Let's Talk About the Calcium/Potassium See-Saw

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BillFarthing

BillFarthing

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Calcium and potassium interact with each other and require a balancing act to work well in a plant. You can't overload a plant with one element without locking out the other.

Calcium is the engine for metabolism in the plant. It is required mostly in transition to flower. The most common source is calcium nitrate, but that is the easiest way to throw off the nitrogen balance in the plant, especially in flower. Calcium imbalance can be caused by incorrect pH, improper watering, or nutrient imbalance. In soil, it can be fixed with gypsum, lime, bone meal or compost. In hydroponics and foliar use, I prefer supplementing with calcium acetate or amino chelated calcium at transition.

Take a look at the available ppm requirements of calcium from Agrien tissue samples at the different stages of plant growth in cannabis:

Lets talk about the calciumpotassium see saw


Potassium is for all around health and water balance for the plant. It is required mostly in late flower. It is very easy to overload a plant with potassium in coco coir, by adding things like kelp, or potassium sulfate. Potassium deficiency can be caused by incorrect pH, excessively dry soil or nutrient imbalance.

Take a look at the available ppm requirements of potassium from Agrien tissue samples at the different stages of plant growth in cannabis:

Lets talk about the calciumpotassium see saw 2


Always do testing to help correct any issues in the root zone with a pH meter or soil test. Issues can always be minimized by starting with a high quality potting mix or balanced synthetic or organic fertilizer.
 
TheBioMaster

TheBioMaster

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This is true with ANY/ALL nutrition for plants.........

Shocker- you can't just dump any amount of nitrogen, calcium, phosphate or any/all other nutrients on ANY type plant, or imbalance occurs ........AND .......ph is important????????!! WOW!! Who knew???? Lol!!!

Ya know.......I bet the same rule applies to even just WATER for a plant!!!!!

Earth shaking post just full of unknown knowledge and insight bro.......
 
SSgrower

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I am about to try Humbolt "Oneness" which is kinda like Dynagrow, I could not get DynaGrow this Monday so today I ordered the Humbolt. Anyone here familiar?
 
BillFarthing

BillFarthing

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I am about to try Humbolt "Oneness" which is kinda like Dynagrow, I could not get DynaGrow this Monday so today I ordered the Humbolt. Anyone here familiar?

Yes, you are going to need supplemental calcium.
 
Dr.Green55

Dr.Green55

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Calcium and potassium interact with each other and require a balancing act to work well in a plant. You can't overload a plant with one element without locking out the other.

Calcium is the engine for metabolism in the plant. It is required mostly in transition to flower. The most common source is calcium nitrate, but that is the easiest way to throw off the nitrogen balance in the plant, especially in flower. Calcium imbalance can be caused by incorrect pH, improper watering, or nutrient imbalance. In soil, it can be fixed with gypsum, lime, bone meal or compost. In hydroponics and foliar use, I prefer supplementing with calcium acetate or amino chelated calcium at transition.

Take a look at the available ppm requirements of calcium from Agrien tissue samples at the different stages of plant growth in cannabis:

View attachment 1047986

Potassium is for all around health and water balance for the plant. It is required mostly in late flower. It is very easy to overload a plant with potassium in coco coir, by adding things like kelp, or potassium sulfate. Potassium deficiency can be caused by incorrect pH, excessively dry soil or nutrient imbalance.

Take a look at the available ppm requirements of potassium from Agrien tissue samples at the different stages of plant growth in cannabis:

View attachment 1047987

Always do testing to help correct any issues in the root zone with a pH meter or soil test. Issues can always be minimized by starting with a high quality potting mix or balanced synthetic or organic fertilizer.


So what is your general thoughts on Ratio's of K to Mg to Ca etc, in basic veg and flower mix. I seen some varying studies from different universities. But I like the 4-2 -1, example 300ppm K 150ppm Ca and 75ppm Mg. S I usually run in the 130-140 range or whatever it comes out to, studies show it can be run up to 200ppm no issues . the only time I watch my S is if i'm doing sulfur burns.
 
BillFarthing

BillFarthing

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So what is your general thoughts on Ratio's of K to Mg to Ca etc, in basic veg and flower mix. I seen some varying studies from different universities. But I like the 4-2 -1, example 300ppm K 150ppm Ca and 75ppm Mg. S I usually run in the 130-140 range or whatever it comes out to, studies show it can be run up to 200ppm no issues . the only time I watch my S is if i'm doing sulfur burns.
~125 N, 40 P, 175 K, 150 Ca, 50 Mg, 60 S, 2.8 Fe and micros. A lot of this is moot when you use a high quality fulvic with chelated and complexed micros and your pH is in check.
 
SeymourGreen

SeymourGreen

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~125 N, 40 P, 175 K, 150 Ca, 50 Mg, 60 S, 2.8 Fe and micros. A lot of this is moot when you use a high quality fulvic with chelated and complexed micros and your pH is in check.
Do you recommend this for all stages of growth, or just veg?
 
SeymourGreen

SeymourGreen

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Thanks for the reply. Is this close to the same ratio then as the “Recipe”? Really want to give that a try in a run or two.
 
jguit

jguit

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Thanks for the reply. Is this close to the same ratio then as the “Recipe”? Really want to give that a try in a run or two.
It's pretty close. PK levels are a little bit higher (and Ca levels a bit lower) w/ Jack's 321. Don't overthink it.

