New Grower "Per Gallon For Every Cubic Foot of Soil"???

[Brother Sweetleaf]

I've got to start giving my 3-week old "little girls" some of the 5-1-1 Fish Fertilizer, but I'm having trouble interpreting the directions...

My plants are in soil in 5-gallon pots, outside safely "in the wild", and I plan to feed them each about a gallon and a half of water.

Directions say, "For Container Outdoor Plants: Mix 1 Tablespoon per gallon of water for every cubic foot of soil."

In my research, it appears that there is about 7.5 gallons of soil in 1 cubic foot... Or another way to look at it is that one bucket-- about 85% filled with already watered (and thus "packed") soil-- is probably holding about .5 cubic feet of soil.

Side Note: Many growers (and the instructional guides) on this website suggest a half-dose, and I plan to follow this advice, but to avoid confusion here, let's just assume I'm going to follow what the label suggests.

Now, if I were to administer the recommended full dose-- in my 5 gallons of water I've got in my jerry-can, I could add 5 Tablespoons, since I have 5 gallons and the label says to "Mix 1 Tablespoon per gallon of water"... However, each container holds only 1/2 cubic foot of soil, whereas the aforementioned dosage is "...for every cubic foot of soil".

Guidance? Anyone? These teensie little things really gotta be hungry... They've been living on the nutrients naturally occurring in the soil for the past few weeks, and REALLY could use a boost ASAP... I was on my way to feed them early this evening, but then encountered this kerfuffle regarding cubic feet, and feel better waiting til morning if a good answer from here on the forum can set me (and my girls) straight!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Brother Sweetleaf]

Hello? Does anyone know how to interpret the phrase "Per gallon for every cubic foot of soil"???

Since the directions for the fertilizer say, "For Container Outdoor Plants: Mix 1 Tablespoon per gallon of water for every cubic foot of soil," and because my 5-gallon pots seem to hold about 1/2 cubic foot of soil each, it seems to suggest that I should mix only 1/2 Tablespoon of water per gallon... And if I follow the advice from many sources on this forum, I should give my Autoflowers only a half-dose of the recommended fertilizers, resulting in only 1/4 Tablespoon of ferts added per gallon of water...

Is this accurate???

I'm guessing that the "For every cubic foot of soil" part of the guidelines trumps over the "Per gallon" part, but I don't know.

The 5-gallon pots have adequate drainage holes... Does the area of space (in cubic-feet) really matter?

Anyone???

 

[Balarama]

Sounds fine, at least the math part

If the recomendation is to use 1 gal of water + fert on 1 cubic ft, maybe the gallon and half you planned to use, will deliver the full dose of fertiliser, not half.
My reasoning would be, if you want more water, use less fert, like 1/8 of tablespoon per gallon.
But it's all about experimenting and finding the sweet spot.

 

[Brother Sweetleaf]

Thank you, Balarama, for your reply!

I just learned (from a member on another forum) that the "Per Gallon" is how strong to mix my nute solution. Then, I am to apply the solution to my plants at 1 gallon per cubic foot of soil.. I should only be adding 1/2 gallon nute solution per each 1/2 cubic foot pot. If I think they need more water, I'd simply add more water without any nutes.

Because the soil only holds a certain amount of water before we have run-off/drainage through the drainage-holes of the pot, I just figured that the pots will hold whatever they will hold, and that the directions for the fertilizer were only for mixing the solution, but not for administering it too.

 

[Brother Sweetleaf]

I was thinking... Obviously I need to avoid nutrient-burn to the plant's delicate roots...

But if I felt that the plants needed more water after feeding it the nute-solution, and added more water without any nutes, wouldn't the added water flush away much of the nutes I had added only moments prior???

I know the dangers of over-fertilization and that-- with nutes-- "less is always more", but I'm just curious to know and truly understand what happens.

Do the nutes sorta remain in the soil, or would most of them flush away with the new watering???

Anyone?

 

[Balarama]

That depends on the concentration of your nutrient solution, but generally nutes build up in the medium as salts and are to be flushed at the end of each change of the nute schedule or at the end of growing.
If you water with plain water after applying the feeding, then you are flushing it away so plants don't get their food.

 

[Brother Sweetleaf]

That depends on the concentration of your nutrient solution, but generally nutes build up in the medium as salts and are to be flushed at the end of each change of the nute schedule or at the end of growing.
If you water with plain water after applying the feeding, then you are flushing it away so plants don't get their food.

That sounds sensible, Balarama, thanks! That's why I asked... So then, when feeding the plants fertilizers, it's best to only water just enough to get a bit of run-off, and that anything more is just a waste, and any follow-up with only water would wash away much (or most) of the feeding the plants just (almost) received.

And yes, thanks for the reminder about flushing... I'm a strong advocate for flushing. It'd be a smoother-toking world if more people did so themselves for a couple weeks before harvesting.