Question about Cal-Mag

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GreenBear1988

GreenBear1988

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Hi there everyone. I am going to be starting my first indoor grow in March. I have 2 questions about Cal-Mag when using Coco Coir with Perlite. Should you pre buffer your mixture with Cal-Mag treated water, or can you just use PH tested water at first? Also do you still use Cal-Mag during flush, or just PH tested water? I appreciate any advice. I will post pictures as i get going.
 
Marzcanna

Marzcanna

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Hi there everyone. I am going to be starting my first indoor grow in March. I have 2 questions about Cal-Mag when using Coco Coir with Perlite. Should you pre buffer your mixture with Cal-Mag treated water, or can you just use PH tested water at first? Also do you still use Cal-Mag during flush, or just PH tested water? I appreciate any advice. I will post pictures as i get going.

Buffer it with cal-mag before use, coco is constantly breaking down. As large fibers of coco break down in the pots they expose new surface areas of the coco fiber. This also exposes new cation exchange sites that will take Ca and Mg from your nutrient solution and reduce the amount available to the plant. So You will have to use cal-mag throughout the grow

You can give Plain (PH/Un-PH) water during the flush
 
SSgrower

SSgrower

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Tell us things: size grow space, lights & container size. Area in U.S. you live to help with Rh and temp for grow recommendations. Also what specie and sativa or indica or just "Bagseed".
 
GreenBear1988

GreenBear1988

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Tell us things: size grow space, lights & container size. Area in U.S. you live to help with Rh and temp for grow recommendations. Also what specie and sativa or indica or just "Bagseed".
I'm using a 4x4 tent. I've got 2 oscillating fans. 1 tower for floor level, 1 mounted on a piece of wood and hung from ratchet hangers so i can adjust the height for the upper canopy. I also have a heater with a built in thermostat, humidifier with RH control, dehumidifier for flowering period. I'm going to be using 6, 5 gallon tall fabric pots. I have 3 different strains. Goo Berry, Blue Guava Biscotti, and White OG. The lights i'm using are the BloomPlus-1000, i have 4 of them. Plan on adding a Red Spectrum light closer to flower. I'm going to use General Hydroponics nutrients, just the main 3 with Rapid Start at the beginning to help the roots get going well. I tested the tap water here with a PH test strip. It seems to sit right around 6.7 to 6.9. Like i said i'm using a 70/30 mix of Coco coir and Perlite. Going to keep the RH up during Veg at 70%, but then going to try for around 40% during flower. Hopefully i can can the tent at a constant 75 degrees with the heater. And i live in the South-East. I think that about covers it, but i may have missed something. I appreciate any advice. Thanks
 
GreenBear1988

GreenBear1988

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Buffer it with cal-mag before use, coco is constantly breaking down. As large fibers of coco break down in the pots they expose new surface areas of the coco fiber. This also exposes new cation exchange sites that will take Ca and Mg from your nutrient solution and reduce the amount available to the plant. So You will have to use cal-mag throughout the grow

You can give Plain (PH/Un-PH) water during the flush
Oh that's the first i've heard about how quickly Coco breaks down. Makes sense now. Thanks for the info. Just out of curiosity, how long does say 1 gallon of Cal-Mag usually last?
 
Marzcanna

Marzcanna

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Oh that's the first i've heard about how quickly Coco breaks down. Makes sense now. Thanks for the info. Just out of curiosity, how long does say 1 gallon of Cal-Mag usually last?

Depands how many plants you plan on growing, how often you feed & the recommended dose by manufacturer, could be enough for one run or two runs
 
coherent

coherent

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Some coco comes pre-buffered so it may not be necessary. The bricks, usually not. The better stuff in bags maybe, just check the specs on the bag or manufacturers web site. I can get Botanicare "CocoGro" locally in my area which comes washed of salts and pre-buffered ready to use. I just add perlite and go for it. I like it and have had no issues using it, but there are also a few other widely recommended brands out there. Coco doesn't break down any where near as fast as soils or peat and can be reused 2-3 times without any issues.
 
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Terpz719

Terpz719

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Pre buffering depends on the coco you buy. I never have, but I only buy coco that is washed and buffered.

I don't flush - just taper the nutrients down - so I can't comment on that.

Here are a couple of other considerations based on my experience and grows. The need for extra calcium and magnesium, depends partly on your water source (well, tap, RO, RO + tap, etc.) and how much is in the nutrients you're using. Sorry, I'm not familiar with GH Trio. You want a certain ratio of Ca to Mg so they don't block each other's absorption. I've seen various ratios mentioned, but I shoot for 1:2-3 of Mg:Ca, eg, 25 ppm Mg to 50-75 Ca. So be careful throwing CalMg into the mix they aren't all created equal. I've seen them with ratios all over the place.
 
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