How to use the Athena and understanding the feed schedules
Best Practices
- Shake well before use - Our products run through a 1 micron filter before bottling so any micro-particles you may see won't clog dosing systems or emitters.
- Use clean measuring instruments - do not put anything into the bottle to avoid contamination.
- To increase target EC - Always use equal parts A & B to maintain mineral balance.
- DO NOT combine products in undiluted form - This renders the formulas useless and must be disposed of.
- Store closed in original packaging - Keep at a temperature between 45° F and 85° F. Exposure to the environment will reduce shelf-life.
- Adjust recipe as needed - Every cultivar and growing environment is unique. Adjust accordingly to maintain plant health and vigor. If you get stuck, please give us a call on 01803 394487
Let's take a look at some important aspects when using Athena's nutrient feed charts for each of the ranges, Blended Line and Pro Line. Remind you once again that all measurements are in ml/10L of water, and that the different final concentrations of nutrients in the tank are expressed in 3 different measurements: EC, PPM 500 and PPM 700, so you must be clear about what kind of measurement your EC meter gives you to adapt the doses to the desired final amount of dissolved salts.
Please bear in mind that these tables are designed for use with soft water or even reverse osmosis water, with a starting EC in the water of no more than 0.4. In case of using harder water, with more dissolved salts already in the starting water, it will probably be necessary to reduce the nutrient dose to achieve the desired final EC that said we do not recommend starting with water that has an EC higher than 0.6.
Growth stage
As we can see, Athena begins with a vegetative growth phase of about 4 weeks, in which the doses of nutrients provided are fairly constant. It should be noted that we are also guided on how to prepare the water to soak the rooting medium for clones; once rooted and transplanted, we start with week 1 of growth in the normal way. Of course, in case we want to give more or less weeks of growth to the plants, we only have to lengthen the growth diet in the first case, or switch to flowering nutrition when necessary in the second case.
Flowering stage
Athena presents its tables for a flowering period of 9 weeks, which is perhaps one of the most common periods for most cannabis varieties. As always, in case of a shorter flowering period, we will nutrient following the table but respecting the final flushing periods using only Athena Cleanse. In the opposite case, i.e. in strains with a longer flowering period, we will simply continue to nutrients following the doses of week 7 until necessary and we should start reducing the amount of nutrient.
pH & EC
At the bottom of the tables we can check the correct pH level for each week, as well as the final amount of dissolved salts that we should obtain both for inert substrates such as coco or rockwool and for substrates rich in soil. As always, we recommend first adding water to the tank, then nutrients and additives until the desired EC is reached, and finally adjusting the pH level to the optimum range.
Spraying Athena products
Both nutrient charts also come with small tables for foliar applications, in this case of IPM and Athena Stack both mixed in water. You can see that they have two dosages, one for maintenance or prevention (2 times a week) and another called pressure for when we have to fight a pest infestation and not just prevent it (3 times a week). Despite the safety offered by Athena IPM, foliar applications are not recommended after the third week of flowering.