Blooming nutrients question, npk

[JonnySuicide]

Hi, I'm trying to find some nutes without having to order it and came across some at my local Southern States that has an NPK of 2-15-15. What do you guys think of this ratio for blooming?

 

[az2000]

Hi, I'm trying to find some nutes without having to order it and came across some at my local Southern States that has an NPK of 2-15-15. What do you guys think of this ratio for blooming?

That sounds fine. You probably have regular nutrients you're feeding? You'd want to balance that with this. Usually you cut your base nutrients in half, and then use the "bloom booster" half strength. If you tell me what you use for your base nutrients, I could tell you more about how to mix the two together.

How much does the label for that product say to use? 5 grams would be about 280ppm. That sounds about right (if you used it by itself). If you cut your base nutrients in half, you' probably use 3grams. which would add 170ppm. (If it's liquid, you'd use ml. But, there's some fine tuning that could be done.).

EDIT: I'm assuming you'd only use this once or twice at the end of flower as a "booster." If you're considering using it earlier in flower, it's not a good ratio for that. But, you could scale it into your base nutrients (used in veg?) to arrive at reasonable ratios.

 

[JonnySuicide]

Right now the nut is 4-1-1 but I was trying to find something to work with blooming. I'm starting to flower now and thought I'd have to replace what I'm using now with something with more P-k. What would you recommend for early flowering?

 

[visajoe1]

Right now the nut is 4-1-1 but I was trying to find something to work with blooming. I'm starting to flower now and thought I'd have to replace what I'm using now with something with more P-k. What would you recommend for early flowering?

That 2-15-15 sounds like it will work fine, just start with a light feeding to see how she handles it.

I'm testing running the below all the way though, bottle only cost $9. Heard of folks having success with 1-1-1, so we'll see

 

[az2000]

Right now the nut is 4-1-1 but I was trying to find something to work with blooming. I'm starting to flower now and thought I'd have to replace what I'm using now with something with more P-k. What would you recommend for early flowering?

In early flower I do something like an NPK ratio 1-1.2-1.8. (The potassium can be hard to dial in by mixing two off-the-shelf products. You'll get whatever it comes to. I fine tune it with potassium sulfate, which you can buy cheap from "Alpha Chem" on amazon or ebay. It only takes a tiny amount to move it. It's NPK 0-0-50 and 17% sulfur. In veg, I use a silica product to raise potassium. Dyna Pro-Tekt has a high amount of K compared to Silica Blast.).

When you say your veg nutrient is 4-1-1, is that the ratio? Or, is the label (strenght, percentage of weight) something like 8-2-2? That matters for mixing the 2-15-15 product.

Assuming your veg product's label really says 4-1-1, you'd use 10 grams of that with 3 grams of the 2-15-15 stuff. That would give you an NPK ratio of 1-1.2-1.2 (and a PPM strength around 310).

If either product is liquid, we'd need to talk more about that (the volume and weight of the product need to be factored into it. But, it's not very important. You couls substitute grams for ml liquid product, and it wouldn't change things much.).

In mid-flower I do an NPK ratio around 1-1.5-1.8. I finish around 1-2-1.8. That's what I meant about scaling it. You can get to anything. You can vary it, and read your plant. Near the end of flower you might do a "booster" with a ratio 1-4-3.

Honestly, I'm not sure higher PK in flower does anything. But, most of the "lineups" do this stuff. If you want to see what Fox Farm & Gen Hydro 3-part ratios look like through flower, I put that info here (<<link). My (Sea Grow) feeding schedule is there too. Those things would give you an idea of what's sane. (If you just used the 2-15-15 product, you'd reduce N too much, feeding a 1-7.5-7.5 ratio.).

You don't have to use that 2-15-15 product, depending on what it contains, you might prefer feeding your soil microbes using a high-P bat guano. Or, bone meal. (You just have to get the balance and strength right.).

If you want to do this, you'll see the spreadsheet linked from those schedules. It's not hard. There's a README that walks you through it.

