PPM question

[el rollo grande]

cheers all

first off, big up on the forum. excellent source of info.

i'm growing jock horror, 40% potting medium 60% perlite, 400w HPS light on 18/6 and GH flora-series nutes.

plants @ day 30 from seed and looking great, except for maybe being a bit small (16 cm tall).

question is -
when using the flora nutes as per recommendation, i'm getting a ppm of about 330. this seems really low. should i be upping the nutes? or continue going at manufacturer recommendation?

 

[chingy]

I have the same problems. My ppm was about 400 with it being at 100 before adding nutes. I was told to go by the ppm because it measures the concentration of the nute solution. I added more nutes to where the ppm should be around and that burned my plants. I think people will tell to you let your plants tell you if they need more nutes or not and not always by ppm.

 

[el rollo grande]

the thing is, reading thru posts on this site, one hears of ppms going around 1000+. starts to get one thinking...

 

[chingy]

Yea I did the same thing. Before I used the tds meter I always went by the manufactures amount of nute suggested. I didnt have any over fert problems but didnt know if i was giving the optimal amount of nutes to get the best growth either.

Anybody have advice? What will low or high ppms do to your plants and how will it affect them?

 

[email468]

i'm not a soil grower so reader beware - but by day 30 or so my PPM is in the 6-800 PPM range. And about 4-5 weeks into flowering, the PPM peaks at over 2000.

BUT that is because the plants seemed to really like it. If i had nute burn, i would have backed way off.

 

[Earl]

Be careful what you read about using high ppm,
as described in others threads.

Make sure you see the end result in pictures,
before you follow another growers methods.

If you are not using RO water
with very controlled temperature and humidity,
using 1000w lights,
and Co2,
then you should not use these high nute loads.

If you burn your plants
the damage is done.

Plants can not repair,
they just grow new parts,
if the conditions are correct.

If you are using tapwater,
you should never use high nute loads.

If you cut the recommended dose in half,
the nute load will be as high as your plant can use.

You will never find an experienced grower,
who uses 100%nute loads,
unless they are using all the other growing tools
that can make use of these high loads.

First it is a waste of money,
and second, it will slow your grow.

There are people who brag about how they grow,
and never show......beware.
.

 

[email468]

Be careful what you read about using high ppm,
as described in others threads.

Make sure you see the end result in pictures,
before you follow another growers methods.

If you are not using RO water
with very controlled temperature and humidity,
using 1000w lights,
and Co2,
then you should not use these high nute loads.

If you burn your plants
the damage is done.

Plants can not repair,
they just grow new parts,
if the conditions are correct.

If you are using tapwater,
you should never use high nute loads.

If you cut the recommended dose in half,
the nute load will be as high as your plant can use.

You will never find an experienced grower,
who uses 100%nute loads,
unless they are using all the other growing tools
that can make use of these high loads.

First it is a waste of money,
and second, it will slow your grow.

There are people who brag about how they grow,
and never show......beware.
.

Gee Earl - since i'm the only one who posted on this thread about using high PPMs, i'm feeling like this is a shot at me though i hope i'm mistaken and it is just a general warning (with which i completely agree).

And I do agree with what you're saying. I don't use RO water but I do use the hard-water FloraMicro with my tap water. I also have a 1000w of lights but don't use CO2.

i make a lot of mistakes and didn't intend to use such a high PPM but the plants just kept growing and liking it. Maybe they grew in spite of it - hell i don't know but my journal is posted for all to see.

but as you mentioned, i'm not an experienced grower but i do want to help people and don't want to steer them in the wrong direction.

Again, I apologize if i am being overly sensitive and your post was a general warning and not aimed at me.

 

[pandabear]

i use the hanna meters and it took me so f'in long to find this info, but if you are using hanna PPM meters they say 900 ppm would equal 1.8 EC


just double your ppms and put a decimal in it to find out ppm to Ec conversion

greenhouse seeds has a video about growing thier ww plants. the highest they ever used for that plant was 1.9 ec so i been using around 900 ppm on mine just to be on the safe side which is 1.8 ec

my big bud plants could take like 1100 - 1200 ppm which is like an ec of 2.2

here is an easy way to find out if u are using too little or too much ppms for your plants. first you put the water in your res (this is only for hydro) then u nute it to say 900 ppm, come back the next day. if the water has gone down like 2 inches it means the plants drank 2 inches of water. if the ppm is still 900 after they drank the water, it means the plants are drinking the same amount of water as they are the nutes and you have found thier optimal feeding range for that time in thier lives

now if they drank 2 inches of water and the ppm went down to like 700 then you know the plants are drinkin more nutes than water and you need to add some.

if the ppm is higher after they drink water it means they need less nutes and are trying to extract just watter and leaving behind the nutes, and you better fix it before they begin to burn

 

[email468]

i use the hanna meters and it took me so f'in long to find this info, but if you are using hanna PPM meters they say 900 ppm would equal 1.8 EC


just double your ppms and put a decimal in it to find out ppm to Ec conversion

greenhouse seeds has a video about growing thier ww plants. the highest they ever used for that plant was 1.9 ec so i been using around 900 ppm on mine just to be on the safe side which is 1.8 ec

my big bud plants could take like 1100 - 1200 ppm which is like an ec of 2.2

here is an easy way to find out if u are using too little or too much ppms for your plants. first you put the water in your res (this is only for hydro) then u nute it to say 900 ppm, come back the next day. if the water has gone down like 2 inches it means the plants drank 2 inches of water. if the ppm is still 900 after they drank the water, it means the plants are drinking the same amount of water as they are the nutes and you have found thier optimal feeding range for that time in thier lives

now if they drank 2 inches of water and the ppm went down to like 700 then you know the plants are drinkin more nutes than water and you need to add some.

if the ppm is higher after they drink water it means they need less nutes and are trying to extract just watter and leaving behind the nutes, and you better fix it before they begin to burn

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! This is great!

Now i can go right through my journal and see where i added too much or too little. Awesome and in case i didn't say it ... thank you!

 

[chingy]

Should ppm be lower when growing in soil? How is it different?

 

[pandabear]

yea i was wondering if there was a trick like that for soil?

 

[Earl]

Gee Earl - since i'm the only one who posted on this thread about using high PPMs, i'm feeling like this is a shot at me though i hope i'm mistaken and it is just a general warning (with which i completely agree).

And I do agree with what you're saying. I don't use RO water but I do use the hard-water FloraMicro with my tap water. I also have a 1000w of lights but don't use CO2.

i make a lot of mistakes and didn't intend to use such a high PPM but the plants just kept growing and liking it. Maybe they grew in spite of it - hell i don't know but my journal is posted for all to see.

but as you mentioned, i'm not an experienced grower but i do want to help people and don't want to steer them in the wrong direction.

Again, I apologize if i am being overly sensitive and your post was a general warning and not aimed at me.

I am sorry that I was offensive.

I am glad you are showing your grow,
and it looks like you are going to do well.

What I was trying to say is,
most people who use high nute loads,
are not really achieving the results they are after.

Unless you do a side by side grow,
with controls,
it is hard to prove my point.

I can tell you from my personal experience,
that high nute loads are not better,
and just help increase the profits of the Mfg.

Just give it a try on your next grow,
keep a grow log,
and you will see what I mean.

If you are still at 2000ppm
then I would just let it ride down,
until it is time for a two day flush before harvest.

Save the nutes for your next grow.

I am at 1040ppm in week 6 and will not feed again.

I am letting the nutes drift down for the next four weeks
and then I'll flush for 2 days under very week light
and then chop.

 

[email468]

I am sorry that I was offensive.

I am glad you are showing your grow,
and it looks like you are going to do well.

What I was trying to say is,
most people who use high nute loads,
are not really achieving the results they are after.

Unless you do a side by side grow,
with controls,
it is hard to prove my point.

I can tell you from my personal experience,
that high nute loads are not better,
and just help increase the profits of the Mfg.

Just give it a try on your next grow,
keep a grow log,
and you will see what I mean.

If you are still at 2000ppm
then I would just let it ride down,
until it is time for a two day flush before harvest.

Save the nutes for your next grow.

I am at 1040ppm in week 6 and will not feed again.

I am letting the nutes drift down for the next four weeks
and then I'll flush for 2 days under very week light
and then chop.

Thank you for your very kind response, Earl. I really appreciate your advice and I thank you for taking the time to help me.

I wasn't trying to get that high of a PPM - i was shooting for around 1300 at the most. But I was mostly planning on keeping a close eye on the plants and if they acted adversely, i was going to cut back.

While this isn't my first grow, it is my first with this light/hydro system and I'm learning as I go. Between you and pandabear (and others), i'm hoping my next few grows are good because of me - rather than in spite of me.

again - thanks for the very useful advice.

 

[Earl]

..\
,;,;
,,l,,l,

 

[supdro]

as a newbie where should i start with my ppm to optimize growth? I don't want to just throw in 800ppm and see what happens.

 

[skunkushybrid]

Actually, on the ppm scale you guys use in the US... 1400ppm is 2.0ec exactly.

I peak at 2.0 with most strains. Some though can only take 1.8... IMO. The above though is a fact...1400ppm is 2.0ec

 

[skunkushybrid]

as a newbie where should i start with my ppm to optimize growth? I don't want to just throw in 800ppm and see what happens.

I start seedlingsat 0.4 ec or 280ppm

 

[FilthyFletch]

Each nute maker has differnt ppm readings.Like I use Fox Farm and my water starts out at around 200 ppm without nutes.I will get up to about 1550 ppm early flower and then it drops again as the flower cycle ends.The flora nutes seem to use a very low ppm count compared to any other maker out there Im not sure whay but I would stick to thier chart and use the correct amounts for soil or hydro depending on the grow. Just alwasy check your ppm and ph and watch how the plants react. In hydro its a lot easier as you can see how the plants react with in a day and make corrections in minutes.Soil is a lot harder way to grow as the soil cant be corrected so easy and it slows the feeding so you cant make the needed adjustments as quickly.

 

[skunkushybrid]

I don't think 1550 is a low ppm count. In fact it is a very high one. I had a very big blooming strain once that seemed it could take it all, I went up to 2.2ec (1540) and slightly overnuted.

It's important also to peak at the mid-flower point, often the manufacturers of nutes will put this at 4 weeks. This is a generalisation. If you're sativa flowers for 12 weeks, peaking at week 4 is not a good idea.

 

[supdro]

I am trying to remember where but I read that nutes should only be at 1/4 to 1/3 strength. is that false? if so what should it be? also as a newbie what should be the first thing to buy a ph or ppm meter to regulate for hydro solution? I have already had nute burn on my plant. I didn't know that it could cause stunted growth. I had too much the plant started to turn yellow on the ends and no growth. changed the solution and it is bushy as heck but still stubby. will it get taller soon??