The Grow Shack

Illumination said:

too much concern with ph my friend...in soil or soiless it is VERY VERY RARE that ph is the issue...it is simply no cal in your nutes....and ground rock regardless of what the bag says will take forever to provide enough available calcium...with the calcium content in your medium you will NEVER maintain 5.8 ph nor do you want to....just supply soluble cal mag supplements and stop over thinking this...almost everyone must supplement cal mag for cannabis...read the grows you will see how very common this problem is

Namaste'

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Right my friend but what's being failed to be noticed is I never had this problem before . The only thing that has changed is my medium . And none of my nutes has ever had calcium except for molasses . 50/50 Soiless and perlite is not soil . It would be like running 6.8 in hydro , you would have deficiencys right ? No matter what you add to correct the problems wouldn't work because at that PH everthing isn't availible .

You ammend your medium preety good hence you have "soil" with a "soil" PH . I have already already treated the affected plants sufficently with no improvement . The only answer is the PH is wrong for the medium I made. I watered last night with 5.8 water and will be looking for improvements . This isn't a case off a newb overthinking PH unnessesarily in soil . This is a case of crossing that boundry where a lower PH is nesssary for nutrient uptake .
I'm a born troubleshooter . Meaning I get a kick out of figuring things out , so If I'm wrong I will admit it . I'll be posting pics of the progress of my sick plants . If I'm right some thought should be considered for those making a light soiiless mix as to PH issues . Now if you MIR everytime you feed there wouldn,t be a problem because every time you flush at 5.8 nutrients would become availible till it rises back to 6 whatever . I appriciate your help and all the tips you have given but realize this is a 2 sided deal , I got a brain and its ticking on fixing this . Peace


edit( Lumi was right I was wrong ! , above statements by me are bs .)

was not trying to act like you have no brain dude...so have fun and do what you do

Namaste'

ps- I do make it rain every time...with 6.5 ph ro water then 6.5 ph feed solution....they never ever see anything but 6.5...and that was straight Fox Farm Light Warrior with just a little dolamite and diatomaceous earth and 50% perilite

hmm....i was interested on what you were going to reply lol.

I have been reading and following the debate, and have decided that you both have very logic points behind your topic and was having fun learning off both of you!!

Thanks and im glad people on here can have debates on specific info and playing nice while doing so!

Illumination said:

..

ps- I do make it rain every time...with 6.5 ph ro water then 6.5 ph feed solution....they never ever see anything but 6.5.......

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This is basically what I do. I use only RO water now and I MIR with (only) 2x - 3x my feed volume. My pH ends up closer to 6.1 - 6.3 with nutes, most of the time, from the few times I tested it since going to RO. All of the new plants that never had to endure my tap water seem to be doing great so far, but only time will tell after I get a few all the way through harvest.

rasputin71 said:

This is basically what I do. I use only RO water now and I MIR with (only) 2x - 3x my feed volume. My pH ends up closer to 6.1 - 6.3 with nutes, most of the time, from the few times I tested it since going to RO. All of the new plants that never had to endure my tap water seem to be doing great so far, but only time will tell after I get a few all the way through harvest.

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I was using 2 times container volume but have a new twist I will employ once I start raining on my new grow...will let you know how it goes

kingofqueen said:

Alright guys I should have read up more on this before I started blabbing on here . I had read some bad info on another site in their Plant Problems thread .This guy said soiless should be 5.8 like hydro . I figured out today that soiless is still considered soil and the ph should be that of soil . So my idea of a calcium deficiency from the ph being off was totally wrong . I'm calcium deficient just as Lumi said simply because it's not there . I visited the HYdro Store again today and picked up Botainacare Cal mag Plus and the inexpensive Millwaukee PH pen .

I figured out that I didn't have this problem before because there was enough calcium in Happy Frogs to carry them through just barely . So with Sunshine Mix I have to supplement calcium . Once I identify a problem I'm not convinced till I understand what caused it . Simply knowing I have a particular problem isn't good enough I have to know what caused it . I also compared PH readings with the drops up against the pen and I wasn't far off at all but this PH pen sure is a lot quicker and more assuring . Sorry Lumi I didn't mean anything by what I said man . It's all good in tha hood Gonna kick back and see what these fuckers do now and look for improvements . PEace

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No offense taken my friend...was merely trying to save you grief and point you towards a solution...I have discontinued my molasses supplementation as it interferes with N absorption too much and I have not seen any noticeable benefits...however it does provide a good calcium potassium and mag source so it may have been why the happy frog was able to support them

As long as we are able to hel[p each other help our plants we all benefit right??

One Love

Namaste'

Illumination said:

No offense taken my friend...was merely trying to save you grief and point you towards a solution...I have discontinued my molasses supplementation as it interferes with N absorption too much and I have not seen any noticeable benefits...however it does provide a good calcium potassium and mag source so it may have been why the happy frog was able to support them

As long as we are able to hel[p each other help our plants we all benefit right??

One Love

Namaste'

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I learned that from you during the drowning I did with Molasses. I wont feed my plants till the last 2 weeks of flowering with Molasses.

bekindbud said:

I learned that from you during the drowning I did with Molasses. I wont feed my plants till the last 2 weeks of flowering with Molasses.

