Silly newbie question concerning nutrient ratios.

[singlecoiled]

Thanks for the thanks. You're on the right track.


All you got to do is long around and see what damage this Bloom stuff does. Last night a member recommended a 3 part food. I asked twice what the NPK and micros were. He didn't know.



Yes I have.

I'll repeat what I've written many a time. Right or wrong, I identify cannabis as just another foliage plant that flowers. If you have houseplants which we all grow for their foliage i.e. diffenbachia, you know they all throw flower spikes. Accordingly you need to support the leaves until harvest. Screw the "harsh taste, bad terpenes" stuff. More forum hype based on anecdotal evidence.

Why in the hell Generation Dumbdowned has to compromise buds by destroying leaves with defoliation and bloom foods is beyond me. Conclusion - they don't know or care about botany, just feel good forum high fives.

Am I correct that even you have a psychological hangup that a high N food until harvest is hard to swallow? I do, but I know better. It's what the vendors who push Bloom foods have programmed us to believe....and buy.

Am I correct that even you have a psychological hangup that a high N food until harvest is hard to swallow? I do, but I know better. It's what the vendors who push Bloom foods have programmed us to believe....and buy.

Well, you have to remember that I am open minded and reading/learning from many sources. When we use a veg nutrient for flower, we are swimming away from the school, cutting against the grain, marching to our own drum etc.. etc..

Yes, there are countless articles that say NOT to give high N during flower so I am a little nervous, but 3-1-2 seems to be balanced as you say.(N is not ridiculously high at 3-1-2) This makes sense to me and I'm gonna stick with it to see what happpens. I think its a good experiment and lesson...Everything a plant needs seems to be in there.

Now, I'm off to Walmart to see if I can find a mini heater to warm up my grow space. Yep, its 61 degrees in my grow space right now with my light on full power.... In fact, I'm freezing ! its 61 in my basement. (my man cave)

Thanks again for taking the time to write back and for all the great advice.

3-1-2 is well balanced, not too much of one or the other. Same with my Osmocote 15-9-12.

Good luck!

 

[singlecoiled]

Yesterday while moving some of my afghans to a place to sex I took this shot in the sun for true color rendering. This is an old Amsterdam cross - 1990 Master Kush X Afghani 90. 2 of the M. Kush got topped before the move. https://kwikseeds.com/product/master-kush-1990-x-afghaan-90/ Sure has narrow leaves for an afghan but apparently that is not at all uncommon for some Hindu Kush vs large leafsets with dark green over lapping leaves.

View attachment 18947769

Thanks for these great pics, these are really helpful. My plants have been a light shade of green for too many grows and this helps show that.

Beautiful plant ! I am smoking Master Kush now, love that strain and am considering growing it. (I did try once but wound up with a male) Any chance Maste Kush x Afghani is low (lower) odor during flower?

Master Kush (chopped male) Think its not as green as it should be?

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

Am I correct that even you have a psychological hangup that a high N food until harvest is hard to swallow? I do, but I know better. It's what the vendors who push Bloom foods have programmed us to believe....and buy.

Well, you have to remember that I am open minded and reading/learning from many sources. When we use a veg nutrient for flower, we are swimming away from the school, cutting against the grain, marching to our own drum etc.. etc..

Yes, there are countless articles that say NOT to give high N during flower so I am a little nervous, but 3-1-2 seems to be balanced as you say.(N is not ridiculously high at 3-1-2) This makes sense to me and I'm gonna stick with it to see what happpens. I think its a good experiment and lesson...Everything a plant needs seems to be in there.

Now, I'm off to Walmart to see if I can find a mini heater to warm up my grow space. Yep, its 61 degrees in my grow space right now with my light on full power.... In fact, I'm freezing ! its 61 in my basement. (my man cave)

Thanks again for taking the time to write back and for all the great advice.

My pleasure.

Your leaf color looks fine.

Again, we've been brainwashed for decades about what constitutes a "veg" food versus bloom. Just because P is good for roots and flowers means the vendors just have to kick it up. It's all marketing.

Just went thru about 4 days of that damn Arctic blast in central Texas this week. Got down to 12F. Wasn't near as bad as the week of no electricity, ice and snow and lows of 3F where I ran out of propane in the greenhouse the last night and lost a lot of precious mango grafts. Still, prepping the veg garden, draining water lines, faucets, greenhouse prep is a PITA! Thank gawd didn't run out of electricity in the greenhouse. My wireless alarm set at 33F screamed quite a few times. Sleep is hard to come by!

