banana_orange, those look great, I think a little high on the nitrogen on the third pic. Pro-mix is just a soilless medium. Great for starting seeds. So after about 2 weeks of the seedling stage you will have to give it what it needs (NPK) etc.Looking forward to see how well you do this time.
2nd Grow- Wanting to get the soil dialed in
- Thread starter banana_orange
- Start date
banana_orange
Member
Thanks SoulMan63! Actually you're correct with the nitrogen assessment: i panicked mid flower when my leaves started to prematurely yellow and i added a bit 4-4-4 and 2-5-3. I suspect the extra nitrogen came from that. I am definitely aware of that for next grow.
ComfortCreator
Well-Known Member
When I started I made my own soil from scratch and reamended from there. It was a good but rough start and improved every cycle to dialed in beautifully.
I say this to suggest you are 75% of the way there, and should go the full distance to your own soil.
FFOF is not consistent or particularly awesome. Your own modified version of it...amending it over and over will be.
I strongly recommend going your own route at least after this cycle and build your own from the FFOF and other amendments.
Cheaper, more control, and even easier to manage a grow. Every cycle gets better as you tune the mix to what you saw it missing last time.
I say this to suggest you are 75% of the way there, and should go the full distance to your own soil.
FFOF is not consistent or particularly awesome. Your own modified version of it...amending it over and over will be.
I strongly recommend going your own route at least after this cycle and build your own from the FFOF and other amendments.
Cheaper, more control, and even easier to manage a grow. Every cycle gets better as you tune the mix to what you saw it missing last time.
DankTankerous
Well-Known Member
I disagree with 8.0 pH being ok. Long term wise it will make your soil pH go up and could potentially lock out nutrients. If it happens at farms it happens in grows. I have had detriment effects with really low pH caused by grokashi, and malted barley. pHing down would be a good idea. Can you get away with it? Of course, I don’t doubt grows that had water at 8pH did well, it’s just too high in my opinion. Could give you problems down the line that could be prevented. RO water is 7 and rain water is perfect. Bacteria dominate in pH over 8 where as fungi dominate under 6. I can’t imagine a soil over 8 with bacteria dominate and it decides to buffer down and take away its dominance.
banana_orange
Member
TBH, the whole NOT ph adjusting the tap water sounds a bit funny to me as well. But IMO, thats not a reason to NOT try plain tap water. I did read up a bit more yesterday regarding NOT PH tap water and its a bit of toss: there are folks who believe that there is no need and there are plenty (like yourself) who sit in contrast.
Really, the only way to be sure is to do it both ways: Same strain (clones), same soil/feeding and the only variable being tap water. Even then, there are assumptions being made (such grow box/tent remains same, growing media has buffering capabilities, tap water from municipal source does not get changed etc).
Now, i plan on doing both eventually but given how the upcoming one will be 2nd grow (cumulative) and i am far from being a seasoned grower, i'll be erring on the side of PH'ing my tap water. The 3rd grow will be tap water with the same strain.
green_machine_two9er
Well-Known Member
Your gunna do fine either way.
as long as your honing your self snd always working on your practices each round will get better and better.
DankTankerous
Well-Known Member
I
P.S. you’ve gotten me to put my money where my mouth is and check the pH my rain water and tap water. I’ll try and send a sample in
For sure, I have had to use tap water for my reservoir and honestly I have never checked the pH, Hypocritical on my part, however if I knew it was 8, I would do something to take the pH down. I use liquid drops from GH to check my pH, it works pretty well, better then spending 30 bucks on an inferior pen and calibrating it. I have a ten stage portable filter(needs to be replaced), I can’t install an RO, but I can get 25 cents a gallon from a grocery store. Right now I’m pretty lucky, I get rain water from my farm I work at. I can tell a difference between that and using tap water (the city I live in has terrible water) although I can get a sample for free of my water. Best of luck dude, try not to sweat the small stuff and like @green_machine_two9er said do your best, you’ll be fine.
P.S. you’ve gotten me to put my money where my mouth is and check the pH my rain water and tap water. I’ll try and send a sample in