More Noob questions

Been hearing alot of different inputs on Ph for watering coco W/ organic amendments. I heard 6.7 is Good and been doing that. Seems to be working. Still unsure if this is optimal.
I heard Cal mag lasts 3-6 months is Dol Lime a better choice? Can I reuse this soil by leaving moist in organic fertilizer for a few weeks/ worm castings?

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Are you using coco or soil, you mentioned both. Coco PH is 5-8-6.2, soil 6.3-6.8 :love_you_gesture:

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It takes a long time for lime to break down enough for it to be bioavailable to the plant. Cal/mag is a better choice.

Can you post a link to the claim? Cal/mag should be fed at least once a week and it is particularly important during flowering. I feed it every watering as plants absorb it and what the plant eats must be replaced.

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@MidwestGuy are you giving cal-mag and silica every time and then adding the other nutes every other?

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I adjust nutes as necessary to maintain a runoff PPM of ~1,000. I begin feeding silica around flowering time when training is complete (since silica strengthens plant structure and can make training difficult with stiff stems.) I feed ~4 ml of cal/mag every watering.

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@MidwestGuy Thnk you - I didn’t really think of it that way. I was drawing a distinction between strengthening the stems vs. stiffening them. In my head, my analogy was to kids with growing bones getting strong and then us with a few more years on getting stiff, regardless of strength. Should probably stop thinking :thinking:

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Remind me - do you grow in coco / coco & perlite?
What nutrients?

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Soil and Jacks. Have I not considered something relevant to coco and made a bad statement?

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No not at all. I couldn’t recall for certain but I thought soil.
I don’t start silica until flip too. Some heavy indica strains are hard enough to work with.

Yeah. I’ve broken more stems and split more nodes that I care to remember.

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@MidwestGuy silica should be given from seedling to help grow healthy branches that can support the weight of heavy buds. It helps reinforce the cell walls and make them strong. Using it right away wont make the plant untrainable it just means you have to stay on top of it and get it before its woody. I do not suggest waiting until flower for silica. Its the foundation of a healthy plant. Thats just me though

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Im a pure hydroponic grower though and silica is not present in water like it is in soil already.

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I would never do this in soil, nor would I recommend it to anyone. Otherwise agree with you on the effects. May be a good idea if in hydro.

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Its absolutely neccesary in hydroponics. There is no silica whatsoever in any nutrient mix, hydro or soil. And the plants need it to grow to their full potential. As stated before its already present in soil at around 28% from seedling. So in reality you are feeding silica from seedling. Youre just not adding it yet because it hasnt been depleted. If not given to plants in hydoponics they will not grow to thier full potential and will need tons of support to bear the wieght of the colas

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Exactly why I supplement later in the grow. My last plant had a hell of a time holding up flowers even with plentiful silica. I usually end up having to support the flowers with bamboo sticks, though I’ve had a few plants that did quite well on their own.

I get the point for hydro. The plant gets nothing that you don’t put in the mix for her and silica is super important for good growth. A good bit of the trichomes, for instance, are made of silica.

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Yes the manufacturer states it on amazon. Q and A , 3-6 months since the bottle it opened. pissed me off to be honest! They state it supposed to last approx 1 grow from opening not exp date!.

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I misunderstood your statement then. I thought you might be saying that an application of cal/mag would sustain the plant for months. Sorry.

It’s not legitimate for a manufacturer to claim how long their products last. They can state how many applications it is good for, but how much is actually used can be highly variable.

They are being honest, appently the stuff stopped working quick and they wanna be able to say “we told ya so” typical Cooperate tactic in my eyes. Potheads dont be reading labels n shitt

Product warranty on nutrients and supplements is 1 year past the date of manufacture. Stable shelf life can run past this substantially if unopened, but this time greatly depends on storage conditions. Once a product is opened, it should be used within 6 months, or ideally- the time it takes to cycle a production garden which is typically 12 weeks on average. Opened products may last longer than this, but it should not be expected to be the case. see less
By Tech Support MANUFACTURER on August 23, 2019

They say 3 -6 months of stored at proper temps. I’ve actually called them and asked that same question.
By Sketch on August 23, 2019

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I’ve had my bottle for years. I have to shake it up before each use, but it works just fine.

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