How many inputs?

[MDK]

Ok so this is just a shit post, but I was thinking about it today and I've been cutting back on my inputs each grow to try and narrow it down to a bare minimum.

Curious as to how many other people here use from start to harvest? So I know this is going to be something that varies greatly with soil vs coco vs hydro so I guess I need to structure it some....frame up the question...

So let's consider soil an input and anything else added into the soil if you make your own blend, coco an input, water not an input as it's just essential for all types and basically neutral (I know some use well tap and rain water but let's assume water is just neutral). Let's also not consider pest management this is just strictly grow related stuff assuming environment is sterile and devoid of bugs.

So for me, I use 4 inputs

Soil and 3 bottles of nutrients... micro, bloom, and calmag.

I know a lot of you use quite a bit of stuff and got an answer for every deficiency it seems so a few more questions I could piggy back on would be. Did you start using alot of inputs and reduce over time, or did you start with little inputs and added to the grow over time when faced with issues? Do you have secret weapon type inputs that others sleep on that you recommend people check out? Do or have you ever noticed inputs leaving undesired tastes or effects (popping sizzling) in the finished product?

I know this isn't going to be scientifically accurate by any means as some soil is a blend, coco etc...but it's more so just to see how many things you'd have to throw in your cart to get rolling

Thanks, hope that wasn't a big wall of bullshit and we can just groove on what's going on in the root zone

 

[Pipecarver]

Hey, all I've ever done is increase inputs. I use Micro,Grow,Bloom, Diamond Nectar, cal/mag, Koolbloom liquid, Koolbloom dry, peroxide, Hyclean, Epsom salts. My soil is Promix style/50/50 with Perlite. I add Azomite, Gypsom and Mycos to the soil. I also add an air dome and I'm in Autopots. Not sure if that's what you're looking for but I like what I grow and my plants seem to appreciate it.

 

[MDK]

Hey, all I've ever done is increase inputs. I use Micro,Grow,Bloom, Diamond Nectar, cal/mag, Koolbloom liquid, Koolbloom dry, peroxide, Hyclean, Epsom salts. My soil is Promix style/50/50 with Perlite. I add Azomite, Gypsom and Mycos to the soil. I also add an air dome and I'm in Autopots. Not sure if that's what you're looking for but I like what I grow and my plants seem to appreciate it.

No that's nice so does the peroxide actually go in the plants medium?

Idk that id count the air dome.... unless it's a secret weapon?

I like the pictures of the shit you grow, ever notice anything showing up on the post cure flavor? Maybe something you learned to taper down on before harvest?

Just picking

 

[Pipecarver]

No that's nice so does the peroxide actually go in the plants medium?

Idk that id count the air dome.... unless it's a secret weapon?

I like the pictures of the shit you grow, ever notice anything showing up on the post cure flavor? Maybe something you learned to taper down on before harvest?

Just picking

No not really I'm trying to use this graph to feed by and build my light and feed as the graph shows and taper off at the end. It takes me about a week to harvest, I'm slow, 1 plant /day and I've been running GH Florakleen through my system for4-5-6 days as I harvest each plant, not sure if it does anything for my plants but its clean and gives them a kind of flush as they ripen a bit more

 

[Pipecarver]

No not really I'm trying to use this graph to feed by and build my light and feed as the graph shows and taper off at the end. It takes me about a week to harvest, I'm slow, 1 plant /day and I've been running GH Florakleen through my system for4-5-6 days as I harvest each plant, not sure if it does anything for my plants but its clean and gives them a kind of flush as they ripen a bit moreView attachment 71595

Peroxide I use at 5ml/gal all through my grows along with 1 tsp epsom salts for the magnesium demand under led lights from 2 weeks of age through life. peoxide helps keeping the biofilm down in my res and adds extra oxygen to the roots

 

[MDK]

Peroxide I use at 5ml/gal all through my grows along with 1 tsp epsom salts for the magnesium demand under led lights from 2 weeks of age through life. peoxide helps keeping the biofilm down in my res and adds extra oxygen to the roots

I've been wanting to use it the epsoms again to help the purple stems I tend to get....does it play well with cal mag added in the water as well? I wanted to add it but wasn't sure if the amount of magnesium had to correlate with the amount of calcium....wasn't sure if i added more mag if it'd lock out the calcium or what.

