Making Your Own Nutrient Concentrates

[Diatomacious]

As I understand peat, it has a very low PH (near 5.0) and the lime and/or calcium carbonate is what raises the PH of the volume of peat if mixed in a range of proportion, it will stabilize the PH of the soil to an ideal range acceptable to the plants regardless what the PH of the ferts is.

The buffer enforces the PH, and optimal ferts regardless of their PH will conform to the PH of the media once it is added.

I wonder if anyone ever tried to buffer coco? But I love having a buffered medium it allows me to capitalize on the pros of hydroponics while mitigating the cons of hydroponics.

You really can't buffer coco as it has a near negligible pH and any lime you add will push the pH way too alkaline... really why I prefer it so I can pH my nutrient and add that which "sets" the pH of the coco (as long as your nutrient is pH stable). Hydroponics is really more about the nutrient "solution" being able to grow the plants itself rather than relying on soil conditions (great for NPK target practice).

BTW my peat comes in around a low 4 on the pH scale.

As long as you reinforce the lime with every planting it should not be a problem... however that involves checking the pH of the media itself so you don't "overadd". If you don't re-lime every so often the nutrient solution will eventually win out over the lime buffer but this could take years... of course the pH would be drifting the entire time until presto it is too low for optimal plant growth... just a matter of time IMO.

 

[Skybound]

Dang, I haven't seen roots this beautiful since I grew in croutons. She was only in this pot for 2 weeks and a half gallon pot prior.

My whole crop is loving the new soil and every plant going into bloom is super healthy. I think when Farside originally made his Faux Mix (DIY Pro Mix), he used half as much perlite as I do, but being a former crouton grower, I greatly appreciate drainage, plus I find the more drainage, the quicker the plant will deplete the water from the soil which makes for a quicker root development. This means I can feed more often, but generally, I totally saturate a pot, then next time just wet the top couple of inches and this practice allows the soil to dry evenly. Out of laziness, I mix 3ft of Peat to 2ft of perlite, about 10 gallons of water, 3 cups of Calcium Carbonate, 3 cups of Dolomite Lime thoroughly mixed into a 55gallon tote makes just shy of 50 gallons of soil. After the first run, I plan to re-buffer with 2 cups each, then the time after with 1 cup each. It's such a good and cheap setup. The bale of Peat was $13, the bag of Perlite was $17.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Skybound how long do you let the mix ‘cook’ for- if it all? Maybe I’ll try a small batch with the peat I dug up near my house.

Conventional wisdom was always to make changes in late flowering. Usually dropping the N and boosting P/K. Have you thought much about tweaking the plant feeding routine for the last few weeks?

. That's odd that the plants only do well til mid flower... what dosage are you running up til mid bloom?

Mid-late flowering has always been the trouble zone for me. I think it is for most people. Whether it’s ph swings in the medium, salts building up, plants getting more sensitive or just worn out from my screwups, or just having changing needs - or all of the above and more- I really don’t know.

I would prefer it if it was something I could fix. Like the plant’s needs changing slightly in late flowering.

Currently I’m feeding my plants similar to what Skybound is doing- but from different sources. I plan to drag the computer out again soon and crunch more numbers- maybe make up a few different test mixes

 

[Dankman_420]

It's good to see you around sky! You should kick start a new journal

 

[Skybound]

It's good to see you around sky! You should kick start a new journal

I can't really do a journal b/c I have too many plants and it would just be a nightmare trying to keep track of each in a journal, plus my camera skills are ass. Just dropping a gem every once in a while here suits me more. I just want to include pertinent info into this thread for the next grower to be enriched. I eventually do want to quit growing also and focus my time and energy into other things.

 

[Skybound]

Skybound how long do you let the mix ‘cook’ for- if it all? Maybe I’ll try a small batch with the peat I dug up near my house.

Conventional wisdom was always to make changes in late flowering. Usually dropping the N and boosting P/K. Have you thought much about tweaking the plant feeding routine for the last few weeks?


Mid-late flowering has always been the trouble zone for me. I think it is for most people. Whether it’s ph swings in the medium, salts building up, plants getting more sensitive or just worn out from my screwups, or just having changing needs - or all of the above and more- I really don’t know.

I would prefer it if it was something I could fix. Like the plant’s needs changing slightly in late flowering.

