Bloombastic question

Davebodia

Active Member
Hello there fellow growers.

My question is about how to use Bloombastic. I've searched Google for at least 2 hours trying to find this out. I know how much to use and it's not near as much as the bottle says. I've actually used it before but in a hydro grow and it worked great, I have little doubt it will do the same with my outdoor auto-flower plants, I just need to figure out how to use it.

So, my plants are growing in pots on the balcony in dirt. The mixture calls for .5ml to a liter, ok great, easy enough. Now what do I do with it? Do I pour the entire liter on 1 plant all at once everyday? Every other day? Twice a day? Or is that how much I'm supposed to use per plant over the entire course of the flowering period?

Btw where I live: 90-100F daily, 75-85F nightly, 75-95% humidity.

Help is greatly appreciated. If you have any comments regarding Bloombastic and auto-flowers in general I welcome those as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gg2

cannn

Well-Known Member
Depends what your growing in. Some mediums have enough for plants for a few weeks without anything. You shouldnt be using bloom anything unless your plants are in flower or you have a potassium or phosphorous deficiency. Whats the n-p-k ratio? What stage are your plants in? I dont feed in veg unless i see a deficiency. When i do feed i stick to feeding every 2nd or 3rd watering unless i see an issue

A lot of ppl like to treat autos like their flowering the whole time. This is wrong. Dont feed bloom nutes till you see bud development
 

Davebodia

Active Member
Hey cannn, thanks for the response.

What I'm currently growing is 1 NYC Diesel and 2 Critical Kush, both Barney's Farm (Kiwiland), both autos. I've used Bloom before on an indoor hydro grow but this is different. I'm new to outdoor growing in dirt in a pot. It's also the first time I've grown an auto-flower.

So, I've read to start Bloom when the plant has 4 nodes and/or the plants are in flower, but that seems like two different things to me. So is it one or the other, or is it more like a combination of the two?
As to the growing medium, I'm using organic soil and a soil mixture all mixed together with a few handfuls of guano thrown in.
They're in the veg stage; 21 days, and they're healthy; the Kushes are anyway. The Diesel is growing much much slower. It still looks healthy it's just growing real slow.
They get lots of sun and most of the watering is done by rain. Occasionally I have to add tap water.
I have no tools to check ratios, and as I'm in kind of a 3rd world country, there's nowhere to buy either. That's one reason why I bought auto-flowers. I wanted the growing to be quick and easy. Depending on how this grow goes I may just have to break down and order a few things.

So when it does come time to start using Bloom, I know the Bloom/water mixture amounts, what I need to know is how much to give each plant and how often. I wrote to Atami a few weeks ago but they haven't responded, so I found my way here.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: gg2

cannn

Well-Known Member
A lot of ppl like to treat autos like their flowering the whole time. This is wrong. Dont feed bloom nutes till you see bud development
^

Honestly a lot of autos are more trouble than photos imo

As for how much and how often, this varies by plant. Autos are light feeders so id start at 1/4 or 1/2 the directions on your nutes. I usually feed every third water when i feed. Sometimes i feed every other water. Your bound to mess up a bit but in time youll learn what nute burn and the various nutrient deficiencies look like and figure out what your plants like. Every plant is a bit different unless theyre clones. Some are majorly different
 

Davebodia

Active Member
Thanks again cannn. Sounds like it's more of an experiment than a grow lol. I'll be starting with 1/4 the suggested amount, and maybe I'll feed every other day with 1 and every third day with the other, see what comes out the best.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gg2

cannn

Well-Known Member
Thanks again cannn. Sounds like it's more of an experiment than a grow lol. I'll be starting with 1/4 the suggested amount, and maybe I'll feed every other day with 1 and every third day with the other, see what comes out the best.
I like that. Best way to learn is trying it every way for yourself. You're well on your way to growing some beautiful plants. Always stay open minded!!
:bigjoint:
Post another thread if you have any plant problems before you do anything drastic. Many people over fertilize and mistake it for deficiency and keep over fertilizing. So be careful. I know im the only one who stepped in here so far but theres plenty of ppl on riu who want to help you learn everything there is to know about growing.
 
