Two plants, same strain, different issues? *UPDATE and VICTORY LAP*

[Waira]

...many choices out there, but GH CaliMagic is 1-0-0, about as low as it gets... they used to have "organic" CaMg+, from the GO side of that company, which was 0-0-0 but that's changed to 1-0-0 now... I think it has to do with better immediate availability due it's formulation with a nitrate, and not being all Ca/Mg carbonates like before...?

 

[bigwallysobchak]

...many choices out there, but GH CaliMagic is 1-0-0, about as low as it gets...

Thank you for that (good to know), but I meant favorite soil! Or favorite couple that aren't difficult to source.

 

[Waira]

:smoking:right!... what'd I say...? ... Roots Organics original is good, the 707 is hotter so not good for seedlings... are you near a horticultural supply store? Royal Gold King's Mix is great stuff, my choice for tent growing... Sanctuary Soil makes nice quality soil, but harder to find... I hear Black Gold is OK, could use a bit more perlite? Some folks I recall said Dr. Earth Pot of Gold is OK, that's at most garden centers,.... Last resort, with definite reservations, is Happy Frog (Fox Farms), avoid Ocean Forest... both of these are common, but local sourcing makes them a gamble for quality, and especially badly off pH, which OF is notorious for,.... Get a soil pH probe for sure regardless, for in-pot pH measurements; run-off is next to useless for accuracy... The Accurate 8 (Control Wizard) is a less expensive way to go, and have been a solid tool for me and others... otherwise it's a more $$ investment in a unit like Blue Labs which is basically a modified pH meter made to take pH in-pot, but also needs the same care as a regular pH meter (calibration, storage solutions, cleaning, careful use)...

 

[bigwallysobchak]

Bringing it full circle because who likes to never see the ending??

They survived my 7 day holiday and cummulatively drank about 3.25L of water via the Blumat classic spikes (2 each) after a heavy departure soaking. I learned some things from it and will tweak in the future when I'm gone again.

I upped the pH in my feedings by using more tap water (ph ~8, 450ppm) vs RO. After adding AN nutes, I was more in the range of 6.4-6.6. I also called AN on their "grower's guarantee" and returned the Cal Mag Xtra due to the high amount of N (sidenote: MOST* hydro type products sold on Amazon aren't actually sold by Amazon, so if a company has a better return policy than Amz, you can take advantage of it. BUT! If it actually IS sold by Amz, then having bought something like AN products w/ a great guarantee means you're SOL unless you go all in on their customer service). I picked up GH's Cal Magic instead. I'm switching soils next time for Promix HP w/ myco and am able to get the 3.8 cu ft bale for $34.48 locally here in SoCal. Otherwise I was going to go with the Roots original but the myco seems like a good extra.
Anyway, thanks for all of your help, especially Waira and Arthur

Here are the girls now at D57 after I pulled them out of the tent to get rid of some leaves. They are pretty stinky

Claw Mcgraw (only a couple leaves still dipped down)

Ol Yeller

 

[Waira]

I upped the pH in my feedings by using more tap water (ph ~8, 450ppm) vs RO

... not a good way to go mate, that's a ton of mineral CaCO3 going in, which will drive in-pot pH up out of range potentially, plus the ion load that causes can start to screw with uptake of certain other nute ions,... AN does recommend RO/Di/low ppm water, the whole point of the "pH perfect" thing is that in solution, it self adjusts,... so there should be no need to add anything in, especially brutally hard water,... Are you using a PK booster of some kind?

 

[bigwallysobchak]

... not a good way to go mate, that's a ton of mineral CaCO3 going in, which will drive in-pot pH up out of range potentially, plus the ion load that causes can start to screw with uptake of certain other nute ions,... AN does recommend RO/Di/low ppm water, the whole point of the "pH perfect" thing is that in solution, it self adjusts,... so there should be no need to add anything in, especially brutally hard water,... Are you using a PK booster of some kind?

By upping it I only meant I increased the amount i was using from very little to like 1/5 or 1/4 vs the RO. PPM was slightly higher than AN rec'ed, but not crazy. And without doing so, the pH even with AN's "correction" was sometimes 5.9. Add the previous mentions of OF being hot meant the pH was diving down. The yellowing on the one plant disappeared and the clawing on the other stopped (and corrected itself in 95% of leaves). I have not been using any PK booster.

 

[Waira]

gotcha!
... ProMix is fine, but it's a truly soilless medium, which means you'll need to be feeding by week one, mildly,... and be all over the nutes the whole way through since it pretty much devoid of anything but a little lime, mostly there for pH buffering... what inoculants they put in isn't a big advantage over the Roots, since I would recommend using an inoculant regularly for either,... Many choices out there for that, but myself and several staff have been very happy with Recharge. It has good diversity of 'crobe's in it, plus kelp, humic-fulvic and powdered molasses... it's a good value for the $ from what I've experienced!

 

[bigwallysobchak]

Understood, thank you. I didn't even touch the bottle of AN Sensi Grow but once on that last grow due to how hot the OF is. I might mix in some of the leftover OF in a very small amount to give the Promix something.

I picked up some Recharge last week for that very reason! Everything I read made it seem like a great product and worth the cost (which is always something I'm considering; not a guy that goes out and buys every bottle of every additive/booster etc.). If I knew we weren't leaving the state in a year or so, I'd go buildasoil or something very similar.

 

[Waira]

....OF is fine usually for "hotness", except for seedlings... it's the other crap in their soils that's the problem! I think it's simply not cooked enough, often has bugs, sticks, small stones,... quality control is very spotty it seems,.... I know lots of folks do the blending thing, but often as not it's more trouble than help... For soilless, don't mess with it by blending, just work your nutes properly... I like true soil best because of the more stable slow release of other nutrients, giving you some "wiggle room", whereas in soiiless it's ALL up to you- ...
I still always add Si, humic-fulvic, and a micronute supp' consistently to cover bases, and because in the case of Si, constant ready access works with the plant best... it gets incorporated into the cell walls, making them stronger and more resistant to pathogens among other things, but that "mortar" needs to be around to do this job... Micro's are usually metal cations, and must be well chelated or they react readily with other things,... h-f can help with that, and has other benefits too,... check out the articles in Reference section on humic-fulvic, and chelation,.. good stuff!

 

[bigwallysobchak]

....OF is fine usually for "hotness", except for seedlings... it's the other crap in their soils that's the problem!
...
check out the articles in Reference section on humic-fulvic, and chelation,.. good stuff!

Will do! I have some Si already and will be using it again on the next grow.
Thanks again.