nutes for veg & bloom

[Rusty Trichome]

It's best to get to know your medium, your nutes and your strains. Different soilless mixes are used differently, and have different needs. You will need to provide this information for troubleshooting purposes in the future.

Hmmm...I always thought Big Bud was from Canada.

Rusty Trichome Reviewed by Rusty Trichome on 05-14-2009. nutes for veg & bloom hey peeps :) im just trying to get some sound advice about nutes. i want to try a soiless mix for my next grow media and was wondering what are some 'good' nutes i can use, one for veg stage and one for bloom? ive been offered some 'big bud' which ive never used before so i was wondering if i can use this for veg and flowering or will i need to get another type of nute for veg stage? also would i need to use the same brand if i do need another nute? another quick question i have is about a Rating: 5

[sirruler]

the shop is importing it from another country thats why i have to wait 10 - 14 days for it to arrive but not sure where he is getting it from. anyway im back with some pics (taken a few moments ago) maybe you can get a better idea of whats going on.
i can only upload 5 at a time so i will post the next few right after.

[sirruler]

here are the last few pics...
BTW these are 3 weeks and 4 days into flowering today but to be honist the buds look way too tiny for 3 weeks and 4 days of flowering

[Rusty Trichome]

Looks like an awful lot of stretch, possibly from using Superthrive during flower. The growth hormones and nitrogen in it are likely delaying the flowering process, too. A week or so after flushing, likely they will return to full flowering state.

But to cover all bases, how close do you keep the light to the ladies? Are they stretching to reach the light?

In picture hpim252 (top left) you show signs of ph imbalance. What I was taught was 'canoeing', but is sometimes refered to as 'the claw'. What's your water ph, and if you know...what's the runoff ph?

In my flower shed, during the summer, I'd give my left nut to get temps down to 82. :thumbsup

[sirruler]

your gonna laugh lol i really dont know what my PH is, ive never tested it before i do need to buy a kit tho. only one or two plants are suffering from deformaties but there are a lot of leaves throughout the tent that seem to curl under around the edges. i have been giving them quite a bit of nitrogen durring the grow and havent flushed all plants yet (only flushed a couple).
i will get a PH test kit this week, maybe i'll look on ebay and save some money maybe i should start flushing all the plants today and get it over with but im not sure how long after i should start feeding them again?
i used to keep a marine tank with living rock and stuff and i kept most of my test equipment but funny how thats the only i run out of, only got amonia and nitrate test kits left i asume any PH kit will do wether its for water or soil?
i see the dam spider mites are back so its neem oil time anyway so i may as well flush and spray at the same time thanks RT

EDIT: i keep the 600w HPS very close (maybe a little too close) something like 5 - 8 inches from the tops but not all are the same height but there are no leaf burn as the light is air cooled.

[Rusty Trichome]

I usually flush on nutrient days. But instead of nutes, they get a good flush with properly ph'd water. Allow the soil to dry for a day or two, then resume your normal nute schedule.

If going with the aquarium test kits, get the freshwater one. The ph range is too high with the saltwater one, and if I remember correctly, were a weird shade of purple I couldn't read well. ( I used to keep a few coral reef tanks, too) I've used those soil test kits, but they are a pain in the ass. You'll want to be testing the water, anyway. You can take a water sample to the aquarium store, and let them test it. Should give you a good idea on what to purchase to raise or lower the ph. to within acceptable limits.

I was curious about the lights being too far, but that sounds close enough, lol.

[sirruler]

i think the cheap soil i used didnt help either and it did state clearly on the side of the bag that it was packed with added nutes and should last the life of vegtables lol i dont know why i added more nutes really because its just made things worse.once this grow is done im gonna wash down my tent with a heavy diluted neem oil solution because these dam spider mites keep coming back. just been looking at the bottoms of the leaves and where i sprayed the older leaves they look good but since the newer fresh leaves have grown they have now moved up onto those so its a constant battle.

ive decided to go for a decent digital PH meter cos im fed up with trying to cut corners and do things cheaply now. just costs more in the long run if i dont. i will try doing the same from now on and flush the pots well and leave for a day then feed them and hope i will get lucky too. im just waiting for all my proper soil to arrive along with the right nutes so that i can do things right the next time. i have this annoying problem with my brother coming over and bragging at how great his plants are doing compared to mine but he has help from someone and im not supposed to know about it so i cant ask him for advice, his plants really are doing well and its that which annoys me the most lol
thanks again

[headshake]

i will get a PH test kit this week, maybe i'll look on ebay and save some money

i picked a freshwater pH test kit at petsmart for $6 or so and a bottle of pH down (my water ran over 8!) for another $3 i think.


-shake

[sirruler]

ive never actually tested my water in all the 20 years ive lived here but i can tell you we get a serious lime scale problem here maybe when i get a tester i might buy a hammer and chescle too lol

[Rusty Trichome]

If getting the ph pen, you might want to think seriously about getting the calibration solution, and the shit they sell to keep the electrode wet. If the electrode dries, it skews the results and will need to be replaced. Unfortunatelly, getting it wet again doesn't work. For now you might want to go with the aquarium ph kit, but keep in mind you won't be able to get an accurate runoff ph. (tints in the runoff skew the color-coded results)

Once you've got the potential ph issue resolved the leaves above the canoeing fans will turn a pale greenish yellow/purple. After this, normal color and growth should return.

If water ph shows ok, keep in mind that it might be a lack of lime in the cheap soil, or the lime (a ph buffer in soil and soilless mixes) might already be depleted. :thumbsup: