Definitely something to this, not sure I’d recommend going 9 weeks without watering though. But reduced watering can certainly increase potency.
“According to Caplan et al. (2019), controlled water restriction did not influence the inflorescence yield. However, the yields of THC, CBD, THCA, and CBDA per unit of cultivation area increased significantly”
To continue the discussion on cation exchange, the exchange sites are never empty. They always have a cation attached to them. In the case of coco, it usually comes filled with sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+). Since calcium (Ca++) and magnesium (Mg++) have a stronger charge, they will knock off the weaker charged cations. This is why we buffer with Ca and Mg. It’s not to fill an empty cation exchange site, but rather to exchange the cations for the ones we want.
The plant gets hydrogen from splitting the water molecule, releasing oxygen as a byproduct. The plant will then exude hydrogen from its roots. If enough of these hydrogen cations are given off, they will fill the exchange site. The root can then uptake the cation that was filling the exchange site.
While CEC is critical for growing in soil with dry amendments, it becomes less important when you are fertigating cations on a frequent basis. It does, however, explain why coco requires additional Ca and Mg.
The book More Food from Soil Science by Tiedjens has a very detailed explanation of cation exchange.
Bravo sir…bravo 
They are fabulous creatures. I wish I could hide my whole body.
I saw a movie where a guy built a turtle shell because he had social anxiety. Hilarious, and made me a bit jealous.
It really isn’t. Exchange is simply what it says, an exchange. Two species of a like charge exchanging position on a bonding site. Electrolysis is defined as a process of decomposing ionic compounds into their elements by passing a direct electric current through the compound in a fluid form. The cations are reduced at the cathode, and anions are oxidized at the anode.
No it doesn’t. Remember CATION EXCHANGE> Blockquote
No, I said what I said. If you’re asking me to explain it again for you just say you don’t understand.
Blockquote
Hey I have an idea. Let’s fight. My ion cation is bigger than your ion cation. What are you gonna do about it?
I’ll reply to this point by point when I get time. For now, this is full of the erroneous assumptions and poorly understood science that I find immature.
Soooo, what are some good ratios and elemental ppm people are using to grow top shelf, high brix cannabis in coco coir?
I did not understand it in this detail. What I thought was that the plant was giving off hydrogen to receive everything. I had the exchange backwards because I was trying to figure out how negative hydrogen was involved in the process because it was something that stuck out to me when I read it.
When you say that the the plant splits the hydrogen from the oxygen, what other process is this similar to? That seems to be exactly what electrolysis is to me.
From what you guys are saying, I’m guessing now, that the negative hydrogen is put in the medium by the plant in the collection of anions that are wanted??? Which is also why the plant can make the pH go up and down. Making what I originally said about the process as still being correct.
I still think the two process are very similar. The “ion exchange” and electrolysis. They are not the same thing, and its more like, electrolysis is a type of exchange not the other way around like I had originally said… Notice I also did not originally say it is electrolysis, I said it is a “type” of electrolysis. Which I already conceded twice… and will now edit for cannacryptic to say; similar.
I thought the medium was holding some of the C++ and Mg++ because the bond is stronger, in a way that the plant can not consume it, so we need to add extra that the plant can consume. (which will be free of this bond because there are no more sites for it to bond to)
When the coco dries out, I am under the impression that the Ca++ and Mg++ leave the bond and we are left with the Na+ and K+ again.
So if the cation site has the extra Ca++ and Mg++ it can be thought of as filled. When the Ca++ and Mg++ are removed, the site can be thought of as empty because it doesn’t have the cations we want and can attract and hold them when added, up to the point when they are all filled again and the plant can then get what it needs from the medium. @ReikoX What is wrong with the way I am picturing this, in your opinion?
I’m sorry bud, I keep getting sidetracked when I make it over to the grow. Let me know if this sketch brings it into scope for ya or if you have any other questions.
Yes It Is Better now,can I shoot you some questions on your private messages?
@Cannacryptic
Yes, that is the definition of electrolysis. But that is just a step in the plants metabolic pathway. That hydrogen is used for redox reactions, creating compounds, etc.
I’ve never heard of a hydrogen anion before you mentioned it, but I don’t think anions work the same way. We are taking cation exchange here.
If that’s how you choose to define empty, fine. But the exchange site isn’t empty. It has a cation bonded to it.
I had never heard of it either until I read that it was involved in the process somehow. This has always stuck out to me as interesting.
I understand that the conversation went into cation exchange, but the argument started talking about how all the elements are exchanged (or consumed) and how the negative hydrogen was involved (or not). In fact, cation exchange was brought into the argument by @Cannacryptic and used as the example to prove that there is no negative hydrogen involved in the process. So actually, using cation exchange to talk about the anions was sort of redundant and has brought us nowhere.
Does anyone know how the anions are exchanged?
Yes, after thinking about what you wrote, I feel that the plant is performing a very sophisticated all natural kind of electrolysis that is far beyond what man calls electrolysis. Which is probably how we learned to do it.
Okay, I see what you are saying now. I didnt coin the term “empty pocket” its just another thing I read.
“Plants use co-transport of protons down their concentration gradient as the energy source to move anions against their electrical gradient into the root hairs.”
More simply, anions are easily dissolved in water. That makes them readily accessible to plant root hairs.
The fact that the plant can push the pH in either direction is indicating that there is a negative hydrogen involved, right???
I don’t know the answer to that. I no nothing of negative hydrogen.
Okay I decided to go back to some of the research I did two years ago and figured the answer out to this question:
"The electrical balance in the root cells must be maintained, so for each positively charged ion that is taken up, a positively charged ion is released into the soil and the same is true for negatively charged ions. This means that when the plant takes up ammonium (NH4+), it releases a proton (H+) to the soil solution. An increase of the proton concentration around the roots decreases the pH around the roots (more acidic).
Similarly, when the plant takes up Nitrate (NO3-) it releases bicarbonate (HCO3-), which increases the pH around the roots (more alkaline).
The effect of ammonium and nitrate uptake is especially important in soil-less media, where the roots can affect the pH of the medium more quickly because their volume is relatively large compared with the volume of the medium. To prevent the pH of the medium from changing too rapidly, an appropriate ammonium/nitrate ratio and substrate temperature are essential, according to the plants growth stage."
Sure thing
Throw water softener resin on you and steal it
