Should I move from simple to expert with GH or change nutrient lines?

Hi friends -

I recently harvested my third soil crop using General Hyroponics' simple drain-to-waste line with molasses and micronutrient additives. I'm happy with the product, but I do have a couple concerns: 1. the leaves turn yellow ~3 weeks into flowering every time, but I don't want to spike in extra nitrogen, and 2. I want the buds to have more trichomes. A couple important notes - the strains I'm growing are: blue cheese, northern lights, dank sinatra, new york diesel, and jet fuel. I'm using a t5 high output for cloning/early veg, a 600 watt metal halide for 2 weeks late veg, and then a 600 watt high pressure sodium for flowering (8-10 weeks depending on strain).

Ultimately, my question is whether I should step up to the expert drain to waste system with general hydroponics, or if you guys think I should switch to something else. I'm more concerned with quality over quantity. I've been killing it with yields, but I want to work on getting fuller, more crystally buds. I'm not sure if the expert system will help, or if I should explore other options.

Thanks for you time!




-Sarah

idk what their feed schedule says but i use GH floranova line and the first week of 12/12 i use half veg and half flower. tends to keep leaves greener longer.

i am not a fan of using a bunch of additives. pain in the butt, expensive and more jugs to keep around. a good base nutrient like nova doesnt need much help. i just use silica, a lil hygrozyme, and dutch master zone to keep system sterile.

cheers

Thanks for your reply! I also do a mixed Grown/Bloom the first week after flipping the lights. I was told to use the MicroNutes from a guy who was trying to sell the idea of bacteria and fungi derived nutrients, and I think I like the idea. The water is soft where I live, so I add molasses for the calcium and magnesium.

I'm considering buying some cannazym for chewing up dead roots. It sounds like hygrozyme does a similar thing.

Have you considered using 1000 watt mh and hps? This might help with what you are trying to accomplish.

"let it be"

Or possible 2 600`s?

sojo1605 said:

Hi friends -

I recently harvested my third soil crop using General Hyroponics' simple drain-to-waste line with molasses and micronutrient additives. I'm happy with the product, but I do have a couple concerns: 1. the leaves turn yellow ~3 weeks into flowering every time, but I don't want to spike in extra nitrogen, and 2. I want the buds to have more trichomes. A couple important notes - the strains I'm growing are: blue cheese, northern lights, dank sinatra, new york diesel, and jet fuel. I'm using a t5 high output for cloning/early veg, a 600 watt metal halide for 2 weeks late veg, and then a 600 watt high pressure sodium for flowering (8-10 weeks depending on strain).

Ultimately, my question is whether I should step up to the expert drain to waste system with general hydroponics, or if you guys think I should switch to something else. I'm more concerned with quality over quantity. I've been killing it with yields, but I want to work on getting fuller, more crystally buds. I'm not sure if the expert system will help, or if I should explore other options.

Thanks for you time!
-Sarah

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Throwing more money at your plants will only help if that money is spent on a book, NOT additional bottles or another nutrient brand. Mel Frank has a book, for example, that gets recommended frequently by talented growers.

1. the leaves turn yellow ~3 weeks into flowering every time, but I don't want to spike in extra nitrogen,

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It could be a number of things but i'm guessing you're shifting the emphasis to P and K instead of maintaining plant health with good doses of N all the way through. This concept can be found in a good gardening book.

2. I want the buds to have more trichomes.

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Healthy plants produce loads of resin and yellow plants are never healthy. Again, get a book, learn to grow healthy plants and everything else (resin, aroma, potency) will improve drastically.