Primer Cultivo --Criticas constructivas --

Conclusions so far I leave as a reminder or help !!! about my experience at this point …I clarify this is my first grow.

Summary of Cultivation Criteria: Water Management, Salts, and Run-Off Measurement

​1. The Problem with Rigid Feeding Charts

• ​Manufacturer’s inflexibility: Blindly following fixed weekly fertilizer doses (like the Green House Feeding chart) ignores the reality of the actual environment (temperature, radiation, humidity, and transpiration).
• ​Accumulation and saturation: The constant input of nutrients without checking the plant’s response creates a progressive buildup of salts in the substrate. This triggers a nutrient lockout or root damage due to osmotic stress.

​2. The Real Importance: Output (Run-Off) vs. Input Measurements

• ​Input is just a reference: What is fed to the pot does not reflect what the plant is consuming or the actual state of the root zone.
• ​Run-off as a true diagnosis:
  • ​Output EC higher than Input EC: Signal of saturation and salt accumulation in the substrate. Indicates that it is necessary to alternate with plain water waterings or dose reductions to flush the medium and restore balance.
  • ​Output EC lower than Input EC: The plant is demanding and assimilating more food than is available in the substrate, allowing you to maintain or adjust the nutrient load.
  • ​pH Monitoring: An off-target pH in the runoff warns of variations in the medium’s acidity that lock out the absorption of key elements, regardless of the administered dose.

​3. Watering Management and Root Health

• ​Slow watering and even distribution: Fast watering creates preferential channels where water directly escapes without wetting the entire root ball, leaving dry areas with high salt concentration. Slow watering guarantees uniform hydration of the entire root mass.
• ​Microbiology protection: Applications of beneficial agents (such as Trichoderma) depend directly on soil health; extreme EC spikes or constant water saturation significantly reduce their effectiveness.
• ​Adjustments by stage (Outdoor Flowering): During flowering, transpiration varies according to weather conditions. On hot days, plants absorb water at a faster rate than nutrients, which accelerates the risk of substrate salinization if runoff is not monitored.

​4. Golden Rule for the Log

​"You don’t fertilize the pot based on what the label says, you fertilize according to the response and output values provided by the substrate."

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Good morning, something else to share with you … warm regards to everyone …

You figured out what took me two years . In my opinion, fertilizing according to the manufacturer’s chart is always too much. As far as I know, the charts usually apply to larger plants.
And automatics are far more sensitive to fluctuations, and they simply lack the time to recover.
Often, 30% of the recommended amount is enough.
Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been feeding mineral nutrients purely based on EC value and sometimes only use barely 40% of the manufacturer’s recommendation. If I poured in the full dosage, my EC would be over 3.5-4. That’s the death blow for the lady.

In my experience, watering practices are the biggest risk for deficiencies and lockouts.

I see in the pictures that you measure PPFD.
However, PPFD only measures the current light intensity hitting the plant.
DLI indicates how much light the plant receives throughout the day.

How’s it going, Andy! I 100% agree with what you’re saying about the dosages. Guiding myself purely by the EC reading and keeping the nutrition at 30-40% of what the charts indicate changed my grow; the roots breathe better and you forget about lockouts.

​Regarding DLI and PPFD, you’re absolutely right. In my case, the panel has the capacity to reach 1100 PPFD, but we know that above 900-1000 is throwing photons in the trash without supplementing CO₂ (something unfeasible in my setup because constant extraction would take all the gas outside).

​That’s why I aim for the “Emerson Effect” by adding a Far-Red bar (740nm). The literature and tests show that supplementing with far-red increases the photosynthetic rate by up to 30% in combination with PAR light, allowing me to squeeze out that extra yield I’d look for with CO₂, but in a passive, efficient way and without messing with the ventilation.

​I used the temporary PPFD peak specifically to add warmth to the environment due to the cold wave. Being on 12/12, the daily accumulated DLI remains spot on within assimilating margins, with the canopy locked in at 24 °C.

​Thanks for the input, it’s a pleasure having a technical debate!

I’m not the strongest communicator either when it comes to discussions. I just want to share my experiences and hope to help out with any misconceptions

Well… I don’t have the additional red light. I’m currently still running my first setup from two years ago. But this year I’m upgrading from 250 to 500 watts and getting a larger tent.