Currently I’m feeding my plants similar to what Skybound is doing- but from different sources. I plan to drag the computer out again soon and crunch more numbers- maybe make up a few different test mixes

I do believe the late bloom theory is a great one, but my grow, it would be too much added effort on me to practice. I general mix up 3 gallons of bloom mix and give it to whoever's hungry. Almost dry pots will get 1.5 gallons, but pots with still some weight, but the top 3-4 inches dry I'll wet the top with a half to a whole gallon. So trying to keep track of that, plus having to mix special feeds for a single plant would make things harder on my body. That said however, I used to do that early and late bloom feeds when I was in the croutons and only harvesting one every 3 weeks and you remember, I was regularly harvesting between 16-20 ounce per plant. Myself moving forward will be inching my way towards that tyope of schedule, but I do need to do it in minute increments so not to ruin any batch of plants, but I would like to find a happy medium of a lot of N, but not too much and a shit load of P. I've always had great experiences with higher P. Maybe about a year ago I began upping my N after analyzing MC and how lush everyone's veg looked, that's why I started nudging my N up. She does like a lot of nitrate all throughout the grow believe it or not. My cheese plants fade themselves out at about 8.5 weeks despite being fed a significant amount of N right till the end just like in nature, so I'm not too invested in the "tapering off the N" school of thought.

If you guys have Home Depot up there, that's where I got that big bag of perlite for $17. IDK why they sell it so cheap, especially since they also sell the 8 Qt bags for over $5, but w/, I loaded up enough to hold me well through any possible lockdowns and still be able to reuse it a few times. If they have the same deal up there, it would be worth it to order and ship. And like I said, you could probably spread 1 bag through 6 cubic feet of compressed peat, but because it's cheap for me, I can splurge for the extra drainage. But still you could also screen small pebbles and rocks and use those if perlite is too hard to get ahold of.

Edit - I cook the peat for 3 days, but this past week I potted one up into some mix that had zero perlite and only 2 days cook time and it's still trucking along in veg. I've since got my order of perlite and I quickly mixed it into the tote of cooked soil. FWIW, I know we're using the word "cook" loosely as it's more of a battle of PH and not one of allowing microbes to break down organics.

 

[Skybound]

I should also probably note that I no longer use beneficial bacteria regularly. I might use some Recharge to wet the top of a pot near the end of bloom, especially for weak or slow growing plants, but I now try to use ferts as much as possible and squeezing in a Benny drink I don't feel is needed.

 

[Diatomacious]

Dang, I haven't seen roots this beautiful since I grew in croutons. She was only in this pot for 2 weeks and a half gallon pot prior.

Roots are looking healthy... that means you got it dialed in pretty good.

My whole crop is loving the new soil and every plant going into bloom is super healthy. I think when Farside originally made his Faux Mix (DIY Pro Mix), he used half as much perlite as I do, but being a former crouton grower, I greatly appreciate drainage, plus I find the more drainage, the quicker the plant will deplete the water from the soil which makes for a quicker root development. This means I can feed more often, but generally, I totally saturate a pot, then next time just wet the top couple of inches and this practice allows the soil to dry evenly.

I have to agree about the drying of the pot... the roots love oxygen just as much as they love water so letting the pot dry out between waterings (without wilting the plant) is definitely beneficial. I used to grow with a combination of low fertilizer and allowing the pot to dry almost to the point the plant wilts because as the water evaporates from the soil the fertilizer concentration increases. Say you start at 100 ppm nitrogen but after half of the water has evaporated you are now at 200 ppm nitrogen. When only one quarter of the water is left that puts you at 400 ppm nitrogen. My plants got watered almost til they dripped and then allowed to fully dry out before the next application. I hit em every time with my nutrient solution but at very low ppm (like 10 ppm) for the big three.

 

[Skybound]

Roots are looking healthy... that means you got it dialed in pretty good.

I have to agree about the drying of the pot... the roots love oxygen just as much as they love water so letting the pot dry out between waterings (without wilting the plant) is definitely beneficial. I used to grow with a combination of low fertilizer and allowing the pot to dry almost to the point the plant wilts because as the water evaporates from the soil the fertilizer concentration increases. Say you start at 100 ppm nitrogen but after half of the water has evaporated you are now at 200 ppm nitrogen. When only one quarter of the water is left that puts you at 400 ppm nitrogen. My plants got watered almost til they dripped and then allowed to fully dry out before the next application. I hit em every time with my nutrient solution but at very low ppm (like 10 ppm) for the big three.

We can definitely run'em to wilting. I just killed a seedling in a cube by accidentally forgetting to wet the cube. I had a printed doo hickey in the cube to give seedlings something to lean on and the seedling wilted on it in such a way that the one fingered true leaves and cotyledons totally deflated and looked like chopped spinach. Well, for shits and giggles, I decided to put it into a printed clone dome and wet the cube enough that if it wants to come back, it can. Well the little fucker did recover and is now standing strong just about done with the 4th or 5th set. Maybe she'll herm on me down the road, that remains to be seen what punishment will come for such a mistake, but I'm still glad to see how far a seedling can be pushed and still come back.

