Nutes in every watering with soil

[LexLuthor]

Hey Farmers, I was thinking about something. My current run (and last run) I'm growing a strain that is a heavy feeder, I even gave her nutes every watering every 3rd day from week 1-4 of veg, flushed, then week 1-7 of bloom. I didn't give her full strength nutes the whole time, but still, I never gave her plain water til the last week for of veg then the final bloom flush. With that feed schedule I never had nute burn during the bloom phase.

I'm thinking like this, if coco growers feed there plants with every watering, why can't soil growers do the same?? Obvioulsy it would have to be a heavy feeding strain and you would need around 20% runoff to reduce salt buildup, but with my current grow I am giving her 1 gallon of water every 3rd day at the rate of 2 tsp/gallon Tiger Bloom and 1 tsp/gallon KoolBloom. I'm in week 3 of bloom right now so I'm gonna keep that same feed schedule until the 5th week then I'm gonna use 2 tsp/gallon TB and 2-3 tsp/gallon KB.

Now I don't have an EC meter but I estimate my ppm's to be under 500, when I up the dosage of KB in week 5 it should be around 800 ppm. If your ppm's are around 1000 per feeding then it's obviously better to alternated between nutes and plain water, but since I'm feeding at a weaker solution I was wondering if it would work that way because I never seen or heard anybody do what I've done before with a soil grow.

Thanks to everyone who views this thread and for any feedback.

 

[Prince Blanc]

I would think that as long as the concentration is not too high, it should be ok, but I've not tried it.

 

[MediNice]

I used to water, water, feed. Now I feed every time. In fact, I had 15 gallon containers with saucers underneath and finished the entire cycle without a flush or more than 1/2 liter of runoff per plant per feed. I watered only for the last two weeks.

Results- No salt build up, no burn, big buds, great flavor, nice yellowing of plant in the end. Secret- House and Garden's Drip Clean. I followed their schedule too for Bio-1 Component. If your concentrations are not high, no worries. I was using Down to Earth's Pro Organic medium which is a Coco/Peat/Perlite/Castings/Lime/Wetting Agent mix.

Hope this helps,
Medi

 

[LexLuthor]

Thats what I was thinking, the KoolBloom bottle says 2 tsp/gallon equals 350 ppm on .7 scale. So since I'm using 1 tsp/gallon thats only 175 ppm plus the 2 tsp/gallon Tiger Bloom, which I'm estimating to be around 350 ppm's. So I'm giving my plant around 500 ppm's per watering which is not alot at all. I've seen people feed at over 1000 ppm. I'm just gonna try it and see what happens this run. Last run I fed almost every watering during bloom with no problems I just wanted to see what other growers thought about the situation, thanx for the response ya'll.

 

[outwest]

When I was using bottled nutes, what I was using (pura vida, another technaflora product) called for a water/water/feed schedule. I just divided the dosage into thirds and fed with every watering.

outwest

 

[skoolz]

i've done it no probz. obviously not full strength fertz tho

 

[monkeymun]

You might still have problems with salt buildup, despite the lower concentration. Without ever flushing the soil between feedings, those salts have nowhere else to go.

 

[LexLuthor]

I have 20% runoff every feeding and I flush once before flower and again at the end of flower. I did it last grow with no issues, I just wanted to see what other growers thoughts were.

 

[ttystikk]

I think you're fine doing this, getting a bit of the best of both worlds this way. You see, the soil is going to have a decent baseline of nutrients- if you have a strong microherd working on your organic nutrients, then feeding a weak solution of nutrients every watering will only serve to top things off with immediately available nutes. You can tailor what you add each time to correct for any deficiencies or to adjust to a given strain's idiosyncracies, rotate between nutes and teas... loads of options here.

As for 'secrets', there really aren't any. Common sense dictates you use between 1/4 and 1/2 strength nutes in your water, and of course your choice of substrate will impact your watering schedule. I used basic potting soil and some organic nutrients (chicken shit and composted cow manure, along with a bit of blood and bone meal) to grow my plants in back in the day- and then used a constant feed of 1/2 - 1 tsp. of miracle grow 15-30-15 per gallon throughout the whole time, from just transplanted cutting through the end of flower. No flush- because I didn't know better, this was 25 years ago!