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If I do anything other than drown with it it will be no more than a mil or 2 but I doubt I will use it at all

I really have not witnessed anything good from using it other than to drown

Namaste'

kingofqueen said:

Right on BKB been reading that too much calcium or magnesium can eff things up . I hate running into new problems . And Lumi your right about using Mag-Pro in flowering . I got trikes like I never had before on BE And PF . I also read up on calcium b4 I headed out to pick up cal/mag . The cal/mag products that have N is because they have Calcium Nitrate which is best for the plants . MagiCal from Tecknaflora is cheaper but has less calcium nitrate and Genaral Hydros shit has none because it's "organic" boo . The Botainacare Cal/Mag plus seemed to be the best product availible to me . I seriously need to photo update soon .Today I,ll get some veg pics up so I can share my sickly plants progress.

Thanks again Lumi ! You the man !

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But it is not from too much cal and mag which molasses causes if thats why you mentioned it...it is that the molasses binds up N and keeps it from the plant...and if you apply more N in attempt to correct it you either end up burning them or causing other lockouts from too much other elements so surely in our way of feeding with synthetics I see no benefits only problems

Now too much Cal can lockout K and even N...but it takes a great abundance to do this...and Mag will affect P, K and manganese availability but again in must be in great abundance

Calcium nitrate remains available and in solution better than other types and you get the extra little N kick and iron to boot ...I have never experienced a N burn because of adding it

All this is much of why I love "making it rain" especially with Dynagro as everything you need is always there in a ready to use and soluble form in proportions that do not cause lockouts...reason being most of the old stuff is pushed out then the fresh is once again available

Yes it does seem that the sulphur is needed in a greater amount during flower....why I love mag pro...once you switch to DG you will rarely if ever use Cal Mag plus as the DG has cal and mag and a lil bump of magpro here and there will do some good...I actually use a combo of Foliage pro and Mag pro as my flowering base and rarely if ever use their Bloom...the high P in the magpro supplies the increased need for it in flower...the protekt boosts K...and the sulphur boosts triches!!! So not a great need for the bloom

And am glad to help my friend

Namaste'

This is where I get mine....they do not carry it locally here either...

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/dyna-gro-foliage-pro-9-3-6

And Jack's is awesome stuff ...I use it also and with the cal-mag plus you are covered....I am just really loving the simplicity and performance of Dynagro...plus it also contains things no others do...as in cobalt and nickel...nickel which has been proven to be needed especially for seed production

Namaste'

Veg Update :

This is FLO one of the sick plants .

yep....cal-mag is your fix...but still pretty

Illumination said:

The microherd are the bacteria, fungi, etc. that live in your medium and work in symphony with the plants to feed it and it them...when they are really active they will color the perilite a golden brown....is a good thing in my experience

That help?

Namaste'

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I thought it was just the dirt making it brown. Seriously

Bonzi Lighthouse said:

I thought it was just the dirt making it brown. Seriously

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LMAO!! Thats what I thought as well.... I can't remeber where I read it at specifically but I do know a place it is mentioned:


http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/faqfox-soilgrow.html#fungi

"Why do I occasionally see fungi in my soil?
Here at FoxFarm we understand you may have questions regarding a natural phenomenon that can occur in our bark-based growing mediums. We would like to help you understand what this is. Within a few days of planting you may begin to notice a brownish-yellow fungal mass that appears on the surface of your mix. You may also notice small amounts of a green fungus that forms around the ventilation holes of your soil bags. You may ask yourself the following.

What is it? These fungi are actually a naturally occurring substance that can be found on certain types of barks, such as composted pine barks, which are a good thing. They let you know that the soil is alive and the biological micro-organisms within the soil are doing their jobs to assist in creating a healthy soil web.

Why does it happen? Pine bark is aged and composted for long periods of time before the final screening and use in our mixes. The natural ageing process of the bark occurs during the composting process and is facilitated by the microbes naturally found in our environment. With the proper conditions consisting of the right temperature and moisture, the fungi produce mycelium (white strands) in the windrows. This is the vegetative stage of the fungus. When the bark is properly aged, it is then blended into our mixes with other fine ingredients and bagged. With the right moisture levels, coupled with warm sunny days, these soil microbes will grow and you may see them in your bags. Healthy soils are ideal conditions for fungi to complete their life cycle.

Here, at FoxFarm, we treat organics as they were meant to be treated: as living organisms. This means that each soil blend is not steam-sterilized, but rather a living creature full of life. This may be why you have not noticed these fungi in other soils as they may be steam-sterilized. These natural fungi are the result of the ageing process and are a sign that your soil is continuing to be a healthy environment for a plant to thrive in. These mycelium will not harm your plants in any way."

it is the second FAQ

Hope it helps and wish I had a more credible source in my memory but it is accurate


Namaste'

Not to beat a dead horse, but the day I picked up my first bag of FFOF The Dude handed me a bottle of cal/mag+ and said "Here you'll need this".

*edit FWIW I do not have this issue with my DWC running 3 part Hollands Seceret.

And this is the CheeseQuake it was affected the most .