Faroutman

Ah those cannabis specific nutrient companies, with all their not-so-optional extras …It’s a clever business model isn’t it?! Putting the Hydrocrop nutrients in pH 7 water and not adjusting it down afterward will cause some precipitation. If you do try using them again, you need to mix the feed to whatever EC you want, then add pH down - I use phosphoric acid - until the pH is around 6. You shouldn't need much pH down because the nutrients themselves are fairly acidic. I’m sure that will resolve the issue (unless there is something strange in your tap water!). The only time I have had any problem with precipitation is when I completely forgot to adjust the pH after mixing the feed. It worried me until I realised what I had done. I threw the feed out, made a new batch, adjusted the pH, and everything was fine thereafter.

@Rabidreject I would recommend not adding anything in with the Hydrocrop nutrients; no supplements or additives of any kind. Unlike a lot of brands, they really are a complete feed …They provide everything plants need so it’s not necessary to put in anything extra. And they are designed to work with either inert media or hydro (i.e. where there are no other nutrients present), so anything else you add just runs the risk of upsetting the balance. They are also very stable, so it’s either something you’re adding (probably the silicone) or not watching the pH that’s causing the precipitation. I know Hydrocrop’s nutrients are not big on the cannabis scene, but loads of tomato growers use them, and cannabis has similar nutrient requirements to tomatoes. Coco coir, perlite and the nutients are ALL you need. Easy, effective and cheap …Just ensure the pH stays within the 5.5 - 6.4 range. As I said before, the nutrients are buffered to stabilise the pH so it should hold pretty steady once you’ve set it.

Glad you got it sorted. Hydrocrop's nutrients are buffered to prevent pH swings, so you should find they remain pretty stable once the correct pH value is set. I'm in a moderately hard water area and I find the feed stays within range.

I’m surprised your plants are yellowing using the Hydrocrop nutrients. I have used them for 3 years, growing tomatoes semi commercially, and always found them to be excellent. Your diary says your pH is 6.5 …That could be where your problem is (assuming your growing environment is okay). To avoid deficiencies using mineral nutrients in hydro / inert media, the feed pH needs to be kept between 5.5 and 6.4.

@TheUk420Show, I didn't know that you use tap water. As I said, if you are putting 250ml of the HydroSol stock solutions into a 60ml reservoir, that should increase the EC by around 0.5. If your tap water is already around 0.4, that gets you up to around 0.9, which ties in with where you say your feed is at. I also use tap water. I find the Hydrocrop nutes work well with it. I do think there is some truth in what plant breeders claim about genetics, but it's often exaggerated. In my experience with plants like tomato (of which there are also hundreds of varieties), some take to hydro better than others, and some are naturally better yielding. If you choose a lower fruiting variety, you can try to optimise the feed all you want but it will never give the greatest yield; particularly if that variety doesn't much like hydro. But all the seed catalogues try to convince you that they have the best. I guess they have a living to make but it does annoy me when breeders make false promises. I know what a good tomato feed regime is. So I generally just try to pick varieties that perform well with it, rather than battling to get a crap variety to grow better! I think with plant nutrients it is more clear cut than with genetics, and easier to see through the BS. Compare it to human nutrition… If you have three kids, feed the first one rubbish, feed the second a balanced and healthy diet, feed the third premium ready meals and vitamin supplements. The first will grow up not too healthy. Whereas the other two will grow up EQUALLY healthy… but the third one will have cost way, way more to feed. I mean there is nothing wrong with the premium ready meals and vitamin supplements per se, but there is no discernible benefit either. Just fancy packaging, a bit of convenience and much more cost. Not sure that was the best analogy… But you know what I mean! Ready made liquid nutes and additives work fine, but you get the same standard of nutrition at far lower cost the way you are doing it.

@TheUk420Show, I'm not really able to advise on whether it's worthwhile trying to get a precise EC for each plant, because I've not grown cannabis. To be really sure you would need to grow two identical plants side by side, feed one precisely, feed the other less so, then see if there is much difference in growth and yield. I suspect some strains might tolerate a wide EC range, while others are more fussy. You should definitely keep the EC low for younger plants and increase as they age. Older plants tolerate, and need, a higher EC. My understanding is in veg cannabis generally likes an EC in the 1.0 to 1.5 range, and in flower 1.5 to 2.0. What I would say is that I have found the Hydrocrop nutes to be VERY forgiving. By that I mean I've often grown plants with the feed EC way off the ideal range without any deficiencies or nutrient burn. You're right that NPK are the major nutes, which plants use the most of, but plants grown without soil also need calcium and magnesium, plus micronutrients. All the micronutrients are in the B part of the HydroSol feed, so you need to be careful not to reduce part B too much. Personally, I would change your current 90ml of part B and 160ml of part A to more like 105ml B and 145ml A (switching round the other way in flower). It sounds like you are making up the two stock solutions correctly (by separately dissolving the dry nutes at 100g per litre of warm water). But I'm still confused about how much stock solution you are using in your feed. It seems to me that you are NOT using a lot. If you are using 90ml B + 160ml A (= 250ml total) in 60 litres of water you should be getting at EC of approx 0.5. Are you using tap water which is adding to the EC, and is your EC meter calibrated? It's good that you are measuring EC not PPM. As you probably know, PPM readings vary between meters because they do not all use the same scale. Your pH of 5.8 is ideal.

