Biobizz and ph...

[Micro-Dose]

Hello everyone,

Disclaimer: this is my first post on any networks and i've not used forums before so please if i make a mistake or could be using the platform more efficiently please help me to learn, i hope to offer quality threads for the benefit of the community.

I wanted to start another discussion about biobizz nutes and my experiences with them, hopefully i can attain some enlightenment and help anyone else in a similar predicament.

im on my 8th grow and the biobizz curse has struck again...
i have the full line of nutrients EXCEPT the microbes and algamic
so far i've tried using
1/8 strength
1/4 strength
1/2 strength
and full strength
i have tried 5 different soil brands and even concocted my own organic blend,

i've tried various light heights, intensities, humidities and watering regimens all in a mars hydro 70x70cm running the newer ts1000 dimmable, using fabric pots with drainage trays and saucers to test e.c (but only test when i notice hunger or fertiliser burn symptoms)

i live in a soft water area but they do throw a load of chloramines etc in the water on a friday and the ph can vary from 7 to 8.5 so i exclusively use rain water instead.

i'm also using fastbuds genetics, current setup is 90% light intensity at 22 inches humidity at 40% steady, 18/6 in 4 week of flower but the last 3 weeks haven't been good for my girl.

now i've laid out the set up, i can finally get to the point...

no matter what mix of nutes or strength i use, my soil always ends up alkaline and my plants cant function and cannabolise themselves... i believe that their calmag is the cause of this "phenomenon"

i added 0.5ml to a clean 1ltr bottle of rainwater gave it a vigorous mix and stir and tested the ph (im using drops btw) it was a lovely 6.8 to my eyes so far so good.

but i had a sneaky suspicion that if i left it 24 or 48hrs that the bottle would test different... so i waited patiently overnight...

This morning just 18 hours later the solution of just 0.5ml / litre has risen to a ph above 8... to my eyes i'd say 8.3

i used calmag on all my grows and on this run i only gave it 0.ml / litre once in week 4 and that was just as my orange sherbert auto was looking gorgous not a burn in sight, lush healthy green leaves not very bushy but, a strong stem, no training, just letting her do her thing with no feeds just letting her use the soil nutes and rain water.
but she was well into flower and i knew she'd run out of soil nutes eventually so....

i gave her a miniscule feed of grow, bloom, heaven, acti vera, top max and of course calmag.
all values per litre:
0.2ml grow
0.2ml bloom
0.2ml heaven
0.2ml activera
0.2ml top max
0.2ml calmag

the mix showed a ph 6.2-6.3

i waited a week to see the results and heres what happened, tip burn, slowed rate of stretching, red stems, first signs of magnesium and phosphurus defficiency on lower leaves, followed by severe lock out, and stunting, yellowing of old growth spreading upwards towards fan leaves margins chlorotic, potassium deficiency on upper fan leaves.
the soil run off is now reading ph8.5

so what have done wrong?
im watering when pots are light, i've tried keeping the soil in the moist zone and watering only when really dry

always the same result ph goes insanely alkaline if i use biobizz in any brand of soil, i'm sure its the calmag causing my issues....

so would anyone care to comment or advise?

cause at this point im ready to try different nutes, i just want some healthy meds for me and my dad, he hasn't got long left (liver) and it helps me stay grounded with my ptsd and ocd.

i welcome any questions or advise....

M-D

 

[Del boy]

Hello when i used bio nutes never had prob with ph stabilty i just feed at full dosage with no problems what is your soil ph. Not run off PH as it will allways be high. What EC is your staring water before nutes are added and are you feeding every watering like you should be with bio bizzz nutes. My advice would to get a good ph pen as ph is one of the key points for healthy plants

 

[Micro-Dose]

Hi Del,

Thanks for replying, and sorry for the delay in getting back to you work is busy this time of year, i will try following the full feed schedule again as you said it worked ok for you.
and i would like to get something better than foul tasting larf.

Im trying all mix again at the moment, but normally i dig a small hole in the all mix and fill with something made for seedlings as i've heard allmix is a bit hot to start in and 'being an auto they use less nutes'?

i've made the switch to fast flowering photoperiods now though as autos have taught me that i'm a terrible gardner lol

its weird i grew some massive autos last year outside but they revegged and never produced any bud
purple lemonade and i had major issues with the soil going too acidic (run off was ph 4.0 during a major flush), but after reading that autos dont need so much nutes, i set up my indoor environment and started dialling back as i felt i must have been overfertilising, but weirdly indoors im getting alkaline runoff.

i must admit and this is probably a major rookie mistake with soil that im only testing run off and not the soil itself.

i feel like testing run off in soil just leads to overwatering to get the run off.

my water is normally 7.5 - 8.5 but i've seen it spike to 9.0 on fridays when south west water add all the gumpf.

ec is always low at 0.1 - 0.3

i checked out their website and i think theres too much sodium in our water though hence i've been using rain water alas the waterbutt is empty now hence want to try filtered water. ro is just out of the question i just cant afford it atm.

im really tempted to try a brita water filter as my friend is getting 6.1ph from his...

do you have any questions based on what i've said above?

and thanks for replying.

M-D

 

[Del boy]

Hello i would go with the bio light mix not all mix thats what i use and it never lets me down i have never grown photos so would not have clue what they need. i have tryed the brita water filters but they work out more $$$ then a ro filter for this is my set up cheap but perfect for me got of amazon £40 just conect to tap and away you go this will last a year no problem. I never ever flush soil there is no need as it just makes more problems it messes up the balance of everything. you want to keep things simple as posible
1. light mix soil
2. plant seed in soil after you soaked it for 24hour
3. wait till seedling pops up
4. water for first 1 to 2 weeks as soil has enough food in it PH water/feed 6.1
5. feed as bio bizz chart tells you to each watering
thats all i do and it works for me

 

[Micro-Dose]

Del, thanks so much for your advice, im gunna do the above ^

i gotta be honest, im looking at some of your previous grows dude and im blown away, some gorgeous plants, absolutely stunning

so heres the plan:

new ph tester
soil ph tester
amazon ro filtration
lightmix
algamic
root juice
fishmix

water only first 2 weeks
ph to 6.1 - 6.3
root juice
start on 1 ml nutes week 3
maintain optimal enviroment conditions

feed with every watering as biobizz advise
adjust ph using biobizz up/down after adding nutrients

you know, now i see it on screen, it looks like i've left out alot of their key products....

do you use microbes in lightmix?
is there anything i've missed?

Thanks alot for taking the time to answer Del boy
you knows it makes sense

 

[Del boy]

I do add microbes and molasses as its the soil you feed not the plant as such this is what I use

 

[Micro-Dose]

wicked ill give those a shot, hopefully then by keeping it simpler, i can then focus on reading the plant
once the dodgy orange sherbert is done, i'll pop open a zkittlez auto, its meant to be a forgiving strain, thanks again for all your support.
i'll do a grow diary on the next run will be great to have something im proud of..

peace out Del
M-D

 

[Don Manzoni]

If you got any time I also grow with all biobizz nutes but I made some changes on the starting soil you can check it out, also I would recommend to use calmag as the feed chart says, you can check on website the dosage.
I ended up using a dehumidifier to collect water in a tank and keep the room in the right rh spot, this could be also a solution. I don’t even use a ph pen and ph adjusters, organic grow is … organic, so my advice is to consider the soil as your only objective and focus on making it reach nutrients and bacterial active, the plant will grow by herself . Good luck, and if you need some advice on sick plants you are stuck in check this thread.https://www.autoflower.org/forums/autoflower-infirmary-for-sick-plants.90/
There are very good growers that can give you tips for happier plants.