Dyna-Gro vs Advanced Nutrients Connoisseur (AK47 Grow)

[chuck estevez]

Chuck, those lower leaves are not deficient in calcium. Also, calmag bottles are often derived from calcium and magnesium nitrate. If something greened up that's from nitrogen. Do you have a better picture of a 'calcium deficiency'?

The hydro plants below were only fed DG bases and Protekt with RO water near zero ppm. I've sent multiple samples to labs for analysis, DG's formulas supply plenty of calcium and magnesium even after a week of floods.

You need to do what works for you in your garden but I am telling you that DG bases do not need extra calcium and magnesium.

Here is another in promix at harvest. Foliage pro, protekt, RO water, no additional calmag supplementation. Why don't I need calmag?

AGAIN, I am not saying that a cal/mag def is the problem, I am saying that the distilled water is stripping the soil of something that is causing this issue. Cal/mag just seems to fix it.
also, I have a room full of plants, all get r/o pro-tek,FP and only 1 or 2 will do this. so maybe it is certain strain issue too.

 

[homebrewer]

AGAIN, I am not saying that a cal/mag def is the problem, I am saying that the distilled water is stripping the soil of something that is causing this issue. Cal/mag just seems to fix it.
also, I have a room full of plants, all get r/o pro-tek,FP and only 1 or 2 will do this. so maybe it is certain strain issue too.

No one should be watering their plants with straight distilled water. Is someone doing that? Did I miss that in a post? I would imagine if someone is watering with only distilled then that is definitely not ideal unless we're talking about organic soils. RO/distilled water is merely the starting point to which one adds a complete plant food. I never feed my plants 'nothing'. Even as a plant is nearing harvest it will still get light doses of food and/or an organic-ish additive like floralicious plus.

 

[chuck estevez]

No one should be watering their plants with straight distilled water. Is someone doing that? Did I miss that in a post? I would imagine if someone is watering with only distilled then that is definitely not ideal unless we're talking about organic soils. RO/distilled water is merely the starting point to which one adds a complete plant food. I never feed my plants 'nothing'. Even as a plant is nearing harvest it will still get light doses of food and/or an organic-ish additive like floralicious plus.

I said it earlier in the thread, someone who knows better than me said because of the lack of anything in distilled, it will search out and replace stripped minerals. I think that is what is happening here. I am not 100% on what causes it exactly, but i know I have seen it over and over with the use of r/o or distilled water and the fix is always cal/mag.some plants just don't like it i guess or just need more of what's in that bottle of cal/mag

 

[supdro]

Chuck, those lower leaves are not deficient in calcium. Also, calmag bottles are often derived from calcium and magnesium nitrate. If something greened up that's from nitrogen. Do you have a better picture of a 'calcium deficiency'?

The hydro plants below were only fed DG bases and Protekt with RO water near zero ppm. I've sent multiple samples to labs for analysis, DG's formulas supply plenty of calcium and magnesium even after a week of floods.

You need to do what works for you in your garden but I am telling you that DG bases do not need extra calcium and magnesium.

Here is another in promix at harvest. Foliage pro, protekt, RO water, no additional calmag supplementation. Why don't I need calmag?

HB lookin good as usual! Im running the same setup maybe you can help. I Make my promix with premium peat and perilite do you ph your nutes? Also in your flood what ec do you start with? Or do you have a base nute schedule to go by? I know you preach what works for you but wondering what you use. Thanks

 

[SamsonsRiddle]

It's not a calcium or magnesium issue in the sense that you need to add more than what DG supplies (I use RO water, Promix, and DG w/no calmag. Why would that only work for me in both hydro and promix?), I think you're under-watering your plants and therefore under-feeding them too. I think your nutrient dose is fine but you need to do a better job of getting those plants established in those pots. You said you took those pictures on a watering day? Then why isn't your medium moist? You have a decent amount of root/moisture stress going on and you need to rehydrate your medium with a better watering technique. If you need training wheels, go buy a watering can from a garden store, the kind that poor out through a shower head and water with 16 ounces of water as needed. I promise that if you yanked that plant out of that pot, you'd see a highly under-developed root system.

Sorry to start this same battle again, there, fellers.

I will go ahead and use more volume of water with nutrients (i never use plain ro or distilled) than I have been and i'll stop using my old turkey baster to give it water if you think it'll help.

 

[chuck estevez]

Sorry to start this same battle again, there, fellers.

I will go ahead and use more volume of water with nutrients (i never use plain ro or distilled) than I have been and i'll stop using my old turkey baster to give it water if you think it'll help.

that's what good about HB, he's level headed, there is no battle here, we both have the same goal and that is to fix your problem.
If upping the feeding works, i will try it myself next time i have a plant do this. As of right now, i know what fixes it.

 

[homebrewer]

Sorry to start this same battle again, there, fellers.

I will go ahead and use more volume of water with nutrients (i never use plain ro or distilled) than I have been and i'll stop using my old turkey baster to give it water if you think it'll help.

If you don't use a shower head watering can, I'd water around the base of your plants in a star pattern out of a measuring cup. Make sense? Your goal is to grow happy and healthy roots and if you can do that then the plant above ground will thrive. Keep us posted please.

 

[homebrewer]

HB lookin good as usual! Im running the same setup maybe you can help. I Make my promix with premium peat and perilite do you ph your nutes? Also in your flood what ec do you start with? Or do you have a base nute schedule to go by? I know you preach what works for you but wondering what you use. Thanks

I used to pH my nutes from promix, these days I do not and there has been no change.

That's my flowering E&F setup and I pretty much run 1.0 EC until the end.