@TheUk420Show, Really sorry for my tardy response but I did not see your message! Anyway your plants are looking really healthy. Glad I could be of some help. You say you feel that you need quite large amounts of the HydroSol. I see you are using 90ml of part B and 160ml of part A (i.e. 250ml in total), but could you let me know the size of your reservoir? I mean what volume of feed solution are you making with the 250ml of stock solution? I totally get the rest of your message. There seems to be endless pre-mixed cannabis nutes being sold at quite ridiculous prices. Then having to buy supplements to compensate for deficiencies in the base product ...What's that about?!! It really doesn't happen in other areas of horticulture. The commercial guys growing acres of tomatoes hydroponically under glass are at the cutting edge of nutrient management. There is a reason they use powdered nutrients rather than premixed liquids. Anyone trying to sell liquid nutes into that market at £'s per litre would just be laughed at! It seems strange to me that powdered nutrients are not more popular with cannabis growers. They are easy enough to use and far more cost effective than a premixed liquid. Those dry Hydrocrop nutes are what liquid nutes are made from - unless it's an organic product - yet people seem willing to pay for a big brand to dilute them in water and apply a fancy label!

@TheUk420Show, You can also foliar feed the Hydrocrop nutrients. May be worth trying on the smaller plants to help them along. Take 1 litre of RO or deinoised water, adjust to pH 5.5 (foliar feed should be slightly more acidic than root feed), then add 2ml of stock solution A and the same of stock solution B. Fine mist spray so the leaves are wet but not dripping. Should be done at lights out when the leaf stomates are open. This is also a good way to get very young plants off to a good start, while their roots are developing.

The smaller size of those two plants will be partly due to a slower start and also less developed roots. There is always some variation in early development. But I'm sure you are underfeeding not overfeeding. Leaves on overfed plants have burnt looking edges. I would start those Hydrocrop nutes earlier... EC of 0.6 in week 3 and increase to EC 1.0 by week 5.

@TheUk420Show, The B solution will be golden, the A solution will be colourless. If either is cloudy it's because the nutrient powder has not fully dissolved. It will clear as it dissolves. I'd get yourself two 3 litre white plastic buckets with lids, and make up 2 litres of each stock solution at a time. In clear containers you will get algae eventually. Put 2 litres of warm water in the bucket (sort of temperature that you'd drink coffee) ...The powder will dissolve faster in warm water. Then pour in 200g of the nutrient powder and stir until it dissolves. Repeat with the other nutrient in the other bucket. The stock solutions are really stable and will keep like this for months. Then use a measuring beaker or syringe to measure the stock solutions into the feed reservoir. Check the reservoir EC with a metre, adjust pH to 5.8 or thereabouts, and your ready to go. I've not had to use any other additives with the Hydrocrop nutes. Can't see why it would be different for cannabis. If you think you need more PK later just increase part B ...It's nearly all PK (phosphorus and potassium) in that part.

@TheUk420Show, Sorry just noticed the error in your message. For 10 litres of feed solution you need 25ml of each stock solution, not 2.5ml. My previous message assumes you meant 25ml of each!

@TheUk420Show, yes that's correct ...Assuming you want your feed to be 50/50 A and B. If you wanted say a 57/43 mix, as I suggested may be a good mix for veg, work out as follows: You want a total of 50ml STOCK solution to achieve approx 0.5 EC in 10 litres of FEED solution. 50ml X 57% = 28.5ml and 50ml X 43% = 21.5ml. So you would add 28.5ml of stock solution A and 21.5ml of stock solution B to your 10 litre in the feed reservoir.

@TheUk420Show, You need 100g of the powdered nutrient to make 1 litre of concentrated STOCK solution. Make one stock solution of part A and another of part B. Then use the concentrated STOCK solutions to make the FEED solution ...Approx 1ml total stock solution per litre of feed solution for each 0.1 EC required. So to make a FEED solution of say 1 EC you need 10ml of concentrated STOCK solution (5ml of stock solution A and 5ml of stock solution B, or whatever ratio you want to use).

@TheUk420Show, No problem. Just ensure you make the stock solutions as per the pack. So 100g part A powder per litre of water as one solution, and 100g part B per litre as another solution ...Otherwise your maths won't work! And don't mix the concentrated stock solutions together, they are only compatible with when diluted.

@TheUk420Show, The two parts do need to be used together. I have not seen a feed table but I'm not growing cannabis (not yet anyway!). Been using Hydrocrop nutes for a couple of years growing various edibles (chilli, peppers, aubergine, tomato and other stuff). Same principles apply. I think you would get decent results just using 50/50 base A and B in your feed, at whatever EC you think appropriate, all the way through. If you want to profile the nutes for veg and bloom, you should increase part A and reduce part B in veg, and the other way around in bloom. So something like 57/43 in veg, going to 50/50 maybe in transition, then 43/57 in bloom. If you make two stock solutions as per the pack instructions, each ml of stock per litre of feed will raise EC by close to 0.1. So if you want feed EC of 1, you need total 10ml stock, or for feed EC of 1.6, you need 16ml stock, etc. Not exact but close enough. E.g. say you want 0.8 EC feed in early veg. That's TOTAL 8ml stock solution (approx) per litre of feed. Split 57% part A and 43% part B, it would be 4.5ml part A and 3.5ml part B. Hope that makes sense!

Complete newbie to cannabis growing, just reading avidly and learning. Came across your diaries searching Hydrocrop nutrients (I use them for other hydro stuff). Not sure about your black dog - maybe a generic issue with that one plant? But if you are still using the Hydrocrop nutes and only feeding the base A you will definitely have major deficiencies. It needs to be used together with the B part, not on its own.