Development of cannabis-specific nute formulae (mostly salt-based)

[N1ghtL1ght]

1l, 3.5l, 11l then 24l.

could make the final 18l... my fear is I come home and medium has gotten too dry...

edit:
have a box full of blumat-carrots these could maybe find a job at the final pots?

 

[Aqua Man]

The guy I'm talking to reports run-off is 50% less of feedstrength. his plants are little in veg as of yet and get 1 daily handwatering. but will change to an automatic system multiple feeds a day once the mainlining for a SOG is complete...

My idea is to increase buffering via the zeolith, vermiculite.

I gotta be more on point with the nute formulae to have less buildup, as the plant takes it

Maybe it could be done to start with an amount of water followed by the feed solution, the initial water just ment to drain more out...?

But, wouldn't the plant, when fed less often, actually grab more nute ions per interval? as there is more time...

I forgot to say I'll start in a small container and pot up several times - 1l, 3.5l, 11l then 24l. So there will mostly be roots everywhere in the medium.

Nope always feed with nutrients… he is just not feeding often enough with enough volume. It works but you will soil type growth… if you want to maximize growth in coco you need to treat it like hydro

 

[Aqua Man]

could make the final 18l... my fear is I come home and medium has gotten too dry...

Cheap pump, neapow second timer and a res. Depending on how many plants an autofeed is cheap and easy af. I used to make a res every 3 days at peak

Less than $100 you can make a autofeed system

 

[Aqua Man]

The guy I'm talking to reports run-off is 50% less of feedstrength. his plants are little in veg as of yet and get 1 daily handwatering. but will change to an automatic system multiple feeds a day once the mainlining for a SOG is complete...

My idea is to increase buffering via the zeolith, vermiculite.

I gotta be more on point with the nute formulae to have less buildup, as the plant takes it

Maybe it could be done to start with an amount of water followed by the feed solution, the initial water just ment to drain more out...?

But, wouldn't the plant, when fed less often, actually grab more nute ions per interval? as there is more time...

I forgot to say I'll start in a small container and pot up several times - 1l, 3.5l, 11l then 24l. So there will mostly be roots everywhere in the medium.

You should get no buildup no matter the nutrients if feeding frequency and runoff is adequate

 

[Aqua Man]

This was in 1 gal coco. It had a few drunken timer adjustment mishaps lol. 1gal dries out fast af lol so thats when you get the buildup issues as seen in this pic.

The whole root bound thing is far exaggerated imo as long as you can supply the adequate nutrients and water to the plant

1 litre cal mag bottle for reference

 

[Aqua Man]

Fuck that pic is embarrassing lol but is what it is… dont play with timers after drinking… there is the proof of that statement

 

[N1ghtL1ght]

The whole root bound thing is far exaggerated imo as long as you can supply the adequate nutrients and water to the plant

yeah, we have an annual 200ml grow-contest here and plants still grow, I mean not big but as long as roots don't die from drying out it's ok

 

[Madmax]

This was in 1 gal coco. It had a few drunken timer adjustment mishaps lol. 1gal dries out fast af lol so thats when you get the buildup issues as seen in this pic.

The whole root bound thing is far exaggerated imo as long as you can supply the adequate nutrients and water to the plant

1 litre cal mag bottle for reference

I see mold in it ...just joking

 

[CookiesLikeWhoa]

You should get no buildup no matter the nutrients if feeding frequency and runoff is adequate

So I've started to grow in coco and have tried to adhere to the 10-20% run off per watering using Bill's 'recipe'. And things have been amazing!

I got an auto pot system with six 6.5g pots. I decided to give it a run with a bunch of moms that had gotten too big. I ran that system hard, at points feeding over 3EC during mid flower (literally week 4-7 was 1800PPM+). I didn't really have any issues till the very end when it seemed like a K deficiency popped up, but I was already in the flushing phase at that point and just using RO water.

