This makes me wounder my self as no body really recommends kelp after first week in flower or stretch.
However, I can see on that proudct that its written veg-Flower
Also wouldnt be the high K low N benificial in late flower?
Very interesting mate, I like this and thanks for posting so we can see what happens when you use it, what you think the benefits are etc.
To add to this question...
most likely the N is amino form, derived from activity relating from the conversion of carbs via sucrose synthase among Diazotrophs (nitrogen fixing bacteria) present in the kelp. The N would still be a requirement in any biological or organic product, since without it, the conversion from organic to ions will not be made and so our plants wont get any food.
Further, N will be a constant in the cycle of polysaccharide creation, which plays a vital role in bloom of course, as well more obviously at all other growth stages where we grow naturally.
It is true to say that the microbes in this product will almost certainly convert starch and so any related nutrient in this field would be reduced, but I fail to see how adding N fixing microbes would reduce N levels in the media, this is poppycock it seems to me. For sure certain carbs (carbon in the sugars of your bloom nutes for example) would be used by the activity of microbes decaying the organics and elementals as part of the C/N cycles, is this what he (the grow shop guy) meant?
Since the N in Kelp is almost exclusively that fixed by the microbes which live in and on it, you would have a hell of a job trying to remove it. Even if plants dont need N, microbes do and certain types work all day to convert it from the very air we breathe, thats just what they do. Cyanobacteria, like that in Kelp, fix N, so in fact that would be adding N to your media not removing it. This happens anyway, plant or not, and if the plant aint using it, then its in the media, on the bodies of the microbes if you grow bio, if not its leading to pH swings and worse.
So I think we can say rather than it using up nutrients wholesale, it is absorbing the unused ions and storing them on the bodies of said microbes where they wont interfere with your plant, it is also actively consuming carbons, so carbohydrates from grow and bloom feeds.
Kelp itself will not absorb or use nutrients, its the microbes that it stimulates that do that. You can add microbes anytime, its less about when ,more about how and the relative conditions after they are added. EG, lots of K solubizing microbes need high root temps and balanced water air levels to work
I am very interested to hear your thought on this product this buddy, sorry for going on
IMO the better form of N in bloom being Nitrate N during the later stages of a plants cycle. Certain types of N fixers can convert N2 in to either N03- or NH4+ and some do both depending on other conditions, eg the presence of metals for example. It is likely this product suits both forms of N fixation, and so is well suited for both growth and flower cycles, but I think you can get a similar range of NPK using other products that dont include a mass of chitin, next to useless after day 21 bloom. Comfrey, Lambsquarter, Aloe vera, Coconut water, sea water as examples.
Traditionally, Kelp has microbes that modulate our plants via Chitin or Pectin (among others), plants are like clocks to some extent. They release certain exudates (proteins from the roots which allow our plants to feed) and in many cases, these releases by the plant are one time, or they last for a period and then stop. So if we add chitin for example, outside of the range of its active release via root exudates, the plant will not benefit from its presence, but, this is the plant, not the microbes, so perhaps we might be missing the subtle relationships between biology.
Some of the saccharides from microbe interactions can result in an earlier maturing of pistols and I suspect this is the primary reason people dont use Kelp i bloom.
What else is in this product? Where is the high K coming from? Has this been added and from what source?
Does it contain an Potassium solubising microbes?