Long term Nitrogen needs

randomseed

randomseed

Active Member
So Im trying to figure out a way to keep my soil mix from letting my plants fall out as early as they are.
Currently Im getting them through 5+ weeks of veg and into flower week 5 before they start to fall out but they really fall out fast. I do use organic food in flower at maybe 1/3 strength (Neptues Harvest fish and seaweed) and i tried to up it a little but the plants show burn without really stopping the yellowing fast enough.

One thing Im trying is to just up the bone meal amounts Im using for slow release N but Im wondering if there is anything decent to use for just this purpose.

Id rather get the solution into the soil then into the watering bucket. Super slow release N seems to be my answer but Im not sure where to find it. Its either that or I need to step up my transition organic topoff.

I know week 5 of flower isnt exactly awefull for a dirt mix but if I could buy another week or two Id be a happy camper.
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
I'm trying alfalfa meal in my mix now, as an alternative to blood meal. Partially for the slower release qualities among other things.

If I need a quick shot of N, I'll top dress with some blood meal.

Wet
 
randomseed

randomseed

Active Member
Already doing most of that.
Going into flower the plants are so green they almost get that blueish sheen to them so they are pleanty juiced up when they make the switch.
I avoid blood meal just because I dont like it.
I use mexican guano all in veg, switch to seabird at transition and over to jamacian at week 3 flower.
Same for kelp, gets a new dose at transition.
Alfalfa may be what Im looking for here. Question is how long is the breakdown cycle, if its shorter then a month its not going to do it (well it wont change anything anyways).
The crux of the problem is having something that wont even start releasing its N for like a solid month or so. Otherwise I guess Ill have to stick with late season soil amedments. I've been looking at Apfalfa as a "it can only help" amendment so I was going to try it out in the future anyways.

Anyone know a rough timetable for how long most organics takes to start releaseing its juice in normal conditions?
Something like that could go a long way in really planning a soil out.

As is the yeilds are great and the quality is A++ but I wanna keep um green at least 7 weeks if only for looks ;-)
Got some Querkle germing up right now and I really want to see that purple, not some yellowish barf color at the end.
 
Cannabis Krew 420

Cannabis Krew 420

Active Member
id just topp dress with mexican and jamacian guano halfway through veg and you should be fine

be careful with bloodmeal because if there are pesty critters around your area they might dig up your plant for it, especially top dressing, guano is not nearly as tasty and bloodmeal so it wont attract the pests
 
snew

snew

Well-Known Member
I also use alfalfa for N. I have used it at week 4-5 of flower when things where yellowing I could see the difference in 1-2 days. It sounds like you provide a good supplement base. How big of a pot are you using? I moved from a 12" to a 14" pot and I am getting bigger healthier plants. It may be an answer for you.
 
Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia

Well-Known Member
Can you just keep what you are doing but transplant closer to flowering? Maybe only give them a week after transplant (instead of 5) and throw them into flower.

What size pots are you using?
 
randomseed

randomseed

Active Member
Pot sizes are
Clone to young - quart
Young to mature veg - 2 gallon
Final pot 5 gallon

Usually transplant into the 5 gallon either 1 or two weeks before switching (may only really be 4 gallon containers).
I stepped up the transition top dress with 33% more (3tbl/per) bone meal to see if it helps. Also ordered some alfalfa so we'll see how that goes.
Thinking of doing a weekly guano dressing as well but that seems like more work then Im trying to create for myself here.
Thanks for the suggestions, not seeing any silver bullets but they are all valid solutions.
 
randomseed

randomseed

Active Member
An y suggestions on how much alfalfa to mix into the soil (see soil thread for recipe). Thinking Ill start at 1 cup - 10gallon soil as a starting point unless someone can toss something else out.
 
dirrtyd

dirrtyd

Well-Known Member
randomseed said:
An y suggestions on how much alfalfa to mix into the soil (see soil thread for recipe). Thinking Ill start at 1 cup - 10gallon soil as a starting point unless someone can toss something else out.
Click to expand...
I would recommend one cup per 1 cubic feet of soil. dirrtyd
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
randomseed said:
So thats about 2 cups per 10 gallons I think. Seems a little heavy with all the rest of the amedments but Ill take it into concideration.
Click to expand...
No, a CuFt is ~7.5 gallons, so perhaps 1 1/2 cups for 10 gallons. But, I agree with you about the 1 cup. You can always add more, but it's a bitch to try and get out.

I've been looking because I saw a link somewhere about breakdown rates for various organic nutes. I still can't find it, but from what I remember, alfalfa will last about 6 weeks.

Not as long as you wanted, but longer than most. Seems like it was a .edu domain, if you are searchong.

Wet
 
randomseed

randomseed

Active Member
Wetdog said:
No, a CuFt is ~7.5 gallons, so perhaps 1 1/2 cups for 10 gallons. But, I agree with you about the 1 cup. You can always add more, but it's a bitch to try and get out.

I've been looking because I saw a link somewhere about breakdown rates for various organic nutes. I still can't find it, but from what I remember, alfalfa will last about 6 weeks.

Not as long as you wanted, but longer than most. Seems like it was a .edu domain, if you are searchong.

Wet
Click to expand...
If you happen to find that site again PLEASE send it over, that's like the holy grail of what I want to know these days.
 
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