Coco Coir Ph Level to use with Fox Farms (Trio-Pack) Nutes?

VoidProphecy

VoidProphecy

Member
I've seen alot of people shit on Fox Farms because they end up burning their plants out instead of starting out at a 1/4 (or 1/8th) dose and working up. Anyways I've come across some information regarding the PH, I've been told that the PH for coco with Nutes and not a organic medium need to be lower around the 5.5-6. I also understand that the Fox Farm line up is "salty", So im curious as to what PH i should be at when I start giving nutes. I've been PHing to 6.3-5.5, the Trio line up consists of Big Bloom, Grow Big and Tiger Bloom. and I suppose my other question on top of this would be, do i also need to supplement with cal-mag as well?

Substrate: Coco Coir W/ Perlite 70/30 blend (I added Mycelium Brick from one of my mushroom grows as well)
Temp: 75-80F
RH: 45-55
Water: Well Water(Hard Water) around 7 from Tap
 
VoidProphecy

VoidProphecy

Member
MickFoster said:
I like to use a pH around 6.0 for my nute solution.
You may not need calmag...........try not using it and see..........I never have to use a calmag supplement.
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Ill try that out, and i didnt think i really needed cal-mag with my water being hard, i acutally have pretty decent water i have a river about 600m from my house so should be good.
 
Dreminen169

Dreminen169

Well-Known Member
VoidProphecy said:
Ill try that out, and i didnt think i really needed cal-mag with my water being hard, i acutally have pretty decent water i have a river about 600m from my house so should be good.
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I would still check to make sure your ppm is not above 300❗otherwise it can throw off the proper ratio of nutes that Fox farms spent millionson research to get right. I’m not sure if FF makes a hard water nute line, but I know AN & other nute companies do. Something to look into since you have hard water
 
VoidProphecy

VoidProphecy

Member
Dreminen169 said:
I would still check to make sure your ppm is not above 300❗otherwise it can throw off the proper ratio of nutes that Fox farms spent millionson research to get right. I’m not sure if FF makes a hard water nute line, but I know AN & other nute companies do. Something to look into since you have hard water
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If this is true I'll look into it more; could you elaborate a bit on how the Hard Water effects the nutes going into the medium? I'd also like to add the fact that my water has a very high alkalinity level so this might be an issue, "The harder the water is, the more acid is needed to bring the pH back down to a plant-friendly level." i might have to actually PH lower then 6.0 im thinking 5.3 or somewhere around there im gonna have to experiment with this I can tell...
 
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Dreminen169

Dreminen169

Well-Known Member
VoidProphecy said:
If this is true I'll look into it more; could you elaborate a bit on how the Hard Water effects the nutes going into the medium? I'd also like to add the fact that my water has a very high alkalinity level so this might be an issue, "The harder the water is, the more acid is needed to bring the pH back down to a plant-friendly level." i might have to actually PH lower then 6.0 im thinking 5.3 or somewhere around there im gonna have to experiment with this I can tell...
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Hard water has extra minerals such as extra Ca. This extra Ca & other minerals will throw off the balance of the nute line your putting in. This is why a bunch of ppl like to start with RO water which has 0ppm.

Hard water nute lines will take the hard water into account & have a slightly different ratio of nutes to account for the extra Ca & other minerals.

The high alkalinity is definitely a problem. Depending on your medium ie. Soil or coco depends on what you want to pH to. pH for coco is 5.5-6.3 & for soil is 6.2-7. You do not want to go below 5.5pH no matter the water source. Normally I would say don’t bother pHing in soil, however because of your water source it will me a MUST for you❗
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
VoidProphecy said:
If this is true I'll look into it more; could you elaborate a bit on how the Hard Water effects the nutes going into the medium? I'd also like to add the fact that my water has a very high alkalinity level so this might be an issue, "The harder the water is, the more acid is needed to bring the pH back down to a plant-friendly level." i might have to actually PH lower then 6.0 im thinking 5.3 or somewhere around there im gonna have to experiment with this I can tell...
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pHing to 5.3 is going to be a bad idea.
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
VoidProphecy said:
Im being told I need cal-mag and I dont belive the trio supplements that, but im also being told i dont really need it some im confused
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Not familiar with that lineup but most quality nutrient lines have enough of each. Start with what you have and then add CalMag if it's needed. More often than not especially with tap water it's not needed.

People spread bad information all the time like that you should flush your plants before harvest or that you need to add CalMag to every grow. Usually it's not spread maliciously but from lack of knowledge.
 
timmah1979

timmah1979

Active Member
VoidProphecy said:
Im being told I need cal-mag and I dont belive the trio supplements that, but im also being told i dont really need it some im confused
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Fwiw ff sells their own calmag solution. It’s needed in their soil. I’ve read coco you def need to add calmag as the medium will hold onto it and not expose it to the plant so you need to add it. I can attest to needing it in soil, I’m in the process of moving to coco and was told this by several folks
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
timmah1979 said:
Fwiw ff sells their own calmag solution. It’s needed in their soil. I’ve read coco you def need to add calmag as the medium will hold onto it and not expose it to the plant so you need to add it. I can attest to needing it in soil, I’m in the process of moving to coco and was told this by several folks
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IDK about FF, but I use quality nutrients that don't require you to add CalMag or other supplements.
 
VoidProphecy

VoidProphecy

Member
timmah1979 said:
Fwiw ff sells their own calmag solution. It’s needed in their soil. I’ve read coco you def need to add calmag as the medium will hold onto it and not expose it to the plant so you need to add it. I can attest to needing it in soil, I’m in the process of moving to coco and was told this by several folks
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I'll be getting some cal-mag and silica today
 
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
VoidProphecy said:
I've got Hard Water though at 230-350ppm just depends on what tap I use
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I have hard water as well. I still need some Ca and Mg. I wouldn't add it until I need it though. The right pH is about 5.8 to 6.0. You pH AFTER you add all your nutrients. You'll get a swing up in the first 24 hours. So measure it again then and carefully titrate it to your desired pH. Then over the week my res lasts I usually see it move up a little gradually to 6.0, even up to 6.3 isn't bad. I've gone as low as 5.5 but the time my meter went off (because I was to fucking lazy to calibrate it) I was 5.2 and my plants tried to crawl out of their containers. I felt guilty over that one. Oh well they did fine after I calibrated my fucking meter.

Best of luck on this
 
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