What is wrong with my BIOBIZZ CALMAG? Very low ppm/ec at max dose, but my EC meter is working correctly..

kreikrei

Active Member
Hi!
I am very confused, would appreciate your help!
I recently bought an RO machine, because my tapwater is 300+ppm
I use BIOBIZZ nute line (Grow, Bloom, algamic, activera, topmax)
Biobizz recommends 0.5-1ml/L calmag, IF YOU HAVE SOFT OR RO WATER (thats what I have)
So, today was my first big watering. It is day 15 for my autoflowers.
  1. I poured in 2 liters of RO water - EC meter shows 5 ppm
  2. I add 1ml/l Biobizz calmag (so 2ml total) - I was expecting 150ppm, but I got only 40ppm.
  3. I tested my ECmeter against other nute solutions, it shows the correct value, so my EC meter is working
40 ppm is clearly too LOW for plants calcium and magnesium requirements right?
But I get 40ppm of calmag if I use MAX rcommended Biobizz dosage.
To get 100-150 ppm of calmag (which I see recomended), I would need to add 3-4x recommended biobizz dose.
What is wrong here?
Can my calmag be expired/bad batch? (I have 2 bottles for 6 months, tested both, and both give very low calmag ppm at recommended dosage per litre)
Thank you!
 

kreikrei

Active Member
I think too many people are going the RO route...such a waste of time IMO. Have you TRIED using your tap with nutes? I'd bet it's not as bad as you think. Cal mag is a recipe for disaster. Get you a good bottle or bag of grow (Maxigrow, Pure Crop, DynaGrow, Foliage pro) and call it a day.
My tap water has really high ppm... and I had a good deal for RO.
I would appreciate, if anyone had input for my specific situation
I get only 40 ppm calmag when I use biobizz max ddosage aka 1ml/L

It should be closer to 150ppm, not 40...
 

conor c

Well-Known Member
I bet if you used your tap water you wouldn't need cal/mag
I need the Ca more than Mg tbh but our waters pretty good/soft i need to supplement a bit when using biobizz with our tap water but i stay in Scotland most of here is like that



My tap water has really high ppm... and I had a good deal for RO.
I would appreciate, if anyone had input for my specific situation
I get only 40 ppm calmag when I use biobizz max ddosage aka 1ml/L

It should be closer to 150ppm, not 40...
Ive never tested the concentration on there calmag but its relatively new im sure maybe u got a bad batch id maybe think about contacting them up until recently i only used there grow n bloom n all mix myself
 

kreikrei

Active Member
I need the Ca more than Mg tbh but our waters pretty good/soft i need to supplement a bit when using biobizz with our tap water but i stay in Scotland most of here is like that




Ive never tested the concentration on there calmag but its relatively new im sure maybe u got a bad batch id maybe think about contacting them
Yeah, to get a 150ppm baseline with RO water, I need about 4-5ml/L calmag, which sounds ridiculous as max dosage is 1ml/l
 

ALPHA.GanjaGuy

Well-Known Member
Did you thoroughly shake the bottle before you added it to your water? BioBizz mentions on their bottles to shake thoroughly. It could just be settled in the bottle
 

kreikrei

Active Member
Did you thoroughly shake the bottle before you added it to your water? BioBizz mentions on their bottles to shake thoroughly. It could just be settled in the bottle
I did shake it a LOT, now that you said it.
Still - in 1Litre of RO, adding 1ml of calmag (max biobizz dose) brings the ppm from 5 to 25. But it should bring it to 150ppm
Thus I need not 1ml/L , but 6-8 and that seems ridiculous
 

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
Doesn't sound too weird to me. I don't use the BioBizz stuff, but use the GH Ca/Mg and 1ml = about 50ppm in a gallon (not liter) as well, though I use it at a rate of 1ml per gallon along with my nutrients and it's just fine since most nutes have Ca/Mg in them as well.
 

kreikrei

Active Member
Doesn't sound too weird to me. I don't use the BioBizz stuff, but use the GH Ca/Mg and 1ml = about 50ppm in a gallon (not liter) as well, though I use it at a rate of 1ml per gallon along with my nutrients and it's just fine since most nutes have Ca/Mg in them as well.
Hmm.. your calmags concentration seems decent.
I am just surprised, because Biobizz official schedule says "For RO bwater use 0.5-1mg/L"

Id need 6-8ml per LITRE to go from 0ppm to 150 ppm (150 is recommndes ca/magnesium amount from what I have read) - so 6-8x official recomendation....
 

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
Hmm.. your calmags concentration seems decent.
I am just surprised, because Biobizz official schedule says "For RO bwater use 0.5-1mg/L"

Id need 6-8ml per LITRE to go from 0ppm to 150 ppm (150 is recommndes ca/magnesium amount from what I have read) - so 6-8x official recomendation....
I dunno. I've been feeding my plants with 50ppm of Ca/Mg and they've not asked for any more? :)
 

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
Never expect 'numbers' to be the same as someone else uses. They may be different from plant to plant, even with the same strain
My bigger issues with Ca/Mg when I've had them have been related to either antagonism per Mulder's Chart:



...or because my water was very hard (.45-.65EC) and any calcium wasn't in a form that was bio-available. By filtering my water down to 0ppm and then adding back in Ca/Mg at a rate of 50ppm I've had way more luck in keeping plants healthy.
 

kreikrei

Active Member
My bigger issues with Ca/Mg when I've had them have been related to either antagonism per Mulder's Chart:



...or because my water was very hard (.45-.65EC) and any calcium wasn't in a form that was bio-available. By filtering my water down to 0ppm and then adding back in Ca/Mg at a rate of 50ppm I've had way more luck in keeping plants healthy.
Thanks,will save the picture.
I guess there is nothing left than to go to my local growshop and buy the same calmag I already have and compare the EC values.
With my current calmag I need 2.5ml/ Litre to get from 0 to 50 ppm. Seem smuch too much.
 

kreikrei

Active Member
Biobizz Grow has enough cal mag in it...but hey go ahead and buy more cal mag.
Thanks, I didnt know that.
I thought that Grow is only N, Bloom is mostly PK(2-7-4), etc.


There must be ratios of cal/mag/Nitrogen for Biobizz grow publically available. Dont want to needlesly mess with my plants using too much calmag
 

inth3shadowz

Well-Known Member
Thanks, I didnt know that.
I thought that Grow is only N, Bloom is mostly PK(2-7-4), etc.


There must be ratios of cal/mag/Nitrogen for Biobizz grow publically available. Dont want to needlesly mess with my plants using too much calmag
Yeah most good nutrients are going to have cal and mag levels that are good even with RO water...stick with grow the whole way through and you'll be happy. If you REALLY want to use the bloom nutes, do like half/half after a few weeks into flower.
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
I run tap at 250 ( ish ) ppm with no calmag needed.
7.2-7.6 ph out of tap.

Most municipalities ( city water ) is already mineralized with calcium/ mag . So there is no guessing ratios with “ bottles “ PLUS nute lines include calcium and magnesium in their blend.

i run it in DTW ( drain to waste ) hempy without isdue - only dropping ph with citric acid to target ph for grow.
 
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