Any sage advice for Jack's Classic and Bloom?

[Sctanley007]

I'm in the middle of my second grow using the Fox Farms line, Happy Frog soil and the trio along with their Wholly Mackerel and Kelp and the 3 solubles. Cal-Mag and silica is added with all water to plant. I'm having great success with them and would happily continue using them except for the price. At $14-$17 per bottle its getting expensive with more plants thriving now that I know what I'm doing.

In reading posts and talking to an old time grower I started reading up on Jack's and other peoples success. Here are my questions...

1. My tap water ph is 7.0. With Jacks added at 1/4 teaspoon per gallon the ph only drops to 6.8. Since I normally add cal-mag and silica I also added those and the ph stayed at 6.8 .
- Dumb question but I just use ph down to bring it to 6.5 correct?

2. Most recommend adding dolomite lime to the soil prior to planting to keep the ph in check and to add cal-mag which Jack's specifically leaves out. In hand I have Espoma oranic garden lime, it is pelletized.
- If I normally add 2 ml of cal-mag to all water, is it still necessary to add the lime to the soil? Also, is the lime I have good to use and is it okay to be in pelletized form? I assume that the use of cal-mag and ph up or down would negate the need for adding lime. Correct?

3. When do I switch from the 20-20-20 to the bloom and how do I transition. The posts and even the company's website seem a bit confusing. Some run veg, then a mix of veg and bloom during switch then only bloom. Others say they alternate between the veg and bloom every watering.
- Do I feed just veg in veg and bloom in bloom or alternate and how do I transition from veg to bloom?
- what is the reasoning for alternating between the two all the way through flower? Or am I misunderstanding.

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[Mr. Krip]

I'm in the middle of my second grow using the Fox Farms line, Happy Frog soil and the trio along with their Wholly Mackerel and Kelp and the 3 solubles. Cal-Mag and silica is added with all water to plant. I'm having great success with them and would happily continue using them except for the price. At $14-$17 per bottle its getting expensive with more plants thriving now that I know what I'm doing.

You should look into Doc Bud's High Brix kit. It's about the cheapest & easiest method I've seen and produces about the highest quality meds I've seen. There's a great (albeit long! ) thread on it here:


Doc himself, along with a lot of great growers, are available to help, if needed.

Doc Bud: High Brix Q&A With Pictures

1. My tap water ph is 7.0. With Jacks added at 1/4 teaspoon per gallon the ph only drops to 6.8. Since I normally add cal-mag and silica I also added those and the ph stayed at 6.8 .
- Dumb question but I just use ph down to bring it to 6.5 correct?

Correct, mix all nutes first, then adjust PH to where you want it to be. That being said, soil is a natural PH buffer. You may want to try putting some of the 6.8 nutrient solution through the pots and check the runoff PH. That will tell you what your soil is doing (raising or lower the PH) and you may very well find you don't need to adjust PH, at all, or you'll know where to adjust it to!

2. Most recommend adding dolomite lime to the soil prior to planting to keep the ph in check and to add cal-mag which Jack's specifically leaves out. In hand I have Espoma oranic garden lime, it is pelletized.
- If I normally add 2 ml of cal-mag to all water, is it still necessary to add the lime to the soil? Also, is the lime I have good to use and is it okay to be in pelletized form? I assume that the use of cal-mag and ph up or down would negate the need for adding lime. Correct?

First, see answer to #1 above. Also, if you're NOT using R/O water, you may not need Cal-Mag. It is usually needed with R/O since the R/O process strips those minerals out. If your PH is good, you don't need to add the dolomite.

3. When do I switch from the 20-20-20 to the bloom and how do I transition. The posts and even the company's website seem a bit confusing. Some run veg, then a mix of veg and bloom during switch then only bloom. Others say they alternate between the veg and bloom every watering.
- Do I feed just veg in veg and bloom in bloom or alternate and how do I transition from veg to bloom?
- what is the reasoning for alternating between the two all the way through flower? Or am I misunderstanding.

Thanks for any and all help.

Assuming you're growing indoors, typically you would have them on veg nutes until you flip to 12/12 and then start them on the bloom nutes. Depending on the grower and/or nute manufacturer, some recommend a "transition" dose during the first week or two of flower that is basically a mix of the veg & bloom (more Nitrogen than normally given in bloom). You can either follow the nute manufacturer's schedule or do this transition dose at your discretion.

Outdoors, when you're not in control of the light schedules, you just need to time the switch appropriately.

I hope that helps!



K

 

[Sctanley007]

Quick update on results since switching to Jacks is unreal!! Huge veg growth, no issues of deficiency or burn. Plants jump with each feed.

I just flipped to 12/12 yesterday so I will transitioning from 20-20-20 to the Bloom.

My only complaint is that I will probably run into height issues due to the crazy growth.

All new growth in the pics is overnight. One plant (front left) wasn’t watered and hence no new growth. She’s getting fed tonight. So we will see...she’s also a different strain but Jacks will have the same effect (the front right corner is her clone).

The ugly bitch in the back left is a CKS NL auto that doesn’t know what to do with herself. She’s been a genetic nightmare since sprout. 13 weeks and half in and out of flower. She’s got frost but won’t finish. Maybe the flip will help.

Jacks is the bomb!!! No more $15 a bottle Fox Farms. Jacks and cal-mag is all that’s needed.

Dirt cheap grows.