Flower stage nutrients

[Lojo 16]

Hi, great to be here on this great, great site ! 1st time indoor grower. Followed your site for tons of great info. My favorite hands down, of all I've been to. Unfortunately I started my grow before stumbling on to this site or any other. Rescued a couple of 4-8 week clones to begin with, and transferred them to larger 3 gal. pots using Miracle Grow without knowing better. They are now 36 days into flower, and to me, look good. I have only been using Big Bloom a couple weeks now, every other watering. Never had an issue with the grow other than Fungus Knats. Ph run off has been low, high 4- low 5, but they look healthy. Should the buds look fuller at this stage ? I don't know. Anybody ?
Questions ? 1. Can I use low dosage Tiger Bloom still ? 2. Can I, should I, ph up so run off is in proper range ?

[Lojo 16]

I think I get it. Perhaps mentioning I'm growing in Miracle Grow soil could be the reason I'm getting no response on my questions. I know it's frowned upon big time on GWE, and I understand why. I did it before I knew any better though and am stuck with it for the rest of this grow. But that's OK, I'll get by. Thanks any way.

[r3m1]

do not use that crap, my father did a run with it on his first grow and they all looked good but the buds where just way to airy and the smell went to a hay smell after they cured.

[Royal Nugs]

Nah, not at all Lojo. We're here to help. Don't run away just yet! Sorry your post slipped through the cracks... we're usually pretty vigilant but nobody's perfect, y'know?

Anyway, wow! Nice looking plants! I wouldn't change a thing. They look healthy and happy. Don't change what ain't broke. I'm surprised they're doing so well with such low PH. What is the PH of the input water? Something must be buffering the PH for you, assuming the readings are accurate.

I'm not too familiar with Fox farm nutes, there are a few users on the forum that might chime in, but like I said, they look great. Can't see much room for improvement, maybe pluck a few fan leaves that may be blocking lower bud sites.

[OzBud]

Like Royal said you're very welcome here!
Plants look pretty healthy.
How do you check your pH? meter? test strips?
What pH are you putting in?

[Lojo 16]

Thank you Nugs & Oz, I just need to be a little more patient. From the tap my ph is 7-7.5 which is what the plant got for most of its life. Past few waterings I've used GH ph up to about 8.5. Last watering I've upped it some more and it came out upper 5's. I'm using the GH ph kit with the drop tester. Etekcity 2011 digital meter will arrive tomorrow.

[Tersky]

Welcome Lojo. The plants look great. Like Royal, im surprised that they are doing so well with the pH you said. For 36 days into flower they look about the right size. The bulking up of the buds happen a little later usually so don't fret. As far as the miracle grow goes, you live and learn man. One recommendation i would give is to defoliate to give more light penetration, and i would do it soon so as not to mess with the bulking of buds (dont want to do it too close to harvest but im guessing you have about a month to go). I use the GH test kit, although i have a digital meter. Got tired of having to calibrate it lol but that's just me. Hope this helps!

[Weed Pharma]

I'm not certain I would use the GH pH up in this grow- I'll explain:

Your water is going in at 7-7.5 and coming out in the high 4's- as Royal Nugs points out-something must be buffering it.
That something would be the microbes in the soil (like organic grows).

GH pH up- may cause those soil microbes to be killed off- I haven't been able to find at what point, so I use it sparingly-especially towards the end.
Your grow is going fine and generally with an organic type grow, you only check the pH occasionally or when there is a problem.

At any rate- changes in pH should be a gradual drift through the range- not an urgent race to an exact number- with any growth not experiencing pH related problems.

[kingfish]

Lojo, I'm blown away with your grow on Miracle Grow. It's not something you see every day. What ever it is your doing. Keep it up. You obviously know what you're doing. And please keep us up to date.
BTW welcome to the zoo.

[Lojo 16]

Thank you all for the responses and good advice. Helps me know I'm at least on target for a successful indoor grow. Have grown outdoors a few times with mild and very good results, but I really like the indoor winter thing. I can spend lots of time with them. Will update down the road.

[sebash5000]

nice grow LoJo Man

[NebulaHaze]

The buds look like they're developing very nicely! The two main issues I've noticed people have with the standard Miracle-Gro soil is it sometimes has lousy drainage (people have a hard time keeping plants watered just right) and it also contains slow-release nitrogen that can cause problems in the flowering stage. But it looks like your plants like what you're doing! Every plant is different and I think grower skill can overcome a lot! I definitely agree with the others that "if it ain't broken, don't fix it!" I'm not sure exactly what's going on with the pH, but you're doing exactly what I would do in that situation.

[Lojo 16]

do not use that crap, my father did a run with it on his first grow and they all looked good but the buds where just way to airy and the smell went to a hay smell after they cured.

True, Very True ! I have experienced those same results once or twice with outdoor grows. Other times not so much. I just blamed it on other things, had no clue then that it could be the soil. I will be using a super soil next grow for sure.

[NebulaHaze]

In my experience, bud airiness is caused by lack of light (or poor plant health) and the hay smell is caused by improper drying/curing. I don't think the soil alone would necessarily cause those things.

[r3m1]

ned those all play factors, soil in a MG mix packs up becomes less airy and more compact, causing less air at the roots. do forget our roots neb, if they are poor conditions then the plant cant break the light it gathering and becomes ill (root rot?) i just dont see a good use in the MJ world as we want the soil to be mushy but not too mushy, basically we want a sponge without the water kinda.

[Lojo 16]

The buds look like they're developing very nicely! The two main issues I've noticed people have with the standard Miracle-Gro soil is it sometimes has lousy drainage (people have a hard time keeping plants watered just right) and it also contains slow-release nitrogen that can cause problems in the flowering stage. But it looks like your plants like what you're doing! Every plant is different and I think grower skill can overcome a lot! I definitely agree with the others that "if it ain't broken, don't fix it!" I'm not sure exactly what's going on with the pH, but you're doing exactly what I would do in that situation.

Thanks for the reply Nebula. The soil drains great. I was very concerned about the overload of nitrogen in flowering, and flushing didn't seem like an option. A garden center owner told me the nutrients don't really last as long as they claim, so I thought I might have dodged a bullet there. I had them in veg for over 3 months with first time training, waiting for every LST and super cropping to repair itself well. That might have helped.

[NebulaHaze]

I can definitely see how 3 months in veg would take care of the too-much-nitrogen problem! Seems like your plants are right on track!