Ok. So I read the forums and google everything to grow a better harvest then the last. To much knowledge will explode your brain where as not enough is almost simple.
Why ppm/ph run off in soil?
If a good soil has all the “good” stuff in it, then just water it. I’ve done coast of main with water only but did use fishshits to help all the little things that matter. If you freak out about a high ppm run off in soil, aren’t you washing away all the good stuff in the soil?
We can all get caught up in this brand and that brand of nutrients. With soil you are feeding the microbes that make everything work. Adjust by top dressing.
Coco grow
Inert and has no nutrient value.
You as a grower apply what nutrients you think it needs. If you apply nutrients till run off at every watering. Hand watering,
Then shouldn’t that be ok?
With frequent fertigation, you are feeding the proper nutes while flushing out the leftover.
Good evening, I’m a newbie and fell into the trap of “oceans farm has stuff in to buffer my PH”. Well come to find out mine doesn’t and my PH has been super low and now I’m fighting a major deficiency in middle of flowering. Had I checked my run off sooner I would have caught it but I only ever checked input of water and ppms out not the PH.
Ppm runoff is important when running salt nutrients. Mainly, for tracking what the plant is eating. If your ppms are raising or not dropping between feedings, then you’re about to run into some issues. Organic, not an issue. You will always see high ppm in organic grows if you water to runoff. Hell, I’ve seen some ocean forest soil have runoffs of over 5000 ppm with nothing added to it.
Ph runoff will mess with you. IMO runoff ph is more geared towards coco grows. Most, if not all, cannabis friendly soils have buffers in them that will deliver nutrients just fine as long as input ph is correct. The runoff will tell you it’s out of range (I.E. 5.8ph). When it’s actually adjusting the ph as the soil soaks and let’s the buffers work.
But with soil. If before dropping the first bean. You make a slurry with your soil, you should get a ppm and tds reading, that should give you a rough estimation reading of the soil. Since soil has natural buffers, the run off may be way off the first reading.
I guess what I’m getting at is use natural ingredients for soil and not go to a salt line nutrient brand if in soil.
Maybe I’m way over thinking this?
I’m very interested in a nutrient brand with no salts if you have one that you would recommend!? First Grow I used Advanced Nutrients Sensi. Although I was pleased with them, I do hate the fact of having to worry about salt buildup. Thanks
And that begs the question @Tdevine why do we add all these salt nutrients to soil?
Let the soil do its own thing.
Top dress with alfalfa meal . Feed the soil so the soil can feed the plant
If you wanna grow with A+B nutes then try coco
Hi i grow in soil i used dry amendments and organic compost i dont do run off testing as im growing organically i ph my water to 6.5 But if ur running bottled nutrients in soil you need to check ur run off to see how much nutrients ur plants are using and to see what ph ur water is coming out as
There are lots of reasons. Knowledge, information, access, etc etc. Like many I started in soil. After several grows my garage was full of bins full of different soils and blends. Cooking and getting ready for the next grow. Physically it became a PIA lugging the bins around. I did not use dry amendments during the grow to top feed. I refused to get into the tea making routine. Not everyone has the space or the desire to brew that stuff. I started using Fox Farm Trio to make it to harvest. We all know FF and how it accumulates. Had I known about Earth Dust or something similar, maybe I would have stayed a dirt farmer. But that was not to be.
I traded in my bins of soil for a nice compact brick of coco. I traded in my bags of greensand, humites, gypsum, bone meal, blood meal, alfalfa this or that, dolomite lime, langbeinite and who knows what else, for Part A Part B and Epsom Salt. I add in microbes and Silica and a few Advanced Nutrient supplements, and am happy. I pH what I put in and pH what comes out. NOT a big deal. I run a couple autopots - pH what goes in and otherwise don’t worry about it unless I see an issue.
In the end, what may be one’s cup of tea may not be another’s.
Looks like growing can get complicated. Right now going go with the soil; got happy frog meant for reefer. The water bags I think will keep the water balance and just keep the soil moist. Sure there are tweaks to a better yield but at first trying to keep it simple
This is my first grow “top dressing” the soil with Gaia Green
I used to mix liquids with the FF trio. Grow Big in particular (the nitrogen heavy stuff) i found super became crystal salty in the bottle if i didnt use it fast enough.
That’s what’s cool with this place.
Your head gets rattled with info overload at times. It’s good to have people kinda put in black and white @BobbyDigital
Ok thanks… just now started to read; those were my predetermined ideals. why I got the bags so there’s no chance for too much water. Or no chance for lack of water keeping the soil moist. Just learning the light cycle so makes sense the watering would have a cycle also.
