Water Report with Cal and Mag, Advice for Jacks 321

XtraGood

XtraGood

Well-Known Member
I checked my water report and it says that most of the hardness in the water comes from calcium and magnesium, ave 156 ppm, range 83-222 ppm. Probably sandstone and limestone?

It seems like I've seen a few people talk about changing the Jack's recipe for various reasons and I think water that includes some calcium and magnesium was one of those reasons. Now that I'm searching for that again I can't find it of course. Looking for advice on improving my nutrient mix based on the water report if anyone has any tips for me.

I'm in coco only 10-15 gal fabric pots fed thru blumats under a variety of LEDs, been feeding jacks 321 (hydro+cal-nit+Epsom) full strength without many additions, none currently.
 
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If your girls like Jack's the way it is why change anything? They say LEDs need more cal/mag so its probably good that it's in your water, so you get a few extra ppm from that. There is no "one formula to rule the all'.

Basically IMO you should only change if your plant tells you something is off. If you see a calcium or nitrogen deficiency, add more calnit. if you see a magnesium deficiency add more epsom. If you see any other deficiency add a little more jacks. Because you have water with some ppms you could probably start lower than full strength, but if they've been doing fine on it no need to worry.
 
For symptoms I've got red stems... and some light burns. Last time I read around it seemed like red stems are a nebulous symptom to chase down in LED systems that doesn't prevent good harvests. It seemed like it might be cal-mag related but I didn't end up with much certainty about red stems except that I've got them.

I've also got gnats, I've been splashing some microbelift bti at them for a month or more but even though it knocked numbers down I've still got some. Might try sprinkling some diatomaceous earth? I've also been meaning to buy/grow some jalapenos and try a spray from them, capsaicin
powder might be the easier way if I avoid getting it all over myself. Not really related to the water report though, I digress, my bad.
 
"The majority of the PPM, or EC reading, you obtain from a measuring device is cal-mag. The most typical form of these minerals in your untreated water is calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate. Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, these forms are virtually unusable by plants, especially fast growing plants"

www.thcfarmer.com

Calcium and Magnesium: Beyond the Obvious: by Richard Gellert

ok it seems that a lot of farmers have been getting this problem lately(INCLUDING MYSELF) and i thought i'd bring some great info to the farm to share with my fellow members...check it i first read this in my Maximum Yield magazine the other day.. Introduction Calcium and magnesium are...
www.thcfarmer.com www.thcfarmer.com

I would not adjust your Jack's for the naturally occuring Ca and Mg.
 
Jacks-80-100.png

Jacks part-A is already high in Mg and S.
Maybe - drop epsom and reducing cal-nit a lil bit to compensate for your tap.

jacks stuff

Clowning with Jacks 321

Data Documentation Journal. Jack’s 321 is a tried and true two-part fertilizer program. It consists of Jack’s Nutrients Part A 5-12-26, Jack’s Nutrients Part B 15-0-0 and Epsom Salts. 321 is the abbreviated amount (ratio) of each fertilizer in grams per gallon.
www.rollitup.org
 
I'd heard not to expect much benefit from the cal and mag in the tap water, good to get a referesher on why that is.

Other than the red stems I've got no complaints and they don't seem to be too troubled as plants. I'm a bit worried that feeding full strength 321 thru the blumats without much going to waste will give me salt buildup issues, however I've read that as long as other additions are minimal I should make it to harvest before the salts start bothering the plants even at full strength? I'd assume the calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate in the tap water aren't helping with buildups in the coco.
 
XtraGood said:
I checked my water report and it says that most of the hardness in the water comes from calcium and magnesium, ave 156 ppm, range 83-222 ppm. Probably sandstone and limestone?

It seems like I've seen a few people talk about changing the Jack's recipe for various reasons and I think water that includes some calcium and magnesium was one of those reasons. Now that I'm searching for that again I can't find it of course. Looking for advice on improving my nutrient mix based on the water report if anyone has any tips for me.

