GH 3 part - Useless' formula

thanks for the input Useless! i'm mixing up my 1/4 strength week 1 veg nutes today.


right now, i'm growing my mothers in Fox Farm soil. i plan on taking clones, rooting them in 1" rockwool starter cubes, then to 4" rockwool cubes and then finally into my hydro system - 2gal buckets with hydroton, in a drip system (euro grower 8 to be exact).


will your nute schedule need to be altered whether grown in Soil or Hydro?


thanks again man! keep smokin and i'll be sure to letcha know how my White Widow and Kiwi Big Bud turn out! assit:

 

Virago posted that, but he's right.


No difference between hydro and soil. When I cycle my mom's (which are in FFOF) I use the same feed schedule.


For clones, once rooted, start with week 1 of the schedule.


I wouldn't go into the 4" cubes. I would skip the 4" and go direct to hydroton with the 1" cubes. Rockwool holds a lot of moisture, hydroton doesn't. It can be a bit tricky getting the moisture levels right, so some roots aren't drowing and others drying up.

 

cool shit man that helps a bunch for me this is all new and i have just been watching and changing watching but my formulas were on the drop and your formula is nice thanx

 

Thanks for the advice, Useless. I think i'll do just that and move my 1" cubes directly into the hydroton buckets. once you take a clipping and place it in the 1" rockwool cube, about how long does it take until it's ready to go into flowering?


I also have a newb question about feeding schedules.. I'm using your feeding schedule and currentlyu feed them generously with the week 1 veg nute solution. now when i water the plants a few days later, am i to use the nute solution again, or do I just use plain ph adjusted water?


I suppose i'm wondering if the feeding of nute solution is a once a week thing, or if it's a every time you water your plants thing.


Thanks and take it easy man! :bong2:

 

It can take anywhere from 5 days - 2weeks + to get the clone rooted. Once it is rooted and you get some roots about 1/2" out of the cube, transplant to the hydroton buckets. Use only ph'd balanced water to root the clones. After transplant into the buckets, start with week 1 of the feed schedule. Veg to whatever height you want, then flower. If you are using DWC type buckets, you will have to hand water the fresh clones 2x a day for a few days until the roots penetrate the bottom of the net pot and can reach the solution in the bucket.


Use the formula as directed. If you are handwatering the bucket like a hempy type, use the formula for the entire week, and plain water on the weekends. Feed frequency is as needed.


In DWC, just change the buckets solution once a week, as instructed in my formula for the ressy.

 

Thanks again for the info, Useless. Very helpful stuff!


Currently, i'm growing 6 kiwi big bud and 2 white widow in 3gal grow bags, in fox farm soil. I water them about every other day, occassionally 2 days go by before I water them again. So I take it that I should be "feeding" them your nute solution EACH time I water them, give them a break with just plain ol PH adjusted water on the weekends?


My plan is to let these 8 grow till they show signs of sex, remove the males from the room, and of the females that are leftover, 2 will become mothers and the rest will be thrown under the 400w hps to begin flowering. Clones will be taken from the mothers and placed into my hydro system - which is a drip system, 8 x 2gallon pots with a 40gal reservoir.


Thanks again man and take it easy. assit:

 

Correct. For my soil plants, I usually feed 2 times with fert, and then once with water. Since I feed them 3 times a week, they get ferts during the week, and then on the weekend they get water.

 

awesome! thanks useless.


i noticed that the week 3 veg nutrient composition should be used for any additional weeks of veg, if needed. does that apply to keeping mother plants in constant veg?


I've never had mothers/cloned before, but plan on experimenting in a few weeks - my seedlings are entering week 2 of veg now.


Aside from keeping my mothers under 18/6 light schedule, do you have any tips on keeping them perpetually alive in a 3lb grow bag with fox farm soil?


thanks again man and have a good thanksgiving! assit:

 

Yes.


No just take clones and trim as needed. I cycle my mothers about every 6 months. Meaning, I take clones for fresh mothers, and flower the existing ones every 6 months.

 

Sticky


Why dont we sticky this. Or maybe just the formula. Props to Useless, I allways refer to your posts.

 

I second the sticky notion - this thread is chock full of useful information, the questions and answers help make it a bit more intuitive as well. thanks again, Useless!


I seem to be having a slight problem with my ppm levels. in week 2 veg, i'm shooting for 600-800 ppm, but i'm consistently landing in the 840-860'ish range. I was thinking that if i emptied a bit of the solution out and added just straight 6.5ph water, it would dilute the solution a bit, thus bringing the ppm down a bit as well?


I suppose i'll post how i'm mixing my nutes as well.. I start with pure distilled water, adjust the ph to roughly 6.5 by using a hanna ph tester with ph up/ph down (and i bubble the water with an aquarium air pump for about an hour to mix/oxygenate it), add nutes (i'm going 100% useless formula with GH 3 series) and bubble water for an hour or two, re-adjust ph as close to 6.5 as possible and of course, bubble the water to mix it. then I test the final solutions ppm levels and as I was saying, I consistently land in the mid 800's.


any thoughts/suggestions are more than welcome, i'd certainly appreciate some veteran gk'rs input! assit:

 

Correct.


