Thanks bro. But I'm growing in soil...not sure if that was a typo or not. I've been using Emetald harvest nutes the entire line besides root and sturdy stalk. What could I use to provide more potassium? At first I thought it was the heat. Sometimes it gets around 85°f
Oh ok, that's the first time I've heard that about fox farm. Yeah I've normally had a few problems at once and I attempt to knock them out one by one. I've just started using grandma's molasses during my water only feeding. Should I start using it on every feeding or how often? I use cal mag every feeding. I'm doing feed 3x then just water. How many weeks would you say that I have left? It's been 9wks
Sphagnum peat moss is not soil lol. It's actually a soil amendment to loosen actual clay soil. If you treat it as soil, you will have issues, especially with heavier elements like iron, zinc and copper getting to the plant. phosphorus as well will get locked out at a 'soil' ph.
That was my first time hearing that ffof wasn't soil. But I'm still new so I'm just taking everything in.
I've done a bit of research and you may be correct. I was just going to ask if you thought that lime would do the trick. It's soil but it's not soil lol. Lime and 6.0ph. I'm also using RO water which causes low potassium right?
Lime is added to the medium..so it depends on what the ph of your medium is. Lime will only neutralize the ph, or keep it buffered closer to 7. If the medium is not very low, like at ph of 5 or less..then lime isn't necessary for now. As you reuse sphagnum peat moss..it breaks down..that's actually the yellowish color you see if you water to run-off...as it breaks down..it can get quite acidic, but the amendments in there will help with that for a limited time. If you use RO water, it won't make your potassium low as it doesnt usually come in high amounts with tap water anyway. You lose out on mainly calcium and magnesium as those 2 elements are usually highest in tap water.,,but it depends on your city and piping..some can have high amounts of iron and sodium as well. For future grows, you can even get silica as that's potassium only and has its benefits throughout the plant's life. With RO water..yes you need cal-mag by the time flowering hits for sure, as for potassium..try upping it a bit and lowering the ph a bit..if there is no fix, you may have a lockout issue instead because of an excess of another element. For those elements, you ideally want at least a 2:1 ratio of potassium to calcium and to magnesium, it can go higher, even as far as 7-1 for some strains. Phosphorus and magnesium work together, they get absorbed best at a 1:1 ratio. Too much calcium, magnesium, phosphorus or nitrogen, will lockout potassium.
Thanks bro I'll give that a try and will see how it comes out.
Is there anything else that you can tell about what's going on?
Yes, it becomes a domino effect, as one element gets low or builds up, it affects the next one, and in the end, you're chasing your tail trying to keep up. Strains can differ drastically, so what works on this grow, can make the next one a failure. It takes time to tune in to them and get to know how they operate. This pic can help a bit, but knowing how the plants and nutes and the medium you're growing in, function together, will help even more. Some great videos on youtube!
Tell me about it, I've been chasing for about 1 and a half months lmao. Yeah 9 weeks since flip. I might start water only in about a week. The scopes online are too small for me. I'll have to try a more expensive one. I've seen a few cloudy but no Amber yet.
How often should I use the molasses?
At this point, you can give it one last boost. Again, not sure exactly which line you're feeding with, but if you have the 0-5-4, give that only and a teaspoon of molasses to a gallon of water. Depending on the molasses you have..check to see if it has calcium and magnesium in it, most do..if it does, add less cal mag to your RO water. Depending how they are developing..once you see the tops of the buds rounding (coning) off, they are close, cut the nutes out for the last 10-12 days and continue with just the molasses until final watering. As the plant gets old, it hangs on to the sugars more and more, so there is less food for the microbes in the medium, the molasses keeps them happy when the plant no longer gives back to them.