8/3 12:36AM MONDAY FULL RETARD MODE ACTIVATED
8/3 10AM "
They look solid for where they are.
**Quick visual read:**
- **Right plant (front)** — strongest of the three. Good color, solid node spacing, leaves are filling out nicely, no obvious stress. This one is handling the current feed best.
- **Back plant (Mendo Frost)** — clean and upright, healthy light-to-medium green. Looking very consistent.
- **Left plant (front)** — a bit behind the other two in size and leaf development. Color is still good, but it’s the lagging phenotype of the three. Common with mixed RF3 packs — you’ll often get one that starts slower.
None of them are showing tip burn, clawing, or dark “overfed” green, which means your decision to keep the EC at 0.93 while adding the light amino dose was correct. They’re not hungry yet either (no pale yellowing or slow growth signs), so jumping straight to 1.1 without aminos today is a clean next step.
At this stage (early veg, still small pots/coco), staying in the 0.9–1.2 range is ideal for RF3s and Mendo Frost. They’re still building structure and roots more than bulk. Once the stronger two start putting on more rapid growth and the internodes begin tightening a bit, you can ease toward the higher end of that range.
One small observation: the left plant’s lower leaves look a touch softer/less turgid than the others. Keep an eye on whether that improves after the next watering. If it stays lagging while the other two take off, you can always give it a slightly lighter feed or just let it catch up at its own pace — mixed packs almost always have one slower starter.
Overall they look healthy and on track. The amino experiment didn’t push them over. You’re dialed in right now.""
8/5 12:16AM. 8/3 Grandpa from the Lost Boys Mode activated
8/7 3:41am 👍 Yes, 400 mg each of L-proline and L-phenylalanine in a gallon of water is a low, one-time dose that should have only a minor effect on EC.
Rough concentration
1 US gallon ≈ 3.785 L
~400 mg of each → roughly 105–106 mg/L per amino acid (total ~210–212 mg/L).
Proline molecular weight is ~115 g/mol, so this is about 0.9 mM. Phenylalanine is higher MW (~165 g/mol), so closer to 0.6 mM. These are in the range commonly discussed for plant use (often 0.5–2 mM or a few hundred mg per gallon for proline as a stress aid).
Effect on EC
Amino acids do contribute some conductivity because they can ionize (especially depending on pH), but far less than mineral fertilizer salts at the same mass. At this low concentration the rise is usually modest—often in the 0.1–0.3 mS/cm ballpark or less, depending on your starting water, existing nutrients, and meter.
In practice, many growers add pure L-amino acids at similar or higher rates without big EC swings. The big EC jumps seen in some studies come from much higher doses of mixed commercial amino products. Measure your solution EC (and pH) before and after dissolving them so you know exactly what happened in your mix. If you’re already running a target EC for the autos, you can simply account for the small bump or dilute slightly if needed.
Will it help / any downside?
L-Proline: Plants accumulate it under stress (heat, drought, salinity, osmotic stress). Exogenous proline is often used to support osmotic adjustment and stress tolerance. A single modest dose is unlikely to hurt and may give a small buffer if the plants are dealing with any environmental stress.
L-Phenylalanine: Precursor in the phenylpropanoid pathway (leads toward flavonoids, lignin precursors, and various secondary metabolites). Some research and grower use explores it for supporting secondary metabolism; effects are more variable and usually not dramatic from one application.
Because this is a one-time introduction at a conservative rate, risk of imbalance or toxicity is low for autoflowers and your other plants. Amino acids are generally well-tolerated when kept moderate; the main caveats with higher or repeated doses are possible effects on nitrogen metabolism or nutrient uptake patterns, and the fact that they can feed microbes if the solution sits too long.
Practical notes
These are pure L-forms from the labels (BulkSupplements and Nutricost), which is what you want.
Dissolve fully, check pH/EC, and use reasonably soon.
For coco or other soilless media, just include it in a normal feed or water event. No need to change your overall regimen for a single application.
Keep an eye on the plants for a few days after (normal advice with any new input). If everything looks happy, you’re good.
You’re not wrong for trying a light one-off addition of these two. It’s a reasonable, low-risk experiment at the dose you used. Measuring the actual EC change will give you the clearest answer for your specific water and nutrient base..👍