MoneyMaker isn't finished yet, im gonna cut her most likely on sunday...only reason is I wanted one more flush today as the ppm's were high and ph very low! I learnt a helluva a lot in the past 2 weeks with regards to cation exchange in soil..how elements interact with each other in both positive and negative ways. Overall conclusion is..I was low on potassium since flowering on the 3 auto's, moneymaker only showed it a couple weeks ago with a cal deficiency starting right after I added molasses for the 1st time. Led's I highly doubt have anything to do with cal-mag being needed more. The extra lighting yes made the plants grow better it seems, and yes being low on cal-mag with this last one likely allowed the soil to get too low in ph..I also likely over fed her. Either way..she's a big one..i biggest plant to dategreat lil grow.i use some iso to clean clippers.a lot complain about the need for more cal/mag when they introduce leds.
whats up next ?
My understanding thus far is that as the plant enters flowering, and it no longer uses nitrogen (-anion) as its main source of food..it begins to use phosphorus at the beginning and mostly potassium as its in mid flower..cal-mag also have a higher need..especially calcium. If Ca especially, or Mg get too low, then the only thing left to bind to the - particles in soil, is H+ ions, which is what the plant mostly releases each time it takes up a + charged ion, and so it lowers the ph. By adding cal-mag to any plant that is thriving (eating a lot and growing), it will neutralize the excess H+ ions (low ph) that the soil tends to get too much of in flower and it prevents that ph from going too low. The calcium and magnesium ions..both double positives, will displace the hydrogen ions..its the only two elements that have the bonding strength to be able to knock those H+ ions off the - particles in the soil. At least that's my understanding of iti know its so weird and nobody can explain exactly why it is,more led seems to need more cal/mag added.i dont understand it.
doin a great job in a small space.
So the led's may be responsible for better lighting, and as the plant gets more useable light, it creates more sugars, needing more food, and in doing so, it gives back a lot of H+ ions that cal=mag neutralize and so your soil wont drop in ph to critical levels Take care as well. Im still gonna be active on other forums, but not this one as it strictly deals with auto's and not a single one has grown well for me . This one makes no sense, the only one of the three that looked good from the start, decided to develop spots on 2 leaves in the last 3 hours, no idea why, but from what I read, there may not be a reason, auto's do what they want lol. 2 same seeds growing side by side, one is half the size of the other, I didn't even want to look at it anymore..in the garbage they go, ordered 4 regulars and a 600 hps, both regulars I grew outproduced all the auto's combined and it only took 3-4 weeks more, for me it's a no brainer to stick to regulars.sorry you feel that way,i really enjoyed watching your grows.
take care.