I'm in coco only 10-15 gal fabric pots fed thru blumats under a variety of LEDs, been feeding jacks 321 (hydro+cal-nit+Epsom) full strength without many additions, none currently.
Click to expand...
I ran Jacks for about a year, then found someone using a similar setup but using Greenleaf Nutrients ( https://greenleafnutrients.com/ ) Mega Crop, Sweet Candy, and Bud Explosion and getting about 50% more yield. It's dry powder like Jack's and the costs are similar but what a difference. Depending on the strain I sometimes add some Epsom salts 1g/gallon on early to mid veg, otherwise nothing extra.
 
Bosgrower said:
I ran Jacks for about a year, then found someone using a similar setup but using Greenleaf Nutrients ( https://greenleafnutrients.com/ ) Mega Crop, Sweet Candy, and Bud Explosion and getting about 50% more yield. It's dry powder like Jack's and the costs are similar but what a difference. Depending on the strain I sometimes add some Epsom salts 1g/gallon on early to mid veg, otherwise nothing extra.
Click to expand...
You're sending that thru some sort of drip line?
 
That looks like real hydro, what's in the bucket?

Nice looking plant!

My blumats drip thru lines quite a bit smaller than that.
 
XtraGood said:
That looks like real hydro, what's in the bucket?

Nice looking plant!

My blumats drip thru lines quite a bit smaller than that.
Click to expand...

This is a shot of granddaddy purple in 4 gallon hempies in a 5x5 tent under a Fluence Spydr 2i light and using Greenleaf nutrients Mega Flora, Sweet Candy, and Bud Explosion (with a little Epsom salts during early veg). Grow medium is Botanicare ReadyGro moisture over a 2" base of river rocks. The grow was 4 plants but could have been 5 if I wasn't worried about humidity control once they went into flower.
I've changed the the 1/2 inch tubing to 1/4 inch as an experiment ( 2 lines per pot), and other than dealing with the stupid 1/4" manifolds I think I like smaller ones better. Slower feed and better saturation
The same setup would work for you with fabric pots and "saucers".

5x5shot.jpg
 

Nice leaves so late into flower! So what's the story on the support stakes (yellow and white), are those intended for plants or did you repurpose them? I like the look of them better than the bamboo sticks.
 
Bosgrower said:
This is a shot of granddaddy purple in 4 gallon hempies in a 5x5 tent under a Fluence Spydr 2i light and using Greenleaf nutrients Mega Flora, Sweet Candy, and Bud Explosion (with a little Epsom salts during early veg). Grow medium is Botanicare ReadyGro moisture over a 2" base of river rocks. The grow was 4 plants but could have been 5 if I wasn't worried about humidity control once they went into flower.
I've changed the the 1/2 inch tubing to 1/4 inch as an experiment ( 2 lines per pot), and other than dealing with the stupid 1/4" manifolds I think I like smaller ones better. Slower feed and better saturation
The same setup would work for you with fabric pots and "saucers".

View attachment 4522470
Click to expand...
I finally looked up the Sweet Candy (carb boost) and Bud Explosion (pk booster). Those nutrients look good, I've got another couple big bags of jacks still to get thru though. I like the idea of adding carbs and might try pk boosting next round.

I tried to find some black-strap molasses but the farm store was sold out when i went, need to try again but I'm trying to avoid the virus apocalypse out there.
 
XtraGood said:
I checked my water report and it says that most of the hardness in the water comes from calcium and magnesium, ave 156 ppm, range 83-222 ppm. Probably sandstone and limestone?

It seems like I've seen a few people talk about changing the Jack's recipe for various reasons and I think water that includes some calcium and magnesium was one of those reasons. Now that I'm searching for that again I can't find it of course. Looking for advice on improving my nutrient mix based on the water report if anyone has any tips for me.

I'm in coco only 10-15 gal fabric pots fed thru blumats under a variety of LEDs, been feeding jacks 321 (hydro+cal-nit+Epsom) full strength without many additions, none currently.
Click to expand...

I stick to the rule that if my water is less than 200PPM, I add a full dose per gallon of Calmag. If it's 200-250, I add half dose per gallon. If it's above 250, I don't add any.

Last time I mixed my stock tanks, my water was 64PPM.
 
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