 

[Zen_seeker]

Mines discontinued but I have enough left for a few runs. The have a new replacement series.

Botanicare KIND Trio
Base 4-0-0
Grow 2-2-4
Bloom 0-6-6
GreenPlanet ProCal 2-0-0

Epsom for mid veg to bloom

I’ve experimented with other nutes and probably will continue too as things that sound interesting go on sale.

I use free mycorrhizal sample packets once in a while too. Usually when I up pot from a red cup.

I tend to stick to this chart but adjust if I see deficiencies pop up.

 

[Zen_seeker]

I've been wanting to use it the epsoms again to help the purple stems I tend to get....does it play well with cal mag added in the water as well? I wanted to add it but wasn't sure if the amount of magnesium had to correlate with the amount of calcium....wasn't sure if i added more mag if it'd lock out the calcium or what.

I’ve used epsom and ProCal together without noticing any issues. But I usually alternate them.

 

[Pipecarver]

I've been wanting to use it the epsoms again to help the purple stems I tend to get....does it play well with cal mag added in the water as well? I wanted to add it but wasn't sure if the amount of magnesium had to correlate with the amount of calcium....wasn't sure if i added more mag if it'd lock out the calcium or what.

Hey, I had to quickly leave last night. Epsom salts doesn't cause any interactions I've noticed and under led my plants yellow in flower early if I haven't used it through veg. I don't use cal/mag until week 3 in flower when the demand for calcium goes up as per that graph & at that time I drop the Epsom salts and go with the cal/mag until they are done.

1tsp/gal water........no lilac scented stuff. go with the natural

 

[Aqua Man]

Personally i think it all boils down to ratios which change by manufacturer.

CEC (cation exchange capacity) needs to be addressed also as that can affect the availability of nutrients and this ratios.

Some nutrients are in ratios that require high EC (low nitrogen ratios)

Amending nutrients and using additives is really nutrient line specific because of the varying forms and ratios used.

This to me is the part thats most important to understand.

I prefer a 2:1:3 with Ca equal to N and mg half Ca for basic start to finish but tweaking for veg and flower a bit

 

[MDK]

Personally i think it all boils down to ratios which change by manufacturer.

CEC (cation exchange capacity) needs to be addressed also as that can affect the availability of nutrients and this ratios.

Some nutrients are in ratios that require high EC (low nitrogen ratios)

Amending nutrients and using additives is really nutrient line specific because of the varying forms and ratios used.

This to me is the part thats most important to understand.

I prefer a 2:1:3 with Ca equal to N and mg half Ca for basic start to finish but tweaking for veg and flower a bit

Yes I've had a hard time combining different nutrients lines so I just found one that worked for me and went with it...CEC is I think what I was trying to get out without having the terminology proper ....certain ratios causing friction with other nutes, lock out etc.

 

[Bandit420]

Back in the day this was me



Today

 

[growsinse79]

Ok so this is just a shit post, but I was thinking about it today and I've been cutting back on my inputs each grow to try and narrow it down to a bare minimum.

Curious as to how many other people here use from start to harvest? So I know this is going to be something that varies greatly with soil vs coco vs hydro so I guess I need to structure it some....frame up the question...

So let's consider soil an input and anything else added into the soil if you make your own blend, coco an input, water not an input as it's just essential for all types and basically neutral (I know some use well tap and rain water but let's assume water is just neutral). Let's also not consider pest management this is just strictly grow related stuff assuming environment is sterile and devoid of bugs.

So for me, I use 4 inputs

Soil and 3 bottles of nutrients... micro, bloom, and calmag.

I know a lot of you use quite a bit of stuff and got an answer for every deficiency it seems so a few more questions I could piggy back on would be. Did you start using alot of inputs and reduce over time, or did you start with little inputs and added to the grow over time when faced with issues? Do you have secret weapon type inputs that others sleep on that you recommend people check out? Do or have you ever noticed inputs leaving undesired tastes or effects (popping sizzling) in the finished product?

