The Mega Crop Thread

[multiVortex]

I dont have the expectation that MC is a one and done thing. Each plant will decide that for us. In the meantime, its pretty dang close.

Exactly. Maybe on occasion, strain depending, you need a little calmag or something. That's a far cry from 5 other bottles of crap on top of the base.

I wish the weeds in my lawn were so delicate.

Amen to that!

it's amino-chelates blah science blah technical blah.
it's not salt based. so the thinking is it shouldn't build up the same way.

in reality i personally flush when encountering a problem to reset everything, as i'm in a form of hydro.
i do it to wash out the root zone, and as much bad stuff down there as possible.

if it's something you would normally do in a problem situation, it would cause no harm at the worst, to continue the practice. just make sure to reset the nutes and feed within 24 hrs after.

I'm of the same thinking. It's not a flush in the traditional sense because of the buildup of salts. The way my head wraps around it is that just like with a hydro res, the plant will take up varying amounts of x/y/z nutrient and leave amounts of others behind. Those build up over a bit of time and may cause an issue. In turn, a simple flush rinses the leftovers out of the medium and allows for a proper concentration with the next feed.

Maybe that's right, maybe it's not. In my mind it makes sense though.

 

[Homer Simpson]

I think this is a great thread because I really love the cost and simplicity of MegaCrop so if we can just iron out this budding deficiency it will be a terrific all-around nute. I think the most efficient approach is to start with the simplest and cheapest solution so I am going to flush for a few weeks and see if that solves it and if not I will introduce some calmag. Thanks all for the great input. Much appreciated.

 

[Emilya Green]

I think this is a great thread because I really love the cost and simplicity of MegaCrop so if we can just iron out this budding deficiency it will be a terrific all-around nute. I think the most efficient approach is to start with the simplest and cheapest solution so I am going to flush for a few weeks and see if that solves it and if not I will introduce some calmag. Thanks all for the great input. Much appreciated.

what do you mean when you say you are going to flush for a few weeks?

 

[Homer Simpson]

what do you mean when you say you are going to flush for a few weeks?

Farside mentioned he had the same problem and flushing with 2 gallons of freshwater then a gallon of his regular nutes every, I think, 3rd watering solved his problem.

So I am thinking once a week I will immerse my whole fabric pot in a 15-gallon container and let it soak for a bit to really flush it out. I have the water acclimatizing and airing out for tomorrow.

 

[bluter]

@Homer Simpson

you're in fabric then ?

could you post up how you are growing, medium etc. ?
would like as much info as possible for future members..

really should start prodding more people in the thread for that lol

 

[Baron Von Blurple]

Farside mentioned he had the same problem and flushing with 2 gallons of freshwater then a gallon of his regular nutes every, I think, 3rd watering solved his problem.

4th water

 

[Homer Simpson]

@Homer Simpson

you're in fabric then ?

could you post up how you are growing, medium etc. ?
would like as much info as possible for future members..

really should start prodding more people in the thread for that lol

Sure, glad to. My current journal is a minimalist concept so I am trying to develop the simplest and cheapest growing system as I can so anyone can grow. I grow in ProMix HP which is the cheapest I can find, and use tap water that I let stand for 24 to 48 hrs to let the chlorine evaporate but don't know yet if this is really necessary.

I do not adjust pH as per @InTheShed 's convincing evidence it isn't necessary. And so far I do not get any runoff when I water which I suspect may be why I need to flush. Not sure what else is relevant.

Edit: Yes I am in fabric five gallons.

 

[bluter]

ask @InTheShed if he waters to runoff or his particular approach.

may make a difference.

@Emilya is the source for soil moisture approach.

 

[bluter]

oops she's here..

hi em lol

 

[Baron Von Blurple]

Sure, glad to. My current journal is a minimalist concept so I am trying to develop the simplest and cheapest growing system as I can so anyone can grow. I grow in ProMix HP which is the cheapest I can find, and use tap water that I let stand for 24 to 48 hrs to let the chlorine evaporate but don't know yet if this is really necessary.

Because you are in peat based,, there is no need to wait out the chlorine. Thats another benefit of peat + MC. You can use straight from the tap water. There isnt a thriving microbial activity there to "wipe out" like there is in soil.

 

[bluter]

Because you are in peat based,, there is no need to wait out the chlorine.

how does that work ?

Thats another benefit of peat + MC. You can use straight from the tap water. There isnt a thriving microbial activity there to "wipe out" like there is in soil.

are you referring to the difference in plant uptake in a chelate based nutrient ?

 

[Homer Simpson]

Because you are in peat based,, there is no need to wait out the chlorine. Thats another benefit of peat + MC. You can use straight from the tap water. There isnt a thriving microbial activity there to "wipe out" like there is in soil.

It would be nice if you are correct because that would but one less step on my road to minimalism but I have my doubts because ProMix Hp does contain Mycorrhizae which I believe is alive.

But then again my lawn seems to love to be watered with chlorinated water.

