Thanks for your reply. It really helped me make sense of a lot of that. I don’t have either pen as I didn’t think I’d need one. I thought if I just used soil and didn’t add anything, the ph should stay in balance.
I’ll be getting the ocean forest soil tomorrow and I’ll transplant them sometime this week. Just curious how big of a pot would you recommend putting them in? I have most in fairly small pots now but most seem to be growing good, deep dark green leaves but I’m not quite sure how big they should be by this point.
The only issue is space. I don’t have anywhere near the space to put them all in something like a 5 gallon pot. At least not yet. I’ll have to get more lights as well but I was planning on ordering a new light from ac infinity when I get paid as well as jacks 321.
Do you use jacks 321 for the whole life of the plant? I’ve seen some stuff about giving different fertilizer during flowering than during vegetative. If I got jacks 321, minus the Epson salt I can get cheaper like you said, what supplements would I need, if any?
Where would you recommend getting the pens from? Not sure how much the ones from your picture costs but something decently priced, maybe around 60 bucks for both at most. If not I should be able to wait as the new soil should give me enough time. The light and fertilizer will be most of my free budget for this paycheck.
Anyways, I really appreciate all the feedback. Your last reply was really insightful. Everyone here so far has been great and I feel I have learned so much already.
Yes start to finish. Only thing different I add is Silica and a weekly feeding of beneficial microbes.
I purchased mine from Amazon. You can go cheap on the TDS pen but would recommend a reliable PH pen like Apera or Blue Lab.
There also the organic method of using living soil where PH and PPMs are not used but top dressing dry organic amendments, the challenge is making sure you add those in advance so the nutrients are available when needed
What kind of water do you use on yours? From what I’ve read, people say not to use tap because of the chlorine but this is usually about germination. Would tap water be fine now? I’ve mainly used distilled and some bottled water so far. I also have access to a well. How could I find out what water source would be best?
The jacks lineup has two different types based on water source. I wasn’t what would be better as I haven’t figured what water source I should choose.
What microbes do you add? I bought some mycorrhizae and put some in when I planted the seeds. I’ve read a little about living soil but I think I’ll wait until I get a few harvests under my belt before I start trying to optimize things. Is there a good source that shows how to make it and what to add?
I’m also curious about lighting. Do you use full spectrum all the time? Have you tried giving only red or blue light? Would there be any benefit in something like 12 hours of full spectrum and 6 hours of only red light?
I been using tap water this whole grow. I also fill my gallon jugs and let them sit for 24 hrs with cap off supposedly to release the chlorine in it. I haven’t had any issues nor do I know if this is actually doing anything could be bro science
You’ll have to send them a a sample or water quality report. I’ve tried both jacks 321 and Jacks for tap. I recommend the 321 regardless of the water source and TDS.
I use TPS Billions and feed once weekly.
Yes, what light do you have? If it’s a fixture with veg and bloom switches run them both. I use HLG and Kind for veg thru harvest. I use a fluorescent T5 for seedlings. I purchased a AC Infinity a 280 watt ACI Evo3 a few months ago but haven’t used it. Lighting is as critical as nutrients and environmental conditions. I wasted a good bit of cheddar when I started before upgrading to the 3 mentioned above
Do you know how much they charge for a water test? I seen a program they have where they test water as well as other things but that’s way out of my budget. Are there other kits I could get?
Have you used mycorrhizae? The happy frog is supposed to have it included. Just wondering if it’s worth using on everything.
As far as lights, I have a few. Ones a full spectrum and another one is just red/blue. I’m interested if there is any benefit in giving them just red or blue for a few hours a day.
I thought I read you’re supposed to boil the tap water and leave uncovered overnight. I wouldn’t think leaving them open would do anything.
Guess I’ll try out tap water but I’ll just give it to one plant at first. I could boil it first, that’s what distilled water is but it’s probably not as effective as the store bought distilled
You can get this free from your local water department or the county health department just depends on your municipality. You can boil tap water to evaporate the chlorine or let it set for 24 hours to gas off the the chlorine. Chlorine is a compressed gas to make it a liquid and evaporates at room temperature. With that said I’m almost positive that if chloramine is present gassing off won’t work
I was looking at hlg for new lights and I’m a bit confused on something. Some of them will say only for vegetative or only for flowering.
Can you use really only use them for one stage? I would think that it wouldn’t matter as long as there is enough light. Maybe they’re more effective for one stage but I just don’t see why they couldn’t be used for both stages.
