A water hardness/ powder feed question

[Old.man.moore]

Hi everyone- I'm abit stuck here.

My water is very soft at an ec of 0.1 and I'm going to be using the powder feed next time

I'm just doing abit of research and its recommended to be added to medium water at 0.7 ec so does this mean I should make up the difference using calmag

Any help would be great on this thanks guys

[Dust]

hey old man, you're not the first to ask and i'm curently trying to reach franco to ask him, I should know in few days and i'll keep you updated

[Old.man.moore]

Sweet, thanks mate

[mopman]

hey old man, you're not the first to ask and i'm curently trying to reach franco to ask him, I should know in few days and i'll keep you updated

I have also got soft water so would be good to find out

[MissKittyKat]

i got really hard water, its like 120 - 170 ppm depending on the day. Once I let it sit out and bubble for about 2 days it seems to be 117 to 140 still very hard.

how does it work with hard water?

[Old.man.moore]

i got really hard water, its like 120 - 170 ppm depending on the day. Once I let it sit out and bubble for about 2 days it seems to be 117 to 140 still very hard.

how does it work with hard water?

It's strange that would put your ec at roughly 0.3-0.4 which is below medium hardness if 0.7 is medium.

It will be good to know and will help with all growing I think as well

[Dust]

Hey Mar-Tay for the guano if you go lightly on it i think you should be fine, but go on low on guano to be able to feed full strength with the feeding when necessary

I'll ask anyway when i'll see him

MissKitty, i have a very hardwater too, EC around 0,5-0,6 when coming off the tap, but the powder does a wonderful job with it

[MissKittyKat]

It's strange that would put your ec at roughly 0.3-0.4 which is below medium hardness if 0.7 is medium.

It will be good to know and will help with all growing I think as well

Sorry so are you saying my water is not hard? I thought that 150 ppm is hard?

[Old.man.moore]

No no- I'm just saying I'm confused- on the powder feed site they base there values on ec 0.7 which they say is medium water which roughly converts to 350ppm

So I'm just confused and looking for some clarification on how to use the powder feeding correctly for my next grow

It would be cool to get greenhouses word on it

[oldemarine]

In Hawaii on the windward sides of the Islands many people use catchment rainwater collected off the roof as a primary water source. This water has low EC levels and could almost be compared to RO water. From what I see on the Powderfeed Labels one should be adding calcium, sulphur, and perhaps a little magnesium when using soft waters. It would be nice if Franco could give us the proper levels to be able to fine tune the nutrient solution.

[Old.man.moore]

We have an abundance of rain water in the uk so I may try that one day if I get room to set something up.

It looks like your right with extras- I wonder if any pk in flowering would be advised

When I run it though am just gonna use it as greenhouse recommend - the results that I've seen so far look great!!!

[Levente]

Cal+Mag is usefull if using rain or rowater...

[Dust]

yes Guys i asked franco and he talked quickly about it during his seminar with arjan at the HTTC! and Like Levente stated he advised to use some Cal Mag in the case of using RO water or rainwater!

The video will be uploaded soon so you'll see by yourself

Cheers guys

[Old.man.moore]

Looking forward to it- my water is very clean and after my current grow I'm most Definatly going to be using some- thanks for asking Dust

[oldemarine]

Dust, How many PPM or mmol is some? Another question has been abour sulphur levels as it is often not included in cal mag. It is important to get proper ratios for peak production. Using a peat based substrate the calcium , magnesium, and sulphur can be added using a 50% flour lime, 25% gypsum, and 25% dolomite lime addition to the media. Using water culture, hydroton, or cinders this is not an option.The Canadian Advanced Nutrients have approx. 113 PPM Calcium, 27 Magnesium, and 51 Sulphur in the pH perfect formulation a&b.

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/cultivation-scientific-data/130417-cannabis-tissue-nutrient-analysis.html

[Dust]

on that point for the how much is spome i guess it will depends on the product used, medium, grow technique, i won't be able to give you an average rate, safest is to start at a low rate and slowly increase if you see some lacks

About the sulphur, i don't have a clue he never mentionned it to me, so perhaps he supposed it was contained in the medium you will use like you mentionned it is "easy to add it in soil" or weither he doesn't add it at all.

But don't refer too much to others formula to calcul your own amount i think, don't know if it's a sure way to do it

If i catch him i'll try to ask

[Levente]

yeah! it is not rocket science, u can't say numbers without actually seeing the plant, and even after...

