Nutrients VS supplements

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Steve705

Steve705

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I’m currently in flower right now and have been looking into bloom boosters and stuff. I got the impression from the grow store that supplements are different then fertilizer/ nutrients. My question is. Do I need to reduce the nutrient doses when adding these enhancers/ supplements? Should I also start these supplements with half the recommended dose ? And is it possible to overfeed or burn the plants with these ? Thanks.
 
cemchris

cemchris

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I’m currently in flower right now and have been looking into bloom boosters and stuff. I got the impression from the grow store that supplements are different then fertilizer/ nutrients. My question is. Do I need to reduce the nutrient doses when adding these enhancers/ supplements? Should I also start these supplements with half the recommended dose ? And is it possible to overfeed or burn the plants with these ? Thanks.


That's kind of a loaded question when dealing with nutrient companies. Each company that is going to mean different things. Take GH for example. You have their 3 part. Then you have liquid Kool Bloom. Instead of buying a different bottle and using 2 you can just up the ml per gal of the bloom bottle and get the same effect. Not to mention their bloom bottle has more stuff in it vs Kool Bloom. This is just one of many examples. To get a full grasp on that you kind of have to read whats in it and have an understanding on what each chemical does. This is going to come down to what is actually in the base nutes you are using vs the booster/sup. Sometimes they can almost be complete. Most of the time it's just MPK (mono pot phosphate ) and maybe epsom.

When using boosters (specially if you are feeding off a chart) you want to cut the feed down to 1/2 or 1/4 strength of base and maybe start at 1/2 the recommended dosage of what the bottle or chart says. This is going to be different with everyone and also depends on what medium and type of growing you are doing.

The answer to that last part is yes. You can burn the shit out of them and also cause lockups from oding them on something like P (which is going to be high in all boosters per say most of the time) so best to always use caution. Easy to go up on strength. Still haven't found out a way to unburn a plant.

Sorry I can't be more specific but there is a lot of factors that weigh on this and isnt as simple as a yes or no answer. If you follow that guideline you will most likely be safe and have nothing to worry about. A PPM/TDS/EC meter can always take some of the guess work out of it.

Just make sure you read what is actually in the bottle and arent just rebuying a bottle with the same chemicals in it that you already had and wasting money (like the GH example above). A lot of bloom boosters sound like they are great when they really arent.
 
az2000

az2000

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I’m currently in flower right now and have been looking into bloom boosters and stuff.

FWIW: I don't feel like "bloom boosters" do much. I've been using Pennington Alaska Pure Kelp in late flower. I think that does more than high PK. In veg/transtion it seems to cause stretch. I think it has growth hormones from the kekp. But, in late flower when all the growth is in the buds... I think I see it doing something there.

There's a thread about it here: https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/alaska-brand-pure-kelp-during-flower.91334/

Regarding synthetic "bloom boosters" remember the NPK label is a percentage of weight. If it says 0-50-30, that's *strong* compared to an ordinary fertilizer that's 10-10-10. The booster has 80% nutrients. The ordinary fertilizer has 30%. That gives you an idea of how little you should use (and how should cut the ordinary fertilize to accommodate the stronger stuff.).

If you get into this stuff, I have a spreadsheet that lets you mix various products together and see the resulting NPK ratio & strength. You can look at multi-bottle "schedules" to see what arises from their combinations. And then hit those same numbers with whatever you've got. Just from an informational perspective, I think that's valuable because it gets you thinking abut NPK ratio and strength. That's a more concrete way of thinking about it. (If you want it, let me know.).
 
BigCube

BigCube

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It's a good idea to stay in your tds range. If you do t have a tds meter. Get one, and keep it where you want it. I run pk spike in flower, but I have to cut out almost all other nutes to do it. So I end up cutting out all of the flora grow, I only put in half the micro and make up the difference in pk spike till I hit my tds range.

Other than that you should be fine with whatever supplements or nutrients you wana use. But do keep in mind there is a lot of snake oil out there. I honestly think all you need is npk and some micro. Maybe a touch of calmag if your plant wants it.
 
Steve705

Steve705

149
63
It's a good idea to stay in your tds range. If you do t have a tds meter. Get one, and keep it where you want it. I run pk spike in flower, but I have to cut out almost all other nutes to do it. So I end up cutting out all of the flora grow, I only put in half the micro and make up the difference in pk spike till I hit my tds range.

