Dialing In MEGA CROP for Auto's

[chuckeye]

Okay, I have a question..

If my well water has a ppm of 500, do I still follow the recommended (weight/gallon) feeding schedule ?

Cheers.

 

[pop22]

NO! Personally, I wouldn't even drink it unfiltered. Even in an organic grow, that might not be good for your plants. Have you had the water anylized? Personally, I'd invest in an RO filter with water that hard.

Okay, I have a question..

If my well water has a ppm of 500, do I still follow the recommended (weight/gallon) feeding schedule ?

Cheers.

 

[4d-Rock]

Salts build up is not much of a problem with MC IF you keep the ppms low. I've used it in auto pots that I never changed the soil in for 2.5 years. Never flushed them and never gave them water. Not once did I have an issue with excess nutrients. I keep my ppms below 550ppm. I don't bother with checking runoff and I rarely water to run off.

This is my results

I've always been super envious of your results for what seems to be a very simple and straight forward approach. I've been tweaking grow by grow and still run into issues around early flowering. It's getting better since switching from fabric pots to plastic airpots (i think buildup in the fabric was causing problems), working on keeping my environment in the best spot, and watching in pot pH. But I can't keep a nice deep green in my leaves into flowering or some other
Do you occasionally see spotting, or minor deficiencies ever? And if you do, do you just stick with the plan and ignore them unless its a major thing? Or do you tweak as needed?

Here’s my current tent at Day 42 - just recently did a high volume feed at 4g/gal because I think I may have had some imbalance.

 

[PlatinumGrows]

I've always been super envious of your results for what seems to be a very simple and straight forward approach. I've been tweaking grow by grow and still run into issues around early flowering. It's getting better since switching from fabric pots to plastic airpots (i think buildup in the fabric was causing problems), working on keeping my environment in the best spot, and watching in pot pH. But I can't keep a nice deep green in my leaves into flowering or some other
Do you occasionally see spotting, or minor deficiencies ever? And if you do, do you just stick with the plan and ignore them unless its a major thing? Or do you tweak as needed?

Here’s my current tent at Day 42 - just recently did a high volume feed at 4g/gal because I think I may have had some imbalance.
View attachment 1312838
View attachment 1312839

SLF 100 enzymes are really keeping my fabric pot clean from salt buildup I stopped using it and had to start again three days later, my pot was literally a salt shaker but it went away with some small daily flushes and SLF 100

 

[4d-Rock]

Cool, good to know @PlatinumGrows , thanks. I'll keep it in mind if i'm going back to fabric. So far the Airpots have been really good, the only downside is it lowers the watering requirements by a day. I could water every 3 days with a fabric but with Airpots its every other day, and in later flowering, sometimes every day.

 

[pop22]

4 different strains can have 4 different respones to what you feed them. I have one in that tent, a mazar, that's had issues since about week three. All I do now is make sure my solution's ph is consistently the same and just keep feeding them. Calcium def spots, I've had them a couple times and I write it off the ph shift in the pots. When I see them, i give a feeding or two at 6.7, then the next at 6.5, then back to 6.4 again. Won't say its a fix, but it does seem to work for me. If there's yellowing at the top, I just up the ppms, 550-575 max for one or two feeds then drop to 525.

So try this: Up your ppms and up your PH to 6.7 then taper both back down to normal. You may also need to keep the ppms up longer. A few strains I've grown are just plain hunger lol!

I've always been super envious of your results for what seems to be a very simple and straight forward approach. I've been tweaking grow by grow and still run into issues around early flowering. It's getting better since switching from fabric pots to plastic airpots (i think buildup in the fabric was causing problems), working on keeping my environment in the best spot, and watching in pot pH. But I can't keep a nice deep green in my leaves into flowering or some other
Do you occasionally see spotting, or minor deficiencies ever? And if you do, do you just stick with the plan and ignore them unless its a major thing? Or do you tweak as needed?

Here’s my current tent at Day 42 - just recently did a high volume feed at 4g/gal because I think I may have had some imbalance.
View attachment 1312838
View attachment 1312839

 

[4d-Rock]

Thanks @pop22
I found that my Pro-mix HP in pot pH was tanking to 5.4-5.7 by early flowering when I was pHing my feed to 5.8-6. These last ones I'm doing a test where I added about 1/4 cup Dolomitic lime to each pot and have been keeping my feed at around 6.3ish. In pot ph has been in the 6.3-6.6 range so it's helped, but I may have over-corrected. My next batch that just popped I reduced the dolomitic lime and we'll see how that goes.

I also may need to up my ppms as you mentioned, I fed at 4 g/gal which is supposed to be (according to their calculator) 555ppms but I was measuring about 550 (with 70ppm base). I also keep looking at my kelp, sweet candy, and bud explosion and think I should be using them, but as you've mentioned before, MC doesn't necessarily need it.

 

[pop22]

Also consider that when there seems to be a problem, that's a bad time to add something new. I forgot you were in promix . Are you using the lime to mitigate the low PH of peat? I don't know of that technique. Might be ok if you can get the right amount but then with feeding MC your getting a massive amount of MG and calcium. Your ussues may be from too much Mg, which can cause Ca lockout.

Thanks @pop22
I found that my Pro-mix HP in pot pH was tanking to 5.4-5.7 by early flowering when I was pHing my feed to 5.8-6. These last ones I'm doing a test where I added about 1/4 cup Dolomitic lime to each pot and have been keeping my feed at around 6.3ish. In pot ph has been in the 6.3-6.6 range so it's helped, but I may have over-corrected. My next batch that just popped I reduced the dolomitic lime and we'll see how that goes.

I also may need to up my ppms as you mentioned, I fed at 4 g/gal which is supposed to be (according to their calculator) 555ppms but I was measuring about 550 (with 70ppm base). I also keep looking at my kelp, sweet candy, and bud explosion and think I should be using them, but as you've mentioned before, MC doesn't necessarily need it.

 

[4d-Rock]

Ya exactly, the dolomitic lime is to counteract the acidity of the peat. But you’re right, over corrections could lead to too much Mg and Cal.
Im not saying its The best course of action but something I was trying because previous grows I just couldn’t keep the Ph of the peat up in an acceptable range, even when consistently watering at 6.5ish. My thought was that Pro-mix just didn’t have enough in to buffer the grow over the entire grow if the ph was dropping by early flowering.

 

[chuckeye]

NO! Personally, I wouldn't even drink it unfiltered. Even in an organic grow, that might not be good for your plants. Have you had the water anylized? Personally, I'd invest in an RO filter with water that hard.

It has much more flavor than city water

I haven't had it analyzed for quite some time and can't remember the results.

But, it seems to work fine with AN nutrients. Just tired of all the mixing, sigh...

Second last grow, Early Miss Auto, 13.2 oz.

Burnt from chasing max nutrients amounts and blowing right past that point !

Grow just completed, image is about a week before harvest. White Widow (on the left) and Black Indica (on the right) photoperiods .

8.3/9.1 oz's.

Cheers.

PS > Went ahead and ordered the Mega Crop, will do a side by side grow with AN and Mega Crop on two Shiskaberry clones.