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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 fertilizer properly is being environmentally responsible.
The first thing you need to learn is to get a ladder and put the Cal-Mag on the top shelf out of reach. Put the ladder away. I do not know how it got started but Cal-Mag is the number one abused product in the tent. It alone is responsible for more plants in the Infirmary than all other products combined.
Edit: since I started preaching this a few years ago the Cal-Mag overuse incidents have gone down. Thanks for listening.
Nutrient mix in the proper PH range allows the roots to intake the nutrient ions the plant needs. When the PH is wrong The elements cannot enter the roots.
PH for the nutrient mix for soil is 6.4 - 6.7
PH for the nutrient mix for Peat is 6.3 -6.4
PH for the nutrient mix for Coco is 5.8 to 6.2
PH for the nutrient mix for hydro is 5.8 to 6.2
Now lets talk about nutrient "Balance" There are 17 elements plus some trace elements a plant must have to grow. Water and Air provide Oxygen, Hydrogen and Carbon. The rest we provide in some manor to the plant. These other 14 elements we need to provide have chemical reactions with each other and those reactions are very complicated.
Fortunately for us lots of scientists have worked out the basic information about what combination of these elements works to grow our C3 plants.This chart is not in EC it is in weight PPM/liter. It is designed to give you the balance range for the elements in relation to each other. In order for a fertilizer to be in balance ALL of the elements must be present in the ranges displayed.
If any one of these elements is out of bounds a "Lock-out" of it or another element will occur.
It can be a really big range for many of them. This allows for different formulas based on the plants maturity. Lets just look at the top 3 for example NPK 150,50,100 - 250,50,300 - 180,50,200 are all combinations that are in balance 400, 50,100 is out of balance and can cause lock-outs.
The numbers in the brackets are the maximum Harley recommends for cannabis.
In the example of 400, 50, 100 the Nitrogen in the fertilizer is too high and can lock out Potassium and Calcium even though they are in a proper range.
I often encounter new growers adding Cal-Mag to a pot by itself. This is the definition of out of balance since all of the other elements are absent. In soil you might get away with this a little because soil will buffer what is going in (by the way in soil you should almost never need extra Calcium). This will cause the lockouts listed above.
So how to avoid lock-out = always feed balanced nutrients with all 13 elements in balance (sodium is generally not added as it is abundant already).
This is why you should choose a cannabis oriented nutrient line and use their entire line on their schedule. All of those different bottles of Secret Sauce have something in them you need. Don't Mix and Match other vendor products because it is very easy to get out of bounds on something. Nutrient vendors spend millions making products that work together. Take advantage of that. If you don't want to buy 13 products go to a different vendor and use their line.
Lets talk about the secret sauce. After you have provided the 17 essential elements the plant will grow and grow well but there are Bio-stimulants like kelp, Humic acid, B-vitamins and others that will enhance the plants ability to take in and use the essential elements. There are also Microbes and mycorrhizal fungi that will also enhance the availability of the elements for roots to absorb them. These beneficial microbes form a biome around the roots even in hydroponics. Roots can actually create there own microbes as the plant grows.
The source of your water and the hardness and sanitation chemicals that may be in it must be considered as part of your elemental input. The things to be considered are Calcium, Magnesium, sulfur, Chloramines and chlorine from most sources. Municipal water systems have water quality reports online so you can get this information. In not so rare of occurrence especially in old cities with old plumbing what comes out of your tap could be different than the water report from the source. Different nutrient vendors have differing PPM requirements for the starting water. If your water is over 200 PPM you should consider mixing in some DI or RO to get it below 100 PPM.
In the case of calcium, magnesium and sulfur you want to add the PPM to what your fertilizer is adding. Make sure you are not going out of bounds. For example if your tap water has 109.4 PPM/l of calcium you only need 81 PPM/l more from your fertilizer to be at the top of the range.
Chlorine will dissipate in a few hours but chloramines need to be treated. Not so much for soil but for hydro it is important. Chloramines are formed when municipal water is treated with chlorine AND ammonia to sanitize the water. Look for ammonia in the sanitizer portion of the water report. Chloramines do not dissipate in the air and they are not good for your grow environment. It is very easy to treat for it. Just use ascorbic acid.