Tasted good, potent, stinky skunky- and probably very hungry indica strain- worked great!

 

[LexLuthor]

The strain I'm growing now is the same heavy feeder I ran last grow (GHS Big Bang). Last run I used Tiger Bloom (2-8-4) and Big Bloom (mostly micros), this run I'm using the KoolBloom (0-10-10) as a PK boost and the Tiger Bloom as my primary, but even with the added PK I'm sure it'll do fine because she is a heavy feeding indica, I'm thinking it might give my plant more growth doing it this way because like tty said I'm giving it immediately available nutes and I am using an organic potting soil that I ammended myself using blood meal (12-0-0), bone meal (0-9-6), organic fertilizer w/microbial stuff (2-6-4), garden lime, perlite. The Blueberry seedlings I have now are in Ocean Forest/perlite cut with potting mix and once I transplant they are going in str8 Ocean Forest/perlite. The seedbank I got them from said that it is sensitive to fertilizers so I'm not gonna try this feed schedule on them.

 

[montanamike1]

You should be ok, just be careful not to add any slow-release amendments though or it will be hard for you not to overfeed your plants- I use Uprising from Roots Organics and the ladies suffered some burning when I did a water,feed, water schedule, so I've switched to water, water, feed, and had no more problems. IMHO, I get better results for less money by using slow release soil amendments and a very light feeding schedule, but to each his own :)

MediNice- Did you really notice a huge difference using Drip Clean with organics in dirt? I've run it once before, but it was in an Undercurrent system and I honestly couldn't tell the difference between the ones who got it and the ones who don't, so I've stopped using it. Authoritatively calling Drip Clean "the Secret" to growing clean herb in pots with saucers could be a bit misleading unless you've actually done runs of HG without Drip Clean and compared...

 

[saxman3212000]

Thats what I was thinking, the KoolBloom bottle says 2 tsp/gallon equals 350 ppm on .7 scale. So since I'm using 1 tsp/gallon thats only 175 ppm plus the 2 tsp/gallon Tiger Bloom, which I'm estimating to be around 350 ppm's. So I'm giving my plant around 500 ppm's per watering which is not alot at all. I've seen people feed at over 1000 ppm. I'm just gonna try it and see what happens this run. Last run I fed almost every watering during bloom with no problems I just wanted to see what other growers thought about the situation, thanx for the response ya'll.

I grow in 5 gallon buckets. Ionic nutes. 6.0 ph I run 1100 incresed to 1500 to 1700 ppm and feed every watering, approx. 2 qts. every morning after the lights come on. Plants run 5 to 6 feet tall, 4 plants per 1000 watt light. 6 to 8 oz. per plant, yes. 30 oz. per light. Massive buds. Sharksbreath - Pineapple Express - Papaya

 

[LexLuthor]

I grow in 5 gallon buckets. Ionic nutes. 6.0 ph I run 1100 incresed to 1500 to 1700 ppm and feed every watering, approx. 2 qts. every morning after the lights come on. Plants run 5 to 6 feet tall, 4 plants per 1000 watt light. 6 to 8 oz. per plant, yes. 30 oz. per light. Massive buds. Sharksbreath - Pineapple Express - Papaya

Thats a great grow you got set up, there in soil??

 

[MediNice]

You should be ok, just be careful not to add any slow-release amendments though or it will be hard for you not to overfeed your plants- I use Uprising from Roots Organics and the ladies suffered some burning when I did a water,feed, water schedule, so I've switched to water, water, feed, and had no more problems. IMHO, I get better results for less money by using slow release soil amendments and a very light feeding schedule, but to each his own :)

MediNice- Did you really notice a huge difference using Drip Clean with organics in dirt? I've run it once before, but it was in an Undercurrent system and I honestly couldn't tell the difference between the ones who got it and the ones who don't, so I've stopped using it. Authoritatively calling Drip Clean "the Secret" to growing clean herb in pots with saucers could be a bit misleading unless you've actually done runs of HG without Drip Clean and compared...