Last edited:

cannn

Well-Known Member
Thanks again cannn. Sounds like it's more of an experiment than a grow lol. I'll be starting with 1/4 the suggested amount, and maybe I'll feed every other day with 1 and every third day with the other, see what comes out the best.
Also you misunderstand me. You shouldnt be watering everyday most likely. Only water when the soils dry for at least an inch or two in small pots, little deeper if you use 5 gals or more. Then every 2nd or 3rd watering add nutes if you need to
 
  • Like
Reactions: gg2

Father Ramirez

Well-Known Member
Buy a cheap moisture meter and plunge it into the soil near the root ball. The top 1" tells you nothing. Soak your plants with the feed mixture, then don't soak them again until the meter reads at the high end of Dry/low end of Moist. Typically a few days, but in pots on a balcony you may get warm and thirsty more quickly.
Plunging the fork of the meter all around the root ball helps water get to the roots, but be gentle.
 

cannn

Well-Known Member
Buy a cheap moisture meter and plunge it into the soil near the root ball. The top 1" tells you nothing. Soak your plants with the feed mixture, then don't soak them again until the meter reads at the high end of Dry/low end of Moist. Typically a few days, but in pots on a balcony you may get warm and thirsty more quickly.
Plunging the fork of the meter all around the root ball helps water get to the roots, but be gentle.
Feeling the soils worked for me for years.. Havent had an overwatered plant since i started doing so properly so dont tell me my method tells me nothing. Plenty of people go this route and dont spend money on a moisture meter
 
  • Like
Reactions: gg2

Davebodia

Active Member
So let me make sure, if you don't water everyday, and you only feed every 2 or 3 times, then that means feeding would be 1 or 2 times a week correct? I'm using what I'm guessing are 5 gallon pots, and they're on the balcony. It's rainy season so it gets rain steadily for hours sometimes. If it's a heavy rain I pull them under the eave, if it's just steady slow drizzle I leave them out.

As to the moisture meter... it's kind of like ph balance checks, water tests, etc... to me. All of the small technical work that I really don't want to do at the moment. That's why I got autos. I just want to plant the seed and watch it grow. I got the Bloom because I've used it before on hydro grows and it works wonders. And as I only have 2 or 3 plants to last a long time I want them to be as big and juicy as possible with as little work as possible. Besides I don't know of anywhere in town that has them.

Thanks again, I'll update down the road.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gg2

cannn

Well-Known Member
So let me make sure, if you don't water everyday, and you only feed every 2 or 3 times, then that means feeding would be 1 or 2 times a week correct? I'm using what I'm guessing are 5 gallon pots, and they're on the balcony. It's rainy season so it gets rain steadily for hours sometimes. If it's a heavy rain I pull them under the eave, if it's just steady slow drizzle I leave them out.

As to the moisture meter... it's kind of like ph balance checks, water tests, etc... to me. All of the small technical work that I really don't want to do at the moment. That's why I got autos. I just want to plant the seed and watch it grow. I got the Bloom because I've used it before on hydro grows and it works wonders. And as I only have 2 or 3 plants to last a long time I want them to be as big and juicy as possible with as little work as possible. Besides I don't know of anywhere in town that has them.

Thanks again, I'll update down the road.
If feeding once or twice a week is how it turns out for you then yes. A plant thats filled up its container and is growing faster will suck up the water and nutes more quickly and need a feeding earlier, a plant that is still growing it out will require less watering and less feeding if any
 

cannn

Well-Known Member
Ph balance checks are important but if everythings working out right now you dont have to worry about it. The plant will tell you more about what it needs than any soil test if you learn the signs. A moisture meter seems entirely uneccessary to me. People have been farming long before we had any of this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gg2

Davebodia

Active Member
Thanks for the table. Here's a couple pics of my autos. They're not the greatest pics but maybe you can see the weird lookin' little one. It's like deformed and it's growing real slow - that's the NYC Diesel. My real camera is stored away but I'll retrieve soon and take some decent pics.

Fyi, they look kinda yellow because of the camera.
 

Attachments

cannn

Well-Known Member
I find it best to use no more than a 1 gallon pot for seedlings so that it drys out properly and more quickly. I usually start in solo cups. Also your soil looks like it would help if you added something like perlite. Lets more air get to the roots and lets the soil dry a little faster. Also they look like they might be able to use a bit more sun. Look a little stretched to me. If you dont have the option theyll probably be ok there but may not reach full potential. At least 3 hours of full sun a day is recommended but more is better
 

cannn

Well-Known Member
You should start a thread in marijuana plant problems for the deformed one. It looks almost mutated but is definitely having other problems. Cant comment much on that
 
Top