Dr. Bruce Bugbee

[FelipeBlu]

All you need is the Si!

You know, it’s probably sacrilegious, but despite my earlier proselytizing about silica, I have decided that the little bit in MC is enough, and I’m not going to worry about extra supplementation.

I grew outdoors for years without it, and my peppers and other non-cannabis plants are doing just fine in the heat this summer. I never did like dealing with ProTek - it throws my pH into a tizzy, which forces me to use too much pH down, and contributes too much K. So I’m going to go without it for the next grow, and see if I miss it.

 

[farside05]

You know, it’s probably sacrilegious, but despite my earlier proselytizing about silica, I have decided that the little bit in MC is enough, and I’m not going to worry about extra supplementation.

I grew outdoors for years without it, and my peppers and other non-cannabis plants are doing just fine in the heat this summer. I never did like dealing with ProTek - it throws my pH into a tizzy, which forces me to use too much pH down, and contributes too much K. So I’m going to go without it for the next grow, and see if I miss it.

Pro-Tekt or Faux-Tekt® is definitely easier to handle in non-hydro/buffered medium applications, where pH is not as important. In hydro, much more than 2ml per gallon becomes troublesome.

 

[InTheShed]

If you want a source of Ammonical and no K to worry about, try Ammonium Sulfate. 21% Ammonical Nitrogen, 24% Sulfur.

Thanks farside! That might work if you're building from salts, but when I try to add it to my mix it sends sulfur through the roof! More sulfur than nitrogen? Crazy!

I never did like dealing with ProTek - it throws my pH into a tizzy, which forces me to use too much pH down, and contributes too much K

At the suggestion of a former member here I moved on to monosilicic acid with nothing but Si. Someday I'll run clones side by side with and without Si to see if it makes a difference.

 

[farside05]

Someday I'll run clones side by side with and without Si to see if it makes a difference.

I haven't done clones, but I've done the ultra lazy grow where it was straight MC, which has very little Si, and no other supplements. There wasn't much difference between it and supplemented grows. I did think the stems needed a little more support via bamboo stakes, but as far as yield, I didn't see much difference. That mono silicic acid is pricey.

 

[FelipeBlu]

I’m thinking of trying Jack’s RO 12-4-16 when I run out of V1.
5g with 1ml PT and 0.5g epsom gives me:
158N-23P-184K-92Ca-39Mg-22Si

I think I can deal with 1ml PT

 

[InTheShed]

All sorts of things I would do if I didn't still have almost 20lbs of v2! I wonder if it works in one of those old Miracle Grow hose spray attachments?

 

[FelipeBlu]

You might try a couple tomato plants - they sure enough gobble fertilizer and will likely love all the K in v2.

 

[InTheShed]

You might try a couple tomato plants - they sure enough gobble fertilizer and will likely love all the K in v2.

All I have is fruit trees: lemon, pomegranate (that I share with rats), and satsuma.

 

[MrSauga]

Thanks for the tag Felipe! I'd tag @MrSauga here as well.

Thanks for the tag Shed. Great information, and nothing more that I could add that you folks haven't covered already.

 

[sp4z205]

Wow.... I had to re-read these posts a few times before I fully grasped the info you all shared (and had to read a few more journals )

The wealth of knowledge here in the forum is incalculable in value!

 

[FelipeBlu]

This is a good article on plant nutrition

Once you’re there, you might notice other articles of possible interest.

 

[farside05]

This is a good article on plant nutrition

Good article and I'd concur with their ratios/numbers. Yet you'll pay hell trying to find a "cannabis" fertilizer that aligns well with their recommendations.

 

[FelipeBlu]

This ONE is mentioned in the article about providing nitrogen. HERE’s another.

 

[InTheShed]

This is a good article on plant nutrition

Once you’re there, you might notice other articles of possible interest.

Thanks Felipe! What they recommend is pretty much exactly what @MrSauga uses as his formula (10-2-10 with Ca/Mg/S at 5/2.5/1).

And oh look, it says "Target the Substrate pH Between 5.5 and 6.5"! Not a damn thing about the pH of the nutrient solution.

This ONE is mentioned in the article about providing nitrogen.

Interesting...I just added Magnesium Nitrate to my mix to help balance my formula.

 

[FelipeBlu]

On the zon - very competitive price with MC

 

[FelipeBlu]

I found out something about P that I had not considered. Excessive P results in leggy plants with extended internodal distance. If you want more compact plants - like in a tent - you would want to use something like the above.

 

[Emilya Green]

And oh look, it says "Target the Substrate pH Between 5.5 and 6.5"! Not a damn thing about the pH of the nutrient solution.

How exactly is this done then without using the nutrient solution, magic substrate pH adjusting laser beams?

 

[FelipeBlu]

There are three methods typically used to monitor substrate pH and EC - they are compared HERE

 

[FelipeBlu]

HERE’s another article

And another

 

[Emilya Green]

I am watching football and dont want to read the articles on how to measure the pH right now, and I am not asking about measuring... I am asking why this is so important to you. All I want you to do is explain in your own words why a soil pH not at the upper edge of the soil pH range is a good thing?

How do you adjust the soil to what you consider to be the optimal pH during a grow without harming the plants? Are you trying to eliminate pH drift by having the soil sitting at one specific pH and creating a soil that doesn't drift? I fail to understand why you consider this to be a good thing. What happened to starting out at the optimal pH of 6.3 with your input fluids and then drifting through the entire pH range because the base pH of the soil was set to the high end of the range? Is this no longer a preferred growing method, to drift through the entire range? These are serious questions, not trying to stir up trouble, but I am just trying to understand why suddenly there are large groups out here who no longer use soil the way it has been used for a long long time and seem to think that you don't need to pH adjust your fluids. Have you indeed found a better way?