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Coco, LED light and CalMag; when/how to feed it?


FlyingArse

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I'm currently in the veg phase of my first grow with LED lights. Been using coco as my medium for several runs now, but I've been reading up on things and many sources seem to say that the plants might require even more CalMag in their feeding when they're both in coco and under LEDs, when compared to using CFL or HPS lights.

 

Should I feed the plants CalMag regularly (and if so, then how regularly? Daily, weekly?) or only if deficiencies show up?

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From what I have read L.E.D causes the ambient temperature in the room to lower, In return causing transpiration issues in the plant from cold temps at lower canopy and root levels which in return stops nutrients uptake, showing what looks like calmag deficiency. Aslong as the environment is maintained there should be no issues I believe. I’m still trying to read up on this myself though so I could be corrected easily

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5 minutes ago, fatboy77 said:

Ffs so many people passing this bollocks around.... Calmag is needed if your water is shit, any medium, any light.  End of. 

 

What constitutes shitty water? Too hard? Too soft?

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Just now, FlyingArse said:

 

What constitutes shitty water? Too hard? Too soft?

In terms of getting deficiencies, really soft water is usually the problem.  Rarely you get hard water with a bad ratio, unusual though.  

Most people get calmag issues from their environment then reach for calmag (more nutrients) when they already have some kind of lock out. 

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I found using Shogun CalMag resolved a yellowing I had on my manual watered coco plants, I begun using Canna CalMag and for whatever reason it resolved itself. I've never had an issue with Canna CalMag when in flower though (separate tent) which runs on a drain to waste setup.

 

It's not a volume heavy product to use, I'd recommend it as it's not that expensive. Just let the EC and pH guide you. I'm in a soft water area. Agree with @fatboy77 lights won't make a difference. I veg in LED if you care to know. I feed CalMag every feed until it's time to flush. 

 

Try not to let deficiencies guide you. Try and take action before you have a problem.

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1 hour ago, mrevolve said:

I feed CalMag every feed

May I ask how long you have been doing this?

 

The reason I ask is i'm wondering when calmag became a thing. I spent years on cannabis boards and never came across the term. Had a break from the scene (not growing, I ain't paying for it), lost interest really. Came back and everyone is calmag this and that. All the growshops sell it, surely I hadn't just missed it before.

 

Mg deficiency was common enough but we all went down Boots and bought some Epsom salts. Maybe tap water has just got shit in the last few years, I seem ok mine is relatively hard. I've had what looks like Ca def before but very rare.

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4 hours ago, FlyingArse said:

 

What constitutes shitty water? Too hard? Too soft?

 

Check your water board website, they might have a generalised analysis for your postode area. You are looking for Ca and Mg levels. As fatboy says, if you are in a soft water area, you will probably need to consider adding calcium and/or magnesium in some form at some point.

Edited by Tony K
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I think you need calmag or epsom salt with coco. With other methods, never needed it, wouldn't bother.

Edited by SmokeTester
My water is soft.
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i have soft water supply am a bit thick to realise how that would affect my grow, i changed from compost to coco a few years ago the problem i had got worse, i read up about it and sure enough you need a little more cal/mag in the feed for coco, i'm back in compost now i still add cal/mag every feed from start of veg onward

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My tap water comes out near 0ec so I have always made it up to 0.2ec with cal mag and had green plants. 
if your getting issues in coco that you weren’t before it could be temps as others have said. 
I use a heat mat with thermostat in one of my pots to make sure they never drop below 19°c 

first time I have used one but I won’t grow without one again. 

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