The root zone temperatures and how they affect the uptake of nutrients.

[FullMoonparty]

I think that this is a subject that is overlooked often. It's so important too. What can you tell us about it? @Mañ'O'Green @Mossy @Jpkindbud and more. Is that how I "tag you in?" You have been a great help to me, and I thank you so very much!

The few things I learned so far about the root zone temperatures opened my eyes. Yellow leaves and unhealthy plants can be caused simply by having a too hot root zone. No matter what you feed the plant at that point is useless. The plant can't take it up. The water pump is broke. Ammonium nitrate in a hot root zone is bad news. Would potassium nitrite work better in hot soil conditions?
The things I changed seemed to help right away. I store my extra rainwater in a cool place. I'm going to store the soil for my next grow in a warm place so that when it's time to transplant the soil will be conditioned to the room. I transplanted into cold soil once with stunting results. I dropped an air stone in the water reservoir for the autopots. The temperature of the soil matters. Before I spend money on meters and gadgets (not all useless), I want to eliminate anything I can change for free or little money.
Does anyone use KNO3 in their grow?
What's a good water temperature?
How cold is too cold?
Germinating seeds, what temperature should the soil and water be? I think that when I don't pay attention to these little but important things, I get poor results.
White pots when it's hot outside? Black pots in cold climates?
Tell us what you know and point us to some real scientific (no bro) studies.
Please bring more experts into this thread for me if you could.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I think that this is a subject that is overlooked often. It's so important too. What can you tell us about it? @Mañ'O'Green @Mossy @Jpkindbud and more. Is that how I "tag you in?" You have been a great help to me, and I thank you so very much!

The few things I learned so far about the root zone temperatures opened my eyes. Yellow leaves and unhealthy plants can be caused simply by having a too hot root zone. No matter what you feed the plant at that point is useless. The plant can't take it up. The water pump is broke. Ammonium nitrate in a hot root zone is bad news. Would potassium nitrite work better in hot soil conditions?
The things I changed seemed to help right away. I store my extra rainwater in a cool place. I'm going to store the soil for my next grow in a warm place so that when it's time to transplant the soil will be conditioned to the room. I transplanted into cold soil once with stunting results. I dropped an air stone in the water reservoir for the autopots. The temperature of the soil matters. Before I spend money on meters and gadgets (not all useless), I want to eliminate anything I can change for free or little money.
Does anyone use KNO3 in their grow?
What's a good water temperature?
How cold is too cold?
Germinating seeds, what temperature should the soil and water be? I think that when I don't pay attention to these little but important things, I get poor results.
White pots when it's hot outside? Black pots in cold climates?
Tell us what you know and point us to some real scientific (no bro) studies.
Please bring more experts into this thread for me if you could.

Yes root temperature is a factor in growing. In DWC it is very important to keep the reservoir as close to 68°F as possible, going over 78°F is a real problem. I would think that below 64°F would start to slow the growth. In soil It needs to be a few degrees lower than the ambient temperature of the space. This really is not much of a concern indoors because the pots will cool a little from evaporation and the indoor temps are being kept in a range >64° and less than 85°F (or at least should be). If you are using black pots and strong lights you may need to put something reflective or white on to to prevent the pots being warmed by the lights.

No, none of the products I use have KNO3, they have Potassium sulfate K2SO4.

I germinate at 80°F 80% RH Blue light on 24/7 until the first set of true leaves.

Feel free to verify.

 

[FullMoonparty]

I watched hours of deep dives into the root zone but only a few went into detail about the importance of temperature in the root zone. Microbes, yep. I get it. Nutrient lock out I'm still pretty sketchey on. Can a too warm root zone cause lock out? Cold slows down all life in general. "I just want to tie up a few loose ends." as famous detective always said.

 

[FullMoonparty]

Yes root temperature is a factor in growing. In DWC it is very important to keep the reservoir as close to 68°F as possible, going over 78°F is a real problem. I would think that below 64°F would start to slow the growth. In soil It needs to be a few degrees lower than the ambient temperature of the space. This really is not much of a concern indoors because the pots will cool a little from evaporation and the indoor temps are being kept in a range >64° and less than 85°F (or at least should be). If you are using black pots and strong lights you may need to put something reflective or white on to to prevent the pots being warmed by the lights.

