Hey There!
Bet you've looked through a lot of these posts and are more confused than ever, right?
Yeah, I was there at one time so I can relate. I've dropped by to share a professional formula that's drop dead simple to use.
To start with you'll need to use a plain dirt. No manure or other added stuff to it, just plain fluffy dirt.
The bag I'm using right now says "Composted forest products, ground fir bark, peatmoss, perlite and sand."
A big bag, the size of a large bag of dogfood, should weigh a bit less than the large bag of dogfood. If it's heavier, it has too much sand in it.
Get a bag of vermiculite (NOT Miracle Grow Brand)
Get a bag of perlite (NOT Miracle Grow Brand)
Mix about 50% soil, 25% perlite and 25% vermiculite.
I LOVE Miracle grow for all my other types of plants, not cannabis though.
Water is of utmost importance. If you don't have excellent tap water, use Reverse Osmosis water(RO).
For nutrition, nothing could be simpler than General Hydroponics FloraNova nutrients.
They work equally well in both soil, soilless and nearly any hydro application.
They're relatively inexpensive and can be found in just about any online gardening store. (No need to go to a hydroponics store)
Vegging is as simple as 5-7ml per gallon of FloraNova Grow formula(FNG).
Bloom is as simple as exactly 8ml per gallon of FloraNova Bloom formula(FNB).
When using with the soil you've created, superb results can be obtained by diluting the mixed nutrient solution you're using to 1/3rd strength (For 1:
1 FNB it would be
4ml/gal of RO) and using with every watering.
Unless you keep the leftover nute solution bubbling in a bucket or other container, be sure to only mix what you're going to use right away. Plants really don't dig this stuff if it's stagnant or flat from sitting around too long.
No other additives are needed. The results are super lush, beautiful plants.
You'll experience significantly fewer hassles chasing pH and your plants will love you for it.
NOTE: These nutrients are
THICK!
Fortunately, you CAN hand shake IF you dilute the solution first…..
Best results for hand shaking are obtained by dilution of at least 1:1 for the Grow formula and 1:
1 for the Bloom formula.
For a personal grow you're only going to need a small 16oz. bottle of Floranova Grow.
Find a 1 quart container that's easy to grip hard and that seals well.
Be as exact on the measurements as possible when you do this. Failing to be exact will throw your measurements off when you mix your nute solution. This will affect your grow depending on how much you messed up.
When you open the bottle, look at the level of liquid so that you can fill it back up to the exact same level with water.
Pour the 16oz. bottle of Grow into the quart container and then fill it back up with distilled or RO, shake and pour it into the quart container as well.
If there's anything left in the original bottle, pour some liquid back in, shake it and pour it back into the quart container. Don't leave anything in the original bottle.
Make sure the bottle is at room temp, around 75F, and start shaking. I usually shake for a while, put it down for a while and then shake for a while.
Once it's shaken up, it takes a long time for it to go back out of suspension again so you won't have to do this EVERY time you go to mix your nutrient solution.
After quite a while, and a lot of shaking, you'll notice that even the crystals have stopped making noise and that the solution is completely mixed.
Congratulations!
Mark the bottle '
FNG 1:1 10-14ml/gal' and measure out between 10 and 14ml per gallon of RO water, when you mix your solution. (Start low and work your way up until your plants say it's too strong, then back off a little.)
For the Bloom formula you're going to want to pick up a quart container for your first go 'round. A quart will last you a few grows and I recommend it because sometimes a 16oz runs out at a critical time, when you're first starting.
Find a 1 gallon container that has a handle or is very easy to grip hard.
Pour the entire contents of the FloraNova 1qt bloom container into the 1gal. container.
Fill the 1qt FNB container
once with RO or Distilled water, shake and pour into the 1gal. container.
Do not leave any residue in the original FNB container.
Shake by hand for approximately
60 minutes
, until you can no longer hear any crystals bumping around inside. (75F temps help, let the jug sit for a while and warm up, shaking occasionally, if needed)
Mark '
FNB 1:1 16ml/gallon' on the container (or something similar). Perfect Lucas Formula
Only use Reverse Osmosis(RO) or Distilled water for this process.
This process only needs to be done once. After that you can just shake them the same way you would shake any other nutrient solution, before using.
Make sure to only use really good tap water or RO water with these nutrients for best results.
You will NOT need CalMag+ with this formula, when using RO water, if you follow the process exactly.
The only thing you will most likely need is pH down during veg. Bloom at 8ml/gal of FNB should need very little adjustment of pH, if at all.
Two ways you can maintain a hydro res during bloom.
#1 is the simple version.
Mix up a batch of nutes, we'll say a 10 gallon res.
Keep the res topped off daily with RO water.
Once you've added 10 gallons of RO water, Dump the res and mix a fresh batch.
This process does use a wee bit of extra nutes. I consider it a small price to pay for avoiding hassles.
Once you've grown a few crops and are feeling a bit more adventurous you can work into the more sophisticated way of maintianing your res.
#2 Maintaining the proper PPM of your res throughout bloom
Mix up your batch of nutes at 8ml/gal of RO water
Take your EC, PPM, pH measurements
Keep res topped off with RO water
Measure PPM once a week and add nutes to raise PPM back to initial levels.
You're done.
This may not cover everything but it's definitely more than enough to 'fake' your way through professional looking grows.
I don't really consider it faking because the nutrition has been worked up by some true professionals, I'm just trying to help people apply them properly for best results.
ENJOY! 