 

[Diatomacious]

We can definitely run'em to wilting. I just killed a seedling in a cube by accidentally forgetting to wet the cube. I had a printed doo hickey in the cube to give seedlings something to lean on and the seedling wilted on it in such a way that the one fingered true leaves and cotyledons totally deflated and looked like chopped spinach. Well, for shits and giggles, I decided to put it into a printed clone dome and wet the cube enough that if it wants to come back, it can. Well the little fucker did recover and is now standing strong just about done with the 4th or 5th set. Maybe she'll herm on me down the road, that remains to be seen what punishment will come for such a mistake, but I'm still glad to see how far a seedling can be pushed and still come back.

Yea.. even once they wilt they can come back (that's the one drawback to my super low fertilizer program... if you don't check em twice a day you can definitely kill em... or at least really hurt the bud). Putting it in the clone dome raised the humidity enough to allow the plant to recover... they are pretty tough. I doubt it will herm on you... unless it's a new seed you are unfamiliar with then who knows... if you already know it's a female then it should turn out just the same as before despite the abuse. Wilt is the last thing you will see the plant do before it dies... it's a "wake up" warning that she needs water.

 

[Diatomacious]

Currently I’m feeding my plants similar to what Skybound is doing- but from different sources. I plan to drag the computer out again soon and crunch more numbers- maybe make up a few different test mixes

I'll grab the aspirin

 

[Weaselcracker]

Bring the extra large bottle please...

 

[Pondwater]

@Skybound ive swapped to megacrop 2 part. Im in hydro and drain to waste coco.
.
I use fulvic acid. Micros. Kelp. Humics worm cast and benficials. I also have aloe for enzymes and wetting agent alfalfa in tea for trianacol and micro boost.
I do this 1nce a week at the end of my barrel i flood with this drench and continue megacrop
Foilar fulvics and silica somtimes growth tonic organic like super thrive.

Dya think that wud makeup for the micros ylur stating mega is short of?

Also do you think adding epsom like jacks do helps the mg start to finnish?

Any additions i need? I plan mkp in flower week1 for bud sites and then week 4 5 6 and back to megacrop base.



Reading ur thred it swaps somuch co. Pared to othet growrtd on this but u share some views ive thaught to question. Here i am


Do i follow the MC bag to a t and add epsom?
Boost. Mkp wk 1 456
And add micros wrekly with bennies

 

[Skybound]

@Skybound ive swapped to megacrop 2 part. Im in hydro and drain to waste coco.
.
I use fulvic acid. Micros. Kelp. Humics worm cast and benficials. I also have aloe for enzymes and wetting agent alfalfa in tea for trianacol and micro boost.
I do this 1nce a week at the end of my barrel i flood with this drench and continue megacrop
Foilar fulvics and silica somtimes growth tonic organic like super thrive.

Dya think that wud makeup for the micros ylur stating mega is short of?

Also do you think adding epsom like jacks do helps the mg start to finnish?

Any additions i need? I plan mkp in flower week1 for bud sites and then week 4 5 6 and back to megacrop base.



Reading ur thred it swaps somuch co. Pared to othet growrtd on this but u share some views ive thaught to question. Here i am


Do i follow the MC bag to a t and add epsom?
Boost. Mkp wk 1 456
And add micros wrekly with bennies

For good Megacrop advice, I suggest you follow Farside on THIS thread. He has his MC dialed in very well. This thread is geared towards not using Megacrop or any branded blend of nutrients. My approach is to make my own based on all of the information I collect from wherever I can find it. That said, Megacrop has influenced my formulation, but also so has Jack's 321 and a few other popular blends like GH.

Regarding the questions you asked and the info you provided, I wouldn't want to advise you change anything, especially if your plants are looking good. If it's not broke don't fix it .....

That said though, Farside greatly supplements his MC with Calmag and Silica. Silica is it's own topic, but Calmag is a much more common topic. Both Calcium and Magnesium are Cations (+ charge) and in the presence of high K (also a Cation), there is competition between these elements to be uptaken by roots, but only so many will succeed. To my knowledge, Mag is a lot less influenced by the presence of other elements, but Calcium is thee most inhibited element. Too much K can block Ca, too much Cations can block Ca, incorrect Ph can block Ca and too much P can cause Ca to precipitate out of the mix. So if I were you, I would mostly focus on Calcium and less so on Mag. Epsom is for Mag only and the only time you want to consider pumping more Mag into your ferts is when you see Mag deficiencies on your leaves. If you don't see Mag def, I wouldn't add epsom.

MKP is what ALL bloom nutes are made from, but P is the more sensitive of the 2. K and N can both be given in high doses, but P has a more narrow range of what is ideal and that's where all of my focus is. My own personal studies are proving (to me) that enhanced P all throughout the grow produces a beneficial result, yet Farside doesn't share this same belief. Still, the man grows some great plants so his views cannot be easily dismissed. If you decide to fortify your Megacrop's P, MKP would be the best choice to do that, but because the Mega already has roughly 45ppm of P as is, only a small amount of added MKP would get you to where you want to be and you will NEED to use Hydro Buddy to figure out exactly how much you would want to add to raise your P to where you want it raised to.

