Reservoir TDS levels

D

Don Cirilo

Well-Known Member
Hi everybody,

First time grower. I m using AN nutes and more or less following the calculator the company offers. However Ive been communicating with the tech support dept of AN and they say something that doesnt convince them. They say that the ppm levels they mention per week in their calculator is the total ppm for the entire week. For example, if the week your on the calculator says 900 ppm and your reservoir is big enough that ppm levels dont change with each feeding then your suppose to feed about 150ppm each day so that at the end of the week it adds up to 900. Here is a copy of their message: case of reservoir that does not need to be topped up.

Add to the reservoir the amount of water that the plants are going to be using for the week, include some extra water to allow for evaporation.

Mix the nutrient solution at 1/6th of the strength that is suggested in the calculator for that week.

Example: If the plants need 1200 ppm for the week, divide 1200 by 6 and mix the reservoir at 200 – 250 ppm.

Allow the solution to sit long enough to stabilize the pH. Adjust pH

Feed the plants.

Allow the plants to feed on the solution and the pH to rise for 1 1/2 – 2 days before re adjusting the pH.

Im new at this, but it sounds wrong to me

Any opinions?
 
Don Cirilo said:
Hi everybody,

First time grower. I m using AN nutes and more or less following the calculator the company offers. However Ive been communicating with the tech support dept of AN and they say something that doesnt convince them. They say that the ppm levels they mention per week in their calculator is the total ppm for the entire week. For example, if the week your on the calculator says 900 ppm and your reservoir is big enough that ppm levels dont change with each feeding then your suppose to feed about 150ppm each day so that at the end of the week it adds up to 900. Here is a copy of their message: case of reservoir that does not need to be topped up.

Add to the reservoir the amount of water that the plants are going to be using for the week, include some extra water to allow for evaporation.

Mix the nutrient solution at 1/6th of the strength that is suggested in the calculator for that week.

Example: If the plants need 1200 ppm for the week, divide 1200 by 6 and mix the reservoir at 200 – 250 ppm.

Allow the solution to sit long enough to stabilize the pH. Adjust pH

Feed the plants.

Allow the plants to feed on the solution and the pH to rise for 1 1/2 – 2 days before re adjusting the pH.

Im new at this, but it sounds wrong to me

Any opinions?
Click to expand...

Anybody with an opinion?
 
Sounds like a good way to slowly increase concentration of food for seedlings and young clones, to introduce food slowly.

Is this a recipe for a start up, or do they recommend under-feeding at the beginning of every week?
 
Thanks for the reply. What they are saying, which I find doubtful, is that the ppm levels they recommend on any given week is the total for the week. That means that if your reservoir is large enough such that ppm levels are barely affected after feeding then divide total ppm per week by 7 (if your flooding once a day) and prepare reservoir using that number. Say for example, peak of flowering, ppm such be say at 1200 for that week. If your feeding once a week then each feeding should have approximately 180ppm, so that at the end of the week you have given the plants a total of 1200. Its not a seedling clone slowly increasing program, its an entire plant life cycle feeding method.

I think each feeding should have about 1000-1200ppm for that week and not 180
ppm like their method suggest. My tap water has more than 180ppm. It just doesnt make sense to me, then again Im a beginner.
 
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