battling "the Gnats" with Mosquito Dunks on the way. After reading I like to come up with "general" conclusions. Underwatering is better than overwatering . that is all
so far so good with mosquito dunks, I crumbled them on top of the soil and watered a bit and so far there is a slow to the yellowing/gnat marks on the fan leaves. also haven't seen a gnat in days.
Hey everyones! I got basil to sprout, and I consider myself a pro now. lol the trick is to swear at it. So I have been forming an appropriate feeding calendar. I rotate when I feed, so that the 1 t5 HO gets some work done, and I seem to only need to feed like soil. I don't think I quite know when to water, but 1 plant is a lil moist cool an inch down, since transplant 7 days ago! I have 1/2 nute fed the other 3 and also given the flower in soil some nutes also. 1 feeding a day per plant its worked out to, and I have been dunking them. The coco perlite should wick up the water and I have been dunkng to 1/2 way up the pot. The top of the coco isn't wet but it is amoist cool a "finger down" (knuckle) so. is this cool? Also shall I Feed , Feed, water or feed, water, water. and during the plain water-should I use calmag then also(always basically) ?
I use calmag most of the time...I feed everytime/everyday. I would mix in a plian watering but I water so many plants that it's easier to just feed em all rather then keeping track of each one's schedule. If you want to mix in a straight watering on a regular basis, make sure to ph it. If using tapwater don't worry about calmag (when you give plain water) It's important to keep coco/perlite moist all the time, you can't let it dry out like you would with soil. Drying out will seriously damage the roots. A little dryness on the top is ok since you're watering from the bottom. Try to water by weight...or just water them everyday...watering coco when it's moist won't hurt the plant at all. It's ok to skip a day if they're still pretty wet ( ie, small plants or plants in the corner that aren't drying as fast) as I said...I water a ton of plants so I just water them all everyday...it's a little more nutes and more work but it sure beats keeping track of each individual plants' schedule. With less plants you can keep a schedule and skip days and do plain water feedings
Pictures!! snapped a few for an update. the 4 seedlings are 17 days old - kaya 1 kaya 2 (fems) and orange pot one that is a freebie, but deformed, and lastly another freebie. there are 3 bag seeds I threw in as well that really took off. Heres the bunch! <is the derpy one soil looks all wet from the bacillus t. mosquito stuff. I am wondering if top watering is what I wanna do but I am afraid of fungus gnats! xD these are the little leaves that grew after the fungus gnat damage. I think its a lil nute damage so ill give a higher ppm next watering, I think. So the 4 up top, I have given 217ppm (about 1/2 str) and and 1 was 280ppm. is that about right?
yeh I top water...you might want to continue to water with submersion until you're sure gnats are gone. That's a great way to battle them. I was just talkin with dazed about how much ppms seedling can handle ... I'm jsut gonna copy/paste it here. ----------------------- are you using lucas formula? 8/16? or the bottle formula? I think the ph perfect stuff has the same ratios for nutes as GH micro/bloom. ..I use 6/9 in coco so it's different..but when my seeds pop I give them 100% mix which is 6ml micro, 9ml bloom, 2ml calmag, 6ml ph down....so like 17ml total of nutes from day 1. We're not running the same medium....so things will eb different in the calmag area..but that's just an idea of the amount of nutes seedlings can take. I'm not sure if hempy requires stronger or weaker nutes... If I remember right the formula I use is like 700ppm or something..actually I'll check quick ..it reads 630...that's with about 150 ppm from tapwater. ------------ just an example of the amount of ppms/nutes my seedlings can handle in straight coco. I'm pretty high today, I hope my posts are makin sense lol.
what does 8/16 and 6/9 mean? im assuming ratios of nutes. I am using aqua flakes a and B from house and garden 2 bottles of nutrients. it calls for the Same portion of a and B all the way through, no matter how much, just equal parts (dosage goes up of course as time goes) I found that a little weird, but H and G is a big brand. its a 2 part grow nutrient system instead of 3. so I am following the chart- minus a little because im sure they want me to use as much as possible. http://www.house-garden.us/nutrient-calculator is this what 8/16? or 6/9 is referring to? also, I thought around 1000ppms was close to max at flower stage, if 700ppm is seedlings then Wow I am under doing it. I don't think that's quite accurate tho. maybe I misunderstand.
dude honestly I was amazed that I didn't burn the shit of of my seedlings when I used it on em the first time. I used to actually make 1/8 strength, 1/4 , 1/2 , 3/4 and 100% strength mix for all stages of growth. Then I was reading through Ironhead's grow journal (who is a wayy better grower then me, we use basically the same nutes.) and he said he feeds 100% so I was like ok I'll try it...and I'm glad I did. 8/16 is the lucas formula..very popular in hydro. It's general hydroponics floramicro and florabloom. 8/16ml of each per gallon. When plants are in hydro they need a lighter mix of nutes since the roots sit in it alll the time. With hand watered hydro (coco/hempy) they can handle a little bit more nutes cuz they're not soaking in it. 6/9 is a nicknamed of the h3ad formula...which is simply lucas formula modified for use in coco..it's different in order to help alleviate some of the calmag and K issues you see in coco. (coco likes to suck up extra calcium and potassium..so we give it extra so there's plenty left for the plants) ..it's 6ml micro, 9 ml bloom...with a calmag supplement. Usually calmag< or epsomsalt. Just figure out a mix of your aqua flakes that is similar to the 6/9 mix and you're golden. If you want to do some homework you can check out this article and nute calculator...there's really important info in there towards understanding nutes. With the calculator you can put in the ratios and info for your nutes and see what nute profile you're getting...then compare it to whatever 6/9+2 formula is...tinker with your nutes and figure out the same basic formula. ...actually after you figure out the calculator you can figure out the right formula for any brand nutes. Realize the nute profile of canna is much like the recommend daily allowance for humans...too much of one thing or not enough of the other will effect health..little bits at first, compounding problems over time. Luckily that 'Lucas' guy figured out the nute profile for us...we just have to do some math and mixing. *your plants are doing awesome right? ....I'm not saying you should change anything...I just ramble alot.