My Granita from Perfect Tree (33 Splitter x Jet A) is on flowering day 17 today and was just defoliated… standing tall. Starting next week, she’ll get Green Sensation for 10-12 days, followed by Atami Bloombastic for the next 10 days for maximum PK intake. Since the flip, the EC has been steadily increased from 0.9 to 1.8-2.0 in weeks 5-6.
Let’s see how she handles it.
After Granita, 90 Proof from Compound Genetics is planned next.

Good evening, leaving some new pictures here .. it was time for watering and I think it looks acceptable ..

To remove runoff cleanly and quickly without ending up booking an appointment with a physical therapist, an active extraction system was implemented using a suction pump connected to flexible silicone hoses. One hose is fixed at the lowest point of the saucer to vacuum up the drainage as it comes out, while the other discharges the liquid directly into a measuring jug, saving the lower back and dignity of any grower with a bad back who is no longer up for bending over or juggling heavy pots. This method avoids moving the plant in full bloom, prevents salt reabsorption through capillary action, and allows precise measurement of the final volume, output pH, and EC… greetings to everyone ..

Very cool idea I must say @BunkerAriel

And in general, it’s looking really good for you. Crazy how thick the branches are

@Andy_420 looking awesome for you too

Good Grow

Hey, I think it’s more likely that the manufacturer specs are set so high because they generally assume a starting water EC value of 0.0 - 0.2.
However, tap water already comes out with an EC of 0.5 - 0.6.
If you use the specified dosage on top of that, it gets too harsh for the little plants.
But it’s great to be able to gather good info on this.
Greetings in the early morning

Good morning, and it’s a pleasure to comment here with you.. I completely agree with your analysis regarding base water and the origin of feeding charts. Adding to the discussion, I’d like to share how we approach it through practical measurements for mineral management:

It is true that in organic growing, runoff is not measured because the focus is on soil microbiology and organic decomposition. But when working with mineral nutrition based on soluble salts, monitoring runoff becomes a key tool to avoid going in blind.

If we look at the official Powder Feeding (Hybrids) chart for substrate, the manufacturer suggests entering week 4 with a Total EC of 1.6 mS/cm (1600 µS/cm).

In mineral practice, if you continuously apply that EC of 1.6 mS/cm with every watering, the pot acts as a retentive reservoir. In our actual tracking with the Nicole 2 plant:

• Applied input: EC of 0.83 mS/cm (830 µS/cm) with base water of 400 µS/cm (rain + well).
• Measured runoff: 1.95 mS/cm (1958 µS/cm).

Conclusion:

If we were to feed at the 1.6 mS/cm specified by the chart in every mineral watering, the internal buildup in the substrate would rise above 3.0 mS/cm, causing severe nutrient lockout.

For those of us feeding with salts, measuring the output allows us to adjust the input with moderate loads (~800 µS/cm) and maintain the desired plateau (~1.9 mS/cm) without saturating the medium.

Here is a photo of the plants before the lights go off in week 4. The branches are super firm and the canopy is coming along really even with the panel at 80% at about 35 cm.

​As for watering Nicole 2, I prepared a base water mix of rain and well water at 400 µS/cm and went in light with a nutrient solution at 830 µS/cm (EC) and pH 5.9. The runoff came out at 1.95 mS/cm and pH 6.0, which confirms that the pot has just the right nutrient load without overloading them.

​This clearly shows what we were talking about regarding feed charts: if I gave them the 1.6 mS/cm that the Feeding chart indicates for every mineral watering, the runoff would shoot up to over 3.0 mS/cm and I’d burn them. By reading the runoff, you keep the perfect load without causing lockout.

​To close out this stage, I’m going to add the LX-FAR RED 20W (730 nm) board mounted directly to the panel frame. With the Emerson Effect and the 15-minute shutdown, I unlock the photosynthetic ceiling to turn the panel up to 100% power without needing CO_2.

Good morning everyone !!! Here is a bit more info and experiences from my first grow, in case someone starting out like me is looking for information. In the previous post, we had considered adding a Far Red (730 nm) booster board with the intention of speeding up the flowering rate through the Emerson effect and stimulating a controlled stretch to open up the canopy.

In the end, we completely ruled out buying and installing that board. The technical reason is that our 480W CREE J Series LED panel already has a high-efficacy full spectrum that delivers the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) needed for this phase. Light penetration at 40 cm is excellent, and the red ratio gives the plant the morphogenetic signal needed to fatten up the buds. Adding the little Far Red board would mean an unnecessary expense, adding extra wiring to the space, and generating additional heat that would force us to strain the extraction system.