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

Thanks for these great pics, these are really helpful. My plants have been a light shade of green for too many grows and this helps show that.

Beautiful plant ! I am smoking Master Kush now, love that strain and am considering growing it. (I did try once but wound up with a male)

I grew pure indicas last year and one Maui Wowie, a first as my usual is sativas or mutts of them. Out of 9, 7 were males!

The high of the Lapis Mtn. indica and Hazeman's Monkey Balls (Deep Chunk F2) are excellent. I'm a believer. I could kick myself for not saving some of the pollen. They were beautiful plants.

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

a Plant Science professor once told the Horticulture students that most plants can lose up to 30% of their leaves and it will not have a significant reduction on the rate of photosynthesis…

sometimes we defoliate , most of the time we don’t….I defoliate so i have less to trim come harvest time , not because it makes for bigger buds lol




View attachment 18947777



View attachment 18947778

Beautiful corn!

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

Interesting. Out of curiosity have you ever grown an entire plant with Foliage Pro alone?

Foliage Pro Grow

Speaking of flowering plants.........another example.

My girlfriend collects and grows about 6 phalaenopsis orchids in her house. Shortly after I met her I upcanned them and started her on a Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro fertilizer routine of 1 tsp./gallon in R/O water (water has no salts). She rotates every week - Fo-Pro one week, R/O water the next. The result has been phenomenal with long healthy roots growing outside the pot and now lots of branching flower spikes on some.

9-3-6 aka a 3-1-2

The first one is insane regarding the # of leaves and roots growing out in a winter household environment that is ultra low in RH this time of the year. This FLOWERING plant loves the Foliage Pro treatment! Being that the medium is mainly cypress bark with no nutritional value the Dyna-Gro works out well. The one part liquid food is very complete including Ca.

FWIW, I used to grow orchids, sold to a few local florists.

UB

 

[singlecoiled]

Speaking of flowering plants.........another example.

My girlfriend collects and grows about 6 phalaenopsis orchids in her house. Shortly after I met her I upcanned them and started her on a Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro fertilizer routine of 1 tsp./gallon in R/O water (water has no salts). She rotates every week - Fo-Pro one week, R/O water the next. The result has been phenomenal with long healthy roots growing outside the pot and now lots of branching flower spikes on some.

9-3-6 aka a 3-1-2

The first one is insane regarding the # of leaves and roots growing out in a winter household environment that is ultra low in RH this time of the year. This FLOWERING plant loves the Foliage Pro treatment! Being that the medium is mainly cypress bark with no nutritional value the Dyna-Gro works out well. The one part liquid food is very complete including Ca.

FWIW, I used to grow orchids, sold to a few local florists.


View attachment 18947888 View attachment 18947889

UB

Very helpful once again, you are at around 1 tsp Foliage Pro per gallon of RO water fed every other watering, I am hovering around 1/2 tsp (or less) per gallon Foliage Pro and RO water feeding every watering which is around twice per week. For me, feeding alternatively causes headaches, the schedule can be thrown off if the time between feedings is too long.

As a new grower, I am watching PPM's in my Coco/Soil, in and out and adjusting my feed to stay within acceptable ranges. My last test showed PPM's in runoff at 1800-2000 or more, I'm thinking I want to stay around 600-900 or so with Foliage Pro (soil runoff PPM's)... My feed is measuring low, around 340 PPM's in RO water, but I'm watering twice a week at that concentration.

I do water to heavy runoff every watering, with an occasional drink of pure RO water without runoff... I'm experimenting a bit.

Your Plants look amazing, I might have to try growing something else for fun and learning. I'm getting to the point that I enjoy growing more than smoking weed ! It sure would be nice to grow something that doeesnt smell up the house !

 

[singlecoiled]

I grew pure indicas last year and one Maui Wowie, a first as my usual is sativas or mutts of them. Out of 9, 7 were males!

Sorry man, thats the downside to Reg seeds I guess, I've only tried once.

The high of the Lapis Mtn. indica and Hazeman's Monkey Balls (Deep Chunk F2) are excellent. I'm a believer. I could kick myself for not saving some of the pollen. They were beautiful plants.

