180g, two weeks in - update may 23

ingg · Post by **ingg** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:48 pm

Older leaves are melting - they are acting like balansae leaves. Yeah, some pinholes, then... mush.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:50 pm

I agree with Jeff that the low gro hygro issue is a K issue. It's not been growing well for me either. I've been dosing just a little, i.e. 0.1-0.2 ppm, of potassium everyday in my soil substrate tank with this plant and it seems to be rebounding. Proceed with caution when dosing the K !

ingg · Post by **ingg** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:09 am

How are you dosing it Aaron, Seachem stuff or? I'll have to pick something up, unless a dry fert can do it.

I have KNO3 and K2SO4, any suggestions anyone?

Ghazanfar Ghori · Post by **Ghazanfar Ghori** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:14 am

K2SO4 should do it. Quantity you'll have to figure out. Use the APC fertilator.
Aim for about 5ppm to start with.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:15 am

Ghazanfar Ghori wrote:K2SO4 should do it. Quantity you'll have to figure out. Use the APC fertilator.
Aim for about 5ppm to start with.

I would aim lower. At least in my experience, VERY small doses is all it takes. Anything more makes for an algae bloom.

I used Chuck Gadd's calculator to make up a solution with K2SO4. APC's fertilator should work fine too.

Ghazanfar Ghori · Post by **Ghazanfar Ghori** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:31 am

Aaron wrote:
Ghazanfar Ghori wrote:K2SO4 should do it. Quantity you'll have to figure out. Use the APC fertilator.
Aim for about 5ppm to start with.
I would aim lower. At least in my experience, VERY small doses is all it takes. Anything more makes for an algae bloom.

I used Chuck Gadd's calculator to make up a solution with K2SO4. APC's fertilator should work fine too.

We're talking K right - not P.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:14 am

Ghazanfar Ghori wrote:
Aaron wrote:
Ghazanfar Ghori wrote:K2SO4 should do it. Quantity you'll have to figure out. Use the APC fertilator.
Aim for about 5ppm to start with.
I would aim lower. At least in my experience, VERY small doses is all it takes. Anything more makes for an algae bloom.

I used Chuck Gadd's calculator to make up a solution with K2SO4. APC's fertilator should work fine too.
We're talking K right - not P.

Yup, same animal. Maybe there's already some K in my water source. I suppose it depends. In my case though only a very small amount is needed.

Post by **krisw** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:29 am

Interesting. I guess I always thought that the conventional wisdom was that dosing more K wouldn't hurt anything, as N and P imbalances were largely the algae triggers. Shows how much I know.

Ghazanfar Ghori · Post by **Ghazanfar Ghori** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:31 am

Hm. When I mix my ferts, I usually use the 10:1:10 NPK ratio. For faster
growth, I keep my N at about 10ppm - easy and quick to test for. Everything
else, since its mixed in at the 10:1:10 ratio - works out well. Then once things
have grown in, I bring my N down to 5ppm and switch to a 20:3:20 ratio to slow
down growth an increase color.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:40 am

Ghazanfar Ghori wrote:Hm. When I mix my ferts, I usually use the 10:1:10 NPK ratio. For faster
growth, I keep my N at about 10ppm - easy and quick to test for. Everything
else, since its mixed in at the 10:1:10 ratio - works out well. Then once things
have grown in, I bring my N down to 5ppm and switch to a 20:3:20 ratio to slow
down growth an increase color.

Right. I do something similar in a water column dosing tank. I'm only talking about dosing small amounts of K in a soil tank. There seems to be some in the soil already that most plants can uptake. Dosing only a tiny bit seems to supplement the water column needy plants.

Perhaps it isn't the extra potassium that causes the algae issues. It might be the sulfate part of the equation?

180g, two weeks in - update may 23

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