# Watering Kwerstchun ...



## Billy Bagseed (Feb 11, 2020)

Hey gang! I've just begun the second week of bloom and my Ladies seem to be extra thirsty. I have many buds beginning to form (I freaked out thinking they had all hermied on me. but no.) and have my canopy just about evened out. I vegged these leggy sativas for 8 whole weeks(total noob. not in such a hurry for finished product so much as the journey getting there) so they're all pretty big for their age. heh While in veg I fed twice a week (coco/cloth pots) and watered as needed between feedings. I always added Cal/Mag to my ph waterings but not in feedings. I have used no Cal/Mag since switching to 12/12 + bloom nutes ... and with my undivided attention they appear to be getting along nicely. 
Being a big fan of "If it ain't broke ..." but also a subscriber to the notion of proper planning ... I pose the query: "To Cal/Mag or NOT to Cal/Mag during flowering? That is my question."
Thanks!
ps I DID flush before flipping.bj


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## Lesso (Feb 11, 2020)

Cal mag is necessary in flower. Its something that is usually overdosed by beginners, myself included. Look for signs of overdose and be careful not to over do it.


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## Locked (Feb 11, 2020)

I don't use Cal Mag. I use GH 3 Part and find I don't need it. I grow in soil.


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## stinkyattic (Feb 11, 2020)

The answer to the calmag question is:
How hard is your tap water? Most folks don't actually need it. But if you have very soft water, or run RO because your tap water sucks, or run in coco where the medium scavenges it... then yes. I use it sort of casually here n there (canna coco/peat blend + compost) when I notice the river level is super high from heavy rain or snowmelt because my tap water comes from a surface source and when it's super diluted by precipitation,  I add some minerals back. So whether you strictly NEED it depends mostly  on your water quality.


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## Billy Bagseed (Feb 11, 2020)

Lesso said:


> Cal mag is necessary in flower. Its something that is usually overdosed by beginners, myself included. Look for signs of overdose and be careful not to over do it.


Thanks! I knew the coco needed it and I DID buffer when I began. I'll add it back starting with the next feed. Thanks m'friend!


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## umbra (Feb 11, 2020)

I had no idea what kwerstchun is, so I googled it. The only thing that came up was this thread.


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## Billy Bagseed (Feb 11, 2020)

stinkyattic said:


> The answer to the calmag question is:
> How hard is your tap water? Most folks don't actually need it. But if you have very soft water, or run RO because your tap water sucks, or run in coco where the medium scavenges it... then yes. I use it sort of casually here n there (canna coco/peat blend + compost) when I notice the river level is super high from heavy rain or snowmelt because my tap water comes from a surface source and when it's super diluted by precipitation,  I add some minerals back. So whether you strictly NEED it depends mostly  on your water quality.



So my water comes off the Grand Mesa in western Colorado and skrait out the tap measures about 7.5. I do add a little ph down to my plain waterings but when I add nutes or Cal/Mag to tap water it's closer to 5.5-6.0 without fooling with it. So I've pretty good water. I'm feeding Fox Farms trio at recommended strength ... this run, because that's the way I started. My next run (thanks to all the info I'm gleaning from you good folk) will be much more organized. BUT I'm in this one NOW. Nah'me?
Thanks For Your Help S/A ...
bj


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## Billy Bagseed (Feb 11, 2020)

umbra said:


> I had no idea what kwerstchun is, so I googled it. The only thing that came up was this thread.



Skreet term for an interrogatory ...
bj


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## Billy Bagseed (Feb 11, 2020)

Hamster Lewis said:


> I don't use Cal Mag. I use GH 3 Part and find I don't need it. I grow in soil.



As I'm learning, there are many different medium in which to grow. I've always been a big fan of dirt and mebbe the grow after next might be soil. I need a whole lotta other stuff before that! Fer shure if I switch medium, I'll switch nutes too. Thanks for all your input, Hammy.
bj


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## stinkyattic (Feb 11, 2020)

So let's talk about hardness and ph and ionic strength. 
Hardness expressed as tds or total dissolved solids is the total sum of STUFF in your water.
It's directly related to ionic strength, which can be loosely but quickly explained as how much stuff in there has a charge - anions and cations that have polarity, like water, and dissociate in aqueous solution, becoming electrochemically active. They can stay in the water or interact with wetted surfaces. Think of calcium or copper crust on your plumbing (undesirable), or conversion coating of chromium onto aluminum parts (desirable).
Ph is a measure of the strength of the activity and concentration of free hydrogen in the water, and is used to communicate acidity. There's an opposite scale called pOH which measures how caustic the activity of the part of the water molecule left behind when one hydrogen gets frisky.
Not all acidic water will show high ionic strength, because not all acids come from ionic sources. In your dry and sparsely forested area, you are unlikely to encounter much tannic acid, which is an organic functional acid built on carbon atoms, rather than something like hydrochloric acid which is inorganic and forms when chlorine, a charged atom therefore an ion, dissociated  in water from whatever it was previously bound to, to hang out with that frisky hydrogen and form HCl, a strong acid.
By contrast, organic acids are not as predictable in terms of ph. Tannic acid actually stays near neutral at the concentrations typically found in stream water in forested regions,  and wouldn't even show up in a TDS reading! But they can mess with your grow anyway, because of the activity of the hydrogens. 
So what I'm saying is that pH is not a reliable indicator of the presence or absence of minerals or even water miscible organic molecules. Lots of dissolved limestone will bring the pH up because of the buffering action of calcium carbonate-carbonic acid equilibria,  but you shouldn't say, oh my pH is xXxX therefore I have enough yyyyin my water.
See if your local DPW has info on the hardness of any local wells or sources, or have it tested for hardness. If you're running coco and also feel the need to add CalMag,  you really should own even a cheap tds/ec meter so you are adding it right based on what you have going into the soup right from your well. I'm not discouraging the calmag,  I ran straight coco for a while and bought that stuff by the gallon lol. But don't go in blind ; )
You can get a TDS meter off Amazon for cheap. If it measures in uS/cm2, that's the conductivity and there's a simple conversion between that num

Ok new message popped up, you're switching to dirt next? Good. Ignore this whole post, it's rare to need calmag in "dirt" especially if it has lime mixed in and you run a micronutrient as part of your ferts, I am past my bedtime, good night and good luck


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## Billy Bagseed (Feb 11, 2020)

Alll righty then, and I have a meter in my cart over to Bezo's Bazaar along with a light meter. I bought coco and perlite so I can re-use some of the media. I'm just starting out and don't even have a tent yet but there's nobody here but me so I have room to .... sorry ... GROW. Ultimately I'd like to try hydro as well as soil. This is big fun and as NTC told me "It can get a bit expensive, too.", so I'll be adding one piece to the puzzle at a time. Thanks Again, S/A, 'preshate 'che.
bj


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