Would love to try this, although my tastes are old school. I like my scotch and whisky to taste like scotch and whisky. I like beer to taste like beer (although I dont drink anymore) Same goes for weed, I like it to taste like weed, not a banana daiquiri cookie cake with strawberry sprinkles and skunk piss.

Man, the last I smoked weed was back in the 80's were you got a big baggie of Cola's and stems for $35. (we called it a quarter).. Got a job and career, quit weed for 30 years--. Now I buy dispensery weed and they sell me a little jar of buds that look like BB's .... Tiny ! Lame ! I miss a baggy full of big beatiful colas, even if Im paying for stems.

So, I miss the old days, but will say this. The weed is silly potent now, it takes me very little to get were I want to be, just a little hit or two and I dont want more. An ounce lasts me MONTHS !!!

I like the old school strains, they remind me of the best buds back in the 80's. Northern Lights, (Indica we called it) Master Kush, Skunk, Afghani, Durban Poison, Columbian Gold, Panama Red, these were around in my day and I love them now. We didnt have strain names back then, it was Sativa (more common we called it weed), Indica (rare we called it indica) and Mexican Brown dirt weed in a manilla envelop. (the mexican brown was a go to for dry spells $5 a bag)

Now here is the cool thing, I can still fill a baggie (I use jars) with full colas now. As a grower, I can have my weed anyway I want ! Just like burger king, when I grow, I can have it my way...


IMO buds should look like this when smoked, but I'm old, stubborn and stuck in my ways, dont mind me !

How it looked back in the day... We called this a quarter.

Sorry about the rant, a little nostalgia...


My Northern Lights,, the way I like it.... 80's style !

 

[singlecoiled]

Ohh, did I mention that I remember weed before Skunk hit the streets, IMO it all went downhill fast after skunk started to mix in with everything. I hated skunk back in the 80's and hate it even more now..

Smell a well cured Durban Poison, or Northern Lights bud and you may understand where I'm coming from. Im not sure if anyone knows but skunk is not a pleasant odor !

OK, I get sidetracked. My appologies! just a little rant, I feel better now. Time for a little hit of Master Kush to get me back on track. (yeah, I know skunk might be in the mix with Master Kush, dammit !)

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

Sorry man, thats the downside to Reg seeds I guess, I've only tried once.


Would love to try this, although my tastes are old school. I like my scotch and whisky to taste like scotch and whisky. I like beer to taste like beer (although I dont drink anymore) Same goes for weed, I like it to taste like weed, not a banana daiquiri cookie cake with strawberry sprinkles and skunk piss.

Man, the last I smoked weed was back in the 80's were you got a big baggie of Cola's and stems for $35. (we called it a quarter).. Got a job and career, quit weed for 30 years--. Now I buy dispensery weed and they sell me a little jar of buds that look like BB's .... Tiny ! Lame ! I miss a baggy full of big beatiful colas, even if Im paying for stems.

So, I miss the old days, but will say this. The weed is silly potent now, it takes me very little to get were I want to be, just a little hit or two and I dont want more. An ounce lasts me MONTHS !!!

I like the old school strains, they remind me of the best buds back in the 80's. Northern Lights, (Indica we called it) Master Kush, Skunk, Afghani, Durban Poison, Columbian Gold, Panama Red, these were around in my day and I love them now. We didnt have strain names back then, it was Sativa (more common we called it weed), Indica (rare we called it indica) and Mexican Brown dirt weed in a manilla envelop. (the mexican brown was a go to for dry spells $5 a bag)

Now here is the cool thing, I can still fill a baggie (I use jars) with full colas now. As a grower, I can have my weed anyway I want ! Just like burger king, when I grow, I can have it my way...


IMO buds should look like this when smoked, but I'm old, stubborn and stuck in my ways, dont mind me !


View attachment 18947975

How it looked back in the day... We called this a quarter.

View attachment 18947976



Sorry about the rant, a little nostalgia...


My Northern Lights,, the way I like it.... 80's style !


View attachment 18947979


View attachment 18947984

Too damn cool. Great pix and memories. We bought lids back in the late 60's. They were an oz., 4 finger baggie, for $8. Some of the weed was very trippy, called it acid grass. Smoked a lot of potent mexican bagweed. Still have some of those seeds from the best Mex.

