.
It tops up both of them.