When to start using nutrients

C

Chronic Effects

New Member
Im going to get the trio (big bloom, grow big, tiger bloom) and I was wondering when should I start adding the nutrients? about 1-2 weeks into flowering? And how would I add these do they all just go together or separately and a everyday routine? Im new to growing if you couldnt tell :) and I want to make sure that I dont mess up the plants. Last thing with all the nutrients, how long would I have to flush for?
Thanks in regards :)
 
Silky Shagsalot

Silky Shagsalot

Well-Known Member
the cotyledons provide all the seedlings need for a good 2 weeks. after that, use 1/4 strength nutes, and slowly increase. about 200-250 a time.
 
941mick

941mick

Well-Known Member
Chronic Effects said:
Im going to get the trio (big bloom, grow big, tiger bloom) and I was wondering when should I start adding the nutrients? about 1-2 weeks into flowering? And how would I add these do they all just go together or separately and a everyday routine? Im new to growing if you couldnt tell :) and I want to make sure that I dont mess up the plants. Last thing with all the nutrients, how long would I have to flush for?
Thanks in regards :)
Click to expand...
It really comes down to the grow medium your in. I would use big bloom every other watering from day 1 since it's just a bottled compost tea with little NPK value. If you are in Ocean Forrest you don't usually need to start using grow big until 4 weeks from seed in most cases, if your in Happy Frog 3 weeks from seed, but like silky said start at a 1/4 dose and increase the dose every nutrient feeding until you you are at full strength. When it comes time to flower start the tiger bloom at half strength and increase it every week until you are at full strength.

Not too be too confusing but I had better results when using the fox farm line by alternating feedings between grow big (or tiger bloom in flower) and big bloom, and never watering with plain water. Once again Big Bloom is just a bottled compost tea with hardly any NPK value, and is safe for all stages of growth, don't let the "bloom" in the name confuse you this product is for ALL stages of growth.
 
941mick

941mick

Well-Known Member
Happygirl said:
I am also use this mix OF soil and their line of nutes so far so good.
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I used Fox Farm my first two years of growing, and still use their open sesame for giving flowering an early jump start. They never did me wrong, and always produced a product with great smells and flavors.
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
Seems like solid advice above.

With regard to flushing. That is entirely your choice. You won't find me advising it though. Half do, half don't. The very fact that the argument is never ending rather clearly indicates that it really isn't as important as the yes crowd like to try and make out, otherwise it would simply be what you do. But yet all of these (a huge number!) growers who don't flush, never find any issue with their buds, nor encounter any of the issues you supposedly encounter if you don't flush. Best thing is to flush, and then next grow, don't, or if you have multiple plants, flush half, not the other. Arrive at your own opinion. But most who have done side by side comparissons, well it seems they found flushing to have been pointless.
 
941mick

941mick

Well-Known Member
tip top toker said:
Seems like solid advice above.

With regard to flushing. That is entirely your choice. You won't find me advising it though. Half do, half don't. The very fact that the argument is never ending rather clearly indicates that it really isn't as important as the yes crowd like to try and make out, otherwise it would simply be what you do. But yet all of these (a huge number!) growers who don't flush, never find any issue with their buds, nor encounter any of the issues you supposedly encounter if you don't flush. Best thing is to flush, and then next grow, don't, or if you have multiple plants, flush half, not the other. Arrive at your own opinion. But most who have done side by side comparissons, well it seems they found flushing to have been pointless.
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I agree with a lot of what you have to say, but can I ask you if you "flushed" your first grow?
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
941mick said:
I agree with a lot of what you have to say, but can I ask you if you "flushed" your first grow?
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I flushed for many grows, because that is what new growers are told to do. In the same way I used to be anal about leaving water to sit for 24 hours. Once I was comfortable growing, I started experimenting, and learnt that a lot of growing advice is nonsense. I often think that people intentionally complicate things so as to feel they can justify their prices. At the end of the day, growing can be as simple or demanding as you make it, but there is no need to be in your grow room for multiple hours per day as some claim (and I'm not talking about large scale growers)
 
