Wanna Ask The Old Farts A Question?

[DizzyGround]

I've read lots of TDS vs EC posts from Freezerboy. I've since learned that TDS vs EC is a comparison but not easily translated. I've got a .5 TDS and have compared readings to ingredient labels.

For example, Floranova Bloom label says 1 teaspoon per gallon of RO is ~1 EC/500ppm. Obviously, this ppm depends on the respective TDS meter scale.

I've calibrated my meter and measure a teaspoon of FNB in ~15ppm tap. My reading was 600ppm.

I can understand why Freezerboy spends his time pointing out the differences.

Glad to hear things are looking better.

Thanks.
My tapwater is 150ppm. It's pretty hard. So only very little bloom nutrients as the ppm in res is 300 but I don't think they can take any more than that.
I haven't read Freezerboys posts, but are you saying that there is a great difference between RO water and tap water?

And another question, about the floranova.
Do you ever run into any definencies with RO water and this 2 part nutes? And how about sativas that seem to hate Nitrogen?
That's very concentrated stuff if you need only that little amount.

 

[pufferfish]

whats up guys...if a clone of a clone X 1000 is the same as the 1st why are seeds better to grow from than the clones form the clubs...i lost $ tryin to get seeds off the net..b4 club clones are EZ to get

 

[Gold123]

whats up guys...if a clone of a clone X 1000 is the same as the 1st why are seeds better to grow from than the clones form the culbs...

form the culbs smoked too much before typing

 

[MagicChef]

Im using Botanicare organic nutrients this time around ( Botanicare Grow/Botanicare Bloom and Liquid Karma. Ive got a nice big bag of sunshine #4 and some perlite. Im looking for some opinions on soil mixes to help carry me through the grow. I'd like to stay as organic as I can with the nutes but I think they lack a bit. I put an airstone in my water bucket a day or so before I plan on watering and this helps to oxeginate. So what kind of mixes have done you good in the past? Ive got good outdoor compost I was thinking about steamboiling and taking inside. That may be risky though...

 

[trichrider]

yes...
what exactly happens to the nutrients as they are utilized by plants?

do they become something else as the plant performs its magic?
or...are we needlessly concerned about levels of nutrient salts being ingested?

oh...that's three questions...anyone just jump in here...

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I typically back off at signs of burn and add to defs. No worries.

 

[DizzyGround]

Need help again.
I've been giving the girls only water and very little bloom nutes for around a week now. The nitrogen toxicity is giving off and the lowest leaves are starting to yellow off more and more. Clawing has got alot better, only few leaves claw anymore.

PH is still diving, and if anyone could explain me why it's going from 5.9 to 5.0 in one day I would appreciate it very much. 100L res with 7 girls. Do I need to flush them as long as the PH is diving? The stems of fan leaves are turning all red and isn't that P definency? I will change the res water tomorrow for bloom + little nitrogen unless I get some other advice.

Flush started at 3wk 12/12 and now its allmost 4wk 12/12. Flowers are growing even without any nutrients really, which is great. But the plants look to stay a little small, its sativa dominant plant and tallest has only 1m height. But they have been with vertical light all time long.

The dark color from the leaves has also faded very well, only tops are a bit dark.
What do you think, could I put the nutes back in? The PH is weird so would that fix ph problem? In my eyes they might need nutrients as the stems are going very red.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Once your new system has the pH quirks worked out, it should be a matter of what you top off with.

ph sinks - plants absorbing more water than nutes leaving higher EC in the res. This causes pH to dive. Solution is to add back plain water.

pH rises - plants absorb more nutes than water leaving lower EC in the res. This can cause pH to rise. Solution is to add back nutes. (Might be best to premix your nutes in water before adding back to the res.)

I'd use N sparingly if at all. You'll just have to make the call. N will most likely make your pH dive. P, not so much. K acts like a buffer and might raise your pH. I wouldn't recommend mixing nutes according to pH swings, might get an imbalance. I'd get pH up and or pH down for pH adjustment.

If your bloom nutes have an N percentage, I'd lay off the excess N and go with full strength bloom nutes. If your tops don't fade to healthy green, I'd ease up on the bloom when you hit mid-late flower. You may even want to consider a longer flush than normal if dark green persists. If you feed N now, it may not stop at your yellow leaves, it could promote the toxicity at the top. Use your best judgment.

If nothing else, keep tabs of what fixes the toxicity in case you run into this again.

 

[PassionForMaryJ]

Just dropping in to say high to a few old farts, Hempy it's good to see ya still around & helping others!

 

[HempKat]

whats up guys...if a clone of a clone X 1000 is the same as the 1st why are seeds better to grow from than the clones form the culbs...i lost $ tryin to get seeds off the net..b4 club clones are EZ to get

Who says seeds are better? In my opinion neither is in itself better or worse then the other but each individually could be seen as better or worse based on personal preference. Each has it's advantages and each has it's drawbacks.

What may seem better about seeds is they usually grow with more vigor then their clone counterparts. On the downside though you don't know what sex they are until they show. I could come up with other characteristics like that to compare but the bottomline is which option is better for you? If you like the clones you can get from the clubs and it's easier and cheaper in the long run to get new strains that way then go for it.

The big advantage seeds have over clones is that with a clone you're recieving a living plant that may have parasites and or diseases that came from poor handling before you got it. It didn't come from a club but a friend recently had everything in his grow room wiped out by spider mites that came in on a clone he got from someone. With seeds you don't have to worry about that. The second big advantage is that with seeds once you got them, you grow them when you want. With clones you don't get that option.

