Dirtbags Hydroponics Thread.

[Judaz]

Did you pre soak rockwool before adding clones? I usually soak in 4.5-5.0 ph min 12 hours then put clones in. Rockwool has the tenedency to spike up ph if not soaked properly before and then after that stack the cubes on top of each other to remove excess water in cubes so you don’t put clones in a soaked rockwool. Water will flow out from top cube to bottom cube so you don’t have to squeeze it and damage rockwool to get water out after soaking

 

[Dirtbag]

Why are you growing in rockwool, and are these the same plants you changed the nuits on?

Long story... But the short version is I have had issues the last few grows and blamed it on overfeeding when the reality was it was actually a hole in my sulphur burner cup causing problems. But hindsight is 20/20... Anyway I went with wool this time for more control over the rootzone conditions, and to more easily automate the system. I've been getting tired of hand watering, and rockwool works well on a drip system.

And as for nutrients, no I'm still using pure blend pro right now. Havent switched up nutes yet, and might not until the next cycle as I dont really like the idea of switching brands mid grow. Only thing I've changed is using rockwool instead of promix.

 

[Dirtbag]

Did you pre soak rockwool before adding clones? I usually soak in 4.5-5.0 ph min 12 hours then put clones in. Rockwool has the tenedency to spike up ph if not soaked properly before and then after that stack the cubes on top of each other to remove excess water in cubes so you don’t put clones in a soaked rockwool. Water will flow out from top cube to bottom cube so you don’t have to squeeze it and damage rockwool to get water out after soaking

I didn't, but I've heard from several very reliable sources that pre soaking to neutralize the binder isnt necessary anymore. Everyone I know using wool just hydrates with nutrient solution and plants their cuttings. Though some do a several day dry out in a dry room before transplanting so the block isnt too soaked.

And I made it through the first week no issue, ph was good. Wasnt u til I gave them their second watering at 6 days when I had roots coming out the bottom that this happened. I'm starting to think this might have been something I fu ked up somehow, like using the wrong jar to hand water. I had one jar with dilute ph up in it and another different jar for hand watering. I think I must have used the wrong jar the more I think about it.

Which make this that much harder to swallow ...lol.

Anyway, I rinsed them one more time to get the ph in the block stable around 6ph, I really didnt want to leave them sitting in that high ph solution for as long as it would take to get a little dryback. I did use 3ml/G 29% H2O2 just incase, and to give them a bit of extra dissolved O2 while they dry the block up a little. im sure it's not best practice, but has to be better then frying g them in an alkaline solution. I'm gonna leave them for a few days now and see what happens.

 

[Judaz]

I didn't, but I've heard from several very reliable sources that pre soaking to neutralize the binder isnt necessary anymore. Everyone I know using wool just hydrates with nutrient solution and plants their cuttings. Though some do a several day dry out in a dry room before transplanting so the block isnt too soaked.

And I made it through the first week no issue, ph was good. Wasnt u til I gave them their second watering at 6 days when I had roots coming out the bottom that this happened. I'm starting to think this might have been something I fu ked up somehow, like using the wrong jar to hand water. I had one jar with dilute ph up in it and another different jar for hand watering. I think I must have used the wrong jar the more I think about it.

Which make this that much harder to swallow ...lol.

Anyway, I rinsed them one more time to get the ph in the block stable around 6ph, I really didnt want to leave them sitting in that high ph solution for as long as it would take to get a little dryback. I did use 3ml/G 29% H2O2 just incase, and to give them a bit of extra dissolved O2 while they dry the block up a little. im sure it's not best practice, but has to be better then frying g them in an alkaline solution. I'm gonna leave them for a few days now and see what happens.

if you got roots coming out the bottom just flush them until you see the right ph come out. Then let them dry up for a few days. But pre soaking is always a safe measure so you won’t risk it. But there is an easier way to do it where you don’t need to soak the cube and also balance out ph from the get go. It’s the way I do it now. I’ll post the process later when I Have more time to write

 

[Judaz]

your plants will be fine if you flush to correct it now....they will snap out of it the quicker you correct it. It’s hard to drown roots when they are settled down. Or flush then pick up rockwool and tilt it sideways where a point of the corner point is pointed to the ground and you release excess water. Or you can get a dry rockwool put the soaked one with plant on top and that dry rockwool will suck out excess water.

