calcium/nute toxicity and cloning problems..

[el boyo]

have been having some problems with cloning the last few runs and with the mothers... thought it was deficiencies, but realized it was toxicity. we are growing in coco/perlite and using cns 17 grow.. checked ppms of runoff and they were over 3.o... brought em down to under 1.0 and things are looking much better on the moms.. when i put the ppms of the cns into the nute calculater it came out that my ppms of Ca were well over 300... and had been feeding at this strength for a few months...
i am wondering if nute toxicity, especially Ca is known for inhibiting rooting.. clones are taking much to long to root and in much lower numbers...
have been using the same method of rooting for many years with 90+% success...
any help or ideas is much appreciated.... :)

 

[midwestdensies]

I keep it simple with my mothers and use an enzyme weekly along with some sort of kelp and nitrogen source. Before I take cuttings I usually give a light nutrient flush since your in coco of your nutrient a couple of times then spraying with kelp the night before cuttings are taken. That way the nitrogen has been flushed out some and helps root.

I've used a variety of methods for rooting and in short if you just follow the directions for the plug, rockwool or other variety then put them in a dome for a week with out much disturbance things should work great. I sometimes use a heat mat but always clean my domes and mist daily.

I had thought coco needs extra calcium to make up for the stripping it does. You could always transplant and keep them in a compost, ewc, coco/dirt mix. Then feed blood meal and other micros to keep them easier for you.

 

[el boyo]

nice bro, thanks for the tips...
but i am more looking to find out specifically Ca toxicity can inhibit the rooting of cuttings...
coco does need a little extra Ca, but not in the ppms that i was adding.. a lot of times toxicity can resemble deficiency in plants, as was in my case.. before i realized i was dealing with over fert, i thought they needed extra Ca and ontop of my already high ppms i was adding, added some calmag to try and help...
i have since cut way back on my base nutes and fixed the problem on my mothers. they are all looking great and all new growth is extremely healthy..
the cuttings are still taking too long to root, and still in low numbers...

 

[Seamaiden]

have been having some problems with cloning the last few runs and with the mothers... thought it was deficiencies, but realized it was toxicity. we are growing in coco/perlite and using cns 17 grow.. checked ppms of runoff and they were over 3.o... brought em down to under 1.0 and things are looking much better on the moms.. when i put the ppms of the cns into the nute calculater it came out that my ppms of Ca were well over 300... and had been feeding at this strength for a few months...
i am wondering if nute toxicity, especially Ca is known for inhibiting rooting.. clones are taking much to long to root and in much lower numbers...
have been using the same method of rooting for many years with 90+% success...
any help or ideas is much appreciated.... :)

That's a good question and it's not something I've read anything about. In fact, I've never seen a Ca+, but there very well may be good reason to think it may be possible. I've never observed a calcium toxicity in any plant, can't find photographs of it, nothing like that.

Separate out your Ca from your Mg and you'll observe fewer issues, IMO/IME.

 

[el boyo]

well, looks like things are back on track.. cut my base nutes way back, been keeping my ppms way down on my mothers and this last set of clones is at 10 days and over 90% are very well rooted..
looks like it was due to stress brought on by over fertilizing..