Nutritient ratios

[Dr.Green55]

Yup I think the ratio's thing is way overthinking and for a long time, I don't believe at all the cannabis plant really cares about ratio's, not like people think they do. I think its a very very wide range. Cannabis plants are selective eaters for the most part, so they just have to have it, I know of studies done on crop fields that show ratio's are not that important.

I think the only reason ratio's come into play is because of what we're doing, trying to grow big plants in small pots indoors, lighting ,temps environment etc effect uptake we all know that, different plants strains size etc wants something a little different, but the big thing is pots size and medium, soil coco hydro. this is really what drives ratio, diffusion coefficient of the ions are different, cation exchange capacity's are different , and changes with small pot big pot soil coco etc, coco produces K etc and so many more factors we could dive into,

but my point is about ratio's is its really kinda grower specific in what their doing, the coco guys or soil guys or hydro guys are all going to be somewhat similar in the medium they use but only to a point.

The key to the whole ratio thing is just supplying a balanced solution for uptake in the confines of pot size diffusion coefficient , cec + ions to - ions etc etc without over feeding or underfeeding, or locking out the nutrients etc etc , or having to much or to little of anyone nutrient , I know guys will say well if I give them more of this at this time I get bigger buds, well you very well may but that because the didn't have enough to begin with, or the other way around. thats the balancing act of growing in small pots. if your growing outdoors in the ground or in large pots this whole ratio thing becomes less and less important.

 

[Aqua Man]

Yup I think the ratio's thing is way overthinking and for a long time, I don't believe at all the cannabis plant really cares about ratio's, not like people think they do. I think its a very very wide range. Cannabis plants are selective eaters for the most part, so they just have to have it, I know of studies done on crop fields that show ratio's are not that important.

I think the only reason ratio's come into play is because of what we're doing, trying to grow big plants in small pots indoors, lighting ,temps environment etc effect uptake we all know that, different plants strains size etc wants something a little different, but the big thing is pots size and medium, soil coco hydro. this is really what drives ratio, diffusion coefficient of the ions are different, cation exchange capacity's are different , and changes with small pot big pot soil coco etc, coco produces K etc and so many more factors we could dive into,

but my point is about ratio's is its really kinda grower specific in what their doing, the coco guys or soil guys or hydro guys are all going to be somewhat similar in the medium they use but only to a point.

The key to the whole ratio thing is just supplying a balanced solution for uptake in the confines of pot size diffusion coefficient , cec + ions to - ions etc etc without over feeding or underfeeding, or locking out the nutrients etc etc , or having to much or to little of anyone nutrient , I know guys will say well if I give them more of this at this time I get bigger buds, well you very well may but that because the didn't have enough to begin with, or the other way around. thats the balancing act of growing in small pots. if your growing outdoors in the ground or in large pots this whole ratio thing becomes less and less important.

I agree and disagree at the same time. I feel ratios or nutrients in general have an affect on one another and can impact the structure of growth just as light spectrum can. I agree 100% it's grower specific as you say and any balanced nutrient in a wide variety of ratios will grow nice plants. When we start getting into the ratios and individual nutrients we are fine tuning our grow specific to our conditions.

 

[Dirtbag]

It's just about the ratio. @ 600ppm of 4-4-4 you get about 200N 200P 200K. Using 600ppm of 4-12-8 you get 100N 300P 200K. Some guys run even more PK then that. Back in the day, we ran hydro with ecobloom 3-35-10 with excellent results. I thought that product was out of business, but I see now they are still making it. VF-11 .15-.85-.55 is another great product that's still around. Both are great for making fast budz.

According to the nutrient calculator I use It doesnt really work like that. A 4-4-4 ratio actually comes out something like 100ppm N, 45ppm P, 80ppm K, depending how much you use obviously.

 

[Aqua Man]

According to the nutrient calculator I use It doesnt really work like that. A 4-4-4 ratio actually comes out something like 100ppm N, 45ppm P, 80ppm K, depending how much you use obviously.

Yeah there is a difference between total nutrients and available nutrients. Just because it's added doesn't mean it's available. If you look at hydrobuddy which is a nutrient calculator it will give you either. Alot depends on source of nutrients. Then add the microbiology that can make unavailable nutrients more available and you throw another curve ball into the mix

 

[Terpz719]

It's just about the ratio. @ 600ppm of 4-4-4 you get about 200N 200P 200K. Using 600ppm of 4-12-8 you get 100N 300P 200K. Some guys run even more PK then that. Back in the day, we ran hydro with ecobloom 3-35-10 with excellent results. I thought that product was out of business, but I see now they are still making it. VF-11 .15-.85-.55 is another great product that's still around. Both are great for making fast budz.

OMG. I had a serious duh moment. Hangs head in numerical shame... Wish I could blame it on being high, but no... Thanks buddy!

 

[Terpz719]

The ppm’s do not equal the ratio numbers that way. They are figured at different scales.

And the high phosphorous is merely a signal to the flower to start blooming. The plant doesnt use most of that phosphorous. Plenty of nutrient tests out there showing this.

Ran across this recently that has me trying a pretty low P nutrient mix. Granted the study was done with hemp, but at least it wasn't something like carrots. You may find it of interest... Article link below the graph.

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[MIMedGrower]

Ran across this recently that has me trying a pretty low P nutrient mix. Granted the study was done with hemp, but at least it wasn't something like carrots. You may find it of interest... Article link below the graph.

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Thanks. Good current info. Matches what i have read from the university of utah hemp/ cannabis grow lab. Advanced nutrients. And Dyna Grow.

Here is an email response from Dave Neal president of dyna grow. I asked him why they recommend bloom bottle in flowering if tissue tests show such low phosphorous? His tissue tests show results like the article you linked.

 

[Dr.Green55]

I agree and disagree at the same time. I feel ratios or nutrients in general have an affect on one another and can impact the structure of growth just as light spectrum can. I agree 100% it's grower specific as you say and any balanced nutrient in a wide variety of ratios will grow nice plants. When we start getting into the ratios and individual nutrients we are fine tuning our grow specific to our conditions.

Yeah man I think we're saying the same thing I agree with what your saying as well , they definitely have an affect on one another and can impact the structure of growth , I was basically just trying to give some basic info to the OP's question. I really think though anyone running 2k or so of light isn't out growing their nutrients anyhow, as long as their doing the proper things with feeding/micro, enzymes etc, for me from what I seen when running 20k of light or more with Co2 , higher temps etc , thats when you really start to put pressure on your nutrients to do there job.