I ran H & G for years. Coco, Bio-1, Soil A +B, and Aqua Flakes in all sorts of systems. I stopped using the Drip Clean when I started running the addition of organics because I thought it might have a negative effect on uptake of the organics. Ive been battling salt buildup ever since even with a good runoff in dtw. Ready to start adding it back again. Its funny, with Drip Clean, I was using almost double the concentration of nutes. Without it, I run a much lower EC. That stuff allows a high EC in the soil but allows the plants to not be bothered. Its not a necessary component or magic bullet for anyone's regimen, but it can buy some insurance.

I hear you regarding aquaculture though. Not necessary imo.

I always check my runoff and make sure EC is roughly equal to reservoir. And try to project accordingly.

 

[TrichCrazy]

I ran H & G for years. Coco, Bio-1, Soil A +B, and Aqua Flakes in all sorts of systems. I stopped using the Drip Clean when I started running the addition of organics because I thought it might have a negative effect on uptake of the organics. Ive been battling salt buildup ever since even with a good runoff in dtw. Ready to start adding it back again. Its funny, with Drip Clean, I was using almost double the concentration of nutes. Without it, I run a much lower EC. That stuff allows a high EC in the soil but allows the plants to not be bothered. Its not a necessary component or magic bullet for anyone's regimen, but it can buy some insurance.

I hear you regarding aquaculture though. Not necessary imo.

I always check my runoff and make sure EC is roughly equal to reservoir. And try to project accordingly.

Is checking the runoffs EC a suggested way of measuring the salinity of your medium? I was always under the impression it was and practiced it but when it was always coming out REALLY high even when the plants were healthy as could be. In my mind for example if you took 1 gallon of straight water and run it through 5 gallons of your medium its going to come out high especially when you collect the first portion of the water. For monitoring ph i think is a good tool. I have tried slurry tests but those never work for me either. This is a question i have asked lots of people with no defined answer. Im thinking of getting soil test kits to get a better idea of what my mediums nutrient content is throughout the plants life.

And to the original question. There is soooo many variables to feeding levels all based on plant size and environment but if your plants are happy with where they are at i suggest keeping on with it.

Sorry if i high jacked your post :)

 

[Mr MariJuana]

In my opinion you should give as recommended on packaging but only if using Nutrients specific to MJ plants! You should also only give full feeds to plants vegged over 4 weeks and/or when a plant is fully matured. Main ways to determine if an MJ plant has reached maturity, ready for full feeds are when the first baby leaves are dried up or fallen off and/or when female styled pre-flowers or female node pistils show! From that point they are able to handle a full feed but that being said, if soils rich in nutrient mixes are used you should not use full nutrients (50%) till at least week 2-3 of repotting her in the mix!

*A tip I use as a sign or for understanding a plants Nutrient salt limitation; is looking for very slight burns on fan leaf tips. Minute you see see this you must flush the next feed and then in the following use a 50% feed concentration, eventually carry on with the full feed routines at slightly lower concentration. This can be risky but effective as it teaches you the rough limitations of your plants intake levels and where u should be cutting back on salts. E.g. 2.0 EC feeds for 4 weeks on flowering plant, you then see tip burns!!.. You should follow with a cut back feed to 1.8EC for the next grow (preferably with the same strain and pheno - clone). If you get burn still on the next grow then try either 1.6-1.7EC feeds instead for the following grow or alternatively simply flush every 3 feeds and feed nutrients at under 2.0EC. Every plant has a different tolerance therefore keep to a 1.7-1.8EC (1000ppm) as an average.

Again, The salt build up is also dependant on the plants ability to feed and absorb and also on the levels of Salt/EC. Most plants are happy with a full feed of up to 1000-1200ppm max or 1.8-2.0EC max this is in my multiple experiences.

On a lower feed of 1.7-1.8EC you would likely not need to flush till week 7-8 which is ideal and when u should be flushing especially if growing an Indica or Auto.

Of course this is from my experience!