At what point do you decide that your plant is ready for blooming nutrients?

Hello,

I'm on my 6th grow and have consistently had problems with my plants lightening up shortly after I start giving them 12/12. What I have been doing every grow is to start giving them bloom nutes right when I give them 12/12. This grow I'm going to wait until they really start to flower before I start bloom nutes hoping that it will help my problem. So far I'm 2 weeks into flower and all my plants are nice and dark green which is a first for me! They haven't started really going off yet, so I'm going to continue grow nutes until they do.

What I'm wondering is at what point do you personally decide that it's time for bloom nutrients?

Don't use bloom, keep on grow, just add PK at half strength through flower.

I like to veg them a month or so. By is time I have gradually worked my way up to maybe halff strength grow nutrients. At this point I switch to 12/12. I continue to to increase grow nutrients up to maybe 3/4 strength through preflowering or the first week of 12/12. As preflower ends and the first signs of actual flowering begin. I split the mix to 50/50 grow and bloom nutrients. Finally about the third week of flower when things get going good I switch the mix to 100 percent bloom nutrients, at no more than 3/4 strength.

Veg and bloom nutrients are way for companies to sell you extra bottles of water.

I rock a 3-2-6 npk for veg and flower. Small PK boost the last 3 weeks of flower. Never been happier.

Awesome! Thank you, to all three of you, for replying. I was so curious what others did. I'm going to try all of your methods because they are all unique. Thank you!

Bluebugfreak said:

Awesome! Thank you, to all three of you, for replying. I was so curious what others did. I'm going to try all of your methods because they are all unique. Thank you!

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No problemo. My goal is always healthy green plants throughout bloom. My last run didnt even show any yellowing or fading! What I have learned is...... that you dont want to cut that extra nitrogen in the grow nutes all of the sudden! Instead, your girls need to be slowly weened off the grow nutes, and gradually increased in PK as flowering sets in! Good luck!

I think nitrogen is needed for the stretch.
I usually cut it back a little after that

Keep your leaves green throughout the grow man like others said add "bloom" foods at half strength or stick to a 3-1-2 for veg and a 1-3-2 for flower

pseudobotanist said:

Keep your leaves green throughout the grow man like others said add "bloom" foods at half strength or stick to a 3-1-2 for veg and a 1-3-2 for flower

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No offense. But those npk numbers are not the best ratio for what we are growing.

We have been brain washed into thinking flowering is dependent on a PK boost. It's not.

One of my most successful harvest was using GH flora series and protekt.

2 parts protekt 5ml/gal
2 parts bloom 5ml/gal
3 parts micro 7.5ml/gal
4 parts veg. 10ml/gal

Npk ratio ends up at 3-2-6 roughly. This is also the same ratio Ionic Bloom uses.(great nutrients for people who are just staring or who have shitty water.

Big question OP, are you soil or hydro?

Carolina Dream'n said:

No offense. But those npk numbers are not the best ratio for what we are growing.

We have been brain washed into thinking flowering is dependent on a PK boost. It's not.

One of my most successful harvest was using GH flora series and protekt.

2 parts protekt 5ml/gal
2 parts bloom 5ml/gal
3 parts micro 7.5ml/gal
4 parts veg. 10ml/gal

Npk ratio ends up at 3-2-6 roughly. This is also the same ratio Ionic Bloom uses.(great nutrients for people who are just staring or who have shitty water.

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No offense taken, however I don't see what you were getting at by telling me about a pk boost? I didn't reccomend for him to have a 10-50-40 ratio or some whacked out crap like that.

While your ratio worked for you, kudos.
I tend to avoid having to mix 3-5 different products in one. But the other thing is some strains have their own eating habits and prefer more of one thing and less of another

innerG said:

Big question OP, are you soil or hydro?

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I'm using Roots Greenfields soil in smartpots.

pseudobotanist said:

No offense taken, however I don't see what you were getting at by telling me about a pk boost? I didn't reccomend for him to have a 10-50-40 ratio or some whacked out crap like that.

While your ratio worked for you, kudos.
I tend to avoid having to mix 3-5 different products in one. But the other thing is some strains have their own eating habits and prefer more of one thing and less of another

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So interesting. I wish I had known enough to have this conversation a year and 1/2 ago! It would have saved me lots of heartache and frustration. I keep growing different strains every time, so I'm not sure what they like as a norm. I think by switching to bloom right away just because I switched the lighting was putting me behind the 8 ball from the get-go. Or at least none of the strains I have grown have reacted well to it.

read the plant. its desired nute ratios change as do concentrations. why would you cut n, if it obviously needs it. just grow healthy plants. learn what each nute does to the plant and for the plant, in tox and def. grow accordingly.

personally, as my grow houses are all automated and in different cities. i only use bloom nutes in my water, throughout the whole grow. usually start feeding after about a month, when n starts to go down in the soil

I would just stay with a well balanced npk. You can push the pk but not needed.

Your making a common mistake. Your worried about burning them. I grow organic now. When I used synthetics I would push them. Them babies burn through a lot of nitrogen in stretch that's the reason for the early fade.

Build to full strength over a few feedings. By the stretch be full strength. Put it to them for the stretch then back off a little.

If you're in soil, you can definitely cut back on the N in the ratio after the stretch to make sure you aren't too leafy.

pseudobotanist said:

No offense taken, however I don't see what you were getting at by telling me about a pk boost? I didn't reccomend for him to have a 10-50-40 ratio or some whacked out crap like that.

While your ratio worked for you, kudos.
I tend to avoid having to mix 3-5 different products in one. But the other thing is some strains have their own eating habits and prefer more of one thing and less of another

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I agree that different strains need different ratios. What I was trying to get at is there isn't a need to use veg or bloom nutrients (no need to lower nitrogen or raise phosphorus in flower)

Oh I agree with that I stick with dg foliage pro throughout the entire grow I do my best to keep green leaves thru the entire grow

pseudobotanist said:

Oh I agree with that I stick with dg foliage pro throughout the entire grow I do my best to keep green leaves thru the entire grow

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I'm using the same nutes so that's great that you've just used DG Foliage pro the whole grow with success! I'm adding a bit of pro-tekt to my feeding as well, but both in small amounts.

Thank you for all that have replied. This has been a priceless, eye opening conversation for me!