I know this isn't going to be scientifically accurate by any means as some soil is a blend, coco etc...but it's more so just to see how many things you'd have to throw in your cart to get rolling

Thanks, hope that wasn't a big wall of bullshit and we can just groove on what's going on in the root zone

I used nothing but dynabloom for decades. I started adding silica about 8 years ago. Last year I switched to Grotek and I like it better than dynabloom.

 

[Rootsruler]

General Hydroponics - FloraNova Grow & Bloom, CaliMagic, Armor Si

Xtreme Gardening - Mycorrhizae

Advanced Nutrients - Voodoo Juice

When I would tend other people's gardens I got to use all sorts of different brands. Advanced Nutrients, House and Garden, Canna, Athena, Mills, Humboldts Best, Fox Farms, Botanicare, etc. Got to watch each brands performance in real time.

 

[Rootsruler]

Personally i think it all boils down to ratios which change by manufacturer.

CEC (cation exchange capacity) needs to be addressed also as that can affect the availability of nutrients and this ratios.

Some nutrients are in ratios that require high EC (low nitrogen ratios)

Amending nutrients and using additives is really nutrient line specific because of the varying forms and ratios used.

This to me is the part thats most important to understand.

I prefer a 2:1:3 with Ca equal to N and mg half Ca for basic start to finish but tweaking for veg and flower a bit

I agree. This last run I made a concerted effort to use as much of the same brand line as I could. I don't use much so it wasn't hard! I liked the results!

 

[Zen_seeker]

General Hydroponics - FloraNova Grow & Bloom, CaliMagic, Armor Si

Xtreme Gardening - Mycorrhizae

Advanced Nutrients - Voodoo Juice

When I would tend other people's gardens I got to use all sorts of different brands. Advanced Nutrients, House and Garden, Canna, Athena, Mills, Humboldts Best, Fox Farms, Botanicare, etc. Got to watch each brands performance in real time.

I was originally going to go with GH but couldn’t pass up the clearance price of the Botanicare.

Do you recommend GH over all the rest you tried/used? Or are you using it now for other reasons, like availability or price?

 

[Rootsruler]

I was originally going to go with GH but couldn’t pass up the clearance price of the Botanicare.

Do you recommend GH over all the rest you tried/used? Or are you using it now for other reasons, like availability or price?

One of the things I learned working in grow ops is brand doesn't really matter as much as the ratio makeup. The only brand name nutes that I saw being used on a commercial level were General Hydroponics or Dyna-Gro.

What I like about GH is they have a long history in cannabis. They were one of the original companies that came out with a cannabis specific nute ratio. IIRC, they based it very closely to the Lucas Formula.

I use FloraNova mostly for convenience, I'm a lazy gardener, but its price point is very competitive when you compare it to other lines. A few weeks ago someone on another site commented that they used Botanicare but FloraNova was very close in regard to performance. I asked him why he preferred Botanicare over GH and he said it was more economical. On its face it did seem that the Botanicare gallon of grow was indeed cheaper than the FloraNova gallon of grow. When I asked him to compare the dosage charts and then figure out how many actual doses he got per gallon bottle he realized he was paying 30% more for the same doses. I asked him if he followed Botanicares dosage recommendations and he said if he didn't follow their dosages he would get deficiencies. I told him with FloraNova I only use half of what they recommend so, in reality, at least for me, the savings would be double if I compared it to Botanicare.

Many of the lines I played with were that way. Lots of water with some nutrition added in. FloraNova is basically their Flora Trio line but they've figured out how to mix it all together without it precipitating. I understand that it may not be a good fit for beginners as it is concentrated so it's easy to go overboard which is why I like to use PPM as a measurement rather than using a measuring spoon. I've read people complaining that FloraNova is messy and thick. It is but a hard shake of the bottle for a minute will mix it well and using a squeeze bottle top makes it much easier to apply to the solution in a controllable way and avoid the mess.