Indoor Reaching out from ireland

[BigBuddha]

Sorry mate, but I strongly disagree with this. IMO autos do best when given a lower dose of nutrients with every feeding. Given that they normally go about 4 days between feedings only feeding every 3rd time would mean almost 2 weeks between feedings. That's just not enough, especially in veg where you need to get them as big as possible as fast as you can.

Sure for vegging girls I totally agree. In fact even for large flowering girls. However, with these specific ones here being so little and showing early nute stress on their tips, wouldn't a minimal feeding regime be better for now?

 

[Muddy]

Learn to feed by the weight of your pots. Get a feel for them when they are almost dried out and only feed/water when they feel like that. MJ like to dry out between waterings, so depending on your soil and lights, that might only be every 3-5 days. When you do feed them, give them enough water so that about 10% of it runs out the bottom of the pots. As nutrients are broken down and use by the plant they create salts as a bi product. That extra 10% run off will help to flush out those salts and prevent them from building up in your soil and potentially cause problems.

 

[BigBuddha]

So let's say I was feeding every watering, but lightly, and observing to get rid of the previous salts in the soil with some runoff.. what sort of ec would I be aiming for as I'm assuming I wouldn't want to go in at 1.6 every time on the larger girls? Or would I? Is the issue about water-water-feed purely about salt buildup in the soil? I've been pondering this a lot lately as I have 2 experiments in airpots that are responding better to W than WWF.

It doesn't matter if I kill them so do you reckon I should try giving them feed every time? Currently they're taking an EC of 1.55 no probs but if I did that every time with a good runoff would I need to lower it?


Cheers guv.

 

[insert name here]

Welcome to the AFN, you got a good voice to listen to with Muddy! Check out some of the threads on tiered potting as well, that way maybe you can avoid stunting in the future.

 

[Muddy]

Sorry, I do ppm readings, not EC, so can't relate to those numbers. I opt for consistency so like to give the lighter feedings all the time. When I tried every other time I saw more growth spurts and especially in veg, it tended to throw off the node spacing somewhat. I've not seen where it made a difference regarding salt buildup. As long as there is about 10% run off, irregardless if it's water or nutes, buildup shouldn't be an issue. I always check my pots for buildup when I empty them after a grow. I find very little on my roots or on the insides of my pots.

If I see any signs of over feeding, I may skip one feeding and only give plain pHed water that time. But the next time I will be back on the nutes, but at a lower level. I do have a tendency to push the nutes, especially if it's a strain I haven't grown before, to see how much they can take. In general I find that with all the nutes I've tried, Fox Farms, GO and AN, feeding 1/2 the recommended strength with every watering seems to give the best, most consistent results.

You can also think of it in terms of doing a soil grow that has been amended with worm castings, guano, or manure. The plants are being constantly fed as the plants utilize the nutrients being provided by the amendments. While an occasional boost may be feed, the majority of the nutrients are being taken from the soil on a regular, consistent basis.

So let's say I was feeding every watering, but lightly, and observing to get rid of the previous salts in the soil with some runoff.. what sort of ec would I be aiming for as I'm assuming I wouldn't want to go in at 1.6 every time on the larger girls? Or would I? Is the issue about water-water-feed purely about salt buildup in the soil? I've been pondering this a lot lately as I have 2 experiments in airpots that are responding better to W than WWF.

It doesn't matter if I kill them so do you reckon I should try giving them feed every time? Currently they're taking an EC of 1.55 no probs but if I did that every time with a good runoff would I need to lower it?


Cheers guv.

 

[BigBuddha]

You can also think of it in terms of doing a soil grow that has been amended with worm castings, guano, or manure. The plants are being constantly fed as the plants utilize the nutrients being provided by the amendments. While an occasional boost may be feed, the majority of the nutrients are being taken from the soil on a regular, consistent basis.

Having considered it I think I'm sold on that argument alone as the logic flies pretty well there.

I'm going to try this out with my 2 guinea pigs for a while and see how they go.

Thanks for the advice fella.