Other than that you should be fine with whatever supplements or nutrients you wana use. But do keep in mind there is a lot of snake oil out there. I honestly think all you need is npk and some micro. Maybe a touch of calmag if your plant wants it.
I have a ph tester and have been monitoring the ph levels and everything has been going good so far. Excuse my lack of knowledge on the subject but what should my TDS target ranges be ?
 
Steve705

Steve705

149
63
FWIW: I don't feel like "bloom boosters" do much. I've been using Pennington Alaska Pure Kelp in late flower. I think that does more than high PK. In veg/transtion it seems to cause stretch. I think it has growth hormones from the kekp. But, in late flower when all the growth is in the buds... I think I see it doing something there.

There's a thread about it here: https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/alaska-brand-pure-kelp-during-flower.91334/

Regarding synthetic "bloom boosters" remember the NPK label is a percentage of weight. If it says 0-50-30, that's *strong* compared to an ordinary fertilizer that's 10-10-10. The booster has 80% nutrients. The ordinary fertilizer has 30%. That gives you an idea of how little you should use (and how should cut the ordinary fertilize to accommodate the stronger stuff.).

If you get into this stuff, I have a spreadsheet that lets you mix various products together and see the resulting NPK ratio & strength. You can look at multi-bottle "schedules" to see what arises from their combinations. And then hit those same numbers with whatever you've got. Just from an informational perspective, I think that's valuable because it gets you thinking abut NPK ratio and strength. That's a more concrete way of thinking about it. (If you want it, let me know.).
Thanks for the info. I would love to take a look at the spreadsheet.
 
cemchris

cemchris

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It's a good idea to stay in your tds range. If you do t have a tds meter. Get one, and keep it where you want it. I run pk spike in flower, but I have to cut out almost all other nutes to do it. So I end up cutting out all of the flora grow, I only put in half the micro and make up the difference in pk spike till I hit my tds range.

Other than that you should be fine with whatever supplements or nutrients you wana use. But do keep in mind there is a lot of snake oil out there. I honestly think all you need is npk and some micro. Maybe a touch of calmag if your plant wants it.


That kind of the point I was making. If you are running 3 part you can up the micro for more Ca and up the bloom for more Mg. No need for another bottle when using the GH for example.

You will find this a lot across all sorts of nutes. Take some time to read the labels and see what they have at what ratio. A little research will save you tons of money on nutes.
 
BigCube

BigCube

2,676
263
That kind of the point I was making. If you are running 3 part you can up the micro for more Ca and up the bloom for more Mg. No need for another bottle when using the GH for example.

You will find this a lot across all sorts of nutes. Take some time to read the labels and see what they have at what ratio. A little research will save you tons of money on nutes.

Yeah that's basically why I use pk spike. It's a lot stronger than gh bloom, it it lasts much longer for the same price. And I like the mix a bit better than gh. But gh is good too.
 
BigCube

BigCube

2,676
263
I have a ph tester and have been monitoring the ph levels and everything has been going good so far. Excuse my lack of knowledge on the subject but what should my TDS target ranges be ?

In flower usually start around 1000 week 1. And slowly ramp it up till week 7 or 8. By the time you flush you should be around 1600 maybe up to 1800 if the plant seems to like it. Mine is currently in week 6 and is taking about 1800 and looks like it wants more. 1 week before flush dial it back to 800 or 1000.

These are just ballpark numbers.
 
az2000

az2000

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Thanks for the info. I would love to take a look at the spreadsheet.

It's on my Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1A-gbP1p607NWlWnC6oUb23V_PYJ7xQor

Look at the README.pdf first. It shows howto use the speadsheet. It's pretty simple. One spreadsheet does the work. Another contains various products I've collected info for (unraveling "schedules" to see what NPK ratio is actually occurring.). You can copy/move worksheets from one to the other.

If you add any products that you think others might like to have available, give me the info and I can add them.

Note: the spreadsheet uses no macros. It's just cell formulas. Nothing risky.
 
A

astikadist

1
1
I agree that you should read carefully what is written on the bottle to make sure that you buy something you intend to take.
It’s always better to consult a specialist before taking any supplements. I did so when I wanted to start taking testosterone from Health Canal to gain muscle mass. I used to feel tired and wasted all the time even though I didn’t work physically. That’s why I decided to help my body and start taking some additional supplements and nutrients. I was totally new to it and decided to ask a doctor for help. It was a good decision because I managed to become much more powerful.
 

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