 

[Dirtbag]

your plants will be fine if you flush to correct it now....they will snap out of it the quicker you correct it. It’s hard to drown roots when they are settled down. Or flush then pick up rockwool and tilt it sideways where a point of the corner point is pointed to the ground and you release excess water. Or you can get a dry rockwool put the soaked one with plant on top and that dry rockwool will suck out excess water.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate anything I can pick up from experienced wool growers. What you described is pretty much what I did, rinsed with 5.5ph 1ec solution until I had the right ph in the block verified by syringe testing after I picked up the block and tilted it corner down to let it drain quite a bit. Happy to hear it was the right thing to do.

There is only one rough looking plant in there right now that took a lot of rinsing to correct, the rest look ok and are clearly growing like stink still..

I will say, I already love the fact that I can syringe a block to see what's going on in there... As soon as I noticed yellowing and one sick looking plant, which happened overnight, I've identified the issue and corrected it, and I'm back on course. This would have taken a couple weeks and a lot more guessing in proterra/promix.

 

[Burned Haze]

Excuse my rant/dissing your product choice (megacrop ) but..........

Medicropper was complaining on one of his recent videos that no matter how long his partners/workers & him tried to get that same product soluable , he figured out the workers even thou they mixed it well, the bottom, of the Rez had tons of pieces everytime ....... he said the company told to use warm water and all this bs, nothing works on making it soluable and at their rates make em yellow on that brand ( that’s what medicropper said in his video , so he had to raise his ppm)


Fuck a company ( maker of megacrop) that is so much more expensive as Mendocino producer or jack’s Peter and can’t compete and won’t even costumer support their products ( too each their own). What’s the point and why are you fighting not to work with them? Do you ever wonder why the main agricultural and commercial of non cannabis and commercial cannabis pick them over these overpriced non sense if they want to make cash/succeed in their grow .


I mean shit I can practically put sugar water and poop and r/o water and call it bud taste enhancer and booster and sell it ( and charge like 200+ a gallon lol @ 20ml+ per gallon like all these indoor companies do ) at a hydro store and people would buy it cause the stupidity of this whole ball part . The whole hydro/indoor store group want as many bottles you involved and at least concentration and want super expensive shit ( look at advanced nutes )..... that does not prove anything or improvement in your bud compared to other brand choices and uses ....

 

[Dirtbag]

Excuse my rant/dissing your product choice (megacrop ) but..........

Medicropper was complaining on one of his recent videos that no matter how long his partners/workers & him tried to get that same product soluable , he figured out the workers even thou they mixed it well, the bottom, of the Rez had tons of pieces everytime ....... he said the company told water and all this bs, nothing works on making it soluable and at their rates make em yellow on that brand ( that’s what medicropper said in his video , so he had to raise his ppm)


Fuck a company ( maker of megacrop) that is so much more expensive as Mendocino producer or jack’s Peter and can’t compete and won’t even costumer support their products ( too each their own). What’s the point and why are you fighting not to work with them? Do you ever wonder why the main agricultural and commercial of non cannabis and commercial cannabis pick them over these overpriced non sense if they want to make cash/succeed in their grow .


I mean shit I can practically put sugar water and poop and r/o water and call it bud taste enhancer and booster and sell it ( and charge like 200+ a gallon lol @ 20ml+ per gallon like all these indoor companies do ) at a hydro store and people would buy it cause the stupidity of this whole ball part . The whole hydro/indoor store group want as many bottles you involved and at least concentration and want super expensive shit ( look at advanced nutes )..... that does not prove anything or improvement in your bud compared to other brand choices and uses ....

I want to know why so many people give it such awesome reviews then, honestly, as that's why I bought it. I had no knowledge of the history or reputation of megacrop otherwise, so this is all news to me. As for the other products you mentioned, Im not fighting to not use them lol, those fertilizer brands arent sold at stores in Canada and honestly I'd never even heard of them until i joined this group. I see I can get Jack's 20-20-20 on Amazon, but honestly those companies havent really popped up on my radar. The commercial cannabis growers here all make their own ferts with bulk salts, they dont buy premixed anything. And that's just a bit more than I want to get into right now. So when I went looking for master blend as a dry alternative I couldnt find it anywhere, that's when I started seeing all the positive reviews of MC. I saw the NPK and the fact that it uses amino chelates, so I figured I would try it. I knew nothing of the company history.

