Nutrients and Additives

[miccyj]

Hi Everyone, I noticed that alot of questions about Nutrients get asked and thought I would create a post on what I have learned. This is for mostly Hydroponic as that’s what I know and love, but I imagine that alot of it is relevant to soil as well. I’m going to try and stay away from showing specific brands coz I know everyone prefers different ones. This is my first informational post, so if you guys see any mistakes, please let me know, I’m sure there will be a few, I’m pretty ripped, haha.

 

I guess I’ll start at the beginning with Water:

I know lots of people swear that RO or Distilled water is the best, but I have never used them and have never had any problems. But my tap water is only about 100ppm, if you have unusually high ppm in your tap water you may need to look into an RO system.

 

I have a large barrel in my grow area I keep filled with fresh water (About 200L). This is ideal because you don’t really want to use water straight out of the tap because of the chlorine. Chlorine will burn the tips of your babies, and while it probably won’t kill them, it is not good for them either. After a couple of days all the chlorine evaporates and my girls love it.

 

If you are going to do this, it’s very important to have air stones in the res, the last thing you want is the water going stagnant and stale.

I pump the water out of the barrel into buckets that I mix my nutrient solution in.

 

PH

It’s very important to keep your nutrients in hydro between 5.5-5.8. This is the range that ensures your plants have all the nutrients they need available. In a hydro system, you need to check this every day, and adjust accordingly as PH has a tendency to crawl up in Hydro. This happens faster in systems with a small res. Large reservoirs have a tendency to by alittle more stable with the PH. Always adjust PH after mixing nutes, there’s no point doing it before J

 

Nutrients:

Now the subject of nutrients can be quite daunting to a new grower, especially when you look into things like additives and boosters. I’ll start with the basics.

During the vegetative stage of growth the plant uses lots of Nitrogen. So you’ll be looking for a nutrient with a NPK of something like 20-5-5, and during budding it will need more Phosphorous and Potassium so an NPK of 5-15-15 is what’s on the nutes I use.

 

Most hydroponic nutrients come in 2 parts, A+B. I’ve tried using 1 part nutrients but I was pretty un-impressed with the results. As for brands, it’s all a matter of preference and opinion. Some people say that only this brand or that brand works the best, but it’s all subjective. I’ve used Canna and now I’m trying out Cyco which is a much smaller brand, and tbh, I’m just as impressed with both. Just make sure it’s a good two part series, and you can’t go wrong.

 

Additives are where things start to get very confusing. So I’ll just go though some of the more common. None of these are essential to grow, some are highly recommended though. These are in no particular order other than how they pop into my head.

 

Silicon- There are lots of different brands, but this is basically used to strengthen the stems so they can support the hefty buds we love. While it’s not essential, it’s not expensive either, and does help. It’s usually used from start to finish.

 

Potash or PK boosters. - Again, lots of different brands offer this, the most common and the one alot of people have success with is Canna PK 13-14. Later in the plants flowering cycle they start using alot more Phosphorous and Potassium, using a PK booster at this time can really fatten them up. So if you’re looking for a way to increase yield easily, then this is your best bet. Usually used in the last half of the flowering cycle.

 

Flowering Boosters – There are a million different ones, and some work better than others, so try to stick with known brands. I’m not 100% how they work, but I know that when used with a PK booster, they can almost double the size of your buds. The draw back is boosters are usually very expensive, but if you have the money, they are worth the investment. They are usually used during the entire flowering stage.

 

B1 – This is a particular favourite of mine for new clones and when then the plants have undergone any kind of shock. I use it in the solution that I soak my rock wool cubes in and I have a 100% success rate with my clones. It’s also a good foliar spray when your babies are recovering from any kind nutrient deficiency or abuse.

 

Let me know if you guys disagree with anything here, like I said, it’s just what I have learnt from experience. If there are any more additives you think I should add, I’m happy to keep it updated.

Edited March 4, 2010 by miccyj

[Herbman]

Very good thread, Sure it will solve alot of problems

[Amos]

Hi, thanks. Im not sure if anyone can help here, Ive got a 2 part nutrient called Superthrive, and it doesn't specify what ratios to use and when.

They are Grow A and Grow B (yellow and red), each saying to add 5ml per litre.

Do I just add them both for the entire cycle? Will this make a difference or would it just be 'wasting' the nutrients by supplying unneeded ones? Are there any typical ratios?

Appreciate any help.

[miccyj]

They are for the vegetative cycle. so start with 5ml per L from both A+B, check the PPM and adjust if needed. Do that for the time that your on a 18Hr light cycle.

 

When you switch to 12/12 you will need a flowering nutrient.

[Amos]

Thanks mate. Yea my experience runs back to the days where the two parts would cover you for the whole cycle, and you just used different ratios of each based on what stage you were in.

All sorted now, appreciate the quick reply

[420 HELI]

Thanks mate. Yea my experience runs back to the days where the two parts would cover you for the whole cycle, and you just used different ratios of each based on what stage you were in.

All sorted now, appreciate the quick reply

 

My 2 part goes through the whole cycle

[miccyj]

My 2 part goes through the whole cycle

 

That's interesting, what nutrient are you using? Whats the NPK? I'm guessing you use PK boosters during flowering.

[420 HELI]

Canna coco A+B, PK 13-14 for last weeks of flower, silica throughout. +Rhizo+Zym at times.

 

 

*edit NPK... no idea

[Innocent criminal]

The nutrients I use are all the way through as well (House & Garden Coco), this seems to be pretty common with coco nutes.

(canna, nutrifield, H&G, dutchfest all fall in this category)

PK boosters are recommended but only for the last 3 or 4 weeks of bloom the same as standard nutes.

 

 

NPK:

part A 8-0-11

part B 2-4-10

[miccyj]

NPK:

part A 8-0-11

part B 2-4-10

 

Those N values seem low, do you find any issues from lack of nitrogen? or do you mix in more part A than B during veg?

 

I know when you grow in coco it's important to use coco nutes, but I'm not sure why, do you know THC?