Hey Serapis, you're another that top-dresses with lime? I picked up that habit, about a year ago, when I had an emergency PH problem, and have been doing it, ever since. I used to mix it in with my soil, in the very beginning, but had some problems with adding a little too much, or getting hotspots, and the little ones didn't like it. Top-dressing, works great. I usually do it at about week 5-6, then don't worry about PH again. Just did my biggest ones, a couple days ago. About the runoff PH,.... I'm another who want the runoff to be the same as what I pour in. Some guys say it's meaningless, but, that just doesn't make much sense to me. If you're pouring in 6.9, and it's coming out 5.3, there's something in there bring it waaaaay down, and it has to be less than 5.3, which to me, is very unsettling. Grr.... Yeah, maybe it could be left alone, for many happy harvests, but, it drives me crazy, and need to be fixed.lol Lime will be part of my routine, for a loooong time. I use the pellet-type, tilling it into the soil, and it works really well.
I haven't started top-dressing with castings, not yet, but I plan to. I've been using it rather sparingly, since the switch to FF earlier this year, until I got a 'feel' for the soil. I've found it to be about the same potency as MG soil, and will be using castings with it, next time I hit the hydro shop. I'm thinking that'll help them carry through the bloom stretch, with minimal risk of over/under N. Cool.
) tap cup again. Take an unmolested seed and gently plant it about 1/4" below surface. cover cups with Glad ovenware tray or some other light blocking device that will also seal tops and retain moisture. check every 12 hours after 2 days. Mist tops of cups and recover until germination occurs. I am nearly 100% with this method. No silly paper towels or drowning of seeds required.