941mick

941mick

Well-Known Member
tip top toker said:
I flushed for many grows, because that is what new growers are told to do. In the same way I used to be anal about leaving water to sit for 24 hours. Once I was comfortable growing, I started experimenting, and learnt that a lot of growing advice is nonsense. I often think that people intentionally complicate things so as to feel they can justify their prices. At the end of the day, growing can be as simple or demanding as you make it, but there is no need to be in your grow room for multiple hours per day as some claim (and I'm not talking about large scale growers)
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Spot on Spot on! I just think there is a place for some degree of "salt maintenance" (lol) for the Fox Farm users that are going full dose all the way through on every variety they come across. Thanks to the Big Bloom you will probably never have salt lockout, but you may still be breaking down salts later into flower than you want to. I don't think you need to flush with Fox Farm as much as I think you should just scrap the bases the last two weeks and just run Big Bloom and water if you went full dose on the bases from from day one.
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
941mick said:
Spot on Spot on! I just think there is a place for some degree of "salt maintenance" (lol) for the Fox Farm users that are going full dose all the way through on every variety they come across. Thanks to the Big Bloom you will probably never have salt lockout, but you may still be breaking down salts later into flower than you want to. I don't think you need to flush with Fox Farm as much as I think you should just scrap the bases the last two weeks and just run Big Bloom and water if you went full dose on the bases from from day one.
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There is certainly an argument to be made for flushing mid grow, although when a nute range creates this requirement, most seem to just create an alternating routine between nutes and plain water (however watering as normal, not flushing), but I'm still to be convinced of any beneficial reason to flush at harvest.
 
941mick

941mick

Well-Known Member
tip top toker said:
There is certainly an argument to be made for flushing mid grow, although when a nute range creates this requirement, most seem to just create an alternating routine between nutes and plain water (however watering as normal, not flushing), but I'm still to be convinced of any beneficial reason to flush at harvest.
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I think the only thing your gaining by flushing is the peace of mind that most undissolved salts will be removed from the medium and the plant will no longer be in taking salty fertilizers that could affect the taste. If you have your nutrients dialed in to the specific plant however, you probably wont need to flush because in most cases doses will be lower that what the bottle states, therefore less undissolved salts in the medium to have to worry about flushing away.

@chroniceffects- dont get too confused If you take the advice you were given here there will not really be a need to flush at the end.
 
RetiredMatthebrute

RetiredMatthebrute

Well-Known Member
I agree 100% on the flush thing, no need to do it as far as taste of your buds goes....but there is a important reason to flush and that is buildup wich can cause PH imbalances and lockouts....if you must start your nutrient regiment on week 2-4 then i would recomend flushing every 2 weeks to remove buildup...

i dont recomend starting feeding that early..in Ocean forest an average 3-4 ft tall plant should be completly sustained by the nutrition in the soil...."nutrients" or fertilizers are just another big hype in the canabis growing community,

most comercial farmers ammend thier soils once before they start growing for the season and do not ever fertilize again (for that growing season)

fox farm ocean forest comes pre amended out of the bag...theres no need to add any fertilizer to that soil unless your plants say you need it.....and they will tell you...by starting to turn a nice light lime green is color you will quickly see its time to add a SMALL amount of nutrients and then probabally continue a regiment feeding every 2 weeks untill done...

MOST plants will thrive in FFOF for most if not all of a grow, again this nutrient business is all just a hype created by stoners who got baked and got the munchies, ate a bunch of food and got fat, related this with thier plants and thought if they feed thier plants more they will get fat too.....FAR OUT MAN......WRONG!!!