 

[Baron Von Blurple]

It would be nice if you are correct because that would but one less step on my road to minimalism but I have my doubts because ProMix Hp does contain Mycorrhizae which I believe is alive.

But then again my lawn seems to love to be watered with chlorinated water.

Mycorrhizae will indeed be impacted by chlorine. But after your roots are established and your plant is fully mature, it shouldnt really factor in.

That being said, I dont buck up for the expensive stuff and make my own Praux mix without any Myco.

 

[bluter]

it's a microbial fungi.
the stuff has some background nute in it to support it for a while.

chlorine would kill it.

 

[farside05]

Farside mentioned he had the same problem and flushing with 2 gallons of freshwater then a gallon of his regular nutes every, I think, 3rd watering solved his problem.

So I am thinking once a week I will immerse my whole fabric pot in a 15-gallon container and let it soak for a bit to really flush it out. I have the water acclimatizing and airing out for tomorrow.

I'd think a pour through method would be more efficient at rinsing things out. Otherwise it's now sitting in a bath of what you were trying to rid.

 

[Homer Simpson]

I'd think a pour through method would be more efficient at rinsing things out. Otherwise it's now sitting in a bath of what you were trying to rid.

Awww... the eternal shower vs bath debate, lol...

 

[farside05]

Awww... the eternal shower vs bath debate, lol...

Pouring through also lets you monitor the process. If you have a PPM meter, catch some of the first runoff. Based on personal experience, it's probably around 2000+ PPM. Run a couple gallons of tap through them and then your gallon of nuted water. Catch some of that last runoff towards the end of your nuted water addition. It should be within a couple hundred points of your input (around 1100-1200 PPM assuming 150 PPM tap water). Reset complete. If it's still pretty high, run another gallon of nuted water at them until your within that couple hundred PPM difference.

 

[Old Salt]

In turn, a simple flush rinses the leftovers out of the medium

That's the nice thing about drain-to-waste hydroponics. You are flushing with every feeding. Rarely have I needed a water flush.

 

[Emilya Green]

I can see a need for a periodic flush in a megacrop grow since not every nutrient provided is aminochelated. Some of the available 13 nutrients are put in the mix in an active form and are along for the ride whether they are used at that stage of the grow or not, and anything not used would stay in the soil and would of course have to build up over time.

I have not caught it yet in the conversation, but how often do they recommend doing this "reset" of the soil? Every 3rd or 4th watering seems a little excessive to me, but I am the new kid on the block too and still may need some instruction. It looks to me like they have tried to minimize the need for this reset by carefully adjusting the NPK values to the levels that our particular plants would normally be able to use, rather than providing a bunch of excess.

 

[farside05]

I can see a need for a periodic flush in a megacrop grow since not every nutrient provided is aminochelated. Some of the available 13 nutrients are put in the mix in an active form and are along for the ride whether they are used at that stage of the grow or not, and anything not used would stay in the soil and would of course have to build up over time.

I have not caught it yet in the conversation, but how often do they recommend doing this "reset" of the soil? Every 3rd or 4th watering seems a little excessive to me, but I am the new kid on the block too and still may need some instruction. It looks to me like they have tried to minimize the need for this reset by carefully adjusting the NPK values to the levels that our particular plants would normally be able to use, rather than providing a bunch of excess.

I can't say "they" meaning the folks at Greenleaf are recommending a "reset" at all. It's just something I started doing last grow after I got some tip burn on a prior grow. Out of curiosity I ran several gallons of nuted water though them and found the initial runoff was about double my input. Out if precaution I started doing the "reset" and avoided the tip burn I had on the prior grows. During the first couple weeks of their life it's not really necessary since I feed at lower rates (start seedlings at 1mg and increase by 1mg every 5-7 days). Once I get to 4-5mg of Mega Crop, then I'll do my first rinse and I'll do a rinse every 4-5 feedings (about every 2 weeks) thereafter. Somewhere burried deep in @InTheShed thread I think there is a conversation he copied and pasted that he was having with the folks at Premier (makers of Pro Mix) that had recommendations along those lines. That or I read it in one of Premier's blogs. Hard to keep track of all the info's locations at times. I have a lot of bookmarks but I don't have that one.

As for the N-P-K, research has shown our plants like a ratio of 2-1-3ish. Mega is in that area. Personally I do run a Silica supplement (Mega only has trace amounts and our plants will use more if it's available) and I also add Cal-Mag (not Greenlifes product because it's very N heavy). I use all 3 products in a 1g to 1ml to 1ml ratio and that puts me right on the 2-1-3 N-P-K that is my target. Part of the reason for the Cal-Mag is to balance the extra K in the Silica supplement. You don't want the ratio of K to N to exceed 3:1 or you're asking for trouble. Excessive K can cause numerous lockouts. I think that's where people are falling prey when using some of Greenleaf supplements like Sweet Candy. It has extremely high K (16%) and when coupled up with the higher K in Mega (even more so in the newer versions), things can get toxic in a hurry.