Useful Calculation: 3000mg (weight of Jack's Part A per gallon converted to mg) / 3.78 (liters per gallon) * .12 (percentage of P in Jack's Part A 5-12-26) = 95 ppm of P
 
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SeymourGreen

SeymourGreen

82
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It's pretty close. PK levels are a little bit higher (and Ca levels a bit lower) w/ Jack's 321. Don't overthink it.

Useful Calculation: 3000mg (weight of Jack's Part A per gallon converted to mg) / 3.78 (liters per gallon) * .12 (percentage of P in Jack's Part A 5-12-26) = 95 ppm of P
Thanks for this. Been having a buddy run numbers for me on the angelfire calculator. Another quick question if you don’t mind. How is everyone adjusting the Ec with Jacks? Mix it up full strength, and then just dilute to target Ec?
 
jguit

jguit

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Thanks for this. Been having a buddy run numbers for me on the angelfire calculator. Another quick question if you don’t mind. How is everyone adjusting the Ec with Jacks? Mix it up full strength, and then just dilute to target Ec?

You can simply dilute or adjust the weight of salts you add. For example, if you wanted 80% strength, just do the math 3g * .80 = 2.4g, 2g * .80 = 1.6g, etc... Whatever works easier for you!
 
extractoilminussixty

extractoilminussixty

270
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Calcium and potassium interact with each other and require a balancing act to work well in a plant. You can't overload a plant with one element without locking out the other.

Calcium is the engine for metabolism in the plant. It is required mostly in transition to flower. The most common source is calcium nitrate, but that is the easiest way to throw off the nitrogen balance in the plant, especially in flower. Calcium imbalance can be caused by incorrect pH, improper watering, or nutrient imbalance. In soil, it can be fixed with gypsum, lime, bone meal or compost. In hydroponics and foliar use, I prefer supplementing with calcium acetate or amino chelated calcium at transition.

Take a look at the available ppm requirements of calcium from Agrien tissue samples at the different stages of plant growth in cannabis:

View attachment 1047986

Potassium is for all around health and water balance for the plant. It is required mostly in late flower. It is very easy to overload a plant with potassium in coco coir, by adding things like kelp, or potassium sulfate. Potassium deficiency can be caused by incorrect pH, excessively dry soil or nutrient imbalance.

Take a look at the available ppm requirements of potassium from Agrien tissue samples at the different stages of plant growth in cannabis:

View attachment 1047987

Always do testing to help correct any issues in the root zone with a pH meter or soil test. Issues can always be minimized by starting with a high quality potting mix or balanced synthetic or organic fertilizer.
Great graph thank you, really shows a picture is worth a thousand grows (I mean words)

(Seriously been showing it to new Med growers in MO., it’s like the lightbulb turned on, u can read read read, but the graph sums it up)
 
jguit

jguit

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I need to correct my post above. Jack's 321 would contain approx 40 ppm of P (If mixed at 3g of Part A). I forgot to account that the label shows the percentage of P2O5 (not P). Same thing for K.

  • P2O5 = 43% P
  • K2O = 83% K

So yea, Jack's 321 would be very close to the values BillFarthing mentioned above. Sorry for the mixup.
 
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SeymourGreen

SeymourGreen

82
18
I need to correct my post above. Jack's 321 would contain approx 40 ppm of P (If mixed at 3g of Part A). I forgot to account that the label shows the percentage of P2O5 (not P). Same thing for K.

  • P2O5 = 43% P
  • K2O = 83% K

So yea, Jack's 321 would be very close to the values BillFarthing mentioned above. Sorry for the mixup.
No biggie. Appreciate the clarification.
 
Skybound

Skybound

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Check out THIS blog entry by Dr Daniel Fernandez regarding how nutrient manufacturers can misrepresent their formulations in their so called Guaranteed Analysis. That being said, don't trust the label info as it's intentionally skewed to protect their formulation(s). I journal my grow at the Bean Basement and sometimes 420, but I also made a "How To" video on YouTube for using Hydro Buddy that might be helpful to some, but generally, I've found it easier to just stay in my own lane and not be influenced by product labels with skewed info. I developed a PH Perfect regimen for my perpetual garden that yields me a plant every week, and the good thing about a setup like that is that I have plants in all stages of life at all times, so change I make along the way show results in about 2 weeks. I'll share my most current targets and which solutions I used to achieve them. PH perfection is gained by balancing the potassium silicate with the monoammonium phosphate (MAP), and starting from my RO source, these targets result in perfect PH stability at about 5.9-6.0.


New Targets


FYI, using the Late regimen on plants with yellow leaves will yellow EVERY leaf on the plant, so I choose whether to stay using the Mid or graduate to the Late on a plant by plant, feed by feed basis.

This is a really good thread so I logged in to contribute as well as learn.

Edit - I forgot to mention that I mix everything (except micros) at 1 gram for every 10ml of RO in the jug. Because I make half gallons, for me, that's 189.27 grams which I round up to 189.3 grams on my 0.0 scale. Micros, I target by themselves and tell Hydro Buddy that I'm using a 1000x more than what I am, than shove it all into the one jug, so once again for my half gallon jug, I tell HB I'm making 500 gallons. This is my micro mix made with chelated metals Iron DTPA, Manganese EDTA, Copper EDTA, Zinc EDTA, Boric Acid and Sodium Molybdate. 3.8 on the above chart means I'm dosing my feed stock (DTW) at 3.8ml/Gal. Everything else is also Ml/Gal.

Micro Targets
 
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