Plant Nutrition
Which food to use...
Having been to several hydroponics stores attempting to learn as much as I could, I found the selection of nutrients and supplements indeed overwhelming. The many colorful containers with names I scarcely understood, when it came time to start feeding my initial plants (after the three weeks of nutrients the Happy Frog soil contained) I was more than confused. I stopped by the local hydroponics store and just began to wander. I was amazed at the quantities of all the nutrients and supplements. One quarter, gallon, five gallons, 10 gallons, etc. – how big are the grows that require so much? I asked the employee there for recommendations and he pointed me first to Dyna-Gro (which I eventually selected) and others that he said were more “organic” than others, some that were primarily marketing hype to account for the high price. It was kind of odd that this particular store had no prices on anything in the store. You had to ask for each item. It was kind of off-putting.
Finally deciding on Dyna-Gro, he selected three bottles, each a quart (the smallest size). It was comprised of Mag-Pro, GROW, and Pro-TeKt. I would need BLOOM when I decided to flip the plants from the vegetative phase to flowering. The quantities used for each feeding were rather small. About a half-teaspoon for each gallon of water. I think all three came to about $60. I was pleased because these bottles would last me a LONG time with fractions of a teaspoon each feeding. I’ll give details of each of the nutrients and supplements in the sections below.
Current nutrition tracking for grow two
GROW
GROW™ 7-9-5 is an all-purpose complete nutrition formula containing all 6 essential macronutrients and all 10 essential micronutrients that every plant needs. It is used to promote both foliage and bloom growth.
GROW is urea free and won’t burn your plants.
Supplies a high nitrate to ammoniacal nitrogen ratio to promote shorter internodal spacing resulting in stronger stems.
Insures healthy leaf and stem growth.
Ideal for poor, rocky soils, hydroponics and container grown plants. Note that hydroponics, in a broad sense, is growing without soil (dirt as you would find in your garden). Therefore, it is important to know that when you are growing in a container, the medium, whether coir or peat based is not soil. It provides no nutrients and, accordingly, is a form of hydroponics! GROW or other complete nutrients from Dyna-Gro are essential for maintaining healthy plants in any soil-less medium.
Use as a rapid cure for nutrient deficiencies and to help replenish lost minerals in poor and depleted soils.
GROW is the one single complete formula for all growers on all plants.
MAG-PRO
Mag-Pro® 2-15-4 is a concentrated blossom booster designed to help plants initiate flowering and develop large, vibrant, aromatic blooms.
Mag-Pro provides high levels of phosphorus, magnesium, and sulfur, to pack on enormous weight during the flowering cycle, while simultaneously enhancing color, resin production, fragrance and flavor in your valuable flowers.
The nutrients in Mag-Pro are immediately available, giving your plants the ability to access the nutrients they need at the critical times of flower formation to ensure massive growth and enhanced flavor and aroma through increased production of essential oils, terpenes, and flavanoids.
Growers using reverse osmosis, rain or deionized water will benefit from the addition of Mag-Pro.
Use Mag-Pro instead of a calcium/magnesium supplement because there is ample calcium in all complete Dyna-Gro nutrient formulas and those supplements do not have the sulfur, phosphorus and potassium found in Mag-Pro.
Mag-Pro is THE blossom booster for growers looking to maximize the beauty and value of their crop.
pro-tekt
Pro-TeKt® 0-0-3, The Silicon Solution® is a supplement that supplies silicon and higher levels of potassium to build stronger plant cell walls.
Since silicon does not trans-locate within the plant, it must be applied and made available continually throughout the plant’s life cycle.
In hydroponics, Pro-TeKt is a replacement for the silica normally found in soils, though those natural levels provide only slight benefits to plants.
Plants supplied regularly with Pro-TeKt experience increased rates of growth and stronger stems.
Deposited in a hard, opalene form in the epidermis of leaves and stems, silicon adds mechanical strength and supports plants’ natural defenses against insects and fungal infection.
Plants become more tolerant to drought, heat, and cold stresses, and will support the weight of dense, heavy buds.
Pro-TeKt can be used as a surfactant and to raise pH. Pro-TeKt® The Silicon Solution® is recommended for all plants.
More information on the use of potassium silicate is found here:
bloom
BLOOM™ 3-12-6 is specifically formulated to be used during the flowering stage. Begin using BLOOM before your plants decide to shift into the flowering phase.
A lower level of nitrogen will help reduce stem elongation and invigorate cola zones (budding area) to promote dense, vibrant flowering buds.
High levels of phosphorus and potassium push production of resinous, potent and sticky flowers.
When applied, the plant nutrients in BLOOM are immediately available, giving your plants the ability to access all the minerals they need for optimum production.
Ample levels of calcium, no need to supplement with a Cal-Mag product.
Use with either complete base nutrient Foliage-Pro® or GROW™ to regulate nitrogen levels for best quality and quantity.
Excellent for all indica, hybrid, and sativa strains.
Maximum, dense healthy bud growth!
molasses
WHY MOLASSES IS EXCELLENT FOR HEALTHY PLANT GROWTH
The soil that you are using to grow your cannabis is arguably one of the most important factors for strong and healthy growth of your plants. Good soil contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, along with minerals such as potassium, iron and calcium, as well as many other compounds and nutrients. Each of these compounds is essential for healthy growth of your cannabis plants.
But the nutritional compounds in your soil, the chemicals, minerals and other inorganic substances are not all there is to make a good environment for your plants. Soil also contains beneficial microorganisms which live in it. These microorganisms are also playing a vital role in healthy growth of your plants.
Molasses is the perfect food for these microorganisms, as it gives them the ideal environment to thrive. When you supplement soil with molasses, what you’re doing is, therefore, not so much feeding your plants, but feeding the soil and the microorganisms in it. Along with providing the microorganisms with the carbohydrates and sugars that they love to feed on, molasses also has other benefits for the soil.
I use two tablespoons of molasses in each gallon of water.
Great White Mycorrhizae
Great White has a cutting edge formula that contains 15 different species of mycorrhizal fungi, 19 different species of beneficial bacteria, 2 species of trichoderma, plant vitamins and glycine all in one product. Research shows that this powerful formula will ignite plant and root growth, giving plants the tools they need to maximize yields. Great White's concentrated formula ensures optimum colonization of root systems by the fungi for less money.
The water soluble powder makes application a snap and delivers the spores directly to the roots for immediate germination. Users should look for explosive root growth, increased yields, increased fruiting and flowering, increased nutrient and water absorption and improved transplant success.
The key to healthy and vital plants starts with a vigorous root system and a vigorous root system starts with Great White. Also, using Great White increases water uptake and the overall absorption area of the root system, resulting in a healthier plant.
Learning about Mycorrhizals
Though this video was produced by another brand of mycorrhizal fungi (I'm using Great White brand), it is a great teaching tool about how these "Myco's" work related to their symbiotic relationship with plant growth and nutrient absorption.
I have been stunned by the near explosive plant and root growth in both of my grows to date. This is fascinating!
Feeding chart from Dyna-gro
Click this link for a PDF of the feed chart:
This contains great information and needed details on plant nutrition. I am using this chart in the weekly feeding of the grows using the nutrients described above from Dyna-Gro.