Enjoy scotch too. Daily is Old Smuggler. Dram is goodies like Bunnahabhain 12 year, maybe a good Japanese whisky. Being that I grow lots of limes I quaff anejo tequilas to wind down, fave being Casa Noble Anejo. Wish I could get my hands on some the Lebanon Blond. I'd sprinkle some in some pot and you feel like you were taking off in a jet!

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

Ohh, did I mention that I remember weed before Skunk hit the streets, IMO it all went downhill fast after skunk started to mix in with everything. I hated skunk back in the 80's and hate it even more now..

Smell a well cured Durban Poison, or Northern Lights bud and you may understand where I'm coming from. Im not sure if anyone knows but skunk is not a pleasant odor !

OK, I get sidetracked. My appologies! just a little rant, I feel better now. Time for a little hit of Master Kush to get me back on track. (yeah, I know skunk might be in the mix with Master Kush, dammit !)

Skunk aka indicas I grew recently was extremely smelly. Leaves a citrus aroma on your fingers for hours.

OLD seeds shipped in a VHS video cartridge routed from Sweden.

 

[singlecoiled]

Skunk aka indicas I grew recently was extremely smelly. Leaves a citrus aroma on your fingers for hours.

OLD seeds shipped in a VHS video cartridge routed from Sweden. View attachment 18948000

Nice ! Although, I have to take a way a few points because its skunk.... Lol.

Serously man, when I cured Northern Lights, it really took me back. Honey, Pine, A sweet weed smell. The only way I can describe it is the smell of an old dollar bill. (hard to explain)... There arent that many strains that Ive come across today with a nice PLEASANT smell.

Sigh, just an old man yelling at the skunk clouds I guess. But there are still a few classics left out there.

 

[singlecoiled]

Yesterday while moving some of my afghans to a place to sex I took this shot in the sun for true color rendering. This is an old Amsterdam cross - 1990 Master Kush X Afghani 90. 2 of the M. Kush got topped before the move. https://kwikseeds.com/product/master-kush-1990-x-afghaan-90/ Sure has narrow leaves for an afghan but apparently that is not at all uncommon for some Hindu Kush vs large leafsets with dark green over lapping leaves.

View attachment 18947769

I'm feeding Foliage Pro nothing else, start of third week into flower. Weird. my plant still seems to know how to flower, isnt that odd? I've yet to see such beefy stems from this strain, I think this one might have some very large colas soon, even without bloom nutes.

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

I'm feeding Foliage Pro nothing else, start of third week into flower. Weird. my plant still seems to know how to flower, isnt that odd? I've yet to see such beefy stems from this strain, I think this one might have some very large colas soon, even without bloom nutes.

You now have proof of the prevalent misconception, cannabis forums paradigm, that P and/or K are flowering stimulants, they are not. Flowering is driven by hormones, NOT nutrients. So, by feeding them with a totally complete and balanced food like Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 you're supporting the plants' nutrient needs. Production will be excellent if you keep doing and feeding what you're doing.

They look great! Please don't screw this up with the application of "bloom nutes".

Good luck,
Uncle Ben

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

Here's my Master Kush and Afghani plants 3 days ago sexing in the greenhouse. They are beautiful plants, just perfect, quite a bit bigger now. Weird but the pure "Afghani" one in the middle has the classic dark green wide leaves, other 2 don't then again they are the old MK X Af. 90 cross from many yeara ago. 2 outside plants were topped a week ago.

UB

 

[singlecoiled]

You now have proof of the prevalent misconception, cannabis forums paradigm, that P and/or K are flowering stimulants, they are not. Flowering is driven by hormones, NOT nutrients. So, by feeding them with a totally complete and balanced food like Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 you're supporting the plants' nutrient needs. Production will be excellent if you keep doing and feeding what you're doing.

They look great! Please don't screw this up with the application of "bloom nutes".

Been there, done that---- too many times. Its just Foliage Pro the whole grow this time....

Here is my first grow, following feed charts, buying all the bells and whistle nutrients. I used Cha Ching (9-50-10), Beastie Bloomz (0-50-30),and Open Sesame (5-45-19) ON TOP of Fox Farms flower feed (tiger bloom) . I trusted Fox Farms to guide me following their feed charts. Instead, they guided my $$$ to their bank accounts! This is dirty business if you ask me, but almost everything seems to be dirty these days...