As for current management, we switched the photoperiod to 11 hours of light and 13 of darkness to speed up resin biosynthesis. The panel remains at 80% power at 40 cm from the tops. Checking the potentiometer, we saw that we only have 4 notches left until 100%, so we will keep it at this power for a few days, evaluating the leaf response before making the fine adjustment straight to full 480W at the peak of flowering.

The canopy is responding with upright leaves and pom-poms gaining density. The climate is holding at 25.4 °C and 48% relative humidity, with automated extraction set to trigger if the temperature exceeds 26.5 °C.

Week 5

Yesterday it was time to open the main tent and the surprise was great: the plants are growing with tremendous vigor and an upright leaf posture (“happy”) that is a joy to see.

When taking a flash photo in the dark, the resin coverage really stands out. The canopy under the SCROG net is perfectly level from end to end, making the most of the light, with a very promising trichome accumulation on the sugar leaves for what is to come in these key fattening weeks. We had just done an important flush and reset watering (6.5 liters per pot) to clear out salt buildup and get the substrate ready. In this watering, we added Green House Feeding’s BioEnhancer (based on humic acids, fulvic acids, and Ascophyllum nodosum kelp extract). We decided on this product to simplify the tent and not have to deal with a thousand separate bottles of mycorrhizae, trichoderma, and biostimulants. A single package resolves the activation of the soil’s microbial flora and helps unlock bound nutrients. Since this product has a high alkaline pH (9.5 in the package), it requires fine and strict adjustment with pH Down in the nutrient solution before applying.

Current Nutrition and Feeding Plan in the Bunker

For this stage of the grow, we chose to simplify input management without neglecting yield or soil health, working with the complete Green House Feeding line along with strict control of watering parameters.

Question about starting the flowering count: Light change (12/12) or appearance of pistils?

Hey folks! A question to see how you all handle this. I had been counting flowering from the exact day I switched the photoperiod to 12/12, but I noticed a gap where the plant takes time to start the actual biological process.

Here’s a reference photo of how the shoots look (this is from August 25th, where the first formed pistils were already visible, although the biological process started a couple of days earlier, calculating around the 23rd).

What date do you take as “Day 1” to follow schedule charts and calculate timing? Do you count from the 12/12 switch or from when the plant shows the first hairs as in the photo? Let me know your thoughts!

@BunkerAriel

as far as I know, breeder specifications always refer to the time from the switch.

I usually count day one of flowering from one day after that.

Good afternoon !!! thank you very much for your point of view, I hope more opinions join in to start what might be a boring debate? but it really helps beginners because that one-week difference I noticed between the cycle change and the appearance of pistils—almost 1 week in my case—makes a difference in flowering when it comes to nutrition, light exposure, and power ..hug, thanks again for sharing …

Im doing the same as @Andy_420, the day i switch the light to 12/12 is what i call flower day 0 and start my count from there.

Different strains will take different times to get started sometimes so if you count from pistils appearing it can complicate things for you if you have more than 1 going.

I’m just starting out on this journey and learning through trial and error in my own space, which is why I find it super interesting to read how you all handle it.

​I totally understand that for a tent with multiple strains or broader management, setting 12/12 as day zero and standardizing the timing is a super convenient tool to keep from going crazy with the numbers.

​But what’s happening to me at this stage of learning is that, by observing them closely every day, the plant sets its own pace. I feel that if I were to rigidly follow a commercial feeding chart or a fixed schedule—for example with feeding—I would probably hit a wall if the plant is asking me for something else. That’s why I’m trying to go more hand-in-hand with what each one shows me and check with a jeweler’s loupe.

​Thank you for sharing your perspectives and helping me keep gaining insight!

Updating as of today ..

Lighting: The intensity on the light panel’s dimmer was increased by one notch, leaving its permanence at that level to be evaluated based on the crop’s response.

Ventilation: The fan was raised flush to improve heat dispersion coming directly down from the panel, avoiding direct airflow over the flowers.

General condition of the plants: They show excellent vigor and overall health, with an even, symmetrical canopy well-guided by the net. The calyxes continue swelling with firm, white, upright pistils, showing only a slight effect on the stigmas at the tip that received direct airflow from the fan.