Should I follow the feeding guide for the brand of soil I'm using?

[CarpeDiamonds]

Hey guys,

I've been growing my seedlings in Canna Terra Professional soil and have recently run into symptoms of what looks like calcium deficiency due to low pH (6) which I was going to treat by applying some dolomite lime but I stumbled across a feeding guide for the particular soil I'm using and I wanted to get some opinions on it. I have Canna Terra Flora, Veg and Rhizotonic on hand and have only been using the Rhizotonic this far. Should I follow this feeding guide and maybe hold off on applying the lime? I'm considering the fact that maybe I wouldn't have run into these issues if I followed the guide provided for this particular soil.

@Aqua Man
@Beachwalker
@Grownsince95

 

[Greenjourneyman]

If you’re seeing cal mag def then you should treat for cal mag def.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

If you’re seeing cal mag def then you should treat for cal mag def.

Ended up applying two grams of dolomite lime to each 4.5L pot. Hopefully should be enough otherwise I can always add more. One of my Solo cup seedlings also seems effected so not to sure what I'm going to do there. I'm thinking maybe prepare new soil with dolomite lime added in and then transplant it. Probably a better idea than adding lime to a solo cup.

 

[Beachwalker]

Ended up applying two grams of dolomite lime to each 4.5L pot. Hopefully should be enough otherwise I can always add more. One of my Solo cup seedlings also seems effected so not to sure what I'm going to do there. I'm thinking maybe prepare new soil with dolomite lime added in and then transplant it. Probably a better idea than adding lime to a solo cup.

I use one level tablespoon per gallon of soil for Dolemite, start with half that amount then check the run off pH and then add more if necessary

 

[Beachwalker]

By the way referring to your other thread I never said you had a calcium or magnesium deficiency because you don't, it was someone on their first grow who told you that

the little spots you're referencing are more than likely caused by pH & I gave you the solution to fix pH on your other thread

 

[Grownsince95]

@Beachwalker is right except what I said is it looked like a calcium issue and his advice about ph was spot on I thought that was the consensus...too low and calcium can't be used by the plant right? I thought that was solid advice, my bad. As far as the soil and feeding go I also mentioned I have no experience with that brand etc. Sorry I can't help more

 

[Aqua Man]

IMO its extremely important to follow the manufacturers recommendations but dilute it by about half. You want to ensure the ratios are as intended and you only reduce the concentration.

 

[Beachwalker]

@Beachwalker is right except what I said is it looked like a calcium issue and his advice about ph was spot on I thought that was the consensus...too low and calcium can't be used by the plant right? I thought that was solid advice, my bad. As far as the soil and feeding go I also mentioned I have no experience with that brand etc. Sorry I can't help more

I wasn't referring to you, hope it didn't come across that way; it was some newb grower saying cal-mag or calcium on OP's other thread and I mentioned it above because I didn't want op to start pouring all kinds of unneeded crap on his plants

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

I use one level tablespoon per gallon of soil for Dolemite, start with half that amount then check the run off pH and then add more if necessary

I used 2 grams because some website said 1 gram per liter of substrate is sufficient to raise the pH by 1 point and I want to raise by 0.5 in pots that are 4L. Do you think the website was wrong? The packaging of the dolomite lime says to use 300g per Meter squared but it doesn't say anything about pH.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

IMO its extremely important to follow the manufacturers recommendations but dilute it by about half. You want to ensure the ratios are as intended and you only reduce the concentration.

Thank you for clarifying about the feeding schedule I really want to be prepared. I'm a bit confused by what you mean by ratio and concentration though? What ratio are you referring to? Isn't the the ratio of stock solution to water just the concentration? Also the feeding schedule doesn't clarify about how many times you feed so I presume your just replacing watering them with feeding them with the diluted solutions and only re-feed them when the soil dry's out?