No, none of the products I use have KNO3, they have Potassium sulfate K2SO4.

I germinate at 80°F 80% RH Blue light on 24/7 until the first set of true leaves.

Feel free to verify.

That's the water temperature I now shoot for. Although I don't grow DWC I think that it is important to read that information as well. Some or most of the same rules apply. I've noticed a great improvement in my germination by doing just that: 80F and 80% the best I can.
Thanks for the input. Everything is valuable to me.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I watched hours of deep dives into the root zone but only a few went into detail about the importance of temperature in the root zone. Microbes, yep. I get it. Nutrient lock out I'm still pretty sketchey on. Can a too warm root zone cause lock out? Cold slows down all life in general. "I just want to tie up a few loose ends." as famous detective always said.

To warm for lock-outs? maybe but most lock --out ar going to be from out of balance nutrients that cause the osmotic pressure on the roots to take up too much of something and not enough of something else. Read this:

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

 

[FullMoonparty]

To warm for lock-outs? maybe but most lock --out ar going to be from out of balance nutrients that cause the osmotic pressure on the roots to take up too much of something and not enough of something else. Read this:

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

Thanks. It was worth a re-read. I'll have to watch the video tonight.
This forum is awesome. If making people like me a better grower is your goal, you have certainly achieved your goal.

 

[FullMoonparty]

Cal-mag, on the shelf out of reach. Instant death the one and only time I used it incorrectly. Not sticking with the program gets me in trouble every time. This time around I'm letting the soil and amendments do their thing. I used the lightest dose of grow dots in a hanging basket mix soil and let it ride. So far, warm stagnant water was the only problem. That was an easy fix, and the plants are already reacting positively.

My analogy is that following a soil formula/ nutrient program is more like baking than cooking. Cooking is flexible. If it's yummy throw it in there. In baking, you can't just add an ingredient because you like it. If you add one thing you have to adjust all the ingredients. I think of it like making sponge cake. If you start adding things out of balance, you'll get a big sloppy mess.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Thanks. It was worth a re-read. I'll have to watch the video tonight.
This forum is awesome. If making people like me a better grower is your goal, you have certainly achieved your goal.

It is my goal to make better farmers, thank you. There are so many valid ways to grow our beloved plants that it is important to listen to others also. We encourage new ideas and it is ok to challenge any ideas, we all learn from that. We also work very hard to prevent flaming and trolling here. We want everyone to feel at home!

 

[FullMoonparty]

It is my goal to make better farmers, thank you. There are so many valid ways to grow our beloved plants that it is important to listen to others also. We encourage new ideas and it is ok to challenge any ideas, we all learn from that. We also work very hard to prevent flaming and trolling here. We want everyone to feel at home!

That's my goal with the Info I share. I hope to give the most accurate information I can, but buyer beware, I make mistakes.

Here is an observation I made this morning while dismantling the tomato section of my garden. Composted materials that were not finished composting.
In one container I had very poor results from the day I transplanted all the way to harvest. Curled leaves, slow growth and eventually disease and pests. When I dumped the container and inspected the root zone this is what I found. In the center of the 18 gallon tub the soil in the middle was very warm and there were no roots. My suspicion is that some of the organic materials were not finished composting. If the soil is hot to the touch. then it is way above 98.6 F So' that's another thing I need to watch out for.
I'm wondering if some of the bags of soil I bought and just added water were fished composting. Filling up 18 gallon containers for tomatoes was getting expensive so I filled in with some dollar store "organic" soil. Who know what was in it.

 

[FullMoonparty]

Here is a cautionary tale about Cal Mag advice or advice in general. On another forum I asked why my plant was fading such a weird bronze color. It didn't look sick but something was definitely not right. "you need Cal Mag". In the time it took for the Cal-Mag to arrive, be applied and take effect, the SPIDER MITES laid 300,000 more eggs.
Some suggested that it may be powdery mildew. I lowered the humidity which created the environment spider mites prefer. Hot and dry. When I put a leaf under the scope to inpect for mildew, to my horror, a spider mite cralwled across the slide.
The takeaway is: Always check for pests and disease first Next, proper watering and root zone temps, then worry about ph and nutrients. Every piece of the puzzle matters. Some can't be fixed if others are out of wack. If you were drowning like an overwatered plant the last thing you need or want is someone to throw you a protein shake.