Momma's Kitchen Serving: My Bloody Valentines

Pretty sure it's not the right kind
Well I can't say for sure as the label doesn't state the type of N being used. What you are looking for is the type of N that is present. There are two types; nitrate and ammoniacal. MC has a high Nitrate level and not much ammoniacal. Nitrate raises the pH and ammoniacal lowers it. So you want something with a higher ammoniacal value than MC.

Megacrop contains 10% N (9-6-17), which is 9.5% nitrate and .5% ammoniacal. With Shed's product (20-10-20), as an example, you would get something that would be 12% nitrate and 8% ammoniacal. The ammoniacal when dosed correctly drops the pH down in the substrate.
 
Do they have what I need right now to fix the problem?

** interesting thought. I stopped PHing the nutes when I starting using Mega Crop. I never before had a PH problem before. I have grown two full runs with MC. Each full run came into this problem.
I wonder if I continue back to PH the nutes when mixed, if I'd run into this problem.
I wonder if the "buffer" in the soil gets compromised early because of the lack of balanced PH for so long.
If I PH the nutes when mixed it would seem that it would cause less stress on the buffer in the soil therefore I wouldn't run into this problem.
I remember in the summer Shed, Smokey and I all had it at the same time. Now Back says he knows peeps that have had it as well. So I wonder.... makes sense that it would help the soil if I did PH the nutes prior to feeding.

Don't you think? I just wonder when you veg for longer periods (which I do) if that is having an adverse effect on the soil.
I don't want to start a long discussion on whether it's necessary to pH the nutes that we put in our non-hydro mediums (we don't), but what smokey and I both had was old ProMix that the plants had changed the pH of with the use of high nitrate fertilizer.

This is why getting an accurate slurry test is necessary to help diagnose any leaf issues. Many growers just want to start throwing supplements at a deficiency, rather than checking the soil to see it that might be the cause. pH swings of the medium can cause issues in the same way the wrong nute mixes can. Hence the need for an accurate slurry test.

As MrSauga said, MegaCrop is a high nitrate fertilizer, which will raise the pH of any medium over time - some quicker than others. Finding a fertilizer that is more balanced, with ammoniacal nitrogen (like the Orchid one I mentioned, or Jack's 20-10-20), can bring the pH of the substrate back into the correct range. Once that is accomplished, there is no problem with going back to MC.

Changing the pH of your nutes will never change the pH of your medium unless you are in hydro/coco.
 
I have called every nursery I know even florists but no luck.

I'll keep trying.... I may have to crush up the spikes? What if I crushed it up to dust, turn it to a liquid prior to feeding? Would that help in a pinch?
 
With time release spikes it will be hard to know what your plants are actually getting (even when broken up and mixed with water - might be too much, might be not enough), and without seeing the back of the package we don't know what type of nitrogen those use. As MrS and I keep mentioning, it's the type of nitrogen that is key to changing the pH of your substrate.

What your are looking for is 20-10-20 fertilizer with 12% nitrate and 8% ammoniacal nitrogen, IF the pH of your substrate is too high.

What were the final accurate results of the slurry test?
 
So I won't use them. That's what I thought too.
my apple tree will appreciate them lol

okay.... so I PH the nutes/water mixture and it rests at 6.9. To high.

I'm going to start lowering it before feeding to lessen the load. I know it won't fix the problem but will help (in my heads theory) to not make it worse.

I'm doing as slurry test again before I feed. Just waiting for it....

Sorry Shed for the hassle. I can't find anywhere that has what we are looking for this time of year. So I'm in a pickle.
 
Fun facts: at one of the nursery's (a grower) went to did say if I use Peat Moss. Run water through it. Use the water (like in a slurry test) and let sit, strain and use that water to feed with will lower the ph of the soil.

Fact or Fiction?
 
The pH of your nute solution is irrelevant here. All that matters is the pH of the slurry test. There is no reason to be searching for other fertilizers until we know the accurate pH of the substrate.
Okay I have about 30 min to wait

I'm doing two.
1 Sex Wax
2. Red Afro
 
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