PPM Schedule

[greengiant420]

I have searched high and high for a good and complete feeding schedule measured in PPM. I use Ionic Grow , Bloom ,and Boost for coco and soil. I know all nute brands will show different resaults but I thought it might give me a starting point. Your help will be GREATLY apprieciated Thanks

 

[Growbot]

I have searched high and high for a good and complete feeding schedule measured in PPM. I use Ionic Grow , Bloom ,and Boost for coco and soil. I know all nute brands will show different resaults but I thought it might give me a starting point. Your help will be GREATLY apprieciated Thanks

that's kind of a difficult question. there are a lot of factors involved. some plants are heavy feeders, some aren't. one thing you could try is to mix a batch of full strength nutes as suggested on the containers. check the ppm and go from there. i usually start feeding seedlings 1/4 strength. so, if your full strength nutes measure out at 1000 ppm, then you would start feeding at 1/4 (250ppm) of that.

 

[greengiant420]

That is kind of what I thought about doing thanks bro

 

[billybob88]

it all depends on the strain and the cycle the plant is in. for seedlings i just give my plants straight ph-ed water. once they hit the 4th node i start them off with 300ppm grow and work up from there. adding more as they get bigger to end up around 1200-1300 right before flowering. entering flowering i use 5/8 grow and 3/8 bloom at about 900 ppm. i change the res right b4 week 2 of flowering to go 5/8 bloom and 3/8 grow. i max out at around week six-seven-eight(depending on varieity) at about 1500 ppm if the plants arent showing any signs of nute burn. and then i flush the last week.

 

[greengiant420]

perfect place to start thanks a million

 

[billybob88]

what kinda setup u got buddy?

 

[infamouse21]

our plants dont like like going over 600ppm cause they start 2 get burn. & they are over 2 ft & 8weeks into veg. but then again we dont have white widow jsut some seeds we got . we use ebb flow & arnt having 2 much trouble

 

[pandabear]

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 nutes.

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

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 nutes.

i've never heard of adding nutes to an active rez. you top it up with ph'd water until the next changeout. if you just add nutes to raise the ppm you could really do some damage. you'd have no way of knowing what the npk levels will be after adding nutes to the rez.

 

[billybob88]

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 nutes.

if the ppm is higher after they drink water it means they need less nutes and are trying to extract just water and leaving behind the nutes, and you better fix it before they begin to burn
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very very informative. ive always thought about that but never really put 2 and 2 together. thanks. anyways i add about 5 gallons of water every 3-4 days to my res. i test after i added the water and the ppm drops so i put a little more nutes in to bring my ppm back up to desired levels.

 

[towlie]

if you just add nutes to raise the ppm you could really do some damage. you'd have no way of knowing what the npk levels will be after adding nutes to the rez.

Wouldn't a truncheon do that for you??? The reason I ask is that I've been proportionally adding nutes.

 

[Growbot]

Wouldn't a truncheon do that for you??? The reason I ask is that I've been proportionally adding nutes.

i don't think there's anything out there (in our price range) that can give you a breakdown of specific nute levels. it can give you an overall ppm, but not a readout for each.

 

[towlie]

i don't think there's anything out there (in our price range) that can give you a breakdown of specific nute levels. it can give you an overall ppm, but not a readout for each.

But if you follow the feeding ratio won't you have that? For example: If we're using FoxFarm we'd proportionally ad Grow-Big, Tiger-Bloom, Big-Bloom, & Cha-Ching in a 2:1:1:1/4 ratio.

http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/hydrofeed.pdf

Wouldn't this maintain the proper NPK levels???

 

[Growbot]

in a recirculating rez, as the plant needs/wants certain nutrients, it takes them in. there's no way of knowing what is being utilized and in what proportions. one feed may involve more of one than the other. by replacing your nute strength to your desired ppm will result in too much of one, and not enough of the other. in order to feed at the max ppm at all times w/o worrying about specific nute levels, you have to use a run to waste system. as far as i know, only people who use coco do this run to waste method. and by the way, coco is an awesome medium to grow in!

 

[pandabear]

yes i see what you guys are saying, i have been relying on my nutes instructed levels to maintain the proper ratios , although this may not be perfect it seems to be working for me very well, first grow I had 1.2 or so grams per watt.

but i think to be sure u need to get a truncheon.

 

[towlie]

by replacing your nute strength to your desired ppm will result in too much of one, and not enough of the other.

Ya, but aren’t my options ‘Too much of one, but not enough of the other’ vs. ‘Too little of them all?”

Sorry. I get what you’re saying, but I’m still confused... Wouldn’t adding nuted water keep your levels more appropriate? I mean doesn’t replacing with distilled water exacerbate wandering nute levels? Seeing as my manufacturer’s recommendations are the best guess I can come up with, won’t continually feeding keep my levels more in line with what is needed???

For simplicity of math let’s say we have a 10-gallon system on a 10-day cycle and I nute-feed my hydro system per the manufacturer’s recommended ratios to a predetermined strength (ppm.) Let’s say I have 1000 arbitrary units of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, & Potassium (1:1:1 ratio)… But my manufacturer’s recommended strengths aren’t optimum for this plant and it drinks Nitrogen at a rate of 20 units per day, but P & K are consumed at a rate of 10 units per day. If the plant drinks water at a rate of 1-gallon-per-day & I re-fill daily, the ratios would be as follows:

Replace with distilled water:

Day-----N-----P----- K-----Sum:Units
1------1000--1000--1000-----3000
2-------850---925----925-----2700
3-------715---858----858-----2430
4-------594---797----797-----2187
5-------484---742----742-----1968
6-------386---693----693-----1771
7-------297---649----649-----1594
8-------217---609----609-----1435
9-------146---573----573-----1291
10------81----541----541-----1162

But if I replaced with nuted water it would be as follows:

Day-----N-----P------ K-----Sum:Units
1------1000--1000---1000-----3000
2------950----1025---1025----3000
3------900----1050---1050----3000
4------850----1075---1075----3000
5------800----1100---1100----3000
6------750----1125---1125----3000
7------700----1150---1150----3000
8------650----1175---1175----3000
9------600----1200---1200----3000
10-----550----1225---1225----3000

Oh shit! I had to bang that out to realize I’m probably going to burn my plant. Is that what you’re saying?

 

[Growbot]

yes sir! there's just no telling what's in the rez. of course the nute company is gonna tell you to add more nutes. the sooner you use them up, the sooner you can give them more mney. in the end, you should do what works best for you. most people i know who use a rez, top it up when it gets low with ph'd water. it gets drained and cleaned and refilled with fresh nutes once a week.

 

[Budsworth]

Hey man if you look at you plants every day and say 900 ppm and they look very nice and green keep it that way. observe your plants and they will tell you how they feel.

 

[Growbot]

^^^that's good advice. they'll usually tell you when they're not happy.

 

[towlie]

Good info. Thanks for holdin' my hand through that Growbot.

Warm regards.