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

I use one level tablespoon per gallon of soil for Dolemite, start with half that amount then check the run off pH and then add more if necessary

Also with regards to run off, I have dishes under my pots but I barely get any runoff. Does that mean I'm underwatering? Honestly I thought overwatering was the bigger concern?
By the way I got both the drops you recommended and the probe and confirmed the pH of my bagged soil to be 6 on all 3 different tests. I also tested my tap water and found it had a pH of 7.6-8 which actually matches with the water quality report for my area. If anyone would like to see the water quality report I can post it here.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

Here are some photos of my 3 transplanted seedlings. The jiffy pellet and one of the seedlings in the solo cup seem effected though the symptoms look different. Looks like more of a consistent yellowing instead of spots. The effected seedling in the solo cup was actually one of my first seedlings of the batch that was planted. It's growth seems stunted compared to the transplanted seedlings. I'm not too worried about the jiffy pellet as I can only fit 4 plants in my space at the moment. One of my other solo cup seedlings is doing fine.
Should I treat by applying dolomite lime to some soil in a 4L pot and then transplanting the solo cup in?

 

[Greenjourneyman]

Definitely give then some new homes. It can be a hard toss up with juggling how much space you have vs the plant and clone count.
Ive found though if you try to keep them in a small house longer than they want, you could end up with root problems in the long run.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

Thank you guys for all your help. I Definitely think it was a pH problem because when I transplanted my seedlings to bigger pots today I tested the runoff and was getting 5-5.5. I increased Dolomite to 11 grams for the new pots. Struggled a bit to transplant from solo cups but hopefully they pull through. In future I'm sticking to jiffy pellets.

 

[fractalflowers]

I have found that manufacturer directions for feeding are usually a little heavier than needed. say if a product recommended 15 mL/gallon, I would probably use 8-10mL. in soil I have had good experiences with 6.5 pH water.

Thank you for clarifying about the feeding schedule I really want to be prepared. I'm a bit confused by what you mean by ratio and concentration though? What ratio are you referring to? Isn't the the ratio of stock solution to water just the concentration? Also the feeding schedule doesn't clarify about how many times you feed so I presume your just replacing watering them with feeding them with the diluted solutions and only re-feed them when the soil dry's out?

I think he meant the ratios of one nutrient to another should remain intact but the overall concentration, as in, how much of each one you add to your water, should be cut in half.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

I have found that manufacturer directions for feeding are usually a little heavier than needed. say if a product recommended 15 mL/gallon, I would probably use 8-10mL. in soil I have had good experiences with 6.5 pH water.

I think he meant the ratios of one nutrient to another should remain intact but the overall concentration, as in, how much of each one you add to your water, should be cut in half.

Ahhhhh right you're supposed to mix all the different solutions into one feeding solution. Should've figured that out myself. So I take it I should take the middle value of the ranges in the chart and half it? How often do you feed? Every time you need to water or do you skip certain days?

 

[Greenjourneyman]

Personally I feed every 2nd or 3rd watering. Try to read the plant, youll know if you are over feeding.

 

[m8ty]

Stop over thinking and adjusting the pH, just put the seed in the soil and leave it alone, use filter water and add 150 ppm of liquid cal-mag, don't over water, and that's all you have to do. The pic looks like the plant is burned because of the lime, don't do that, the soil is formulated already and there is no need to add lime to it, just don't add anything other than cal-mag to your filter water, stop using tap water, and don't over do it adding fertilizer, in soil you really only need to add fertilizer one or two times throughout the grow. You might consider starting over if you have more seeds, all the pH adjusting killed the plants.

 

[CF89]

in soil you really only need to add fertilizer one or two times throughout the grow.

Hun? I’m in soil (1:3 promix and perlite) and feeding 2-3 times throughout the grow doesn’t sound right. They get feed every watering. Every 5 days. From week 2 till the second last week. And all are usually pretty much fine

 

[m8ty]

Hun? I’m in soil (1:3 promix and perlite) and feeding 2-3 times throughout the grow doesn’t sound right. They get feed every watering. Every 5 days. From week 2 till the second last week. And all are usually pretty much fine

I'm using Fox farm soil bags which has food for the plants so there is no need to feed every week.