Also, give it about 4 hours before adding nutes, and 4-8 hours after adding nutes, before you try to adjust PH again.

 

update: my new General Hydroponics 4 port, 340 gallon p/h air pump showed up and it's been of a great use already. it's easily handling aeration for the 45gal res and is sending air through 2 air stones on 1 port, and the other 3 ports are divvy'd up and aerating 6 individual gallons of water/nutes.


so i've been treating water in the 45gal res with just ph up/down and dialing the ph as close to 6.5 as possible (and i'm usually within .02-.04 up or down of 6.5), and then using the water transfer pump to fill up the individual 1 gallon jugs. then I have freshly adjusted ph water to rinse my droppers and instruments with and an excellent base to mix in nutes.


all in all, water treatment is a bit of a tricky business at first, but I must say thanks to Useless...your advice has really smoothed the process out and i'm finding, as well as my plants, that my technique has greatly improved. I also contribute the newly established consistencies of my water treatments to the tools as well. the air pump/air stones, 45gal res, water transfer pump, quality hoses, have all helped tremendously as well.


so quality equipment, good advice, patience and discipline...oh and I can't leave out GK, all equal up to a fine grow! :bong2:


although, I do have one question.. even with my ph levels now in check and using Useless' formula to the T with fresh GH nutes, some of my plants still have slightly yellowed tips...i'm not sure if this is due to the near-hazardous fluctuation of my ph levels from previous weeks, or if there is still a minor problem that needs to be smoothed out. the leaves that do have slightly yellowed tips, aren't necessarily large or even brand new for that matter....so it's hard to tell how old they are. if i knew how old they were, i'd know exactly what I fed the plants at that time and i'd have my answer. i'm also not ruling out that the plants could use a good flushing as well.


what say you, fellow GK'rs!? peace, love and pass the spliff! assit:

 

Useless, have you used this for hempy? Any adjustments?

 

Same formula on hempy works for me


teamster6

 

Nope, same formula...

 

i use rockwool cubes


question...wouldnt a shot of dolomitelime in the youger days of the plants life help too eliminate that yellowing prblem i get it too some times that er FERT burn..n i dont think its that its SOME strains grow better with hier ph some with lower ...its a medium we must come too:icon_scratch: then put into baskets mixd with 50/50 soil perilite.and ad a drop a superthrive 1X only at transplant I use all FOXFARMS always have..then transplantat wk 2 from clone..one more wk ta recover from any shock....n its lightshow think'n bout usen my old grow box nlights nstuff,,,and grow all autoflowering seeds lowryder lowlife ect...thinkn bout it seriously..lol anther project learning curve ..see its never ending the learning becomes wisdom too build on Bud3

 

Useless-


I'm happy to say that your formula has carried my 4 kiwi big bud and 2 white widow females through a very healthy and accelerated pace! i mean the growth rate is nearly out of control (and i'm loving it!) and it makes my last grow pale in comparison. I plan on following yer formula till harvest and already have some week 1 flowering nutes mixed up! speaking of which, this evening marks day 1 of flowering for my 6 females. I have 11 clones and 6 more waiting to root, so i'm going to go ahead flower these girls out and see what phenos came from good ol dr chronics shop! once i've flowered these girls out and determine which White Widow and Kiwi Big Bud plants i like the most, i'll keep those clones and make them into mothers. then i break out the 8 pot hydro system to start growing some serious bud!


I have a few questions for ya about yer technique with keeping PH levels in check.. being that i'm a complete nooblet to hydro, i'm trying to sponge up every ounce of info i can get!


onto the questions..


in your write up, you mention that you drain/refill your ressy on Friday night and let it run overnight...which gives the plants a little flush and allows the chlorine/ammonia to evap.


Q1. are you flushing your plants with plain ol 7.4-9.0 tap water?


Q2. when you say "let it run overnight" do you run your ressy pump like ALL night? or do you still follow your normal schedule for it? (i.e. 3 times a day for 15mins each)


It sounds like once you drain/refill the ressy on Friday night, it takes until Sunday morning until your ressy is properly mixed with nutes and is at the proper ph level.


Q3. do the high ph levels on Friday nights flush, continued high ph levels and currently-being-mixed nute solution feeding/flush on Saturday night hurt the plants at all?


I was under the impression that the ph levels and nute solution would need to all be smoothed out before feeding the plants. Hence the 55gal container i just purchased, so i can mix nutes/even out ph before filling ressy.


I also have a few side questions:


Q4. once nutes are mixed up, how long do they last?


Q5. does it benefit nute solution to aerate just before watering plants?

many thanks again man and happy holidays! assit:

 

Cheers, hope that helps...

 

This is a great thread . . . I've been using the GH 3 part for nearly 7 years and I've ALWAYS made adjustment to the 3-2-1/2-2-2/1-2-3 schedule, but this puts it all into perspective. I've printed this out and it's gonna hang in the grow room next to the mixing table. Simply AWESOME info Useless.


I do have a question or two . . .


What sort of ph/ppm tester do you use?


Do you use the Hard Water Flora Micro?


I love pics!


Thanks for all the useful info, Useless.