P and K Ratios During Bloom

[AlphaDog]

P and K Ratios During Bloom???

Hey everyone. I'm new to soil growing and the fertilizers that accompany this method. I'm wondering what your opinions are regarding Phoshorus and Potassium during the bloom stage. I've always thought it was better to have a slightly higher P ratio than K. Fox Farm's Tiger bloom has just that with 2-8-4.. however it's very acidic. I'm thinking of using Earth Juice's "PH up" to adjust this. Not sure if that'll work though. Any suggestions? Their Big Bloom has the opposite at .01-0.3-0.7 What do you guys think?
Another line I've heard some good about is Botanicare. But the ratio on their PURE BLEND PRO Soil Formula baffles the shit outta me lol. Heres the description:

"Cultivating fruiting and flowering plants in hydroponics requires less phosphorous levels than potassium and even nitrogen. In hydroponics, phosphorous levels that are too high tend to lock out calcium, magnesium and trace minerals. On the other hand, plants grown in soil need higher phosphorous levels due to clay colloidal particles that bind up phosphorous. Microbes in the soil also compete for the phosphorous.When cultivating fruiting and flowering plants in soil, growers usually need to double or triple phosphorous levels, unlike hydroponics, thus making the 1.5-4-5 formula ideal for soil applications."

Their regular Pro Bloom is at 2.5-2-5 and I can't help but wonder why. More Nitrogen than Phosphorus??? LoL are they serious?

 

[revolutionseeds]

Actually, nitrogen is very important in flowering and alot of people overlook this. Too much nitrogen too far into flowering will actually hurt the flavor as will mid flower boosters such as PK13-14 etc. Botanicare is great, try it out. Lower numbers on the fertilizer allow you to feed more consistantly without nutrient lockout and salt build up. Plants can actually utilize fertilizers with lower NPK more readily the high NPK ferts. High NPK fertilizers are great if you want to feed once a week.

 

[AlphaDog]

thanks for the info Rev.. hows the PH on boticare bloom?

 

[AlphaDog]

upon further research I've been told Fox Farms Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom are supposed to be used together, so that solves that problem. However does anyone here know about the PH adjustments of these fertilizers?

 

[AlphaDog]

lol anyone?

 

[darookie2000]

upon further research I've been told Fox Farms Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom are supposed to be used together, so that solves that problem. However does anyone here know about the PH adjustments of these fertilizers?

They still need to be pHed. I had a ton of problems with FF because of the pH stuff. It was way too acidic for me, and I didn't realize it. I've since switched away from FF because I didn't want to mess around with pH so much. You can use pH up to adjust them.

Canna's bio flores lists the NPK numbers at 2.5-2.0-5.0, which surprised me when I saw it yesterday but it is working well so far. I have been adding a bit of synthetic PK, in the form of AN Big Bud powder.

 

[ReelBusy1]

upon further research I've been told Fox Farms Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom are supposed to be used together, so that solves that problem. However does anyone here know about the PH adjustments of these fertilizers?

Big Bloom is fairly stable but Tiger will lower your PH big time.
So mark your starting ph point of your tap water.
Then mark the ph point after nutes are mixed.
then check your runoff by wtaering in a pan to collect it.
I do this weekly to chart soil ph and buildup.
good luck with the dirt!

 

[AlphaDog]

thanks for the feedback guys. I'm thinking I'm gonna grow in coco instead. This soil business seems like a real pain in the ass. I keep hearing people say that the soil itself, or the bacteria etc adjusts the PH itself and not to use any PH adjustment. Which I know is Bullshit because I've seen some soil grows where the leaves are ALL f*cked up lol and the guy was using the nutrients at 1/3 strength in reverse osmosis water. Not sure how coco retains PH but I assume its about the same as soil, maybe easier to adjust. I know the "PH up" from earth juice will help but I don't know if it's only works temporarily. Guess I'll have to collect the runoff and find out.

 

[darookie2000]

thanks for the feedback guys. I'm thinking I'm gonna grow in coco instead. This soil business seems like a real pain in the ass. I keep hearing people say that the soil itself, or the bacteria etc adjusts the PH itself and not to use any PH adjustment. Which I know is Bullshit because I've seen some soil grows where the leaves are ALL f*cked up lol and the guy was using the nutrients at 1/3 strength in reverse osmosis water. Not sure how coco retains PH but I assume its about the same as soil, maybe easier to adjust. I know the "PH up" from earth juice will help but I don't know if it's only works temporarily. Guess I'll have to collect the runoff and find out.

In a pure (or even mostly) organic grow, you don't try to control pH very much. I use drip clean which drops my pH to a usable level (6.5 from somewhere in the mid 8s), then add my nutes. I haven't used my pH meter this entire grow. I have been using ProMix HP for most of this grow (started with Canna Bio Terra - no pH issues there), and it's well limed, so no pH issues there either. If your soil gets really acidic, just leach it with pH water and add 1/4 nutes (again, pH adjusted) for the last 1/3rd. Soil is really easy in that respect :). Try sunshine mix #4 or promix HP before coco, they have most of the advantages without the disadvantages.

 

[AlphaDog]

thanks man. I'm a little naive but what are the disadvantages of the coco? Also whats drip clean?

 

[thefabman]

Have not found a disadvantage of coco yet..

 

[AlphaDog]

Have not found a disadvantage of coco yet..

I wasn't aware of any either. Darookie could you elaborate?

 

[darookie2000]

Sorry, I just realized this had happened. Been crazy busy. Coco can have high salt content if you don't wash it well or find high quality stuff. Also, coco gives off potassium which can lead to excess K, which will lock out calcium. It attracts fungus gnats, but that's an issue for most organic media. It can build up nutrients over time, so it has to be flushed regularly (like at least monthly).

 

[darookie2000]

Note, that the disadvantages I'm referring to are not necessarily reasons not to use coco, as proper nutrients and growing practices can mitigate them. You just have to be aware of them. I also remember something about not using them for long veg because of pH or N issues, but I can't recall the specifics.

 

[MIZZ ELVIS]

From PigFarmer's thread Post #400

After my fiddlings, I am no longer a 100% coco grower." "I'm after the highest quality smoke I can produce & coco will not do it for me any longer." "It was pretty much a toss up weight wise, but IMO the soil plants give off a much deeper danker flavor tone when burned vs the 100% coco plants." "I will remain coco for veggin action only."