o no man, your awesome! reading* and watching The strain check it out 11 episodes zombieIsh type of series
Hey Ineed helps! I have been reading that article, and rereading, and well, I am going to basically give you the Aqua flakes A and B nute stats because I am losing all understanding by the sentence.. If you can help. Aqua flakes A - NPK .3 - 0 -.3 Aqua flakes B - NPK .1 - .3 -.6 mg .8% I have 1litre of each. The dosage always says to use the same amount of A and B Every feeding. so according to this lucas formula, I may be able to differ the amount of A to B to add more control which is beneficial for several reasons. I will be using tap water that has sat out for days- 150ppm or less-ill measure again after they sit out right before use. so I have to somehow figure out how much more of A or B. im lost again.. 1mL of A per gallon(ill be mixing in 1 gallon jug, i fail at math) that 1mL is .3n and .3k. so i mix........... i think what is confusing me so much is that I am trying to use a 2 part for a 3 part formula. i dont know what to ask here, but maybe ill understand more if someone could just figure out how many mL of a and b i should do.
so i got 4ppm...that's not right. I understand what this is referring to, and originally thought that the nutrient worked this way. add x of Anute and x of Bnute. and thought it would change as the stages and plant needs change. (3a and 2b) or something. The aqua flakes is different tho. same, but increased amounts of the same, all the way through. so i am racking my brain trying to figure how much of each using the equation like A has .3-0-.3 and B is .1-.3-.6 so if i know how much of each, i can basically just use 1 bottle...... if you get what i mean. so why have 2 bottles of the same nutrients, but in different concentrations. i see now that B has npk and .8% magnesium . regardless, i have this dilemma of not understanding How to get to "this much n, this much p, this much k if i have 2 bottles of those with different concentration of each.(it would be easier to have a bottle of n, of p, and 1 of k.) so i get that we need to add a certain amount of npk for each stages, but i don't understand how to get to the measurements. I do want to do it this way, seems more accurate.
one of the reasons they put nutes in different bottles is cuz they will react weird with each other if you mix them straight. the General hydroponic nutes are also a 3 part...but for lucas and h3ad formula, you're only using 2 parts....everything is contained in those 2 parts. here's the nutrient profile for 6/9 +2cm N 124 P 60 K 111 Mg 41 S 27 Ca 124 Fe 2 see if you can mess with the calculator and come up with a similar formula. If you look through the h3ad goes coco thread at ICmag you might be able to find someone that's already done the math for you. Maybe doing an advanced search of 'flakes' or 'aqua' in that thread or something. keep in mind this has extra calcium and K to help with the coco. my micro is 5-0-1 and my bloom is 0-5-4 ..and the cal mag is 2-0-0 ** I can mess with it later if you can't figure out good ratios. I'd need pics of the exact nutes on the label though... and the total ml and kg of the bottle. (you have to make sure to put in the weight and total ml of the bottle)
I know what im asking now What is the 6mL/9mL h3ad formula equivalent foooorr Aqua Flakes A and B 1 liter. I'm stuck, I cannot convert the ratios and am having trouble. any thoughts? o geniuses.
hehe that's what I'm saying you need to tinker with the calculator to figure that out. put up pics of the labels and weights and I'll help you figure it out.
I don't understand how to convert to that formula and figured I'll just go as directed. That's how much I hate math :/ So here is an issure I thought that I fixed. The fungus gnats issue seems ok, I haven 't seen any gnats or anything. The leaves on my 1 flowering plant are still dying. U remember saying that the drying of lower leaves had slowed for a day, but I am showing increased signs of Something. U don'y know much about soil, but the 1 plant I have in soil is just looking grim. Here are pics. All the Same plant. so we see here that the lower leaves dry and have blotches and eventually fall off. I believe this is attributed to the gnat problem and the larvae eating thru roots. This is what had "slowed" I thought, after I sprinkled almost 1/2 a mosquito dunk in the surface and watered it in. I fed 700ppms and then 200ppm next watering(idk why lol). My issue here is that I see very small nute burn marks on the tips. I read that the only thing that will cause this is nute burn.(the tips being burnt) so I see that, and then I see the "claw" on the top there for N deficiency. so I assume maybe lockout? or nuteS? maybe?. the soil is compacted and its in 3-4th week flower so I don't want to repot. what do ye veterans recommend. what is soil pH sup be at? also maybe I should flush? What is my plant telling me, rem this is just my opinion, and im new. take a gander let me know guys
I decided to flush my plant who is quickly not looking well. I hope it was the right call. Was echibiting signs of nute lock out so I flushed with 5.9 water I think. and lightly followed up with about 500ppms or less. I also decided to cover the top layer with some coco. hopefully that's ok.