 

[supdro]

I used to pH my nutes from promix, these days I do not and there has been no change.

Cooo how long did you let that girl veg!!!

That's my flowering E&F setup and I pretty much run 1.0 EC until the end.

Wooow couldnt imagine staying that low of an ec! You are in rockwool i assume. Do you get a lot of pH swings? Are you keeping the rez sterile or bennies?

 

[SamsonsRiddle]

If you don't use a shower head watering can, I'd water around the base of your plants in a star pattern. Make sense? Your goal is to grow happy and healthy roots and if you can do that then the plant above ground will thrive. Keep us posted please.

without any pictures, i do believe i have been doing the star pattern you told me to do before (using my reliable turkey baster) by starting the streak of water at the fabric pot and making it towards the base of the plant in a line, move over 1/2" and repeat.

Kind of looks like this *

I do this at about 1 oz per line at a time slowly poured so it's not just a puddle.

 

[homebrewer]

Wooow couldnt imagine staying that low of an ec! You are in rockwool i assume. Do you get a lot of pH swings? Are you keeping the rez sterile or bennies?

No pH swings in hydro at all actually. I've found DG to be very pH stable ever since the first week I tested them in my garden. One thing that helps keep things stable is a leaching of my rockwool blocks about every 4 weeks in flower. So usually this means at the halfway point of flowering I'll run a gallon or two of tap water through my RW blocks.

I've messed with great white in hydro, I like it. As much as you'd think it doesn't keep your res healthy and clean, it does.

 

[questiondj42]

No pH swings in hydro at all actually. I've found DG to be very pH stable ever since the first week I tested them in my garden. One thing that helps keep things stable is a leaching of my rockwool blocks about every 4 weeks in flower. So usually this means at the halfway point of flowering I'll run a gallon or two of tap water through my RW blocks.

I've messed with great white in hydro, I like it. As much as you'd think it doesn't keep your res healthy and clean, it does.

Not even a few points either way? I switched to RO after switching to DG, and still experience small swings of 3-4 points either way in my DWC res.

 

[homebrewer]

Not even a few points either way? I switched to RO after switching to DG, and still experience small swings of 3-4 points either way in my DWC res.

I use enough protekt to balance the pH of my DG bases and things stay put for pretty much the entire week. Maybe I'll drift from 5.91 to 5.79 but I'd certainly consider that stable if I'm not required to make an adjustment.

DWC could be different given the fact that your roots are in constant contact with your res.

 

[questiondj42]

I use enough protekt to balance the pH of my DG bases and things stay put for pretty much the entire week. Maybe I'll drift from 5.91 to 5.79 but I'd certainly consider that stable if I'm not required to make an adjustment.

DWC could be different given the fact that your roots are in constant contact with your res.

That would make sense. I have one plant whose roots seem to be very averse to the water. As in, the roots in the water don't grow. But everything above the waterline is beautiful. I usually see a dip of 3-4 points overnight and have to manage. Part of me is ready to ditch DWC for ProMix or some other hydro system.

 

[homebrewer]

That would make sense. I have one plant whose roots seem to be very averse to the water. As in, the roots in the water don't grow. But everything above the waterline is beautiful. I usually see a dip of 3-4 points overnight and have to manage. Part of me is ready to ditch DWC for ProMix or some other hydro system.

Hydro is only great for automation, speed, and yield. Promix or any other container medium is great for variety and versatility. I like that I can move my promix pots around the room or have a 110 day sativa next to a 65 day indica. Watering can become a chore sometimes though and the fact that something ALWAYS needs watered every day can make the hobby a ball-and-chain on our life.

Trade offs

 

[questiondj42]

Hydro is only great for automation, speed, and yield. Promix or any other container medium is great for variety and versatility. I like that I can move my promix pots around the room or have a 110 day sativa next to a 65 day indica. Watering can become a chore sometimes though and the fact that something ALWAYS needs watered every day can make the hobby a ball-and-chain on our life.

Trade offs

This is very true! Although, I'm having pretty decent luck just running flower my res at 1.0-1.2ec and moving plants in and out. I use restaurant silverware washing tubs to get the root mass to grow uniform, then take it off. This avoids the tangles. The biggest gripe is the water changes. But, since switching to RO, I'm noticing more pH stability the more time between res changes.

How much Protekt are you running per gallon? I've been doing 2.5ml per, but I'm playing with backing it off a little bit.

 

[homebrewer]

This is very true! Although, I'm having pretty decent luck just running flower my res at 1.0-1.2ec and moving plants in and out. I use restaurant silverware washing tubs to get the root mass to grow uniform, then take it off. This avoids the tangles. The biggest gripe is the water changes. But, since switching to RO, I'm noticing more pH stability the more time between res changes.

How much Protekt are you running per gallon? I've been doing 2.5ml per, but I'm playing with backing it off a little bit.

It depends on the res but I think close to 4mls/gal balances my pH. In the last week or two I drop it and just use pH up to balance things.

 

[questiondj42]

It depends on the res but I think close to 4mls/gal balances my pH. In the last week or two I drop it and just use pH up to balance things.

I will give that a whirl for a few weeks and see how it pans out. Also looking into RO filters, but christ, does that get overwhelming fast.

 

[chuck estevez]

I will give that a whirl for a few weeks and see how it pans out. Also looking into RO filters, but christ, does that get overwhelming fast.

http://www.purewaterclub.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=67&products_id=264

 

[supdro]

It depends on the res but I think close to 4mls/gal balances my pH. In the last week or two I drop it and just use pH up to balance things.

To balance your ph do you meter and add protekt after your nutes added? I have but they say protekt should be first. I haven't had silica fall out yet but wondering if it effects anything