Good luck,
Uncle Ben

 

[singlecoiled]

Here's my Master Kush and Afghani plants 3 days ago sexing in the greenhouse. They are beautiful plants, just perfect, quite a bit bigger now. Weird but the pure "Afghani" one in the middle has the classic dark green wide leaves, other 2 don't then again they are the old MK X Af. 90 cross from many yeara ago. 2 outside plants were topped a week ago.

View attachment 18949282
View attachment 18949283

View attachment 18949286

UB

First off, DAM ! look at the leaves and how they point straight out. You could probably set a drink on them without falling off ! Love it.

Secondly, you have good taste in strains. (must be our old age). Master Kush and Afghani are two strains I am itching to grow. I'm smoking Master Kush now,smells just like the weed I remember from the 80s. Its dispensery weed though, I'd love to see how it comes out grown properly.. I actually have a few Reg seeds (Master Kush) that came with my dispensery buds.

Any chance you have a diary up? I'd really like to watch these flower.. Absolutley gorgeous..

Last thing, I'm in a very small space 16"x 16"x 32".. I'm making it work though....Just FYI if you wonder why my plant is small. Its a Mainline trained to stay low with 8 colas evenly spaced in a very small space,,, Yes, I had to defoliate heavily early veg, but only due to vertical height limitations....My goal early veg was to build a sturdy frame with thick stems and a low height... After this, I just let her take off..

Current grow, long veg time to build a frame, this was a few weeks ago.

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

View attachment 18949311

First off, DAM ! look at the leaves and how they point straight out. You could probably set a drink on them without falling off ! Love it.

Secondly, you have good taste in strains. (must be our old age). Master Kush and Afghani are two strains I am itching to grow. I'm smoking Master Kush now,smells just like the weed I remember from the 80s. Its dispensery weed though, I'd love to see how it comes out grown properly.. I actually have a few Reg seeds (Master Kush) that came with my dispensery buds.

Any chance you have a diary up? I'd really like to watch these flower.. Absolutley gorgeous..

Last thing, I'm in a very small space 16"x 16"x 32".. I'm making it work though....Just FYI if you wonder why my plant is small. Its a Mainline trained to stay low with 8 colas evenly spaced in a very small space,,, Yes, I had to defoliate heavily early veg, but only due to vertical height limitations....My goal early veg was to build a sturdy frame with thick stems and a low height... After this, I just let her take off..

Current grow, long veg time to build a frame, this was a few weeks ago.

View attachment 18949304

For decades I've grown pure sativas or sativa mutts. Growing pure indicas is new to me. Really like the high. Unlike sativas though I've had to really stretch out the veg time and even then they're small plants. Am lazy on the watering and every time a pot goes dry I get some bronzing or other ailment on some of the leaves. Curling leaf tips mean nothing to me. If the leaf is green, it's producing....is the way I look at it.

Got the seeds from Kwik Seeds FYI. I'm in a small space too indoors. Growing big plants like I used to is a thing of the past. Instead I grow 15' tall avocado and citrus trees, it's my Man Cave! This is what I see from my easy chair that's backed up under an avocado tree. They are delish. The very sweet, strong smell of tropical fruit trees in blossom is so fine, especially citrus. Bees and other pollinators come and go thru big open vents, soon.

.

Diary is at the bottom of this page. Tag along friend.

UB

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

Been there, done that---- too many times. Its just Foliage Pro the whole grow this time....

Here is my first grow, following feed charts, buying all the bells and whistle nutrients. I used Cha Ching (9-50-10), Beastie Bloomz (0-50-30),and Open Sesame (5-45-19) ON TOP of Fox Farms flower feed (tiger bloom) . I trusted Fox Farms to guide me following their feed charts. Instead, they guided my $$$ to their bank accounts! This is dirty business if you ask me, but almost everything seems to be dirty these days...

View attachment 18949297

Yeah, that is the typical look as a result of the cannabis specific blossom foods crap. They sell what the folks ask for, not what's botanically correct.

Happy you finally came around, good on ya!

 

[NorCalSkunkLord]

Ohh, did I mention that I remember weed before Skunk hit the streets, IMO it all went downhill fast after skunk started to mix in with everything. I hated skunk back in the 80's and hate it even more now..

Durban? Fuck that shit!

Roadkill skunk!





Maybe the Durban I smoked was grown under led.