Re: NUTES - What To Use and How to use them - Tutorial
Have completed 2 organic grows but due to bad (non discrete) packaging of nutes decided to try a grow using chems from local garden center.
Seeds were planted direct into 5 Gal fabric pots filled with Biobiz light (as I still had a bag) that was soaked with Rhizotonic and wrapped in clingfilm (removed once plants get some proper leaves).
The lights are Advanced Platinum Series P4-XML2 380w LED (supposedly = 600w) above the plants and 4 x 85W (supposedly 425W equivalent = 1700 watts) in the corners of the tent. I know that light values are very speculative so just listing these to show there should be plenty of light to use reasonably high nutes (I think that is how it works
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Started Veg with 1/4 strength MG (so 24-8-16 /4 = 6-2-4) and worked them up to full strength over a few days. They also get a very fine misting of 1/4 strength nutes every second day.
Once flowering started properly they were switched on to something called ChemPak 8 low nitrogen feed (full trace elements) at 1/2 strength (12.5-25-25 / 2 = 6.3-12.5-12.5) They also get a very fine misting of 1/4 strength nutes every second day.
Was intending to use MG Bloom food at (15-30-15) but am waiting for garden center to get some in.
Anyway after all that my main question is about the flushing period.
On the two occasions that I was afraid the plants were getting to much chem build up (as water evaporates from the seams of the fabric pots all the time, any salt build up is easy to spot as white salt on the black pots) I simply stopped watering with nutes from above and put plain water into the individual trays the pots sit in until they soaked it up taking the excess salts with it. Seemed that way I am wasting no nutes and don't need to get rid of runoff. At the stage I was doing this the plants only had a tiny brown tip on some leaves and it never got any worse so it seems to work. Do you think doing this for the flush is a good idea to try, so water would be going into the trays and soaked up by the pots hopefully taking the salts with it to the plants. Also if my understanding is correct the addition of molasses helps to stimulate a good environment in the soil, will this be pointless in last 2 weeks if it is soil that has had chems in. Sorry for such a long essay in the forums (will do a proper grow journal next time) but really do not want to muck up these babies just because of some basic mistake on a first grow with chems.