Here we go.
My intention with this round was to ignore the semantics of what is organic and what isn't and instead went for feeding the plants what I felt good about. I landed on Soul Synthetics because I had previously used their other line, Roots Organics, in a soil grow that turned out fantastic. It's worth noting that I don't feel like any one company makes a miracle product and they really all are very similar in terms of what basic nutrients they offer. The key is to learn to read the ingredients and numbers to figure out when to give it what and how much. So, the Soul Synthetics uses very basic synthetic mineral salts which are of the same chemical structure as a plant would naturally extract from an organic source - - - these form the majority of the basic nutrient ratios. Along with those mineral salts are organic materials such as bat guano, cane sugar, alfalfa extract, bamboo, molasses, etc. I believe this combination has the potential for the vigor of synthetics with the flavor of organics. One thing that was important to me was finding a line that smelled good. The Soul line smells sweet, herby, earthy. Kind of how I want my weed to smell. Lastly, this line is meant for coco growing and has a higher P than K in everything.
I started from seed in rapid rooters because they give you some versatility when stepping up. They went from the rapid rooters to 6" cocotek baskets with coco chips to 1 gallon smart pots with coco chips on the bottom and coco fiber around the sides. All coco was triple rinsed by yours truly. Everything was inoculated with Azos and Mykos early on with Mykos continually added throughout bloom. For the uninitiated: Azos is bacteria, it helps with N / Mykos is fungi, it helps with P. So if you use the Azos make sure you stop at least a week before bloom begins.
Veg was quick. I'm only looking to see signs of sex and then I flip them. That means only 3 weeks of feeding after that first week of sprouting. Give or take. I went pretty easy on them and barely even got to full strength Soul Grow and Amino Aide before bloom. Really, I was trying to establish the Azos colony and not trying to use tons of nutrients. I was also adding their sugar/micro/catalyst: Infinity.
Bloom began week 1 with low doses of Soul Bloom, Infinity, and Peak. I prefer to use a late bloom booster for the first week. It goes against the instructions but that extra P really kicks it off. Weeks 2-5 were all Soul Bloom, Infinity, and Big Swell at increasing rates until I got to full strength by week 6 at which point I also kicked back in the Peak again. That's where I'm at right now. Tomorrow morning is the beginning of week 7 and I'll probably decrease the Big Swell a little more while increasing the Peak. Again, 2ml per gallon of Hygrozyme (fuck their instructions - - - that stuff is super hot) with every nutrient change and extra Mykos every couple weeks.
I'll probably flush for weeks 8 and 9. Not sure how I'll do flush. Might do plain water or might do some sugar water.
One thing about these organic hydro systems is the pH gets all wacky. I stopped even messing with mine and just let it ride from 4.7 (5.3 by the time the lights come on) upon first mixing to 7.0 by the end of the week.
I also top off with fresh RO every other day.
darn!
, thank god!!hopefully the moderator did it}
