Dialing In MEGA CROP for Auto's

[MidnightSun]

Don't like buffering your water manually?
Some will decide a dosing pump is worth the cost automating PH up and down.
Home users with RO water often find https://house-garden.us PH Stabilizer is enough.

Edit: Whos still soil farming indoors? Unless you can sustainable recharge your soil with crop / field rotations, hydro makes more sense. Soil Farmers using ferts are doing it wrong. If i was in the lower 48 id probably KNF myself to death like my beatnik parents... while all the other farmers sprayed and produced more. For the record I'm up to 1.2 EC with Mega Crop wicking. That's ZERO water waste in Coco. I run .9 EC Jacks all the way start to finish to compare. Still testing and dialing in MC though. Anyone notice plants flowering faster with MC? Even very large strains are flowering VERY VERY fast and staying smaller. As a test I have some side by sides running.....unfortunately with AUTOS because they cant be cloned its hard to blame one thing or the other. Dosing pumps.....Milwaukee makes a reliable one.

 

[F.N.]

Don't like buffering your water manually?
Some will decide a dosing pump is worth the cost automating PH up and down.
Home users with RO water often find https://house-garden.us PH Stabilizer is enough.

Edit: Whos still soil farming indoors? Unless you can sustainable recharge your soil with crop / field rotations, hydro makes more sense. Soil Farmers using ferts are doing it wrong. If i was in the lower 48 id probably KNF myself to death like my beatnik parents... while all the other farmers sprayed and produced more. For the record I'm up to 1.2 EC with Mega Crop wicking. That's ZERO water waste in Coco. I run .9 EC Jacks all the way start to finish to compare. Still testing and dialing in MC though. Anyone notice plants flowering faster with MC? Even very large strains are flowering VERY VERY fast and staying smaller. As a test I have some side by sides running.....unfortunately with AUTOS because they cant be cloned its hard to blame one thing or the other. Dosing pumps.....Milwaukee makes a reliable one.

Great job my man I use soil less mix I get decent results.

 

[pop22]

A gram??? That's a lot of sodium! When I use it, I rarely need more than an 1/8 tsp in 5 gallons.! When I need more than that, I then add Calcium Hydroxide or PH up. You need to be careful with any of these in excess.

1g baking soda /20 gal water worked great to help stabilize my ph. The decline is now much slower and much more manegable. Glad I went out to get some because Amazon screwed my ph up order and sent me a msg saying it was undeliverable the day before I was supposed to get it lol.

Awesome tip with the baking soda!! 88 cent a lb was dirt cheap

 

[pop22]

I've been using baking soda as PH up for 4 years without a problem. The mistake many people make is not letting their solution stabilize before using it. I wait 30 minute then adjust. Then I let the solution sit in the bucket for 24 hours, in the growroom, so that it comes to the room temperature. Then I check the ph again. Rarely do I have to make another adjustment, but even so, I check again before every use. I also find that solution that has a high PH is harder to stabilze than solution that you have to raise the ph of. Considering that at the peak of some grows, I'm using 15-20 gallons a day, I've had a bit of practice at this. One of the reasons I stuck with sodium bicarbonate has been the stability of my PH. I think the proof is really in the pots I ran for 2.5 years with the same, never flushed, soil in them. Never had a ph issue in those 12 auto pots.

I never mean to pop anyones bubble of comfort.
I rather share my misgivings and mistakes in the hope others don't fuck up like I have in the past.
It costs nothing to share good info, and in my mind,....make the average human a better person, and my world a better place.

PH adjustments,
If you adjust your feed with bi-carb will it work (on paper, yes).
Will it work properly as expected (NO),...
Why, its a short term fix.
This will fool the user into believing, once the nute mix is made,.....I went from 6.3 to 5.9.....all is good dump!

Well, guess what happens in an hour or two,...or two days later,...????
You'r quick fix,...didn't stabilize.....so your soil PH is nothing like you'r expecting with the 5.9 feed.

Let me repeat the mistake most make (AS I HAVE WHEN I STARTED!!!!),...
The bi-carb will lower your ph, but only in the short term.
What you really want is stability.
The only way to do so is ( unfortunitly), with something a little more powerful, but stable...
View attachment 1285378
Also,...don't dump your PS up or DOWN directly into your mix.....bad,...bad...
Make a small volume mix of a cup or so with water.....then add to your feed.....

Next time you make a coffee....
Add coffee to the cream in the cup,.....not cream to the hot coffee....
Ah fuck,...look at that!.....
Bet it won't taste the same!!....
(Promise not to tell anyone ok??)...

 

[pop22]

The baking soda works, its the organic PH down ( of any kind ) that doesn't work. You need a stable acid. Vinegar, etc breaks down quickly.

I get what you mean. I used to use b/soda (up) and vinegar (down) with hempy buckets or when hand watering coco, and they worked great. But had to stop using them with Autopots because i would be adding them every day and pH just wouldn't stabilize. in the reservoir.. but it could be my water source though.

 

[pop22]

I prefer soil, organic or not, to any other medium. I believe part of why I can run Mega Crop at low ppms is soil's CEC capacity. It holds the nutrients in place for the plants to access better than any medium other than water itself. And by keeping the ppm levels low, i don't get salts build up. As I mentioned, i have 12 auto pots that I did not change the soil in for 2.5 years. No flushing, just cut out the stump and replant. Now as you say, in a res a dosing pump might be a good thing, but last I checked they are a tad pricey for someone who grows just a few plants. My room is airconditoned and the res for my auto pots ( soon to be back in use ) is in the space near the airconditioner. It remains cooler that way, , around 68F, than ambient in the tents I believe this helps contribute to the stability of the solution.

Don't like buffering your water manually?
Some will decide a dosing pump is worth the cost automating PH up and down.
Home users with RO water often find https://house-garden.us PH Stabilizer is enough.

Edit: Whos still soil farming indoors? Unless you can sustainable recharge your soil with crop / field rotations, hydro makes more sense. Soil Farmers using ferts are doing it wrong. If i was in the lower 48 id probably KNF myself to death like my beatnik parents... while all the other farmers sprayed and produced more. For the record I'm up to 1.2 EC with Mega Crop wicking. That's ZERO water waste in Coco. I run .9 EC Jacks all the way start to finish to compare. Still testing and dialing in MC though. Anyone notice plants flowering faster with MC? Even very large strains are flowering VERY VERY fast and staying smaller. As a test I have some side by sides running.....unfortunately with AUTOS because they cant be cloned its hard to blame one thing or the other. Dosing pumps.....Milwaukee makes a reliable one.

 

[pop22]

An MC fed girl

 

[Anasazi]

A gram??? That's a lot of sodium! When I use it, I rarely need more than an 1/8 tsp in 5 gallons.! When I need more than that, I then add Calcium Hydroxide or PH up. You need to be careful with any of these in excess.

I used a calculator I found which said it was 20 ppm in 20 gals irrc. I do plan on getting ph up though.

 

[4d-Rock]

After many grows with MC, I’m still having issues and have a hard time to get a healthy plant from start to finish. In my current grow things were really doing well for the first 4-5 weeks, here they are at Day 30

I can usually get to this stage no problem but Soon after this is when things tend to turn from me.
Here they are at day 56

But still, growth was good but I think the flower will suffer due to the troubles from transition on. Middle plant has faired the best and may still finish strong.

 

[pop22]

What's your ppm and PH?