Fertilizer - How much and how often?

[CrimsonBlitz]

Hi guys, Thank you for dropping in. I'm working on my first grow and am currently into flowering. I've always wondered how much fertilizer I should use and how frequently.

Currently I'm using Miracle grow Liquid Cactus plant food 2-7-7. The directions says to use 10-20 drops (20 for outdoor plants) per quart of water and to use at every watering during active periods of growth.

I've researched this topic extensively and ended up reading some very confusing articles that talks about EC PPM and all this other chemistry related stuff that I just cant wrap my mind around lol. I never really got an answer to my question and was hoping someone could break this down for a simple minded person like myself to understand lol

The reason I'm asking this question so late in the grow is I noticed the water coming out of the drainage is very dark yellow and orange. This only recently started happening during the last couple watering cycles and has my pretty concerned. I decided to flush the plant so I don't risk nute burn or salt buildups. for the most part the plants look pretty healthy to me. Is dark yellow organgish water color normal?

Thank you for taking the time to help a fellow grower out.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Well in flowering & growing in soil/compost i would normally feed 2 to 3 times a week...


MG cactus nutrients are formulated for cactus mainly as we often see nutrient label for tomatos, rose's etc these nutrients are suitable for these plants ! and may not be total suitable for others...

As some plants use more types of nutrients than others... NPK is pretty standarded across the board but its the micro nutrients used for specific plants which are at question ?

It may cause an unbalance in the long run leading to nutrient lock outs or toxicity problems if some types of nutrients are to high or missing !


But i wouldn't worry to much as ya plants look fine


EC electrical conductivity - most EC pens/testers pass an electrical current through the nutrient enriched solution to get the reading, basically means concentration of nutrients.

PPM parts per million - most PPM pens/testers measure concentration of nutrients or particulars in the nutrient enriched water. (Most forms of ambient water sources will have a PPM reading also !)


Both EC & PPM may be regarded as the same as they both relate to total amount of nutrients used & if using less nutrients the EC/PPM will be lower to when using greater amounts of nutrients...

Also this plays a part in feeding the plants depending on stage of growth... when in veg most girlies require a lower EC/PPM feed and increasing in volume of EC/PPM as the girls progress into flowering etc


EC/PPM only really works with chemical/synthetic nutrients (mineral salts nutrients) where as organic nutrients will give some fubar (fucked up beyond all recognisition) reading but same principle works with lower concentration of nutrients in veg gaining in strength into flowering... all this can be viewed by the many nutrient feeding regimes aviable by companys


Not totally sure about the discolouring of water tho... gut feeling might suggest over watering, as the water/nutrients have sat in soil for X period of time picking up pigment colouring of soil, very possible... probable the peat in the compost used ? leading to discoloured run off !

 

[TanR]

Hi CrimsonBlitz,

I'm probably not the most authoritative source for an answer, but i agree with your assessment that your plants look good. It appears that the fertilizer your using and the strength and frequency with which your applying it agrees with the plants. At this stage of development I think I would take a "It isn't broken" sort of approach.

Like you, I've read quite a bit on the fertilizer/nutrient topic and found it could get fairly complicated quickly. I think for most folks though, a lot refinement to our routine probably comes through trial and error. Feeding a little too much and burning a plant then backing off a little to find that sweet spot.

Not sure what to think about your runoff being yellow/orange'ish. You state it is a new development, but I'm wondering if you've transplanted recently or have your girls been those same pots for some time. I'm thinking of the water being tinted from the soil.
I take it the fertilizer doesn't change the color of the water, so you might consider the medium in which their planted. Hard to tell from the pics, but I think I can see that your growing medium includes some finely shredded bark or wood chips of some kind. If it's not new/additional soil just leaching out some of the finer stuff in the mix, then perhaps it is just the bark/wood breaking down due to decomposition.

I do hope others more knowledgable than I will chime in with a fresh perspective.

Before I go, would like to compliment you on your screen. That is one nicely crafted, ingeniously designed screen friend. +reps for the screen!

 

[CrimsonBlitz]

Hi fuzzy duck thank you for simplifying what EC and PPM is. That made perfect sense for me. The only peat moss used is from germination about 1 cup, then it was transplanted a week or 2 later into a 2 gallon pot with premium potting soil and 1/10 premium topsoil.. Leeched water from the soil was always a very light yellow, I always under fertilized up till a few weeks ago using less than a quarter strength at every watering after 2 weeks of germination

 

[CrimsonBlitz]

Hi tanr, thank you for the compliment and advice originally the screen was aluminum wire, I figured rope would make life easier since I can cut or untie the screen more easily during harvest.

No transplant for past 2 months, only thing that changed is i started fertilizing at full strength recently at all but 2 watering intervals which is every 2 days apart. Soil is bone dry down to 2 inches in a 2 day period

My gut feeling says its over fertilization so I think I'll cut it back to 1/6 strength every watering period and a flush every 1-2 weeks. I think I read somewhere sativas appreciate less nutes during flower.

I'd appreciate some more feedback though and thank you for taking the time to help out guys

 

[GigaGrew]

I say this as a joke, but its still meant as a truth. 1 part (hydrated) man pee to 10 parts water will almost certainly give you a better more balanced diet for our plant than wrong plant specific nutes.

if you want to go 'pro' check out blue planet nutrients. economically viable even with world wide transport costs.
if you want to go 'common gardner' plant in a mix of john innes no2 and perlite and then pot up with john innes no3 as you hit flower.

I cannot recommend higher to people to generally stop buying all this stuff tho and just go for good old fashioned home made compost from waste food and garden waste. slap in small volumes of waste bones and try to get some nice waste in there like tomatoes and banana skins and you will have all the nutes and soil you will ever need =)