 

[HempKat]

Im using Botanicare organic nutrients this time around ( Botanicare Grow/Botanicare Bloom and Liquid Karma. Ive got a nice big bag of sunshine #4 and some perlite. Im looking for some opinions on soil mixes to help carry me through the grow. I'd like to stay as organic as I can with the nutes but I think they lack a bit. I put an airstone in my water bucket a day or so before I plan on watering and this helps to oxeginate. So what kind of mixes have done you good in the past? Ive got good outdoor compost I was thinking about steamboiling and taking inside. That may be risky though...

I've used those botanicare products before and I agree that the grow and bloom did seem like it was lacking something although I still got good results from it. Unfortunately I don't know any good soil mix recipies. I believe there are a few that post here in this thread that will be able to help. My soil recipe is just any decent enriched soil with perlite and vermiculite added. 3 parts soil, one part perlite, one part vermiculite and one tablespoon of dolomite lime per gallon of soil mix.

 

[HempKat]

yes...
what exactly happens to the nutrients as they are utilized by plants?

do they become something else as the plant performs its magic?
or...are we needlessly concerned about levels of nutrient salts being ingested?

oh...that's three questions...anyone just jump in here...

Same thing as what happens to food when we eat it and it's digested by us, except that plants don't need to go to the bathroom afterwards. Basically the nutrients are combined with what the plant gets from the sun to create new plant matter or resin or to maintain plant health.

Now I don't know all the detailed in's and out's of what happens after you pour a nutrient water mix into a plant's soil but I do personally think we worry a bit too much about how much nutrients might be in a plant when we harvest it. That being said I have seen weed that was rendered nearly unsmokeable because it had too much of something in it (I think nitrogen was the culprit) and that made it difficult to light and smoke and in the end instead of whitish gray ash, the ash was like charcoal.

 

[HempKat]

The stems of fan leaves are turning all red and isn't that P definency?

I believe you're right that it's a sign of P deficiency but reddish/purplish stems can also be a sign of temps being a bit low.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

plant poo = oxygen

 

[HempKat]

Just dropping in to say high to a few old farts, Hempy it's good to see ya still around & helping others!

Hey PFMJ good to see you. I hope the holidays were good to you and that life in general has been improving since I saw you last.

 

[ericcalif]

Hello.
I need help from you old zen growers.

Im growing super lemon haze and the plants are very dark green in color.

Hey DG, nothing to add that DBiskit didn't already add except to say, enjoy your SLH. The stuff I grew didn't do very well, IMO, but still turned out super crazy sticky... easily the stickiest I've grown and amazing smell. I'm hoping to do better with clones of her. Good luck!

 

[ericcalif]

Greetz HK and all...

The LSD I was sweating a few weeks back is done, harvested, and curing away in jars. The dreaded aphids never appeared and it looks like it was a cal/mag def. Or, at least adding some cal/mag seemed to fix the problem. It may be that LSD is a hungry strain, i dunno. Regardless, after harvest I dumped out the soil and looked through it throughly, and found no evidence of root aphids.

Here's a few shots of her just before cutting, and one of the colas.



As you can see there was still some yellowing, the last 1 1/2 she had nothing but water and as I usually do, I let her start drooping before harvest. All in all I'm pleased, and hoping my patient friend that is the recipient finds it to be good. So far, the Lemon Haze has been the best for her symptoms.

 

[trichrider]

Same thing as what happens to food when we eat it and it's digested by us, except that plants don't need to go to the bathroom afterwards. Basically the nutrients are combined with what the plant gets from the sun to create new plant matter or resin or to maintain plant health.

Now I don't know all the detailed in's and out's of what happens after you pour a nutrient water mix into a plant's soil but I do personally think we worry a bit too much about how much nutrients might be in a plant when we harvest it. That being said I have seen weed that was rendered nearly unsmokeable because it had too much of something in it (I think nitrogen was the culprit) and that made it difficult to light and smoke and in the end instead of whitish gray ash, the ash was like charcoal.

perhaps deferring the question to someone who could, or a link to another thread would be preferred.

DiscoBisquit had part of the answer; O2 is the waste product, but afaik nutrients mostly transform into something else by chemioosmosis and the original nutrients are only now constituients of plant cellulose.

if as you stated, they get their nutrients from digestion, the rhizosphere must be doing the digesting.
plants can absorb nutrients directly (if they are chelated) through ionic transport cells, but do not rely on this as it is'nt as effecient as feeding the rhizosphere sugar exudates through the roots, which in turn helps dissolve nutrients further.

Has any one given this thought? Seriously...i'm baffled!

 

[HempKat]

plant poo = oxygen

Nah that doesn't work, that's more comparable to how we take in oxygen and breath out carbon monoxide. Except plants do it the other way.

 

[HempKat]

Greetz HK and all...

The LSD I was sweating a few weeks back is done, harvested, and curing away in jars. The dreaded aphids never appeared and it looks like it was a cal/mag def. Or, at least adding some cal/mag seemed to fix the problem. It may be that LSD is a hungry strain, i dunno. Regardless, after harvest I dumped out the soil and looked through it throughly, and found no evidence of root aphids.

Here's a few shots of her just before cutting, and one of the colas.



As you can see there was still some yellowing, the last 1 1/2 she had nothing but water and as I usually do, I let her start drooping before harvest. All in all I'm pleased, and hoping my patient friend that is the recipient finds it to be good. So far, the Lemon Haze has been the best for her symptoms.

Looks pretty good. How do you judge when to harvest though? Going by what I usually see in other strains it looks like it could have gone a bit longer. Anyway I'm glad to hear it wasn't aphids afterall. In general most strains are cal/mag hogs. Or perhaps a better way to look at it is most nutrient mixes don't have enough cal/mag in it. Either way you might want to consider adding a cal/mag source as a regular dietary supplement.