 

[az2000]

That 2-15-15 sounds like it will work fine, just start with a light feeding to see how she handles it.

I'm testing running the below all the way though, bottle only cost $9. Heard of folks having success with 1-1-1, so we'll see

I like 1-1-1 (ratio) all the way through. The plants look healthy at the end. It's worth doing at least once just to be able to question whether fiddling with high N in veg, and high P in flower does anything useful. (I'm not sure it does.). I use Grow More - Sea Grow all purpose (16-16-16). That's cheap. You don't use much. Jack's Classic is 20-20-20. A lot of people use it all the way through. I chose Sea Grow because it's a little more organic.

Dr. Earth has lots of good products. The only downside I can see from that product is that you might have to use a lot, could be expensive. I'd have to use 16 times more than Sea Grow (20 times more than Jacks). But, it could be worth it.

 

[JonnySuicide]

I've seen some off the shelf products at 1-1-1. I have to make a corection though, the nut I have now is 2-1-1 not 4-1-1.
"When you say your veg nutrient is 4-1-1, is that the ratio? Or, is the label (strenght, percentage of weight) something like 8-2-2? That matters for mixing the 2-15-15 product." I'm quoting the bottle, 2-1-1 when mixed in a gallon.
This is my first grow so I'm trying to figure out the nutrients. So far the plants are doing really well so I may stick with the 2-1-1. It just seemed with all the articles I read that I had to cut N and raise P-K once flowering.

 

[az2000]

I've seen some off the shelf products at 1-1-1. I have to make a corection though, the nut I have now is 2-1-1 not 4-1-1.

You'd use 18g of that 2-1-1 fertilizer, and 2g of the 2-15-15 bloom stuff. That results in an NPK ratio 1-1.2-1.2 at 266ppm strength. (The calculated ppms are a little confusing. That's counting elemental P & K. But, fertilzers suppy it as P2O5 & K2O). Those compounds calculate out to 359ppm. The final mix is somewhere in between, closer to the elemental strength. You should have a TDS pen and sanity check the actual strength.

And, again, if any product is liquid, you'd measure ml. But, to be perfectly accurate, the weight and volume on the package should be taken into account. 1ml of pure water = 1g weight. When water has minerals added, it can be heavier. That affects these calculations a little. But, not enough to worry about.

This is my first grow so I'm trying to figure out the nutrients. So far the plants are doing really well.

 

[JonnySuicide]

Jesus I screwed my numbers up. So its 4-1-1 for what I used till it started blooming then I went to a 1-2-2( I forgot this one earlier) and the stuff I found today is the 2-15-15 that I've never used. Heres a pic so far of my babies using the 411 then to 122 in the past week.

 

[az2000]

Jesus I screwed my numbers up. So its 4-1-1 for what I used till it started blooming then I went to a 1-2-2( I forgot this one earlier) and the stuff I found today is the 2-15-15 that I've never used. Heres a pic so far of my babies using the 411 then to 122 in the past week.

1-2-2 is cutting back N too much for this stage of growth.

If you mixed 5ml (4-1-1) and 15ml (1-2-2), you'll have a ratio 1-1-1 which should be 210ppms. (I'm not counting the trace mineral ppms. I don't know what's in your bottles to that extent. The PPMs would be a little more due to that.).

4ml & 20ml would be 1-1.22-1.22 (242ppms).

If it were me, I'd be somewhere in the range of those two mixes. I'd inrease P in mid flower. (You can see what I do in my schedule. You can also see from the other "lineup" schedules they sometimes go higher. Maybe they're right. You have to figure that stuff out for yourself. Try ratios and see what happens.).

Again. I'm assuming the 4-1-1 and 1-2-2 are what's actually on the label, as percentage of strength. (this is confusing because I usually reduce percentage of strength to ratios. Your numbers are already that. If you converted 12-3-3 and 4-8-8 labels to ratios, then you'd get many more PPMs than I calculated.).