I think bone meal is available fairly quickly. The problem was probably using too much, not thinking about the NPK ratio you were creating, the strength. Sometimes people flip the lights to 12/12 and immediately switch to a bloom nutrient. That's much too soon. It should be eased into. (Or, don't adjust any of this stuff. Just feed an NPK ratio 1-1-1 from veg to harvest. It works fine. My Grow More - Sea Grow is 1-1-1. Jacks Classic is 1-1-1.). If you're going to increase N in veg, and P in flower, you should definitely use the spreadsheet so you know what you're creating.
Or, use a soil with everything amended into it. What I do is something of a hybrid between a complete soil and soilless. I don't want much stuff in the soil. I want it to be light, fast drying. I "force feed" it like I would soilless (but not as strong, an using soil fertilizer not hydro). I.e., I feed it each watering, and do a significant amount of runoff (replacing the build up in the soil with fresh, balanced nutrients. Sort of like hydro does when making a new reservoir). And, I try to use organic sources of nutrients. I try to be mindful of how stuff affects the soil. (I use gypsum and langbeinite to treat ca and mg def instead of nitrate-based "
calmag." It might be a small difference. But, little things add up.).
Maybe it would make sense to continue using GH 3-part, but switch to soilless media (like Pro-Mix HP + 25% perlite). That's a good combination. I think it's perfect for a new grower. There's not many variables involved. Just follow the "useless" schedule (mentioned in my last post, but maybe 10% weaker).
I mix my soil 50-60% Pro-Mix HP / 20-25% Kellogg's Patio Plus potting mix / 20-25% perlite. It's not an amended soil (other than the potting mix being such a thing, already made). It's hardly a soil. It's a very light soil. Just enough soil that it's not soilless. Some dirt to promote micobial activity. But, it dries in 2-3 days after a plant's grown into the container. I lift the container to know when to feed. It should feel very light (alarmingly light). If the leaves wilt, it's too dry. They bounce back in 20 minutes after watering. It's actually useful to do that once in veg to know what "too dry" feels like when you lift the container. I try to be 4-8 hours away from that.
I also mix 1.5 Tbsp Fertilome Hi-Yield Agricutlural Lime (dolomite) per 1 gallon of soil. (I do something a little different than this. I should document it and put it with the feeding schedule.).
The Patio Plus potting mix isn't sexy. I'm not in love with the wood chips it adds to the soil. I'd like to experiment with something else to reduce the wood chips (compost or worm castings; Kellogg Palm & Cactus mix has a nice sandy texture. I've been wanting to try that someday.). I want to retain the light soil. The cactus mix might be too soilless. Compost & worm castings might take me too far into the soil realm. Patio Plus works very well (in the proportion I use it. It's too hot by itself). The wood chips probably don't matter. When I mix the product, I spend some time breaking wood chips, splitting them with the grain to make them smaller. I try not to be too OCD about it. But, there can be a few large chips. Instead of throwing them away, I'll break them up. (If I were a cash cropper growing a roomfull of plants, that would be an unwanted waste of time. But, as a hobby... it's not bad.).
This
forum post shows the consistency of my resulting mix.
I don't know how universally this applies to different soils and nutrients. All I know is: when I switched from soilless (to the light soil above, and to the Sea Grow fertilizer), my runoff PPMs grow gradually in veg. (400, 500, 700, 1100). It seems like a gradual rise for 6 weeks. But, in transition, late transition... it becomes very twitchy. It will reach 1400-1600. It doesn't seem to take much to go to 1800, 2000, 2200. I don't know why that is. It seems easier to move than in veg (not that I think it needs to be moved in veg. I don't pay much attention to it then).
What I found is that 1600-1800 is a goo range to be in during flower. 2400-2500 is where I get lockout. So, if I see it go to 2000, I mix a larger volume for more runoff (a mini-flush). If the runoff reaches 2200 I'm not far from serious trouble. I'll mix half-strengh nutrients an more volume for runoff.
I find my soil ph tracks that runoff PPM. And, like I said 1400-1800 is a good place to be. In mid- to late-flower I start doing more 1600-1800'ish. Early lower might be more like 1400-1600.
But, I don't pay much attention to it now. I'll measure it occasionally as a sanity check. I pretty much know the strength/volume to use. I use more volume than most people. That's my insurance. I'll occasionally (every 2 weeks?) mix a bit more volume for more runoff. With the strength I use, I know the amount of runoff that keeps it from building up (high runoff ppms).
My feeding schedule is attached to the above linked forum post. (The feeding schedule contains a link to the Product Mixer spreadsheet.).
You can follow that exactly. Or, be inspired to do something different. If you create a richer/amended soil, I'd be nervous about how much to feed with water.
