Nutrients BIOTABS HELP, CUSTOMER FEEDBACK & GENERAL DISCUSSION THREAD

[Bodacious Budmonster]

Thanks for the responses guys

How much dolomite lime would I be adding to the starter pots, in this instance 15L pot?
Any other additives I should consider that won’t break the bank that will compliment the starter pack I have?

Thanks again

 

[Ryker604_BT]

Thanks for the responses guys

How much dolomite lime would I be adding to the starter pots, in this instance 15L pot?
Any other additives I should consider that won’t break the bank that will compliment the starter pack I have?

Thanks again

You can add around 60g of dolomite lime if you're using coco. If you're using soil or some kind of light mix, you can add around 40g. Concerning further amendments, well, I use Guanokalong powder (bat shit powder, 1-10-1) mixed in my substrate, great for rooting and root growth for the first couple of weeks .

 

[Bodacious Budmonster]

You can add around 60g of dolomite lime if you're using coco. If you're using soil or some kind of light mix, you can add around 40g. Concerning further amendments, well, I use Guanokalong powder (bat shit powder, 1-10-1) mixed in my substrate, great for rooting and root growth for the first couple of weeks .

Thanks
Is that 60g per 15L?

Thanks

 

[Waira]

Cheers
Do we have to prep the coco at all
I.e wash it with ph 5.8 water?

Just reading the instructions and it refers to cutting or seedling.
I plan to germinate in paper towel and then put directly into 15L autopot.
It would seem the instructions doesn’t cover that as being ok, no mention of it?

Also instructions suggest a sub rate mix of 50/50 combinations
I plan to use all coco with just some clay pebbles at the bottom, but no mention of this.

Do I have to transplant a seedling before I can use biotabs? Or can I do as planned
Can I use all coco and some clay pebbles as planned?

@Hippy_BiotabsF70 @Ryker604_BT

>>> some coco cautions:
-- prep'ing the coco, depends on the brand and quality,.. if you haven't done your homework on coco, get on it! It's a great medium, but has a list of do's and don't's even in Biotabs,... it has odd CEC properties, making it a Ca and Mg hog,.. it wants to run at lower pH than true soil, (about 6.0) so I wouldn't add the dolomite or you'll be struggling with pH, and the consequences, the whole way likely,..
Bagged stuff is usually good to go, but bricks may need good pre-hydration, and a rinse is wise, using a solution of Ca-Mg,.. straight water is a no-no with coco!

@Ryker604_BT @stoney T -- guys, I'm not trying to undercut you here, the dolomite in coco has caused problems in the past from what I've seen in Sick Bay,... If you've run it in straight coco before, and were able to keep the pH in the coco-zone, let me know how you did it!

 

[Bodacious Budmonster]

>>> some coco cautions:
-- prep'ing the coco, depends on the brand and quality,.. if you haven't done your homework on coco, get on it! It's a great medium, but has a list of do's and don't's even in Biotabs,... it has odd CEC properties, making it a Ca and Mg hog,.. it wants to run at lower pH than true soil, (about 6.0) so I wouldn't add the dolomite or you'll be struggling with pH, and the consequences, the whole way likely,..
Bagged stuff is usually good to go, but bricks may need good pre-hydration, and a rinse is wise, using a solution of Ca-Mg,.. straight water is a no-no with coco!

Hi
Thanks for your advice,
I only use canna professional plus coco http://www.canna-uk.com/coco_professional_plus which I believe is good stuff

I generally wash this with ph5.8 water and then I would pot this up and flush 5L of low feed and ph5.8 water through it before planting the seed

This is where I read mixed opinions when it comes to biotabs. As you have pointed out you need to act a certain way with coco and the general consensus on the Internet is jus that even when you mention biotabs.

On the other hand the people who are using biotabs are saying that you don’t need to ph water or treat coco and some seem to have successful grows, particular on this site but others have struggled and then the lack of coco prep and treatment is then questioned.

The biotabs manual states you don’t need to touch the ph of the water as the plants will keep uptsking the minerals regardless of PH due to the biotabs but I would guess that it isn’t as straight forward as with the type of coco you have, the water quality and strain of cannabis never mind the pheno.