That was the largest harvest I've had so far. I could tell after I broke the system down there was def build up as there was a solid 'salt ring' at the bottom of the pots, but nothing that really manifested itself during the grow. So what gives there? My concerns with the auto pots have always been about run off and flushing but at least with this grow I didn't see much if any issues. I just get lucky?

 

[Aqua Man]

So I've started to grow in coco and have tried to adhere to the 10-20% run off per watering using Bill's 'recipe'. And things have been amazing!

I got an auto pot system with six 6.5g pots. I decided to give it a run with a bunch of moms that had gotten too big. I ran that system hard, at points feeding over 3EC during mid flower (literally week 4-7 was 1800PPM+). I didn't really have any issues till the very end when it seemed like a K deficiency popped up, but I was already in the flushing phase at that point and just using RO water.

That was the largest harvest I've had so far. I could tell after I broke the system down there was def build up as there was a solid 'salt ring' at the bottom of the pots, but nothing that really manifested itself during the grow. So what gives there? My concerns with the auto pots have always been about run off and flushing but at least with this grow I didn't see much if any issues. I just get lucky?

Yeah i dont like bottom feed systems for that reason. But before each water change take the okd res water and top pour it over the sites to help wash out the salt buildup. Running some enzymes with that can greatly reduce or eliminate that issue.

Never flush with RO and coco. Just lower the ppm and continue. I prefer like 0.6 EC for the last 5-7 days. Always need some amount of nutrients available to ensure the plant can perform it’s necessary functions

 

[N1ghtL1ght]

I could tell after I broke the system down there was def build up as there was a solid 'salt ring' at the bottom of the pots, but nothing that really manifested itself during the grow.

it's funny because the designers of the autopots stated that the root zone won't get salt buildup with their system because the salts climb up in the medium. Always felt this was just madeup nonsense designed to cover a weakness in their design

though many use organic pellets "biotabs" with autopots

 

[Aqua Man]

it's funny because the designers of the autopots stated that the root zone won't get salt buildup with their system because the salts climb up in the medium. Always felt this was just madeup nonsense designed to cover a weakness in their design

though many use organic pellets "biotabs" with autopots

100% agree

 

[420hobbygrower]

Where do I go to learn about fertilizers/nutrients on this level? Any specific places any of you would recommend? All of this is way over my head, and I don't want it to be. How they interact with each other, how they impact the plant, and most importantly how I can build my own nutrient recipes. I downloaded HydroBuddy (no idea what I'm doing with that lol), and briefly checked out the basics on his website scienceinhydroponics.

I'm interested in the Ballin' On a Budget recipe by @BillFarthing, but I know that is geared towards an inexpensive/simple recipe that you can use start to finish. I'm interested in learning how to create (or find one already created, but still want to understand the why's) that is more about optimizing everything and not necessarily about simplifying things, and I'm not worried about cost- although I know pretty much no matter what the recipe is, it'll be cheaper than the watered down bottles I'm currently buying.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Aqua Man]

Where do I go to learn about fertilizers/nutrients on this level? Any specific places any of you would recommend? All of this is way over my head, and I don't want it to be. How they interact with each other, how they impact the plant, and most importantly how I can build my own nutrient recipes. I downloaded HydroBuddy (no idea what I'm doing with that lol), and briefly checked out the basics on his website scienceinhydroponics.

I'm interested in the Ballin' On a Budget recipe by @BillFarthing, but I know that is geared towards an inexpensive/simple recipe that you can use start to finish. I'm interested in learning how to create (or find one already created, but still want to understand the why's) that is more about optimizing everything and not necessarily about simplifying things, and I'm not worried about cost- although I know pretty much no matter what the recipe is, it'll be cheaper than the watered down bottles I'm currently buying.

Thanks in advance.

There is so much to it and a lot depends on your grow style, genetics, environment and skill.

It involves a more in depth understanding of chemistry, microbiology, horticulture and how the environmental conditions effective your needs.

Basically once you get a bit of knowledge on that you will understand that nutrients are pretty much nutrients and all these hyped up 50 bottles of unicorn piss are designed for profits not results.

You will see different results than others using the same nutrient line depending on you specific grow conditions.

