Nute ? for flowering

intenseneal

Well-Known Member
So after getting back into things after a little over a year break and have beem doing a lot of reading and research, things have changed some. One of the things i am learning is the large scam bottled nute companies and hydro supply stores have been pulling on so many of us. Selling us high priced botles of water and snake oil with promises to groe plants faster, change/increase flavor and increase yields. Great way to make us part with our hard earned money. I was pretty good about not getting a million bottles of this and that but i did try sweets and bloom boosters. Sorry for the rant on to my question.
I have Botanicare Pro Grow and Pro Bloom and have been using it since i got started and it has worked for me. However i agree with the theory that starving the plant for N in flower is not good. So my thought is to use the veg nutes in flower instead of the low N bloom nutes and use liquid Kool Bloom as my PK boost. What are your thoughts on this? I would think it would work well.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
I tend to think in terms of dry products which are high in PK (use tiny amounts). Like Grow More's Hula Bloom which costs about $6 for 1.5 Lbs (last you a lifetime).

An alternative to Liquid KB is to use Alaska Morbloom (0-10-10). That's made out of fish (good for the soil.).

You can also buy a high-P guano (Jamaican bat, for example) and some potassium sulfate (eBay seller Alpha International Chemicals). That too would be healthier for the soil than the typical synthetic booster. Just use the spreadsheet to get a 1-3-2 ratio with your base nutrients (probably cut in half). I've seen people say they go as high as 1-4-2. (Without boosting I try to finish around 1-2-2. That's a mini-boost.).

Good for you thinking outside the box like you are!
 

Alienwidow

Well-Known Member
Personally i switch to bloom food around week 4 of flower. Or add a pk boost and cut out nitrogen. I think the flavor is better and the plant finnishes instead of staying so green. The cure in my expirience takes way less time if i stop nitrogen. That being said, maxsea is a good 16-16-16 thats powder and is pretty cheap. Also the sweet product you bought can eaisily be replaced with molasses or a tea made from bananas.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
I have Botanicare Pro Grow and Pro Bloom
I was just playing with this in the spreadsheet. 1ml of each, plus 1g Sunleaves Jamaican bat guano (0-10-0) gives a nice "booster-level" NPK ratio: 1.0-2.9-1.8. You would raise those quantities equally to get the strength you want without changing the ratio. (5ml and 5g looks good on paper, but you know what you normally feed.).

I wouldn't go that high until 2 weeks before harvest. Bloom by itself is a reasonable 1-1.5-2.5. Except, the K seems high to me (for soil anyway).

I would also switch out of the Botanicare bottles when they're used up. There's less expensive, less proprietary stuff, healthier for the soil because it's based on organic sources.
 

intenseneal

Well-Known Member
Pro bloom is 1-4-5 npk and it is organic at least it says in the bottle but it has a chemically type smell to it. I do plant ti chanbe nutes once these are gone thinking GH flora or HR veg bloom.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
Pro bloom is 1-4-5 npk
Sorry, I didn't realize you were using the soil version (or, forgot there was one). That's an even crazier NPK ratio for bloom, IMO. I try to do 1-2-1.8 at the end, maybe "boost" to 1-3-2. I've heard of people doing 1-4-2.

That amount of K seems high. The whole thing seems high if you're expected to "switch" to bloom and not mix with the "grow" bottle. Mixing equal parts gives 1 - 1.5 - 2.24 which sounds reasonable for mid flower (but still the K sounds high to me.).

1/2ml AK Fish per 1ml Pro Bloom "soil" gives a nice 1-1.36-1.67 ratio.

and it is organic at least it says in the bottle but it has a chemically type smell to it. I do plant ti chanbe nutes once these are gone thinking GH flora or HR veg bloom.
Yes, the ingredients sound good. It doesn't appear they make anything similarly soil'y for "grow?" Interesting idea to do synthetics in veg, organics in flower. I like using a little of both throughout because I see both having advantages. I think the main advantage of organic is in flower, and the taste difference. So, maybe that's a good setup (synthetic in veg, organic'ish in flower.).

I still think you can do better with more generic components, DIY your own ratios, less proprietary formulas and schedules, not paying for the shipping and stocking of 90% water products. But, that stuff sounds pretty good.
 

intenseneal

Well-Known Member
I think we are not on the same page. I want to use my botanicare veg nutes in flower with gh kool bloom to boost the pk. My veg nute is a 3-2-4 and kool bloom is 0-10-10. The flower nutes are a 1-4-5. So if i used veg nutes plus kool bloom in flower instead of the bloom nutes would i possibly see better results? My plan is to keep the leafs green and healthy til harvest by not decreasing N. I know i could just mix my veg and bloom nutes but the full bottle of kool bloom got me thinking and im not going to use it as a bloom booster any more since i do t think it did much.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
I think the reason we're on different pages is that I'm talking NPK ratios, your talking "mix the orange stuff with the green stuff." What I suggested, I believe will keep your leaves green. I agree that 1-4-5 won't.

Just focus on the NPK ratios and it doesn't matter what you use to get it. Just a question of whether you use synthetic or organic to improve the soil.

(I don't really understand because you say you want to use liquid KB. But, then say you're not going to use it anymore.).

If you're asking if bloom boosters do anything, I don't think so. But, yes, you could use it to improve change your veg product to a more bloom'y ratio. But, for $10-20, I would use something less synthetic.

I'm sorry if I'm not understanding. Maybe someone else sees your question differently than I do.
 

intenseneal

Well-Known Member
Cool that helps. I dont plan to use to KB but if it works as a pk boost then i will use it to get rid of it, not using it as a late flower bloom booster. Once my Bota icare is gone i will be changing nutes.
 

Smokenpassout

Well-Known Member
I use a mix of iguana grow and bloom weeks 1-3 of flower then on week 4 I go full iguana bloom at 3/4 strength. It's fairly mild stuff at 4-3-6 but theres enough Nitrogen to keep things green and lush to the bitter end.
 

intenseneal

Well-Known Member
So far i am in using a 50/50 mix of my veg and bloom nutes and all is well. Still thinking in using just veg and kool bloom in mid to late flower.
 
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