Soil growing question

[Don Juan]

I'm growing in soil. I want to straighten up and fly right with pH regulation and proper nutrition. Would it be okay to use, say, distilled water with a standard low dose of Shultz liquid 10-15-10 to manage both pH and nutrition during vegging? And, if so, how shall I alter the situation for flowering?

Thank you very kindly...

 

[Trancerman]

I'm growing in soil. I want to straighten up and fly right with pH regulation and proper nutrition. Would it be okay to use, say, distilled water with a standard low dose of Shultz liquid 10-15-10 to manage both pH and nutrition during vegging? And, if so, how shall I alter the situation for flowering?

Thank you very kindly...

Hi Don,

First of all you are going to want to test the PH of what ever water you plan on using whether it be tap or bottled. (PH test kits available in pet department, for fish tanks. easy to use. cheap.)

If the water turns out to be alkaline then what you are going to want to do is use something acidic such as vinegar to bring the PH down a notch. You aren't going to be feeding everyday so that isn't the best way to manage your PH. Alot of other factors come into play as well. Soil really isn't just soil, if it has ferts in it, that will also throw off your PH.


HOW WOULD I GO ABOUT DO THIS?

Ok let's say you are in VEG and let's say 3-4 weeks in you want to fert? I would start out by ferting at the end of the week on semi-wet soil(never fert on dry soil.) Mix your ferts at a weaker dose than stated on box/bottle per gallon of water(milk jug works well.)

When I would flip it over to flowering I would kick that fert you have there to the curb and get a high P and high K fertilizer. 0-10-10 example.


There are just to many factors to really tell you the right way, but what you really want is a good balanced PH in your water. 6-6.5

 

[Don Juan]

From what I've read on the Shultz liquid bottle, a light dose would be suitable for every watering (14 drops per gallon). That's why I'd wondered about the possibility of handling nurition and pH at the same time. From what I understand, plant food solution is usually mixed with some kind of mild acid.

Am I on the right track here? I'm concerned about nute lockout and deficiencies of all kinds.

 

[guineapig]

Yes usually plant foods will lower your pH, but test it just to be sure exactly how low..

I would start out with a quality soil mixture suitable for cannabis (tomatoe) growing...and use fertilizers which are more specific to cannabis- i wouldn't recommend this Schultz Liquid.......the NPK ratio is not quite right for your purposes.....

Yes good to be concerned with nute lockout, which happens when pH is out of whack.

kind regards from a guineapig

 

[Don Juan]

I use Black Gold soil, and I believe it's a good tomatoish kinda soil. As for the fertilizer, can you suggest a good suitable one for cannabis? What's a good brand that I'm likely to find?

I appreciate the advice :stoners:

 

[vonforne]

What ratio is the NPK of the Black Gold? How much perlite did you us? Any admendments?

For veg you can use Alaskan Fish emulsions 5-1-1, Espoma has some good starter products at Lowes. You could add them to your soil. You could aslo add Blood meal, bone meal....also found at Lowes,HD and wally world.

If you could give us some more information to work with to give you a complete answer.

 

[Guest]

For PH control mix 2 tbls of dolomite lime per gallon soil mix

 

[sproutco]

The problem with shultz 10-15-10 is that it does not contain all the micros. The micros are iron, manganese, zinc, copper, boron, and molybdenum. Shultz 10-15-10 lacks boron, copper, and molybdenum. Here is the label...click on it to enlarge.


You should take a look at how to make your own soilless mix below in my signature. There is directions for making your own mix as well as hints for feeding and buying store bought soils.

After you mix your ferts, you should adjust the ph up or down if needed to about 6. Things to adjust your ph you can find around town are below in my signature...how to make your own ph up and down.

Good luck!

 

[Guest]

Good results with Shultz General Purpose feed 10-10-10 half strength, mixed in 5 gal watering bucket, then PH tested and adjusted (I use SeaChem's Neutral Regulator, has a 7.0 buffer along with dechlor). If using lime in yer mix, it should pull yer PH in range without any worries. My ProMix runoff always reads in the 6.5 range, but I'm lucky to have good tapwater @55 ppm.

I use 10-10-10 all through veg then pot up to prepare for flower, when I flip feedings are started with 10-52-10 every second or third watering. Important then to watch the pot size or she'll go rootbound before she finishes. 2 gal flower pots seem to work OK for me as I finish them at around 3 feet.

Schultz usually says half capful per gal, I use full capful per 5 gals.

Anyone up for some cappucinno?








See ya in chat...

Forgot to mention micros & macros supplement, good call - when I aerate my mix in prep for use I add in RootBlast 2-1-2 (http://www.rootblast.com) which supplies the supplements throughout the plant life.

Rootblast research results: http://www.rootblast.com/research.html

 

[Trancerman]

Black Gold is the shizzle.

this is what you want to find...

'Alaska Fish Emulsion 5-1-1' this will give your plants a nitrogen hit before you put them into flowering.

'Lilly Miller b1 plant starter' has alot of the micros you are looking for also a very good transplanter.

Alaska MORBloom 0-10-10 organic bloom fert. muy bueno. =)

 

[Guest]

Very good point by sproutco,I wouldnt use a fert without the trace elements unless you are getting them somewheres else.Thats why for veg I love 5-1-1 fish emulsion,but I alternate with fox farm grow big so she doesnt miss out on the micro's.I know everyone cant get ferts like fox farm,but I believe that Peters for veg has all the micro's needed,someone correct me if thats bad information I'm not sure about Peters.I've heard its the best "walmart/home depot" type fertilizer you can find for MJ.

 

[Don Juan]

Wow! I've got some catching up to do. This is exactly the type of pursuit I wanted. I really want to thank you guys.

I should be concerned about getting trace elements as well, meaning that I'll probably end up alternating between two feeds.

Dolomite lime @ 2tbsp per gallon of medium to keep pH stabilized.

 

[Guest]

Yea, add the lime to get the PH to be ok jsut about with any water. Plus it is good calcium and magn.

test your water, then decide what to do.

My water comes out 6.0-6.2 so when I plain water I don't bubble it.

However when I fert, I bubble it until the PH rises to abroun 7ish, then when I add the nutes the PH shoots back down to 6.2

This way, the PH always stays the same. I think adding lime is the simplest solution, you can always add it after you make the soil too. I use the powdered lime when I add it to soil thats already been made with plants in it, and the pellets for mixing in soil to be used.

 

[Don Juan]

Would the hardware store be the most economical bet for dolomite?

 

[Guest]

I guess, it is like a little over 2$ for a 40 pound bag of garden lime powder...

 

[Don Juan]

thank you very kindly :friends: