Dialing In MEGA CROP for Auto's

[elcoloan]

...
When making and adjustment to nutes, generally how long should we wait to see a change before making another adjustment?

great question

 

[GeorgeCloney]

great question

That is in fact a very good question.
I think the proper answer is to look at your plants daily, or at least 2 or 3 times a day if you can.
Don't go OCB over this ...
Plants will go in one of two directions with a new flush and feed.
Better, or terrible (real fast!).

I have had to flush to get either ec or ph back in line.
Especially when re-using old soil (which is hot,....full of nutes from the previous grow).

The issue with the flush is,...the soil is now wet like hell. So you have to wait until it dries before your next feed.
This will cause the plant to become dormant (stop growing).
With a photo , not a big deal,...with an auto,...the clock's a tick'n...so not so good.

 

[pop22]

I think you said the magic word on recycled soil. Flushing it depends on how hot you ran it. I ran MC in 4 autopots filled with soil. For 2 1/2 years, I cut out the stump and planted in the hole, once immediately after chopping the plant, root not even dead yet lol! And never had a nutrient related issue. I was running slightly milder solution 475-525 then but not that much less than I do now, and still all my soil is recycled, including the soil from those auto pots.Every now and then I add some fresh soil mostly in winter when i can't access one of my storage bins lol. And this is why I love and run soil!

The soil in these pots is about 4 years old

That is in fact a very good question.
I think the proper answer is to look at your plants daily, or at least 2 or 3 times a day if you can.
Don't go OCB over this ...
Plants will go in one of two directions with a new flush and feed.
Better, or terrible (real fast!).

I have had to flush to get either ec or ph back in line.
Especially when re-using old soil (which is hot,....full of nutes from the previous grow).

The issue with the flush is,...the soil is now wet like hell. So you have to wait until it dries before your next feed.
This will cause the plant to become dormant (stop growing).
With a photo , not a big deal,...with an auto,...the clock's a tick'n...so not so good.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Remember, RO does not remove everything form your water.

@pop22 what are you talking about here? If your RO system is not removing 99% of everything in your water it is not working. All elements are removed. Yes there are some organic contaminantes not removed as well as gases but if you have those your water source is not fit for human consumtion.

Yeah I hear ya, PH stability is a bitch.
A year ago I had well water which was pretty darn stable year round.
Now (after a move to subb-erbia),..the city water is 0ppm on ec,....and 7.0 on ph.
So where is the chlorine I wonder????

Not taking chances, I add 1/10 of a tea spoon of ascorbic acid to my mix prior to feed.
For those not in the know,....ascorbic acid (yes...a vitamin c tablet!!!,....will neutralize the chlorine in the water).
From there, I adjust my final ph.
I've used vinegar or lemon juice & baking soda to adjust ph.
Although very bio, it doesn't last when you measure soil ph after a day or two.
So we have to resort to other means.
View attachment 1254572

@GeorgeCloney Ascorbic acid is not needed for the small amount of chlorine found in municipal water. It will neutralize chloramines found in some municipal water where ammonia is added as well as chlorine to make a more persistent sanitation agent. Just exposure to air will handle the chlorine.

0 PPM water from a city! I don't believe it, I have seen 25 PPM here but never 0. Can you post a copy of the water quality report?

 

[GeorgeCloney]

If you look at the dates on my plant tags.
They say OCT 28th.
These plants have been fed MC from day one (since Oct 28th).

The issue, hot soil.
A soil PH & EC run off test would be in order.
These plants are abnomaly small for 3 weeks!

So the take away in this is,
The feed has always been 500-550ppm MC @ 6.0ph.

Which leaves us wondering WTF?? right...

Recycled soil still too hot for seedlings!!....

 

[pop22]

I replace my filters and membranes regularly. Yet something has to account for the PH of the water. And every year for the 7 years I've lived here, the PH of my water changes seasonally. Why does that carry over to my RO? I'm genuinely curios.

@pop22 what are you talking about here? If your RO system is not removing 99% of everything in your water it is not working. All elements are removed. Yes there are some organic contaminantes not removed as well as gases but if you have those your water source is not fit for human consumtion.


@GeorgeCloney Ascorbic acid is not needed for the small amount of chlorine found in municipal water. It will neutralize chloramines found in some municipal water where ammonia is added as well as chlorine to make a more persistent sanitation agent. Just exposure to air will handle the chlorine.

0 PPM water from a city! I don't believe it, I have seen 25 PPM here but never 0. Can you post a copy of the water quality report?

 

[GeorgeCloney]

@pop22 what are you talking about here? If your RO system is not removing 99% of everything in your water it is not working. All elements are removed. Yes there are some organic contaminantes not removed as well as gases but if you have those your water source is not fit for human consumtion.


@GeorgeCloney Ascorbic acid is not needed for the small amount of chlorine found in municipal water. It will neutralize chloramines found in some municipal water where ammonia is added as well as chlorine to make a more persistent sanitation agent. Just exposure to air will handle the chlorine.

0 PPM water from a city! I don't believe it, I have seen 25 PPM here but never 0. Can you post a copy of the water quality report?

Yup ,better than that,...
I'm gonna video the test as you're asking.
And show everyone what's going on in most cities today.
I'm going to use my Bluelab EC meter.

So the cities are doing something funky with the water to have 0 chlorine, yet abide by the law for health standards.
(Not arguing, just saying).
There is more to this picture than we're being told. (unless budget cuts are lowering Chlorine levels).
Nah,....they'd never do that.....for a cost savings........right????????????

Stay tuned!

 

[pop22]

I believe that chlorine and chloramine don't show in a EC or ppm test

Yup ,better than that,...
I'm gonna video the test as you're asking.
And show everyone what's going on in most cities today.
I'm going to use my Bluelab EC meter.

So the cities are doing something funky with the water to have 0 chlorine, yet abide by the law for health standards.
(Not arguing, just saying).
There is more to this picture than we're being told. (unless budget cuts are lowering Chlorine levels).
Nah,....they'd never do that.....for a cost savings........right????????????

Stay tuned!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I replace my filters and membranes regularly. Yet something has to account for the PH of the water. And every year for the 7 years I've lived here, the PH of my water changes seasonally. Why does that carry over to my RO? I'm genuinely curios.

Reverse osmosis water is nearly pure water with a PH of 7. Reverse osmosis is a filtration method that removes more than 99% of all the contaminants in water. Not all RO systems are equal and some can run a starting PH around 6.5.

The result of a good RO system is nearly pure water, which has neutral pH of 7. But if it’s exposed to air, RO water drops down to an acidic pH range of 5 – 5.5. Why? Pure water is very hungry. it actually grabs CO2 right out of the air! Within about an hour, a glass of pure RO water can drop from a pH of 7 down to a pH of 5.5 or lower and become acidic water. Alkaline water has a pH of greater than 7, so reverse osmosis water is not alkaline water. To alkalize it, you have to add calcium and other minerals to it.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I believe that chlorine and chloramine don't show in a EC or ppm test

That is correct. In order to know the chlorine or chloramine content it needs to be tested for it. All municipal water is tested for it. It will be in the sanitation section of the water quality report.