Plan to double buffer - 7.5ml per gal of botanicare calmag plus, 1tbsp of epsom/gal, 1 tbsp molasses/gal, gel of 1 leaf of aloe vera, cannacoco brick. So when it means per gallon does that mean gallon of water or does it always mean per gallon of medium/pot
Per gallon of water, though some feed one gallon with nutes and the rest straight water. You really need to be measuring runoff PPM to manage feed levels.
Epsom is unnecessary if you are feeding cal/mag. Epsom provides magnesium (already in your cal/mag) and sulfur. Adequate sulfur levels should be achieved with a nutrient line which will provide adequate nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous, and the micronutrients (sulfur, copper, boron, iron,…) your plant needs. Examples of good cannabis fertilizers include Jack’s 321, the Fox Farm, Trio, Advanced Nutrients, and General Hydroponics.
In my experience new growers tend to overdo supplements: less is more in most instances.
If you expand in a bucket of calmag solution it should be buffered. The other stuff isn’t going to matter as you should be feeding base nutrients all the time. As long as you have proper nutrient solution and feed on proper schedule this should be plenty good. If you miss feedings, don’t feed properly, or allow coco to get dry often you’ll end up having problems no matter what you buffer with.
I got a couple questions on buffering Coco bricks. I always buy the best Coco bricks and buffer them before using them. I’m not sure if I’m actually missing a step and I think I may be but I’m slightly confused on one aspect of buffering…
I generally buffer one to two bricks at a time but let’s use one brick as an example…
First I soaked the brick warm distilled water I let it sit for an hour I come back I mix it up in a 5 gallon bucket that has spaghetti strainer size holes and I clean the brick I simply running through a couple gallons of water leaving me with the thick nice cocoa base…
I then utilize Cal mag by mixing 1 gallon of water with 7 and 1/2 mL of calcium magnesium. I then pour that into the five gallon bucket with my one brick of cocoa. I normally make a 2 gallon mixture for one cocoa brick. I let it sit for 24 hours and then I drain the cow mag off the cocoa in the strainer bucket
I then repeat the process giving it a double buffer… Sounds easy enough I’ve done it a several times however I haven’t used it for weed mixed in soil etc. I used it for tomatoes etc…
Here’s my question once I let the solution soak for the 24 hours and I drain it, am I actually supposed to rinse that after draining? Again I’ve never seen where it says do rinse, but I’ve also never seen where it says don’t rinse after soaking.
I’m just thinking in theory it seems like having a lot of cal mag in the coco if you’re not rinsing
Thank you in advance
I may be one of the least qualified to offer an opinion on this forum so I will, of course. I am on my fourth grow right now. I have only grown in coco with Jacks 321 as nutrients. The coco I have used every time is CannaCoco. I mix 2 gallons of Jacks full strength, the same thing I mix every day for feeding every day and pour that in the provided bag with 1 brick of CannaCoco in it-after making certain there is no hole in the bag. One bag arrived pretorn and I caught it before making a huge mess. I fold the top of the bag over and let it sit for an hour or maybe even a day. And then I plant seeds in it. I have heard of buffering but it does not seem necessary with the bricks I am getting, I have simply thought of it as hydrating.
That’s how I did it. I hope it works. It’s First time trying just coco and perlite. Water really runs through fast, definitely not like soil. The first batch I made up I washed it then buffered twice in the calmag 8 hours both times. Then I read that if you wash it too much you wash all the small peat away and it loses its holding water capability’s. That batch the water seemed to run straight thru. So I made up another batch and didn’t wash it this time but water still seems to run through fast. I don’t know hope it’s ok. Definitely like the Jacks 321 so far. I’m thinking of buying a bottle sprayer and using that to water /feed with
Not sure if you’re using fabric pots but these need to be watered slow or the water will run through fabric off the edge. Other than this, a completely soaked pot won’t retain much more, and completely dry coco will become hydrophobic and water will bead off like a freshly waxed car. When its just right will take water very similar to peat.
Yes fabric. I buffered the brick ( Cana coco )with water and calmag so it was damp when I potted They are in a 3 gallon bag. It starts coming out after only5 or 6 cups of water /feed , I get maybe a cup of run off. And I’m noticing the same yellow between the veins as my plants that are in flower if you remember me posting about it. That darn yellow. I looked and it looks like a mag deficiency. So I started adding the Epsoms salt to jacks 321 I was only going with 3.6 grams of A and 2.4 grams of B. I hope it helps. Thanks for the reply
Maybe this isn’t the place to post I don’t know ?
It’s old topic but relevant to the topic.