[oldemarine]

Levente, Plant Nutrition is a science with people like Cees Sonneveld, Dr. Lynette Morgan, and the people at NASA doing outstanding work. In the cannabis industry we have realized calcium, magnesium, and sulphur are needed in the proper ratios for good production of quality product. I was tought by Dr. Tim Mack of Grodan and Dr. Charles Pheiffer of the Soil and plant Labs in Seattle back in 1986 things need to have a balance to work correctly. I am looking forward here to see Franco's comments on how to balance the N-P-K-Ca-Mg with the incomplete Powderfeed formulations.

[Levente]

I belive that and agree totally! But u also know, that it is more strain, and even pheno-specific, so u just can't say 1 correct amount... That's all i'm sayin!

[QUICKMARK]

boy do i got a lot to learn i just relized i have been overlooking the ingreedents ratios but i am in flowering useing a simple plan following instuctions and listing to you guys is where most of my knowledge is comeing from,at this rate i been growing all most one year this secound year i will begin learning all that on my 4 th grow which i expect to be my best ever right now i have 6 kushs and 3 baggie seeds and they are all heathy but i have no pics yet keep on teaching teachers thank you happy new year

[oldemarine]

Quickmark, Strainhunters is doing great work with the new powderfeeding formulas. It seems only the question of Calcium, Magnesium, and Silica levels for Indica, Hybrids, and Sativas need to be expanded on to get the formulas precise. On the issue of Calcium research has shown that a Ca to N ratio of 1 to .66 and a 4-2-1 K to Ca to Mg has been the norm with more Ca needed in the growth stage as compared to the bloom. Using the 160 PPM of Nitrogen in the Indica formulation that would be 160 PPM (3.99 mMole/ l) to 105 (2.63 mMoles/l), for the Sativa target Calcium levels of 180 PPM (4.48 mMoles/l) to 118 PPM (2.96 mMoles/l),Using the 4 K-2 Ca-1 Mg guideline this would be too much Calcium at a level of 75 PPM ( 1.78 mmoll/l) for the Hybrid formula a Calcium level of 150 PPM (3.74 mmoles/l) to 99 PPM (2.46) would be a good target level range. It is always best to know the Calcium and Magnesium levels of your water before calculating additions because levels in the USA range from 0 to 216 PPM (5.38mMole/l) Ca from soft to hard water. Jack's Professional seems to feel a minimum is around 80 PPM for greenhouse crops. A general guide for Silica is 14 PPM (.5 mMole/l) with some research showing 28 PPM (1mMol/) produces stronger plants with more disease resistance.

[QUICKMARK]

See this exactly what im talking about if it wernt for you experienced people this thing that we do would be useless because guys like me wont be able to reach your high of knowledge,thanks to everyone happy new year

[Levente]

I 10 strains going... strange, but the 100% indica showed cal mag deff when fed with the indica powder, while the hybrids shall need more of those... the hybrid powderfeeding suits better to me. I usually add 1l of tapwater ( around 350 mg/l)to 6 l of rainwater. But the hybrid powder has more in it, so i add a little less lately... and they seem to b ok. It is hard to feed 10 different strains, but u can learn much about the strains specific needs. Happy growing!

[oldemarine]

I 10 strains going... strange, but the 100% indica showed cal mag deff when fed with the indica powder, while the hybrids shall need more of those... the hybrid powderfeeding suits better to me. I usually add 1l of tapwater ( around 350 mg/l)to 6 l of rainwater. But the hybrid powder has more in it, so i add a little less lately... and they seem to b ok. It is hard to feed 10 different strains, but u can learn much about the strains specific needs. Happy growing!

Aloha Levente, Calcium and Magnesium problems show up differently on the plant. Calcium shows at the top with a puckered straplike growth pattern on new young growth. Magnesium starts on mature leaves with a chlorotic area at the leaf margin followed by necrotic patches.

[Levente]

Thanks man, u r very nice, but i know that well! cheers anyway! But as i wrote i have 10 strains going on with different needs... It is almost imposibble to make a universal feeding for them, some showed this, some that, third something else. Mg def appeared on magicbuds and cal def on 1 doc, but caught in time, no worries! If i remember good, Lambsbread made 1 excellent post about all deffs... Good read with pictures, really recommended to know for every growers. Happy growing!