I am not saying you dont need to use nutrients, im saying you need to watch the plant and feed it when it needs to be fed....if you feed a plant nutrients it dosent need its not going to use them, then they will sit in the medium and cause buildup wich will cause PH issues wich will cause lockout and your feeding a plant just went from caring for it to killing it..

now you have 100 more things to do to fix a problem created by adding nutrients to a plant that didnt need them..if that plant looks good, is nice and green and growing well just leave it alone!!!!

most growers i see on here who end up with all these issues, end up with them because they fell into this nutrient brainwash and kill the're own plants..IF ITS NOT BROKE DONT FIX IT...meaning if the plant looks healthy and is growing well then you dont need to add nutrients, they will NOT make it grow faster, they will NOT make the buds grow bigger...if the plant needs to be fed it will definatly tell you, otherwise leave it be...

think of it as a person..yes more food will make a person grow fatter, but its a unhealthy fat..we are genetically designed to grow a certain way, to maximize a healthy growth we need a balanced diet and we dont need to over eat...same thing with a plant..too much food can be just as unhealthy for a plant as it can be for a person.

sorry i typed so dam much...you really really need to learn about what your doing when you add "nutes" rather than just hop in a line of stoned drones and follow suite...there is no specific time to start nutrients...and if you can keep from adding them at all that is what i recomend....maybe a 1/2 strength feeding of a bloom nutrient mid way through flower and that should be about all you need.

i have grown about 10 grows now and have found my best results yeild when i do nothing at all..except water and i usually grow one plant in a 30 gal tote so i water the plant maybe 2x in the first 8 weeks (6 weeks veg) and then prob another 3-4x in the last 6-8 weeks (they drink more in later stages of flower because the plant is larger it needs more H20 to stay hydrated or w/e you call it.

i add a small dose of bloom nutes usually 2-3 weeks into flower and then leave it the hell alone to do what it needs...if the plant starts showing signs of deficiency i will feed more and i feed right up untill chop( IF NEEDED)...well a week before,, i mean its just wasted money feeding it then chopping next day.

advice

K.I.S.S
dont fix what aint broke
 
941mick

941mick

Well-Known Member
RetiredMatthebrute said:
I agree 100% on the flush thing, no need to do it as far as taste of your buds goes....but there is a important reason to flush and that is buildup wich can cause PH imbalances and lockouts....if you must start your nutrient regiment on week 2-4 then i would recomend flushing every 2 weeks to remove buildup...

i dont recomend starting feeding that early..in Ocean forest an average 3-4 ft tall plant should be completly sustained by the nutrition in the soil...."nutrients" or fertilizers are just another big hype in the canabis growing community,

most comercial farmers ammend thier soils once before they start growing for the season and do not ever fertilize again (for that growing season)

fox farm ocean forest comes pre amended out of the bag...theres no need to add any fertilizer to that soil unless your plants say you need it.....and they will tell you...by starting to turn a nice light lime green is color you will quickly see its time to add a SMALL amount of nutrients and then probabally continue a regiment feeding every 2 weeks untill done...

MOST plants will thrive in FFOF for most if not all of a grow, again this nutrient business is all just a hype created by stoners who got baked and got the munchies, ate a bunch of food and got fat, related this with thier plants and thought if they feed thier plants more they will get fat too.....FAR OUT MAN......WRONG!!!

I am not saying you dont need to use nutrients, im saying you need to watch the plant and feed it when it needs to be fed....if you feed a plant nutrients it dosent need its not going to use them, then they will sit in the medium and cause buildup wich will cause PH issues wich will cause lockout and your feeding a plant just went from caring for it to killing it..

now you have 100 more things to do to fix a problem created by adding nutrients to a plant that didnt need them..if that plant looks good, is nice and green and growing well just leave it alone!!!!

most growers i see on here who end up with all these issues, end up with them because they fell into this nutrient brainwash and kill the're own plants..IF ITS NOT BROKE DONT FIX IT...meaning if the plant looks healthy and is growing well then you dont need to add nutrients, they will NOT make it grow faster, they will NOT make the buds grow bigger...if the plant needs to be fed it will definatly tell you, otherwise leave it be...

think of it as a person..yes more food will make a person grow fatter, but its a unhealthy fat..we are genetically designed to grow a certain way, to maximize a healthy growth we need a balanced diet and we dont need to over eat...same thing with a plant..too much food can be just as unhealthy for a plant as it can be for a person.

