Yeah brother all good happy to help. I still haven't scrolled back up, I really need to start from the beginning. Maybe tomorrow over coffee. For now I'll just answer your questions with no knowledge of your situation lol. Forgive me if I miss something obvious that pertains to you or tell you crap you already know.
I ran GH for years up until recently when I switched to Jacks for a bit more control. Started sterile in my RDWCs and switched to live, been playing and tuning res life for years as well now. This was from my last grow
View attachment 1309819
That plant looks a little worn down because he was at the low end of PPM when I was setting up the fogponics. Started with 4 different PPM levels in 4 systems trying to figure out the sweet spot. This one was starving. But the point is if you look at that white stuff on the coco it's mycelium. I like to promote an entire rhizosphere packed with life. Selected properly of course. I start inoculating with good stuff as soon as the seed cracks open. I can't remember the last time I saw root rot IRL.
All you need to finish a grow in RDWC that exceeds most dispensary weed is the 3 part GH, Cal Mag, PH up and down, and the ability to test for PPM and PH reliably. Then pick live or sterile. If you are going sterile, add H2O2 to the list. If live, listen on.
Now that the basics are covered, lets see why this works.
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So it mentions chelated several times. Also says EDDHA and EDTA.
en.wikipedia.org
I'm giving you tons of stuff to google here, but that link to EDDHA above says its a chelating agent. Spend some time understanding that concept if you want, but it means that the metal ions in this bottle of micro do not require a helper bacteria to make the ion available to the plant for uptake. So this is not organic. Organics are way slower in that they need bacteria to preprocess nutrients into nutrients. Keeping those bacteria alive with carbs is a good idea if you are using them. We are not, and because of chelation we don't need them. To me it makes no sense to run organics in a system built for speed. Leave that stuff to the dirty growers.
FloraGro,
FloraMicro and
FloraBloom have a well designed balance for cannabis and you really "need" nothing else. But I'll make some recommendations that will take it up a notch.
PH can be an issue. Plants do well with silica in veg and early flower. I use a silica product to buffer the water allowing for a more forgiving system as well as improve the strength of stalks.
Fulvic acid - you had questions on that. I'm currently testing Mr. Fulvic. Fulvic is basically Humic acid only tiny molecules. To me, this is the primary reason I run it:
Phytochemicals
Phytochemicals have critical functions in plants, playing important roles in growth and defense against pathogens.
Mr.Fulvic has 22 flavonoids — powerful antioxidants that mitigate oxidative damage, reducing environmental stress like temperature fluctuation, drought, sun damage, and inflammation.
They are needed for plants to create vitamins, enzymes, proteins, and biosynthesize additional phytochemicals.
Many phytochemicals function as activators of enzymatic reactions, gene expression, and mitochondrial genesis for plants.
Fulvic acid is an amazing molecule that just seems to make things more forgiving in the system. I am doing some testing to see the effects on things like
terpenes, but I believe it has a positive impact anecdotally.
GH Floralicous is their Humic acid offering, but then they go and put stuff like kelp in it. Just why. And nitrogen. Again why - I'm already getting that from the green and brown stuff. I'll tell you why - higher levels of N have been shown to add bud mass if continued thru to harvest. Higher N also decreases cannabinoid production. So you get more flower potentially, but less potency. And fulvic is a better molecule than humic for our needs. Skip the
floralicious. It may make the buds a tiny bit bigger but you can do the same thing with adding some more gro to the res. Doing this only makes sense if you are going for yield over quality.
Now, time to get you talked into giving the live res a proper go. Think about all the interactions you are getting in the root zone that you would be missing. Stuff the plant has evolved to take advantage of. Stuff we have no real understanding of. But I understand how H2O2 works and how it kills root cells right along with bacteria. I'll pick live every time. And it's not hard at all if you just push thru the learning curve. I'll walk you thru it if you want. This is what proper live system roots look like.
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this won't be too scientific of a grow, no live sensors or ph controllers other than temp/RH. One day I will have that stuff, but until then, this is what I got. Fyi I have no chiller, water was at 82 initially with lights hanging at the lowest setting, now at 78 with lights on. I am relying on bennies and silica for heat stress resistance.
