Hey guys, I had a few questions as I've had a few problems over the last couple months. First off, I am a new grower, but have some experience using the Fox Farms line of Nutrients and we have that pretty dialed in, we were looking to move to the BioCanna line. I decided to be the guinea pig and went off and got set up. I had some problems right off. I was using Canna Coco with my BioVega, Cannazyme, and Rhizotonic.
Coco is close to hydro. Canna makes different nutes for coco. The Biocanna line is made to be used with soil, or the Bioterra Plus. BT Plus is an peat/bark/coco mix with very high end peat
The plants yellowed over the next week. I got in touch with Canna and they told me that I needed to go with a peat based fertilized soil, so I went back and picked up some Happy Frog Organic Soil. For the next week, I gave the plants water, Rhizotonic, and Cannazyme. They turned green again and started to grow. The following week, I added 4ml of BioVega to the mix, and the following week I went to 8ml. I started having problems and signs of Nutrient Burn were popping up so I went back to just water and Rhizo/'Zyme. They are doing well again, and at the beginning of next week will be going into bloom.
8mL/gal is a big jump from 4 over that time period. Check my journal in my sig, I have some numbers listed. Try going more gradual. Get a plastic syringe from the pharmacy to measure your nutes for accuracy. And forget the coco unless it is small part of the mix. Coco is in BioTerra Plus, but in lesser amounts relative to the peat. It's all about the peat!
My questions are about the Happy Frog Soil. I used it because we I couldn't find any BioTerra Plus as it is now not allowed to be imported due to sterilization issues. I was told Happy Frog was comparable and that I should use a ferilized soil, so I went with that. I don't even think that you need nutes if you are using the fertilized soil.
Happy frog has enough food for a few weeks, that is all, and is by design. But if you are using a true soil (check my "what is soil-less organic" thread) then you need little or no extra nutes.
I am pretty sure that if I just added water to them when they were dry, they would do their thing. Thus negating the need for the nutrients, lol. The other problem is that the water retention is terrible. On my newest set going into veg and from here on out, I believe, I cut the soil with Pro-Mix in a 1:1 ratio. The water retention is much better, but now I will have to retweak my nutrient mix.
Water retention is terrible how? Stays wet too long?
When I used Happy Frog I cut in a little perlite.
So basically ya that is it, any ideas? I am thinking that when I go into bloom with these I will have leeched enough of the nutrients in the soil to safely use the BioFlores without burning them again. When I start veg with my 1:1 ratio plants, should I let them use the nutes in the soil for a week and then add my BioVega in after that? Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.
1:1 ratio plants: I can't tell you for certain. I do not run that system. It should not be that different. You are mostly changing the perlite content by using pro mix. I would just add some grade 3 perlite to the happy frog and 8/6 the perlite. Let them use the available food, this is when you add inoculants and teas, both, separately.
If you have not been using any nutrients, then introduce them gradually. If you have signs of overfeeding, or imbalance, then back off. After I transplant I do not feed for a couple waterings. Then I slowly start using the bottled nutes as needed. Do not start using the Flores until two or three weeks into flower.
I've been thinking about how i'm going to do it, and I think on the first 2 weeks in veg it will be getting Rhizo and Zyme and like you said I will gradually add in nutes after that. The first run is always the most stressful when tweaking your recipe and learning new strains.