sorry i typed so dam much...you really really need to learn about what your doing when you add "nutes" rather than just hop in a line of stoned drones and follow suite...there is no specific time to start nutrients...and if you can keep from adding them at all that is what i recomend....maybe a 1/2 strength feeding of a bloom nutrient mid way through flower and that should be about all you need.

i have grown about 10 grows now and have found my best results yeild when i do nothing at all..except water and i usually grow one plant in a 30 gal tote so i water the plant maybe 2x in the first 8 weeks (6 weeks veg) and then prob another 3-4x in the last 6-8 weeks (they drink more in later stages of flower because the plant is larger it needs more H20 to stay hydrated or w/e you call it.

i add a small dose of bloom nutes usually 2-3 weeks into flower and then leave it the hell alone to do what it needs...if the plant starts showing signs of deficiency i will feed more and i feed right up untill chop( IF NEEDED)...well a week before,, i mean its just wasted money feeding it then chopping next day.

advice

K.I.S.S
dont fix what aint broke
Click to expand...
You can definitely be successful doing all of this or by using nutes. Like I said though if you use full dose big bloom all the way through, you will probably never see salt build up because it will aid in the breakdown of salts. Ocean IMO has 4-5 weeks of food in it before you need to start adding any amount of fertilizers, however I have heard it advertised that you could just cut ocean with 1/3 earthworm castings to 2/3 OF and just use water all the way through. Different strokes for different folks...
 
RetiredMatthebrute

RetiredMatthebrute

Well-Known Member
i dont mean to say he shouldnt consider nutrients just that he needs to learn to read his plants and add only when needed, otherwise problems can and will occur due to over feeding.

some plants are heavy feeders and some are light feeders...

what will sustain one plant may not be enough for another so it is important you learn to read your plants.
 
941mick

941mick

Well-Known Member
RetiredMatthebrute said:
i dont mean to say he shouldnt consider nutrients just that he needs to learn to read his plants and add only when needed, otherwise problems can and will occur due to over feeding.

some plants are heavy feeders and some are light feeders...

what will sustain one plant may not be enough for another so it is important you learn to read your plants.
Click to expand...
Very true! I was running a OG 18 last year that thrived on 800ppm in soilless during peak bloom, but then my 818 headband thrives on 1500ppm in peak bloom. Reading plants comes from experience, and cant be expected from new gardeners but they should keep it in the back of their heads that that is the best skill you can have in this game.
 
RetiredMatthebrute

RetiredMatthebrute

Well-Known Member
yeah i had a blueberry that was a typical blueberry, was content on around 4-500 ppm, didnt push her for more because she looked great but felt like i wasnt feeding at all (small DWC setup) since my tap water is around 200ppm right out of the faucet lol.
 
RetiredMatthebrute

RetiredMatthebrute

Well-Known Member
When to feed plants


Plants need feeding if they:

  • Are showing signs of nutrient deficiency.
  • Are producing lower than expected yields of flowers or fruit, or are putting on less growth than expected (but appear otherwise healthy and are growing in suitable conditions).
Feeding is usually done in spring or summer, during the growing season. Few plants need fertiliser in the winter months, even if they are winter-flowering. Some organic fertilisers, such as fish blood and bone or poultry manure pellets, are slow to release their nutrients and are applied in late winter or early spring in preparation for the growing season.

the problem is people expectations and patience are low so they expect to see big fat nugs on the plants withing 3-4 weeks, and when it dosent happent they assume that growth rates are slow so they feed...

dont want anyone to think feeding properly is a bad thing!! but over feeding is, and it is one of the most common reasons for a majority of plant issues people have..
 
P

Peter11111111

New Member
Chronic Effects said:
Im going to get the trio (big bloom, grow big, tiger bloom) and I was wondering when should I start adding the nutrients? about 1-2 weeks into flowering? And how would I add these do they all just go together or separately and a everyday routine? Im new to growing if you couldnt tell :) and I want to make sure that I dont mess up the plants. Last thing with all the nutrients, how long would I have to flush for?
Thanks in regards :)
Click to expand...
Are your plants in flower now or veg
 
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