Hence me asking questions and I am still not sure....I guess I have to find out or continue asking and researching
Suppose providing a ph5.8 of water for drink and washing it with that is only going to benefit if anything and to play it safe

In regard to cal mag I still haven’t figured out when I should be using that etc.
I am still inexperienced to a point

Thanks

 

[Trichome farmer]

>>> some coco cautions:
-- prep'ing the coco, depends on the brand and quality,.. if you haven't done your homework on coco, get on it! It's a great medium, but has a list of do's and don't's even in Biotabs,... it has odd CEC properties, making it a Ca and Mg hog,.. it wants to run at lower pH than true soil, (about 6.0) so I wouldn't add the dolomite or you'll be struggling with pH, and the consequences, the whole way likely,..
Bagged stuff is usually good to go, but bricks may need good pre-hydration, and a rinse is wise, using a solution of Ca-Mg,.. straight water is a no-no with coco!

@Ryker604_BT @stoney T -- guys, I'm not trying to undercut you here, the dolomite in coco has caused problems in the past from what I've seen in Sick Bay,... If you run it in straight coco before, and were able to keep the pH is the coco-zone, let me know how you did it!

hey waira some good advice you have there with the bricks im finding this out myself as we speak but with biotabs and the lime PH shouldnt be a problem because of the self ph adjusting bacteria as long as your temps are good and you dont have lazy cold bacteria or too warm over active bacteria ryker and hippy have both done it successfully im just trying it out now myself after been a close follower of biotabs since they came on site but absolutely i dont reccomend using lime in just coco without some sort of PH adjusting medium /nutes

 

[Trichome farmer]

Hi
Thanks for your advice,
I only use canna professional plus coco http://www.canna-uk.com/coco_professional_plus which I believe is good stuff

I generally wash this with ph5.8 water and then I would pot this up and flush 5L of low feed and ph5.8 water through it before planting the seed

This is where I read mixed opinions when it comes to biotabs. As you have pointed out you need to act a certain way with coco and the general consensus on the Internet is jus that even when you mention biotabs.

On the other hand the people who are using biotabs are saying that you don’t need to ph water or treat coco and some seem to have successful grows, particular on this site but others have struggled and then the lack of coco prep and treatment is then questioned.

The biotabs manual states you don’t need to touch the ph of the water as the plants will keep uptsking the minerals regardless of PH due to the biotabs but I would guess that it isn’t as straight forward as with the type of coco you have, the water quality and strain of cannabis never mind the pheno.

Hence me asking questions and I am still not sure....I guess I have to find out or continue asking and researching
Suppose providing a ph5.8 of water for drink and washing it with that is only going to benefit if anything and to play it safe

In regard to cal mag I still haven’t figured out when I should be using that etc.
I am still inexperienced to a point

Thanks

which bit are u not sure on the cal mag might be able to explain it ?

 

[Bodacious Budmonster]

which bit are u not sure on the cal mag might be able to explain it ?

I never know at what point I should be providing cal mag to a coco grow.
Thanks

 

[Waira]

:smoking: Cheers Stoney... maybe with dolomite it's OK,... it's the slowest acting form of lime due to it's slightly different chemistry than Ag'/garden lime,... grain size is important too, powder being fastest, gravel slowest (too slow for auto's in fact, generally)...

>> legal'-- unless you're using coco specific nutes, Ca-Mg goes in every time,...how much depends on the formulation of that product.... if you add the dolomite, you may not need to use liquid Ca-Mg for very long.... you don't want to over do it either, or the pH and/or ion uptake will suffer,...

 

[Trichome farmer]

I never know at what point I should be providing cal mag to a coco grow.
Thanks

if its a liquid cal mag then i do it from the very start like how you say you rinse your coco and flush the last few liters through with a nute solution then you can add your cal mag to this if your not rinseing the coco then you can just water the pot with 1L of cal mag soultion 1ml per liter should do the trick then just keep an eye out for in as your growing my first go at a feed soil so cant really help there untill i do it a couple of times but i dont know if a liquid cal mag can be used with the tabs i havnt asked that question