As promised here is Aerokrafters nutrient regieme. Growing this way is as far away from kiss (keep it simple)
as it gets. I can attest to the results they are outstanding, explosive growth and extreme frosty buds with
excellent smell and flavor.
Note res is only changed every 2 weeks. It is per a 40 gal res He uses a aeroflo 36
with drain tube all the way down, splashoponics
Base Formula for start upand res changes:
After all that, it comes down to this:
Fill the 40 gallon res with RO water and add (in ml):
The order is important. Make sure the pump is running and you have topped offwith RO water. If you see a milky precipitate on the bottom of the res, thatwould be your calcium.
110 ml DM gold A
110 ml DM gold B
80 ml pH down
50 ml Silica
50 ml Zone
PS I would not ph the solution till the 3 hour mix is done. Everyones water is different and if i add ph adjuster to mine it is usually
ph down 10 ml. Once you have changed the res a few times you will know what it takes.
Start by adding the pH down, Silica and Zone. Let this circulate before addingA & B. Doing this helps avoid Ca participating out of solution.
Wait at least 3 hours to take readings.
For me this results in a pH of 6.2 and 460 ppm. You should be pretty close tothese numbers. If your plants are in the unit - they drag nutes and affect yournumbers. Its a good idea to do this before putting any plants in the unit nexttime. It's not hard to burn plants if you are putting high concentrations inbursts through the system. Sides - you really need to know the exact amounts ofthese nutes you must have to get to these numbers. Next time follow the orderand take a little pause between adding nutes.
Our target zones are 5.3 - 6.3 for pH, and 420 - 480 ppm. These change withstrain knowledge.
Through the course of the run, we want the pH to drift through as much of thisrange as possible. Different macro and micro nutrients are absorbed atdifferent pHs. There are nute availability charts floating all over the net -beware I have seen a couple mislabeled and wrong. Double check
Root masses will retain some nutrients. The bigger the roots, the more the nutedrag. Starting fresh this isn't a big deal, but later in the grow, must beaccounted for.
Adjustments, Additives and Res Changes:
Over time, the plants remove nutrients and add waste to the solution. Tocompensate we have to add those nutes back. In addition, the plants change whatthey absorb throughout the course of the run, so the menu changes with them.
The ppm meter is really just a measure of conductivity. It tells you howionically active the solution is - nothing more. There is no way of knowing fromthis what is REALLY in the res. The only solution to the problem is toperiodically change out the res. I have experimented the full range from weeklyres changes to no res change ever. I found the optimum res life to be 2 weeks.There was no difference between weekly and biweekly res changes. At 3 week reschanges and beyond, results tail off to 85% effectiveness with no res change atall.
Additives over time
For the first 2 weeks I use no additives only AB addbacks
weeks 3 - 4 I start to add a light flavor and PK boost in addition to ABaddbacks. Over the course of this time, my target is to add 2 doses of 2teaspoons Kool Bloom, and at least 1 dose of 50 ml Floralicious.
weeks 5 - 6 I bump to 3 doses KB and 2 FL + AB add backs
weeks 7 - 8 2 doses KB and 3 FL + AB add backs
week 9 flush
This is my base setup and is adjusted with strain knowledge.
Riding the wave and shooting ducks
So our goal is to monitor Tds and Ph throughout the grow. Reading the changesin the numbers and the plants overall "happiness" as we go.
So how do we react to what we see? Any time you add anything to the res, it canaffect BOTH pH and Tds. By creatively using our "tool" additives, wecan solve multiple problems with one shot.
Here are some rules of thumb for all the things we are using. Keep in mind thatwhen the plants are actively eating, these numbers slide around a little. Theserules will keep you out trouble. Remember less is more. 10 ml in 40 gallonssounds like homeopathic dilutions, but a drop in the bucket is all it takessometimes.
20 ml A / 20 ml B Addback results in:
+45 ppm
very slight decrease in pH
This is my first response to dropping ppm. When the plants are growing at fullspeed this number drifts down. Fresh starts range higher.
10 ml pH down results in:
- .2 pH
slight increase in ppm
pH down is buffered which means that at the ends of our acceptable range itseffectiveness changes. Be careful - a little goes a long long ways.
10 ml pH up results in:
+.3 pH
slight increase in ppm
Once again buffered and be careful.
2 teaspoon dose of Kool Bloom results in:
+20 ppm
-.2 pH
50 ml Floralicious results in:
+10 ppm
+.2 pH
With these numbers it becomes a sort of dance with the plants. They take a stepand eat. You lead them and they respond back
Also, you can foliar feed during the first 3 - 4 weeks with dm saturator and liquid light. I use 20ml each per 16 ounces of water fed
every 3rd day until buds get about tip of your little finger in size. It will destroy frost so i usually discontinue at 3.5 wks of flower.
Gl OG
