Going against the grain..... low TDS and PH in Coco

workinit

Well-Known Member
Are there many things we accept as "best" or "the way" that are not necessarily best? I have grown in Soil, Soiless, Rockwool and now Coco. I have read and studied the methods of many "expert" growers both here and on other sites. I never used my own brain or saw with my own eyes. My plants would always green up very fast and without fail would start looking poorly by the 6th or 7th week of flower if not sooner. I have never been able to keep a plant indoors green and healthy through harvest. Why?
I read a few scientific articles and studied PH and such and came to a couple of conclusions. We feed way too much and PH too high. Also I have found that bottom feeding is far superior to top feeding. My current grow is by far the best up to this point. I am in day 20 of flower and have not fed over 400PPM one third of added PPM's are Calmagic. My water comes out of the tap at 125. This is what most people "recommend for seedlings and young clones yet I have plants 20 days of flower that are thriving at these levels.
I read a few articles about PH and came to the conclusion that plants take up nutrients much better with lower PH levels. I currently PH in Coco to 5.2 or 5.3. Plants seem to take up nutrients very well. I also noticed that P begins to precipitate around 6.0 becoming unavailable. I always ph the water THEN add nutrients as to avoid any precipitation during mixing. My trays have zero salt residue.
Bottom feeding is the shit. Think about this. If we are top feeding regardless of medium we are completely changing the TDS and PH of our medium at every feed very quickly. By bottom feeding the process is done slowly as the water/nutrients wick up through the medium. This also ensures that the roots have nutrients constantly replacing used PPM's by wicking over the roots.
I may be way off base but at this point it's hard to argue with the results.image.jpg image2.jpg image3.jpg

I just throw about a half a gallon of fresh nutrients in the trays when the dry out and let them do their thing. Those pics were taken about 4 hours after lights on and by the end of the day they will be standing straight up. Where am I wrong here?
 
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james murphy

Well-Known Member
plants that stand straight up are usually victims of heat and or too many lumens..shit looks grt to me so far
 

workinit

Well-Known Member
plants that stand straight up are usually victims of heat and or too many lumens..shit looks grt to me so far
Heat is not a problem. Roots stay around 70 and tops no more than mid 80's. Using t5's so not sure about the lumens. But they slowly gain turgor through out the day as the take up water. My research has shown that too much salt in the medium actually pulls water out of the plant which causes leaves to droop, curl down or show other signs they are displeased. I have come to think that excess accumulated nutrient salts are what causes problems later in flower. Not to mention that some "experts" advise increasing salts as they progress flowering. I'm not sure that increasing salts is the way. Maybe SLOWLY decreasing salts as the plants begin to finish it the way?
 

james murphy

Well-Known Member
yep the brighter the light the less nutes because it will burn, particularly if substrate gets dry..t5s kick some watts..keep tops at 2ft from tops, after all that's where the real temps matter..not the ambient temp but the temp at the tops of plants and lumens at the the bud level. but im not an expert and therefore i may b wrong..ii tell it from experience
 

workinit

Well-Known Member
yep the brighter the light the less nutes because it will burn, particularly if substrate gets dry..t5s kick some watts..keep tops at 2ft from tops, after all that's where the real temps matter..not the ambient temp but the temp at the tops of plants and lumens at the the bud level. but im not an expert and therefore i may b wrong..ii tell it from experience
The research I have done says that temps at the root zone are more important that at the tops. It does make sense when you think about it. A plant can grow in 90 degree temps outside without issue because its roots are underground where the temps stay much cooler. Transpiration is the engine that makes a plant tick. A plant transpires more at lower salt levels.
 

james murphy

Well-Known Member
the 25 yrs of research says plant growth stunts badly at 90 deg and will start to die at 100. if ur room is hot and ur pots are sm ur fkd...but if they adequate they can stay cool....that light and heat degrades thc as well...i really like ambient around 80 and where tops are no more than 85 w nighttime temps 65 roughly. also i bet the water temp u give them is room temp and they are prob. really dry and suck that shit up like a thirsty dog(bitch) and will stand up smiling....do they drop during the night?? the growth rate looks grt. find out what ur watts a per sq. foot by getting a light meter..worth their weight in platinum..carry on and stay ripped.
 

james murphy

Well-Known Member
i have pheno of holy grail kush that no mater wat has its arms up saluting ..i guess...im thinkin u dnt really have probs..if u did u would see more than upright leaves...i mean ur temps snd grt..lumens?? prob safe their, she just really fkn likes to eat and drink, imagine that lolol
 
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