Nutrients in every watering or alternate?

[Natedog420grows]

I am growing Gelato and Purple Kush in happy frog soil. 5 gallon smart pots under high power sunlike white LED. I have tried to read the plants and the best concensus I can come to is that these plants tend to be really hungry. The only time I have run into signs of deficiencies was when I fed them water and recharge only and they presented what appeared to be nitrogen toxicity and calcium deficiency(both very minor). My usual feeding consists of Fox Farms Grow Big, Big Bloom, and Cali Magic all at 1 teaspoon per gallon which usually falls just over 800PPM. I have now switched them over to flower so within the next week I will be substituting 1 teaspoon of Tiger Bloom for the Big Bloom. With all of this being said, if there's no major signs of trouble, is there any need to flush with plain water prior to the pre-harvest flush?

 

[BooMtoLate]

Pre harvest flush and been debunked. Feed right up too harvest now. @BeanTownFan420 can answer your question in regards too fox farm.

 

[BooMtoLate]

 

[Natedog420grows]

Really? So all that jazz about unflushed product tasting like chemicals was false? No need to ever flush unless there's problems?

 

[BooMtoLate]

It's what all the cool kids are doing now a days. The idea behind it is why starve your plant right at the end. I've also heard 48 hours darkness just before harvest.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

Keep feeding full strength Tiger bloom till end of week 6 its what she wants then only feed big bloom for week 7 then just water till harvest.I mix three teaspoons or one tablespoon of tiger bloom with three teaspoons of big bloom to one gallon of water.Every time i feed during flower and every grow i never change my amounts and always have happy plants.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

I always flush during feeding veg or flower to prevent build up and lock out and i never suffer either so it works to do a preventative flush about week 4 of flower.I always finish with only water just to use up nutrients.

 

[Natedog420grows]

It's what all the cool kids are doing now a days. The idea behind it is why starve your plant right at the end. I've also heard 48 hours darkness just before harvest.

Hmm I guess I'm on board with the cool kids! At least the plants won't be half dead looking before I harvest. Makes sense to me!

 

[Natedog420grows]

Keep feeding full strength Tiger bloom till end of week 6 its what she wants then only feed big bloom for week 7 then just water till harvest.I mix three teaspoons or one tablespoon of tiger bloom with three teaspoons of big bloom to one gallon of water.Every time i feed during flower and every grow i never change my amounts and always have happy plants.

I have been reading a lot about people burning their plants using the nutes at full strength. 3 teaspoons of Tiger Bloom per gallon is going to lower my PH big time! Should I really use as much PH up as it takes to bring it up or just leave it alone?

 

[BeanTownFan420]

I only mix tiger and big with my tap and it works fine. Your running off Quabbin right then you should not need to ph just mix with tap and feed.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

People burn there plants because they do not flush there mediums ever and just keep feeding till its all salty.If you flush during feedings and let water run from bottom of containers to draw out salts then you will be fine.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

And during flower cannabis likes a lower ph then veg tiger bloom is ph balanced for just that reason.

 

[Emilya Green]

I have been reading a lot about people burning their plants using the nutes at full strength. 3 teaspoons of Tiger Bloom per gallon is going to lower my PH big time! Should I really use as much PH up as it takes to bring it up or just leave it alone?

I strongly suggest that as long as you are under good lights, there is no need not to trust the full strength recommendations on the FF feeding chart. Don't guess... follow the feeding chart... the scientists there really do know what they are doing.
Starving the plants at the end has never made sense to me, and now we know that the chemical tastes are only removed by properly curing the product after harvest, and that no amount of trying to flush out the plant have any effect one way or another on taste. I too was surprised to learn this after years of believing the opposite, but those cool kids came armed with mass spectrometers... and they are pretty darn convincing. And to be clear, the flush at the end of the grow is supposed to be a 3x flush of the soil to clear the salt so the plants can have 100% uptake right at the end, when the buds are building the fastest. It never was meant to refer to the act of starving the plant for the last week or two... we used to believe that it was this stress that forced the plant to finish out with more potent bud. Now we know that there are better ways to do that than starving the plant right when it needed food the most.

PH is very important in a Fox Farm grow. The nutrients will not totally release unless you are at the magic spot in the soil pH range, and it is best to start at 6.3 pH, where the most nutrients are the most mobile. You of course are free to believe all the armchair gardneners out there who may claim that pH is unimportant... but please listen to the voice of long experience using Fox Farm nutrients... Take the time to get your pH right.
Now your original question. The reason we give strong full strength nutes on one pass and pH adjusted water on the next is simply that the plant will not use all of the nutes given on the first pass. Any leftovers are picked up by coming in the second time with plain water, adjusted to the correct range to reactivate the leftover nutes. This is not only efficient, but it helps to keep your soil clear of excess nutes. It is still important to flush (3x the container size) several times during a FF grow to clear the building up salts, and I always used one of my alternating watering days to get this done... usually at least 3 times during the grow.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

Micro nutrients do not get taken up as quickly in more alkaline conditions.Tiger bloom prevents micro nutrient deficiency.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

The chart says 3 teaspoons per gallon that's what i feed every other watering and i do fine.

 

[Natedog420grows]

And during flower cannabis likes a lower ph then veg tiger bloom is ph balanced for just that reason.

This is awesome information! I believe we do get our water from the Quabbin. Do you think the Cal-Mag is necessary to add to every feeding? I read that with the new LED lights, the plants just eat up the cal-mag. I havent had any issues but since we're on the topic........

 

[BeanTownFan420]

The product is made so you mix with water then feed period.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

No Quabbin water has plenty of both in it.

 

[Natedog420grows]

No Quabbin water has plenty of both in it.

Thank you for fixing me up! I will keep the results posted on my journal. I guess I am taking information from too many sources and getting off track. I'm gonna stick with this platform.

 

[BeanTownFan420]

Every body is here to help but your growing with what i use and in the same geographical region on the map as me so i'm a good fit to help you out.Hell i even knew where your tap comes from without asking you.