Honestly @BillFarthing has this nailed… you just tweak to fit your needs if you like. Concentrate on nutrient ratios and just tinker with small changes here and there.

It’s something that takes a lot of research just to learn the basics. There are just so many moving parts that there is NOT and CANNOT be one ideal recipe thats going to work for everyone the same.

Bill did a great job of hitting the middle ground that will cover almost everything.

 

[420hobbygrower]

There is so much to it and a lot depends on your grow style, genetics, environment and skill.

It involves a more in depth understanding of chemistry, microbiology, horticulture and how the environmental conditions effective your needs.

Basically once you get a bit of knowledge on that you will understand that nutrients are pretty much nutrients and all these hyped up 50 bottles of unicorn piss are designed for profits not results.

You will see different results than others using the same nutrient line depending on you specific grow conditions.

Honestly @BillFarthing has this nailed… you just tweak to fit your needs if you like. Concentrate on nutrient ratios and just tinker with small changes here and there.

It’s something that takes a lot of research just to learn the basics. There are just so many moving parts that there is NOT and CANNOT be one ideal recipe thats going to work for everyone the same.

Bill did a great job of hitting the middle ground that will cover almost everything.

Ok, thanks for the reply. I'll start with Bill's recipe and take it from there.

 

[N1ghtL1ght]

What helped me immensely is to know how the full Cannabis-friendly NPK formulae has to look like (as base) and even though this did change a bit here or there from asked grower to grower, the similarities begun to unveil.

And also, how much nutrition ions a gram of salt does contain, so you can easily boost a specific region on the fly if the plants ask for that.

Here in soil the 4 genetics behave & look differently, so what I did previously with various bottles (which don't name all the ingredients, even not essentials!) I can now do fully aware of substance & dosage of it.
I still use a wide variety of organic water-soluble ingredients like Amino-, Fulvic- & Humic Acids, plant extracts, carbs, inoculants and organic acids to help mobilize, chelate and translocate nutrition, feed MO which then increase mineralization rate, feed the plant directly so it has a stronger growth. There's so much more to it.
But the mineralic content does guarantee you the plant gets its essentials and thus, its growth.

 

[PotsieSativa]

Where do I go to learn about fertilizers/nutrients on this level? Any specific places any of you would recommend? All of this is way over my head, and I don't want it to be. How they interact with each other, how they impact the plant, and most importantly how I can build my own nutrient recipes. I downloaded HydroBuddy (no idea what I'm doing with that lol), and briefly checked out the basics on his website scienceinhydroponics.

Most just copy the analysis from tested retail products and try to remember the ballpark ppms.

Personally I think it helps to actually grasp nutrition. I'd check this course out :

Precision Ag Plant Nutrition Management (Members Only) – KindHarvest.Ag

kindharvest.ag

John Kempf is the one consultant who I've never heard say something that isn't true. I think his Amish ass would burst into flames if he uttered a broscience.

And yes there are Cannabis specific "academie$" out there trying to copy what John is doing. Dagga academy, Ganjier, Chris Trump University, etc. You will walk away stupider from those programs. Never trust a sommelier who doesn't know what a thiol is, or a regenerative farmer who throws his soil in the trash every cycle, or a microbe expert who promotes damping off.

 

[420hobbygrower]

Most just copy the analysis from tested retail products and try to remember the ballpark ppms.

Personally I think it helps to actually grasp nutrition. I'd check this course out :

Precision Ag Plant Nutrition Management (Members Only) – KindHarvest.Ag

kindharvest.ag

John Kempf is the one consultant who I've never heard say something that isn't true. I think his Amish ass would burst into flames if he uttered a broscience.

And yes there are Cannabis specific "academie$" out there trying to copy what John is doing. Dagga academy, Ganjier, Chris Trump University, etc. You will walk away stupider from those programs. Never trust a sommelier who doesn't know what a thiol is, or a regenerative farmer who throws his soil in the trash every cycle, or a microbe expert who promotes damping off.

I'll check that out, thank you!