[rama777]

Thanks for the info!!

I use RO water so the calmag is both a buffer and a mineral replacement.

I think I’ve heard that 50-60ppm is a solid every watering target for magnesium?

If that’s true, I’ll work out the math to get maybe a 2.5:1 or a 3:1 using both my calmag and epsom and see how that works out.

My nutes have calcium and magnesium in them. Maybe when I get to the point of using them I’ll experiment with just adding 75-100ppm of Calmag as a buffer and hope that the nutes take care of the rest.

 

[rama777]

It does help thanks! I went with a teaspoon, and yeah as I was contemplating how much to use, it did dawn on me that I was correcting an imbalance and not hitting them with something that would shock/burn them so I felt fine about the 450ppm I gave them.

Roots organics is the calmag I use. Derived from Kieserite and Gypsum.

As for what to look out for, can I expect the leaves with very light deficiency to green up, or will the signs of a corrective balance be visible exclusively on new growth?

After perhaps one more watering with just magnesium (I’ll feel that out), going forward, my calmag is a 4:1. I am considering mixing up calmag in conjunction with epsom salt and creating a ratio of 3:1. I figure if it’s imbalanced right now from my calmag, I don’t see why it wouldn’t crop back up without maintaining an adjustment. Sound logic?

[rama777]

Thanks man! Just fyi my calmag is not nitrate derived and has no nitrogen in it.

I’ll hit them with epsom only on the next watering and then bump the light up after a few days.

I haven’t used just epsom yet but I did mess with adding it to a gallon to see what the ppms would be. I got 170ppm from 1/8 of a teaspoon. A full teaspoon is going to push the ppm past 1,000 I believe.

That feels to high to me but I know that people even use a tablespoon. I’m down to try a teaspoon but if you think a target ppm is better, I’m all ears :))

[rama777]

Oh and VPD is always at around 1-1.10

Also open to suggestions for lowering or raising that for whatever reason 😉

[rama777]

Okay so here’s where I’m at with the worst one, and some more info. By the way I tried out boosting the leaf temps and that didn’t help. I do understand that magnesium can have issues in cold temps. I’m keeping mine at around 75 degrees right now to save on electric cost.

They have never been fed any nutrients. The soil was too hot for these plants at germination. They were somewhat stunted in the first 4 weeks. These plants are 6 weeks old. I know, small, but I know someone else growing them (master grower) and his are very small too. Just slow growers.

Ppfd levels are around 170-190 right now. I’ve experimented going higher but they are just super sensitive. Maybe they can handle more but I don’t want to push anything until I get the mag worked out.

First two weeks they got just RO water with just enough calmag to stabilize the ph. Since then I was giving them 100ppm of calmag, which I have worked all the way up to 250ppm as of this week.

Water ph is always around 6.5-6.8

Light stress is virtually out of the question, yeah?

I’m down to either add epsom to the calmag in order to bring the ratio closer to one another.

Or, skip the calmag and hit em’ with just epsom.

Or, foliar the epsom.

Of these options, not sure about a wise ppm, or how long, often to add whichever of these options before tapering back or stopping all together.

Advice greatly appreciated!!

[rama777]

Another thing I’m interested in in case anyone knows the answer..

So my VPD is around 1-1.1 which is theoretically ideal in the veg stage. I have dark foliage from excess nitrogen in the soil. Nothing crazy now or anything, just not ideal.

If I kicked the VPD up to 1.2-1.4, I would increase transpiration right? Given my moderate excess of nitrogen still lingering, what effect would raising the transpiration have? Would it send too much nitrogen up and make it worse, or would it help in this context by enabling the plant to push growth and move more swiftly towards achieving a healthier color?

[rama777]

I’m not sure why you would be trying to hit 80/80.

If your humidity is in the 60’s you’re kickin’ ass and if they are in the 50’s, no reason to sweat.

https://pulsegrow.com/blogs/learn/vpd-charts-in-fahrenheit-and-celsius-with-leaf-temperature

[rama777]

Cool thanks. Let me throw something else out that I forgot to mention. I sprouted these in a soil that ended up being too hot for them. It didn’t burn them per se but nevertheless is stunted them and 6 weeks in now they are still darker than ideal.

I know someone who is running these seeds and his have never shown mag deficiency and he hasn’t given them anything. He started his 10 days before me.

So one thing that I’ve been thinking is that the light mag deficiency could be hastened by the somewhat excessive amount of nitrogen. I have nothing to back that up.

Of course light intensity comes into question but these plants are super slow pokes. I’ve been slow rolling the hell out of them. 6 weeks old and ppfd is right around 220 now. They only got 150ish par through the first 5 weeks.

[rama777]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Didn’t seem to want to link properly.

</p>
On Amazon it’s called “general hydroponics ph test indicator”

[rama777]

I could be wrong but I highly doubt that meter will give you an accurate ph measurement. They are handy to check moisture though!

I didn’t want to buy a ph meter so I got this and I find that it works great, certainly better than that meter and is very reasonably priced. Won’t help you much with checking your soil but if you need to check your water it does the trick just fine.

[rama777]

Thanks man! I actually was not planning to use the soil again for the indoor grows. I’ll keep it in a bin and use it for my pepper and tomato seedlings when they’re ready to be transplanted up. I think it will be fine for that. This year I’ll be growing about 400 pepper plants and maybe 150 tomato plants :))

[rama777]

Heating mats can be useful but can potentially cause the seeds to rot off if it’s too hot. Best to know what the actual soil temperature if you use one.

I haven’t grown a lot of pot but I start tens of thousands of seeds for my farm each year in cell trays. I think I have a good feel for what cannabis seeds need.

Many ways to go about it but here’s a good one I think. Bury your seeds no more than 1/2” in your soil (make sure it’s not super hot soil), wet the medium but don’t water log it. Put some plastic wrap over your pots unless you’re ambient humidity is 70% or more. Then put them on the top of your fridge. That damn near guarantees you an optimal enough soil temperature for germination unless your kitchen is under 65 degrees or so.

If that doesn’t get you above 90% germination, very likely you have seeds with viability issues.

 

[rama777]

One other option that I found is a spider farmer SE5000 though, which seems to have a pretty pretty perfect spectrum.

[rama777]

Thanks man! Yeah it’s definitely overkill, but in no way do I plan to push it to 100% ever. But yeah precisely, it gives me the option of something to put in a 4×4 someday. Also the Vivarspectra spectrum looks kind of whacky, though I know it really excels at even coverage in a 3×3.

Thanks again for sharing knowledge 🙂

[rama777]

Thanks for the links, I watched them all 😉

All those lights you mentioned would be options in a 4×4 but I have a 3×3, for which there are way fewer options actually.

I am leaning towards the one with the bump in far red, first picture. Not because I want far red but because it’s a bar style light. The last spectrum comes from a killer light, but is really only appropriate for gorilla tents with height extension after researching it more.

Here’s the light. It would be an incredibly tight fit in the tent but it will fit ultimately. Detachable driver with continuous know would make it so that I can adjust par with the dimmer more than having to adjust height on the beast of a light.

Tarantula Torch 480

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