Calcium deficiency in promix

propertyoftheUS

propertyoftheUS

Well-Known Member
Update. A little worse for wear lol. I tried foliar feeding at lights out with 2tsp/gal Epsom salts. Could that have contributed to this calamity? I mean 6 days after spraying would the leaves be getting worse? The undergrowth looks fine. Never had this problem in 15 years outdoors lol. Just call me an indoor worm/noob
 

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propertyoftheUS

propertyoftheUS

Well-Known Member
Well the calcium deficiency has been taken care of, leaf stems went from red back to green. Not that you need much calcium after preflower. Should I defoliate all of the affected leaves or just leave them be?
 
propertyoftheUS

propertyoftheUS

Well-Known Member
Besides the leaf burn it looks like they might be wanting more phosphorus. I don't really have a bloom booster other than slow release, should I just run 1-3-2 through or add some slow release bloom ferts. I guess I could order some PK booster but it usually takes 5+ days to get here and im thinking 4 of the 5 are gonna finish in about 14 days
 
propertyoftheUS

propertyoftheUS

Well-Known Member
Wetdog said:
I make my own mix and have for over 45 years now. My basic mix is pretty much promix (peat, perlite, lime).

For well over 30 years it was this mix and Jack's classic (just Peters back then). The growers who taught me the mix also used Peters and stressed using the lime because the Peters contained no Ca and was intended to be used with a limed mix. Plus the low pH of the peat of course. This was in 1972 and information was really scarce, even in print.

I do organics now, but the basic mix has not changed for me, just what is added after the basic mix is done.

Anyway, the amount of lime added to promix is so small the growers I know who use actual promix add their lime as if the promix contained none at all, @1cup/cf of mix. This has worked well for them and way better than using smaller amounts and trying to figure out how much is in the promix so that everything equals 1 cup. Adding lime as if there was none in the mix took care of the guesswork and issues right from the git go. They also increase the amount of perlite in the promix to ~40%. It's kinda light in that area too.

BTW, with the Peters I only fed once/week @~3/4 strength. I think you're over feeding and not watering enough for a decent runoff. With the Peters, watering till runoff is essential and a decent leaching might be in order now. BTW, I had the best results using the 'Blossom booster 10-30-20 for the entire grow. But, that's just me.

I would also get a water test on your tap water, if that's what you're using. Easy enough to find online from your water district.
HTH

Wet
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What pH do you water and feed with? 5.8-6.2?
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
propertyoftheUS said:
What pH do you water and feed with? 5.8-6.2?
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I don't pH my water at all, straight from the hose. A well buffered soil will bring the waters pH to match it's own in short order. The water pH has just a very temporary effect on the soils pH, but the soil has a huge effect on the waters pH.

It's very simple overall, but pretty complex to explain as it's a chemical/physical reaction going on between the calcium carbonate in the lime and whatever it comes into contact with or is in very close proximity to, whether it is the peat moss in the mix or the water you use to water the plant with.

You know Alka Seltzer fizzes in water, simple right? But, if you had to explain exactly what was going on to explain how and why it fizzes would get technical and a knowledge of chemistry for the actual mechanics of it. It's similar trying to explain how lime works, but both raise the pH of the water they're in contact with.

I very rarely use any sort of liquid 'feeds', prefering top dresses of dry amendments. But that takes time and a healthy, active soil and sometimes you need something a bit faster acting. I still keep some Jack's Classic Bloom booster around for just such times. A 1/2 strength shot, if needed, isn't going to hurt the micro herd, or worms in the soil one bit if used in an emergency. By an emergency, I mean a 4lb pail of the Jack's has lasted 5 years, going on 6 and is still not empty. That 1/2 strength dose will last long enough for the dry "fix it" top dressing to become available.

You are so close to harvest I'm not sure if you should add anything. Organics usually take a couple of weeks to get started and even liquids aren't overnight. The tricky part with organics is figuring what will be needed 2 weeks from now. LOL

I think a light shot of the 1-3-2 is the best option if you MUST add something, but in reality, 14 days is just too short a time frame for anything to do the plant much good. *I* would just ride it out and plan for the next run and building a better mix.

Wet
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
Leave the leaves alone. They will drop off on their own and the plant can still draw whatever nutrients are left in them.

Couldn't see in the pic, but those buckets do have drainage holes in them, yes? Your mix looks like it would benefit from more perlite. I run 40% perlite as a minimum. Poor drainage/aeration can cause similar problems to what you're having and mimic deficiencys when it's just a too dense soil mix.

Wet
 
Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
i've used promix for a while, had trouble finding ph info back when, found a forum Kyle Kushman was participating in, he said he ph's to 6.3. i tried it, it worked, used it ever since. i'll allow for drift up to 6.5, down to 6.0, but always come back to 6.3
 
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