Anyways.. Im still running PBP right now FWIW, and I'm going to look into an alternate source of nutes soon. I'm gonna see if my buddy will hook me up with some of the raw salt blends they use in their LP grow.

 

[MIMedGrower]

I want to know why so many people give it such awesome reviews then, honestly, as that's why I bought it. I had no knowledge of the history or reputation of megacrop otherwise, so this is all news to me. As for the other products you mentioned, Im not fighting to not use them lol, those fertilizer brands arent sold at stores in Canada and honestly I'd never even heard of them until i joined this group. I see I can get Jack's 20-20-20 on Amazon, but honestly those companies havent really popped up on my radar. The commercial cannabis growers here all make their own ferts with bulk salts, they dont buy premixed anything. And that's just a bit more than I want to get into right now. So when I went looking for master blend as a dry alternative I couldnt find it anywhere, that's when I started seeing all the positive reviews of MC. I saw the NPK and the fact that it uses amino chelates, so I figured I would try it. I knew nothing of the company history.

Anyways.. Im still running PBP right now FWIW, and I'm going to look into an alternate source of nutes soon. I'm gonna see if my buddy will hook me up with some of the raw salt blends they use in their LP grow.

Simple answer. Never listen to a bunch of stoners on weed sites.

Or guitarists on guitar forums.

Or mechanics on car forums.

Or.........

 

[MIMedGrower]

Do you have Yara in Canada. I believe they are the big manufacturer of powdered nutes.

Yara | Leader in crop nutrition, ammonia and industrial solutions

Yara's mission is to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. We are working to decarbonize food, shipping and other energy-intensive industries.

www.yara.com

 

[Aqua Man]

I don't get involved in the politics to me it's fuckin pointless. If a product works then it works. Like @Dirtbag in Canada shit is hard to come by and I used to mix my own nutes. Works very well for me, it's cheap, dissolves perfect fine for me (no idea why the difference) maybe they are trying to use a stock solution?

Honestly my experience as many others is absolutely been great. Idk if it's like the LED thing or people have a hard-on against the company but imo if ya haven't tried it then that's just it ya haven't tried it no different than anything else and right tool for the job may not suit everyones needs.

Like I said @@Dirtbag if ya don't want shipbo my way with some other starting to grow that I'm helping here I will gladly pick it up off ya for your cost.

This is another subject like LED I'm just getting tired of talking about. People never use em yet bash em.

Tbh this is cannabis culture bash anything new and only the old is good until it's not

Anyhow offer is standing dirt

 

[MIMedGrower]

I don't get involved in the politics to me it's fuckin pointless. If a product works then it works. Like @Dirtbag in Canada shit is hard to come by and I used to mix my own nutes. Works very well for me, it's cheap, dissolves perfect fine for me (no idea why the difference) maybe they are trying to use a stock solution?

Honestly my experience as many others is absolutely been great. Idk if it's like the LED thing or people have a hard-on against the company but imo if ya haven't tried it then that's just it ya haven't tried it no different than anything else and right tool for the job may not suit everyones needs.

Like I said @@Dirtbag if ya don't want shipbo my way with some other starting to grow that I'm helping here I will gladly pick it up off ya for your cost.

This is another subject like LED I'm just getting tired of talking about. People never use em yet bash em.

Tbh this is cannabis culture bash anything new and only the old is good until it's not

Anyhow offer is standing dirt

I see this rip off industry differently. If its new and talked about in the forums it gets purchased whether its any good or not.

Look at bloom boosters.

No one tends to admit mistakes when there is an investment made.

 

[Dirtbag]

I don't get involved in the politics to me it's fuckin pointless. If a product works then it works. Like @Dirtbag in Canada shit is hard to come by and I used to mix my own nutes. Works very well for me, it's cheap, dissolves perfect fine for me (no idea why the difference) maybe they are trying to use a stock solution?