Right now, I'm using 65ppm of P in veg and 60ppm in bloom. I will likely change that in the future, but I generally make a small change and observe for at least a month.

 

[Skybound]

Here's Megacrop v3 @ 5.5 grams/Gal, Calmag at 5 g/Gal and silica @ 5 g/Gal. According to my studies, N and K are too high, P is a tad too low, but everything else looks great. I also don't use that much silica either, but I'm about in the middle between GH and Farside to play it safe. I also reuse my Faux Mix a few times as well, I don't think Farside reuses his.

 

[Pondwater]

@Skybound tha ks for that man thats amazing. Il have alook at farsites thread.

Howevwr i am not run ing the 9 12 17.

Im run in the 2 part 5 12 26. Npk and calnit. I heard the ratios tweaked more due to problems people had on the 1part.


Ive come here from advanced nute lol.

Are u saying uve gone further and not othering raw chemicals anf mix ur own "megacrop" npk base up?



I got my info from BillFarthing icmag he sends samples of leaves to jacks to test npk values absorbed or somewhat
And tailor it to match. Didnt know if was somthing u was interested to see it baffles me but love it am slowly learning.

Mc is doing what advanced did for 20quid for 5grows where sdvanced was 400 per grow

 

[Skybound]

@Skybound tha ks for that man thats amazing. Il have alook at farsites thread.

Howevwr i am not run ing the 9 12 17.

Im run in the 2 part 5 12 26. Npk and calnit. I heard the ratios tweaked more due to problems people had on the 1part.


Ive come here from advanced nute lol.

Are u saying uve gone further and not othering raw chemicals anf mix ur own "megacrop" npk base up?



I got my info from BillFarthing icmag he sends samples of leaves to jacks to test npk values absorbed or somewhat
And tailor it to match. Didnt know if was somthing u was interested to see it baffles me but love it am slowly learning.

Mc is doing what advanced did for 20quid for 5grows where sdvanced was 400 per grow

yeah, I buy salts and mix all of my own everything from that. There's pro and cons, but considering how little I spend for years of nute supply, it greatly exceeds all of the cons. 5-12-26 is Jack's, and that's not Megacrop, it's just somewhat similar. Jack's wisely keeps elements separate to prevent reactions in the bag, but Megacrop uses amino chelated everything as well as has a better NO3/NH4 profile for canna, so it's a better product IMO, but still I like my freedom of salts. I have no concern about reactions as I keep all of the macros mixed into their own individual concentrate and use that to mix up whatever I need. This allows me to change the NPK from res change to res change. Having the ability to isolate every element is blissful. I used to grow in potted rockwool, but then about a year ago switched to peat moss and perlite and found that different targets are needed to ideally feed each media, and being locked into any brand means you can't change nothing. I however can change everything which then allows me to tailor my ferts as I see fit to work with my media.

 

[Pondwater]

This is the new mc like jacks. Have ya not seen it yet buddy? If not would yoi mind tskin a look n let me know its al gurd lol.

Damn i love u makin ur own from. Raw thats what i wanted to do when i foind these jacks321 and mc
Got told ibwas crazy and it wasnt possible without a factory disshartened me and i stopped tryin to study it.

Ur makin me wana try make my own up now lol the parts are so cheap im crying looming at advance nute xfactor 5%mg 500ml £50 and see a bag of it 20kg is £49 and makes 200 litres haha the hell....

This is whay vot me started

https://opensalts.wikidot.com/start

 

[Skybound]

WOW, damn IMO, Megacrop sold out. In their comparison chart they always used Jack's as the inferior product compared to theirs and now they're copying Jack's line? Also, doing a 2 part sort of takes away from their 1 part simplicity. I bet they'll lose a good amount of their loyal customers for those reasons.

FWIW, I don't use "Raw" brand of salts. Their shit is the same stuff I use, except they sell super duper small quantities for an extreme markup, because you know, their name on the package makes something as stupid as 8 ounces of SOP to sell for $8 when you could buy the same shit off Amazon @ 5lbs for $7. I left a BOM on page 3 if you want to begin collecting. I do suggest that you take the time to learn how to use Hydro Buddy, or any other nutrient calculator because when mixing your own, you do need to know those things. I'll crunch some numbers when I want to see the results, but I sure as shit am nobody's crutch. I did most of the work and left the road map for the next one to get up to speed a lot quicker and cheaper than it was for me. Only about the first 3-4 pages are required reading. The rest is just banter and Q&A, stuff like that.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Skybound to what extent do you rely on your EC meter when you’re mixing your feed? As you know mine busted and before I get around to ordering a new one it occurs to me I can probably manage with Hydro Buddy and just measuring everything by weight or volume. Even though I’m way more comfortable measuring by EC...