Jacks Citrus Feed

D

donut holes

New Member
I am using Botanicare Coco. Rinsed down to 10ppm with Ph'd RO water. I have been using Jacks Pro 20-20-20 for 3 years. I then switched to Jacks Hydroponics/Cal Nit for a special pure hydro run. I came back to coco. I came across posts by Uncle Ben, RM3 and a few more talking about the profile that Citrus Feed has. I then compared Chem-Gro 5-11-26, Masterblend 4-18-38, and Citrus. I settled on Citrus, and mixed a stock solution in RO water. "Knowing" to keep a complete profile, Citrus has 1% mag, so I added some Calcium Nitrate like I would normally do. Since the Jacks Hydro final solution has 6.32% magnesium and 18% calcium, I figured to maintain that exact ratio. So, in 100ppm solution of citrus, there is 3 ppm magnesium. I figured per every 100ppm of citrus, I can add 20 ppm Calcium Nitrate for the 10ppm of calcium. So the cal/mag ratio is there, but now I'm getting nitrogen toxicity from the additional 10ppm nitrogen that came along with it. I am doing something wrong. My math is off, I'm not understanding something, its not clicking. Everybody here is amending their coco with extra nutrition, so when somebody posts "..all i use is Citrus... ONLY thing...", in reality they are amending their coco but I was getting the picture that he literally is using nothing but citrus, and ONLY add magnesium and calcium as the plants show deficiencies. Isn't that wrong? shouldn't the nutrient profile have everything in the water when you feed? Not just using Citrus when you water, but adding calcium and extra magnesium in with it. I am keeping in mind, The Laws of the Minimum, thats important to me , so in my head i should keep a complete profile from start to finish. or am i wrong?

Botanicare Coco, no perlite, no amendments
900w LED, (6) Hans 150 panels
RO water
Temps 75-82F
50% RH
Air-pots
Indoor
4 weeks into veg
feed every watering
- Roots excel
- Sea Green
- Potsil Silicon (every other watering)
- Dutch Pro PH down, Nitric acid

Week 1 of problems: Notice severe curling tips, NO burnt tips, very dark green. 200ppm .5EC
Week 2: Flushed, started back feeding slowly, 100ppm citrus, 20ppm cal nit (only for the calcium)
week 3: looking back to perfect, upped my feeding to 200 ppm citrus, 40ppm cal nit
week 4: Back to minor Nitrogen tox. and frustration.

I would like to know how to properly feed with Citrus 20-10-20 in straight coco with RO water. Do I just feed ONLY citrus? Should i be adding cal nit for the calcium and not worry about the extra nitrogen it comes with? Does anybody have analysis of the citrus, like how many ppm is what in a given sample of 100ppm so I can adjust ratios?
Thank you all
 
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D

donut holes

New Member
you can use citrus in coco right? what would be the downfall of citrus in coco? I had the idea that all of you, RM3, UB, growerguy and a few others all use coco, whether straight coco or Pro mix. I thought because citrus is ammoniacal and urea nitrogen, it would be suited for coco, rather than 100% nitrate nitrogen like Jacks hydro. Jacks site says Jacks hydro should be used in a pure water flowing environment, and in soilless they say use others. If anybody can point me in the right direction, i'll do the research. Or if anybody thinks going back to a hydroponic nute profile like Jacks or Chem-gro and using Calnit is better suited for straight coco. thanks
RM3 i just read you use peat, but thanks man
 
Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
i use jack's in coco, and it works fine. the only thing i don't like about Jack's is it has zero calcium. i had a product on hand that's made for tomatoes, but work's well on weed. it's called yield booster, meant to stop blossom end rot on tomatoes. it's just a foliar calcium spray.
one of your problems may be making the stock solution. calcium and sulfur are antagonistic, they will combine with each other and form an insoluble residue in the bottom of your bucket. that's why i use the foliar calcium. they chelate the nutrients, chiefly to make it easier for the plant to absorb the negative ions it needs, but also to isolate the nutrients from each other to avoid these kinds of reactions. the water will slowly dissolve the chelating agents, allowing the antagonists to mix, so either mix your nutes a short time before use, or get a foliar calcium spray
 
Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
also, remember when growing in un-amended coco, you only need to add extra cal-mag till about the third week of flower, by then the deficit ought to have been met, and if you keep adding it at the same rate, you'll start to burn them.
 
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