Quick Cal/Mag Question

[Pistil_Pete]

I know I have a slight cal/mag deficiency, I have only fed cal/mag once this run and it was at half strength at week 3. My question is, can autos handle full strength doses of cal/mag? I'm in week 6 almost 7. I know autos are picky with grow and bloom nutes was wondering if it was the same with supplements as well, thanks!

 

[MIAutomatic]

There are many variables that would affect the recommend use of calmag.

But the short answer is yes, autoflower plants use calmag just like photos.

Peat, coco or blended soil mix?
Tap or RO?
Is your medium pre-buffered with calmag?
Does the fertilizer you are using contain some calmag?

There are other variables to consider, but these are the main factors

I think you need to do your homework on this subject. Understanding how calmag works in your medium and what it does for you plants will help you to answer the why, which is far more important than a simple yes or no answer.

Cannabis Grow Guide - Coco For Cannabis - Science and Practice

Cannabis grow guide: articles, tutorials, DIY projects & more! Dedicated to the science and practice of growing cannabis in coco perlite and other media.

www.cocoforcannabis.com

Coco for cannabis has all the information you could ever need on how calmag works.

Happy reading!

 

[Pistil_Pete]

I definitely know it's cal/mag, I just was worried about giving a full dose as it being only my second run with autos, thanks for the quick feedback.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I definitely know it's cal/mag, I just was worried about giving a full dose as it being only my second run with autos, thanks for the quick feedback.

If you feed Cal-mag or any single nutrient at any time it will be out of balance in the root zone and cause lock-outs

Read this about salt fertilizers:

Tutorial - A word on Nutrients

The proper use of “salt” based fertilizer to grow Auto Flowering Cannabis. Salts: Natural and man made any chemical compound formed from the reaction of an acid with a base, with all or part of the hydrogen of the acid replaced by a metal or other cation. Learning how to use salt based...

www.autoflower.org

 

[Bruce Campbell]

Don't follow the recommended vendor dosages for cal-mag - that's not how cal-mag is supposed to be used.

K, Ca, and Mg are all cations and compete for uptake in the root zone. The plant doesn't actually 'consume' much of any of those three and, for the most part, can use them interchangeably as electron receptors once absorbed. However, if either is significantly out of balance, it can effectively block out the others from being absorbed. Cal-mag is used to adjust the ratios for an individual growers conditions to bring the K:Ca:Mg ratios into balance.

A standard practice is to provide K:Ca:Mg in a 4:2:1 elemental mass ratio. You should be looking at the amounts of each element in your feed, adding in any from your starting water (if not RO), and then figuring out how much cal-mag you need for your own grow conditions.

This post explains the math behind calculating elemental concentrations:

Nutrients - How-to Calculate Elemental PPMs

Introduction This guide will walk you through how-to calculate elemental PPMs in a nutrient mix. Elemental PPMs are the weight ratio of each element in a nutrient solution to the overall weight of that solution, expressed as parts per million. This is not the same as TDS (Total Dissolved...

www.autoflower.org

I typically calculate out how much is provided by the feed itself, add in how much my tap / RO is providing, and then figure out how much supplemental cal-mag is needed to bring the ratios into balance. I then add that each feed so I'm using balanced feed each time.

 

[c@b420]

Don't follow the recommended vendor dosages for cal-mag - that's not how cal-mag is supposed to be used.

K, Ca, and Mg are all cations and compete for uptake in the root zone. The plant doesn't actually 'consume' much of any of those three and, for the most part, can use them interchangeably as electron receptors once absorbed. However, if either is significantly out of balance, it can effectively block out the others from being absorbed. Cal-mag is used to adjust the ratios for an individual growers conditions to bring the K:Ca:Mg ratios into balance.

A standard practice is to provide K:Ca:Mg in a 4:2:1 elemental mass ratio. You should be looking at the amounts of each element in your feed, adding in any from your starting water (if not RO), and then figuring out how much cal-mag you need for your own grow conditions.

This post explains the math behind calculating elemental concentrations:

Nutrients - How-to Calculate Elemental PPMs

Introduction This guide will walk you through how-to calculate elemental PPMs in a nutrient mix. Elemental PPMs are the weight ratio of each element in a nutrient solution to the overall weight of that solution, expressed as parts per million. This is not the same as TDS (Total Dissolved...

www.autoflower.org

I typically calculate out how much is provided by the feed itself, add in how much my tap / RO is providing, and then figure out how much supplemental cal-mag is needed to bring the ratios into balance. I then add that each feed so I'm using balanced feed each time.

I loved you in the evil dead. I wish the TV series would come back

 

[Bruce Campbell]

I loved you in the evil dead. I wish the TV series would come back

I keep trying to pitch a Firefly reboot where I play Cpt. Reynolds, but no takers so far...