This is my first grow and about 1 month into it. I bought a soil that has all the nutrients in it already and it's suppost to feed the plants for up to nine months. Do I still have to add nutrients to the water as well? Or will that be too much since the soil already has the nutrients in it? Thanks,
Most of the timed released nutrients in potting soil are controlled by temperature bowhunter. They begin to release their nutrients at 70 degrees farenheit and release more nutrients as the temperature increases beyond 70. If you have a cooking thermometer you can check your soil temps and have a good idea whats happening. Generally, if the plants look green and healthy they dont need ferts. If you observe slow growth or yellowing, then fertilize but if they look good - leave well enough a lone. A problem can arise in flowering from using the nute filled potting soil that last for so long. With indoor, most growers veg for 30 days or so and then flower. These soils continue to release their high nitrogen nutes during flowering which serve to lower potency, resin production and bud density and increase leafiness. Further, the excess nitrogen is transpired through the leaf surface creating an enviroment on the surface of the leaf which is conducive to the growth of mould/ powdery mildew Other than that, your fine. they work great for outdoor growing.
My temp is at a steady 78 degrees during lights on and drops to abou 65-68 with lights off. So should I add nutrients in the water?
So what should I do? Should I just let it run it coarse? Should I still add nutrients when watering or no?
I think what @ clodhopper is saying is to use water until some form of a deficiency starts to present itself at which point start using you nutrient mixtures and increase the potency of your mixture as the plant develops.
exactly. what was said is correct. and just for future reference i wouldn't buy soil that "feeds up to 9 months" or for that matter soil that feeds any longer than 2 months because you are going to change the NPK ratio when you switch to flowering and like clodhopper said you don't want to continue to give you plant high levels of nitrogen when you are flowering. the better the input the better the output aka funky ass buds. also as other people where saying, just wait it out. your plant should be fine for the first couple weeks without adding any nutrients, and when you start to add nutrients i would recommend adding half of the recommended dosing to see how it affects your plant.