Chloramines Removal
You are looking for ascorbic acid - vitamin C. The store brand is usually the cheapest without other stuff added in. 50mg per gallon will treat water with 3.8 PPM of chloramines.
EC - Electrical Conductivity
The measure of the strength of the nutrient solution is done in EC and then can be converted numerically to various scales. In the USA the Hanna or “500 scale” is used and everywhere else the EC is expressed as µS/cm.
Auto Flowering Cannabis needs about 65% of the nutrient strength compared to Photoperiod plants. In my personal experience that is from 150 PPM for seedlings to 650 PPM in late flower.
Growing in soil.
If you are going to grow in soil you should go Organic Living Soil and skip the salts IMPO. Soil is not designed to be watered/fertigated to run-off. The elements that you put in will remain until the plant uses it. It is very easy to get a buildup. What this means is you must feed less often and in smaller amounts and strengths but always in balance and PHed.
Growing in Peat.
Peat is a good medium in that it can be fertigated to run-off. It hangs on to nutrients more than coco so a “fertigate, water, water – repeat cycle”, is a good place to start. You may need to add an extra water day in your cycle. When you Fertigate/water do it to 10% - 15% run-off to waste. If you are judicious with your fertilizer you may get by with <10% run-off.
Growing in Coco:
Coco is Hydro with a twist. It has a special need for extra calcium, magnesium and iron and less potassium than straight hydro. Other standard hydro practices apply. Fertigate to 20% run-off every day you fertigate. PH 5.8 to 6.2. It does not need to be fertigated every day but you always fertigate balanced nutrients when you need to water. The original reason cannabis growers decided to use coco is because you can fertigate it many times a day. This presents fresh in balance nutrients to the roots all day long without fear of over watering. There are many nutrient lines designed expressly for coco. I recommend you use one. There is much more to growing in coco; do your homework.
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 fertilizer properly is being environmentally responsible.
The first thing you need to learn is to get a ladder and put the Cal-Mag on the top shelf out of reach. Put the ladder away. I do not know how it got started but Cal-Mag is the number one abused product in the tent. It alone is responsible for more plants in the Infirmary than all other products combined.
Edit: since I started preaching this a few years ago the Cal-Mag overuse incidents have gone down. Thanks for listening.
Nutrient mix in the proper PH range allows the roots to intake the nutrient ions the plant needs. When the PH is wrong The elements cannot enter the roots.
PH for the nutrient mix for soil is 6.4 - 6.7
PH for the nutrient mix for Peat is 6.3 -6.4
PH for the nutrient mix for Coco is 5.8 to 6.2
PH for the nutrient mix for hydro is 5.8 to 6.2
Now lets talk about nutrient "Balance" There are 17 elements plus some trace elements a plant must have to grow. Water and Air provide Oxygen, Hydrogen and Carbon. The rest we provide in some manor to the plant. These other 14 elements we need to provide have chemical reactions with each other and those reactions are very complicated.
Fortunately for us lots of scientists have worked out the basic information about what combination of these elements works to grow our C3 plants.This chart is not in EC it is in weight PPM/liter. It is designed to give you the balance range for the elements in relation to each other. In order for a fertilizer to be in balance ALL of the elements must be present in the ranges displayed.
If any one of these elements is out of bounds a "Lock-out" of it or another element will occur.
It can be a really big range for many of them. This allows for different formulas based on the plants maturity. Lets just look at the top 3 for example NPK 150,50,100 - 250,50,300 - 180,50,200 are all combinations that are in balance 400, 50,100 is out of balance and can cause lock-outs.
The numbers in the brackets are the maximum Harley recommends for cannabis.
In the example of 400, 50, 100 the Nitrogen in the fertilizer is too high and can lock out Potassium and Calcium even though they are in a proper range.
