InTheShed Does A Vulx Comparison Grow

[InTheShed]

Can't say I recall. When they live in the shed because of the weather I don't get to look at them much and I've been looking more at leaf color than the tips. Never occurred to me to check at 4g/g. They might just be ready for up-can. I'll see if I can get a peek at the roots tomorrow morning.

 

[MrSauga]

Ya I'm only saying that because even some of that new growth looks bright green. That's a sure sign of too much MC.
I'm doing an update tonight on my thread and I overfed two of my girls. Similar in looks on certain spots.

 

[Archiweedies]

 

[InTheShed]

Watering day! Not going to transplant yet because I don't have room and they aren't desperate:

Vulx roots:

20190505_132037.jpg

• InTheShed
• May 5, 2019

Vulx: roots

No-Vulx roots:

20190505_132018.jpg

• InTheShed
• May 5, 2019

No Vulx: roots

I gave them both the same amount of water, and I made sure they both had runoff. They got 32 ounces, and the regular one got 4.5g MegaCrop and the Vulx got 2.25g MC. 4 ounces of runoff on both. Then I pulled off any cal/mag deficient leaves to see if it spreads.

20190505_133908.jpg

• InTheShed
• May 5, 2019

Vulx comparison

They are due for some thinning of the lower branches, possible next weekend.

 

[Amy Gardner]

 

[Lerugged]

Hey man. Just going to sit in the back here and watch this one unfold. Super interesting.

 

[EastCoastGhost]

The Vulx plant looks a lot lighter color than the regular one which the regular one is getting higher strength nutes. Is the Vulx plant suppose to do best at lower feed levels? I must have missed that part, I’m pretty burnout so I may have forgot

 

[InTheShed]

The Vulx plant looks a lot lighter color than the regular one which the regular one is getting higher strength nutes. Is the Vulx plant suppose to do best at lower feed levels? I must have missed that part, I’m pretty burnout so I may have forgot

Vulx says that having their product mixed into the soil "[p]rovide 40-50% nutrient savings," so I've been feeding it 50% strength nutes compared to the non-Vulx plant. The standard plant is getting full strength 4.5g/gallon MegaCrop and the Vulx (lighter green) is getting 2.25g/gallon. It seems to be telling us it needs more nutes, but for now I'm sticking with the testing at 50%.

 

[Derbybud]

Why not feed them 60% as advertised 40-50% less and that girl could use the extra 10% by the light green looks. Would still be as advertised no?

 

[InTheShed]

So instead of diluting my nutes 50/50 I should dilute them 45/55 (or is it 47.5/52.5)? Do I want to work that hard?

If the regular plant looks good at 4.5g I'm not sure that going from 2.25 to 2.475g is going to be make the difference for the Vulx plant.

 

[EastCoastGhost]

Vulx says that having their product mixed into the soil "[p]rovide 40-50% nutrient savings," so I've been feeding it 50% strength nutes compared to the non-Vulx plant. The standard plant is getting full strength 4.5g/gallon MegaCrop and the Vulx (lighter green) is getting 2.25g/gallon. It seems to be telling us it needs more nutes, but for now I'm sticking with the testing at 50%.

Thanks She’d, I love comparisons.

 

[Amy Gardner]

I wonder if it would be different if you fed and watered at full strength/amounts but half as often.

That would of course need a whole other comparison grow tho - so I’m not suggesting you do that here

That’s just how I imagine it playing out when my brain interprets their claims. Then the plant gets full strength to ‘work with’ upfront. It would be interesting to see if that was any different.

For now it definitely seems the Vulx plant is under par - for now.

(Hehe - auto correct wanted to make that “the Vulcan plant” )

 

[InTheShed]

I wonder if it would be different if you fed and watered at full strength/amounts but half as often.

Do you mean feed/water/feed/water? I've never done that.

If that's not what you mean, I'm not sure how I can feed them half as often since I wait until just before they droop. The AKs have a fine line between thirsty and this. One more day and I'd have to take off all the bottom leaves because they yellow and die.

 

[Amy Gardner]

So I suppose I’m thinking - they say you will use half the amount of nutrients and water, yes? Or at least 40% less.

Are you also feeding half the amount of water? I thought you were, but maybe I’ve got that part wrong.

I was just thinking of other ways the comparison could be done - I don’t want to mess up the journal with it.

So was wondering if giving full nutes close to half as often would work. I was assuming the water part is meant to be half as well - but yeah, I might have misinterpreted that bit.

 

[InTheShed]

Are you also feeding half the amount of water? I thought you were, but maybe I’ve got that part wrong.

I did try half the water, but the medium was not wet top to bottom, so I gave up on that savings. They don't say "save half the nutes by using the same nute strength but you only need half the water" though, so I didn't try it that way. Nor has the Vulx rep suggested that approach in our PM convo.

That would mean both plants get 4.5mg but the Vulx plant only gets 14 ounces of water each time. The lower roots would hardly see any moisture.

 

[Amy Gardner]

Ok - I just wasn’t sure. Thought you had mentioned the less water thing earlier on but must have misremembered.

I was mostly thinking about giving full strength nutes less often (so yes, feed - water - feed). Just curious if that would make any difference

 

[InTheShed]

That indeed would be a way to save 50% of my nutes! But I'm not making any changes to this current system unless the Volx rep recommends it. I'm going to stick to the current methodology, for now anyway!

 

[Amy Gardner]

That indeed would be a way to save 50% of my nutes! But I'm not making any changes to this current system unless the Volx rep recommends it. I'm going to stick to the current methodology, for now anyway!

Yeah of course! That’s why I originally said it would need a whole other comparison grow

The fact that the Vulcan isn’t looking so hot right now got me thinking about it... is all. I’ll shut up and watch now...

 

[InTheShed]

Quick update of some things that happened off thread. First, @Archiweedies had a thought that maybe the chloramine in my water was messing with the effectiveness of the Vulx. So I ran that thought past the Vulx rep, and his response was that I should try chloramine-free water and see how that went.

Fair enough. According to wikipedia, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) will neutralize chloramine. So I'll head to Trader Joe's and get a cheap bottle (I use the high-end Calcium Ascorbate from Freeda Vitamins).

I found on a beer-brewing website that recommended 1 mg ascorbic acid / Liter of water, or 3.78541 mg/gallon. Crush and weigh and mix in a bucket!

We'll see...

 

[Archiweedies]

Quick update of some things that happened off thread. First, @Archiweedies had a thought that maybe the chloramine in my water was messing with the effectiveness of the Vulx. So I ran that thought past the Vulx rep, and his response was that I should try chloramine-free water and see how that went.

Fair enough. According to wikipedia, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) will neutralize chloramine. So I'll head to Trader Joe's and get a cheap bottle (I use the high-end Calcium Ascorbate from Freeda Vitamins).

I found on a beer-brewing website that recommended 1 mg ascorbic acid / Liter of water, or 3.78541 mg/gallon. Crush and weigh and mix in a bucket!

We'll see...

I’m interested to see if the vitamin C has an effect.