Honestly my experience as many others is absolutely been great. Idk if it's like the LED thing or people have a hard-on against the company but imo if ya haven't tried it then that's just it ya haven't tried it no different than anything else and right tool for the job may not suit everyones needs.

Like I said @@Dirtbag if ya don't want shipbo my way with some other starting to grow that I'm helping here I will gladly pick it up off ya for your cost.

This is another subject like LED I'm just getting tired of talking about. People never use em yet bash em.

Tbh this is cannabis culture bash anything new and only the old is good until it's not

Anyhow offer is standing dirt

Honestly i kind of agree, if I cared about the politics of what duchebags own what company I'd also never use Botanicare. I'll use the megacrop for a bit on my other vegging plants and see how they do, I'm not going to make a final judgement on it before I actually use it. It fully dissolved for me in a regular strength solution, just took half hour or so for the last bits to dissolve, which is pretty normal for dry nutes in cold water. I currently dont see any problem with it really, besides the belief that ding dongs own the company. And it's less than 4 cents a gallon compared to the 25 cents+ running PBP, so if it works you can bet I'll use it.

 

[Dirtbag]

Simple answer. Never listen to a bunch of stoners on weed sites.

Or guitarists on guitar forums.

Or mechanics on car forums.

Or.........

If I followed that advice, I never would have let you lead me to such outstanding burning joints! lol

But I hear what your putting down.

 

[Aqua Man]

I see this rip off industry differently. If its new and talked about in the forums it gets purchased whether its any good or not.

Look at bloom boosters.

No one tends to admit mistakes when there is an investment made.

Fair enough it goes both ways I guess. But I don't see how there is this much hostility towards a base nutrient. It's a base nute not a supplement. It has good ratios is very cost effective and has shown to produce. Base nutes really mean shit as long as they have the basics covered and grow plants be it pbp, mega crop, GH, an,jacks all the base nutes work. Personally I won't pay for bottled water. The amount of hate megacrop generates is far beyond any other base nute and I attribute that to politics and company history not on actual merits. I agree pbp has desirable ratios but so does megacrop.

Pk boosters and supplements are a whole different ball game and the hate is deserved

 

[MIMedGrower]

If I followed that advice, I never would have let you lead me to such outstanding burning joints! lol

But I hear what your putting down.

That advice is from actual fertilizer companies. Not weed specific ones or forums.

Every other thread on the forum is still which bloom booster is best.

Well maybe not every other thread. Lol

 

[MIMedGrower]

Fair enough it goes both ways I guess. But I don't see how there is this much hostility towards a base nutrient. It's a base nute not a supplement. It has good ratios is very cost effective and has shown to produce. Base nutes really mean shit as long as they have the basics covered and grow plants be it pbp, mega crop, GH, an,jacks all the base nutes work. Personally I won't pay for bottled water. The amount of hate megacrop generates is far beyond any other base nute and I attribute that to politics and company history not on actual merits. I agree pbp has desirable ratios but so does megacrop.

Pk boosters and supplements are a whole different ball game and the hate is deserved

You do know they said it was complete and then came out with a carb and bloom boost product.

I dont actually care or hate a company anyway. I just call it as i see it.

 

[Aqua Man]

Just for the record I'm not saying its any better than any other base nutrient out there or will provide more or better growth miracle geowth. It might but I'm not saying it will. But it's certainly not going to make your grow worse and it may not suit you as well as other in your system. If you use time will tell.

I do however feel the ratio is more beneficial in some aspects than other on the market.

 

[Dirtbag]

No one tends to admit mistakes when there is an investment made.

You can take my review as a fairly unbiased one. I dont have any problem admitting I've bought a bag of shit if it turns out that way. Right now though, I did get it to fully dissolve and it looks pretty decent and perfectly clear. Comes out to 1.2ec and 5.8ph on the money at 1 gram per liter.

I will say about it though, it needs to be mixed into its final concentration, You cant make a concentrated stock mix like Aqua man said.

 

[Aqua Man]

You do know they said it was complete and then came out with a carb and bloom boost product.

I dont actually care or hate a company anyway. I just call it as i see it.

So did every other fert company $$$ I doubt they are any different in that aspect.