I often encounter new growers adding Cal-Mag to a pot by itself. This is the definition of out of balance since all of the other elements are absent. In soil you might get away with this a little because soil will buffer what is going in (by the way in soil you should almost never need extra Calcium). This will cause the lockouts listed above.
So how to avoid lock-out = always feed balanced nutrients with all 13 elements in balance (sodium is generally not added as it is abundant already).
This is why you should choose a cannabis oriented nutrient line and use their entire line on their schedule. All of those different bottles of Secret Sauce have something in them you need. Don't Mix and Match other vendor products because it is very easy to get out of bounds on something. Nutrient vendors spend millions making products that work together. Take advantage of that. If you don't want to buy 13 products go to a different vendor and use their line.
Lets talk about the secret sauce. After you have provided the 17 essential elements the plant will grow and grow well but there are Bio-stimulants like kelp, Humic acid, B-vitamins and others that will enhance the plants ability to take in and use the essential elements. There are also Microbes and mycorrhizal fungi that will also enhance the availability of the elements for roots to absorb them. These beneficial microbes form a biome around the roots even in hydroponics. Roots can actually create there own microbes as the plant grows.
The source of your water and the hardness and sanitation chemicals that may be in it must be considered as part of your elemental input. The things to be considered are Calcium, Magnesium, sulfur, Chloramines and chlorine from most sources. Municipal water systems have water quality reports online so you can get this information. In not so rare of occurrence especially in old cities with old plumbing what comes out of your tap could be different than the water report from the source. Different nutrient vendors have differing PPM requirements for the starting water. If your water is over 200 PPM you should consider mixing in some DI or RO to get it below 100 PPM.
In the case of calcium, magnesium and sulfur you want to add the PPM to what your fertilizer is adding. Make sure you are not going out of bounds. For example if your tap water has 109.4 PPM/l of calcium you only need 81 PPM/l more from your fertilizer to be at the top of the range.
Chlorine will dissipate in a few hours but chloramines need to be treated. Not so much for soil but for hydro it is important. Chloramines are formed when municipal water is treated with chlorine AND ammonia to sanitize the water. Look for ammonia in the sanitizer portion of the water report. Chloramines do not dissipate in the air and they are not good for your grow environment. It is very easy to treat for it. Just use ascorbic acid.
Chloramines Removal
You are looking for ascorbic acid - vitamin C. The store brand is usually the cheapest without other stuff added in. 50mg per gallon will treat water with 3.8 PPM of chloramines.
EC - Electrical Conductivity
The measure of the strength of the nutrient solution is done in EC and then can be converted numerically to various scales. In the USA the Hanna or “500 scale” is used and everywhere else the EC is expressed as µS/cm.
Auto Flowering Cannabis needs about 65% of the nutrient strength compared to Photoperiod plants. In my personal experience that is from 150 PPM for seedlings to 650 PPM in late flower.
Growing in soil.
If you are going to grow in soil you should go Organic Living Soil and skip the salts IMPO. Soil is not designed to be watered/fertigated to run-off. The elements that you put in will remain until the plant uses it. It is very easy to get a buildup. What this means is you must feed less often and in smaller amounts and strengths but always in balance and PHed.
Growing in Peat.
Peat is a good medium in that it can be fertigated to run-off. It hangs on to nutrients more than coco so a “fertigate, water, water – repeat cycle”, is a good place to start. You may need to add an extra water day in your cycle. When you Fertigate/water do it to 10% - 15% run-off to waste. If you are judicious with your fertilizer you may get by with <10% run-off.
Growing in Coco:
Coco is Hydro with a twist. It has a special need for extra calcium, magnesium and iron and less potassium than straight hydro. Other standard hydro practices apply. Fertigate to 20% run-off every day you fertigate. PH 5.8 to 6.2. It does not need to be fertigated every day but you always fertigate balanced nutrients when you need to water. The original reason cannabis growers decided to use coco is because you can fertigate it many times a day. This presents fresh in balance nutrients to the roots all day long without fear of over watering. There are many nutrient lines designed expressly for coco. I recommend you use one. There is much more to growing in coco; do your homework.
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