New Age United
Well-Known Member
Completely new to hydro, so I have to get a ppm tester and that's how I make sure I'm using the right amount of nutes, how many ppm should it be?
Do I need to measure ppm for my nutrients?
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Clown Baby
Well-Known Member
bro you got some reading to do. Look at the hydro stickies and newbie section. Not saying this to be a dick, but it's something you should do before killing your crop and getting discouraged.
Short answer? lower ppm for smaller plants, and up it as they grow. Some strains can take more than others. I start clones around 0.7 EC and ultimately take them to around 1.4EC. Less is more. Pouring a shitload of nutes in your res won't make your plants grow faster.
good luck
Short answer? lower ppm for smaller plants, and up it as they grow. Some strains can take more than others. I start clones around 0.7 EC and ultimately take them to around 1.4EC. Less is more. Pouring a shitload of nutes in your res won't make your plants grow faster.
good luck
Clown Baby
Well-Known Member
If you havent bought the PPM tester yet, i suggest you buy once, and buy right. The blue lab truncheon cost about 100 bucks, but it's the best investment in hydroponics you can make.
Measures on 4 scales, doesn't need to be calibrated, and has a 5 year warranty
Measures on 4 scales, doesn't need to be calibrated, and has a 5 year warranty
Logan Burke
Well-Known Member
Really, that's a hard question to answer simply because every strain has the capability of handling higher/lower ppms. I believe my clones started out around 200ppm, now at 700ppm for preflower. Most people start out at either 1/4 or even 1/8 strength nutes, then every res change they up the ppms by 50-100 or something along those lines. Just measure the ppm's of your water before you add the nutes, and if it's 20 for example, you would subtract 20ppms off of whatever it is after you apply your nutrients. Are you using bagseeds or?...And what kind of Hydro system will you be running? If you don't mind me asking.
Tone5500
Well-Known Member
http://m.ebay.com/itm/171562362145?nav=SEARCH That meter right there I can vouch for it acrucy, I have checked it at my job where we have top of the line TDs conductivty meters and it's only around 10 ppm off been using it over a year and it hasn't lost calibration or anything just needed a battery after about 6 months
New Age United
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the responses, ya I know I have a lot of research the do, I have just hatched the seeds for my mother plants so I have a good 2 months, I was thinking of going with the general hydroponics 8 pack water farm which is a top feed drip system, 2 Gallon grow chamber, 4 gallon res chamber, 17 G main res, and 17 G controller. No I'm not using bag seed I've got 5 White Rhino, 5 Blueberry, and 3 Northern Lights. Trying to find strong mothers.
doubletake
Well-Known Member
I'm using general hydro and there feeding chart says what your ppm will be at if you mixing it according to he chart.
I have the blue lab ph pen and ppm, so I checked and they were right so really I just had to check ph.
So I think you could get by without one but one that I have e
Been using the ph ppm pen combo i wouldn't go back to the ph drops or anything else it's super easy.
StinkBud
Well-Known Member
The truth is you really don't have to spend a fortune on a high-end meter to get good results. You can find cheap pool testers that will work great. If you use organic based nutrients you'll never get an accurate reading anyway. PPM/EC meters measure electrical conductivity and assigns a number to it. Not all organic materials conduct electricity though. You can get a ball park figure to start out with but remember, it's just a reference number. It doesn't tell you the ratio of Calcium to Nitrogen to etc... Some plants use a lot of Cal/Mag and will suck up everything you give it. You'll keep adding more and more mix till you get way too much Nitrogen and still not be giving the plant enough Cal/Mag. So nutrient adjustment is actually more of an art than science. You have to learn to read your plants.
Here's my recipe using all Botanicare Nutes:
1100 ml Pure Blend Pro Grow (or Bloom depending on cycle)
350 ml Liquid Karma
500 ml Cal-Mag Plus
900 ml Sweet during the last 3 weeks of flower
With these nutrients you can mix everything together and keep it in a jug. Just add the mix to your water slowly until you get to the desired PPM. It's easy to add nutes but hard to take them out!
When they first start out they don't need much food.
You can start your seedlings or clones around 400 PPM.
Bump it up to 800 PPM as the plants keep growing through veg.
I run between 1200-1800 PPM during flower (depending on the strain)
Now here is where the art comes in. You need to watch your plants and become one with their spirits. LOL just fucking with you bro! No really though, you do need to get a feeling to what's going on. So here's what you're looking for. If the plants are really dark green, almost black and the leaves are curling down like birds claws then you are overfeeding the plants. Drop the dosage. If you go way overboard and burn the plants, any damage will not recover. You have to always watch the new growth for your clues.
If the plants are a light green/yellow and seem a little transparent then you many need to up your nutes. I recommend going up 100 PPM at a time and watching what happens. If you start low it will be pretty obvious when the plants look healthy. Again, watch the new growth. You also want to watch the lower/older leaves. If the plant needs more Nitrogen it will transfer it from the old leaves to the new. This causes the old leaves to turn yellow and start to fall off. So you have to find the balance between burning the plants and underfeeding the plants.
Some strains are extremely hungry and some strains choke on 800 PPM. The environment also plays a factor. If you are using aeroponics, CO2 and lots of light then you can up the PPM more than you normally would. Some strains require a lot more Cal/Mag than normal. Any of the woody stem varieties like NY Diesel or OG Kush really suck up the Cal/Mag
PH - With my receipt my ph comes out at 5.8 and stays there so I never really have to fuck with it. In fact if I see it start changing that's usually a sure sign it's time to change the res or something funky is growing. Let's just say that your PH isn't 5.8. No big deal, just add PH up or down until you get it dialed in. Always adjust your ph last.
There you go bro...hope this helps someone, someday...
Here's my recipe using all Botanicare Nutes:
1100 ml Pure Blend Pro Grow (or Bloom depending on cycle)
350 ml Liquid Karma
500 ml Cal-Mag Plus
900 ml Sweet during the last 3 weeks of flower
With these nutrients you can mix everything together and keep it in a jug. Just add the mix to your water slowly until you get to the desired PPM. It's easy to add nutes but hard to take them out!
When they first start out they don't need much food.
You can start your seedlings or clones around 400 PPM.
Bump it up to 800 PPM as the plants keep growing through veg.
I run between 1200-1800 PPM during flower (depending on the strain)
Now here is where the art comes in. You need to watch your plants and become one with their spirits. LOL just fucking with you bro! No really though, you do need to get a feeling to what's going on. So here's what you're looking for. If the plants are really dark green, almost black and the leaves are curling down like birds claws then you are overfeeding the plants. Drop the dosage. If you go way overboard and burn the plants, any damage will not recover. You have to always watch the new growth for your clues.
If the plants are a light green/yellow and seem a little transparent then you many need to up your nutes. I recommend going up 100 PPM at a time and watching what happens. If you start low it will be pretty obvious when the plants look healthy. Again, watch the new growth. You also want to watch the lower/older leaves. If the plant needs more Nitrogen it will transfer it from the old leaves to the new. This causes the old leaves to turn yellow and start to fall off. So you have to find the balance between burning the plants and underfeeding the plants.
Some strains are extremely hungry and some strains choke on 800 PPM. The environment also plays a factor. If you are using aeroponics, CO2 and lots of light then you can up the PPM more than you normally would. Some strains require a lot more Cal/Mag than normal. Any of the woody stem varieties like NY Diesel or OG Kush really suck up the Cal/Mag
PH - With my receipt my ph comes out at 5.8 and stays there so I never really have to fuck with it. In fact if I see it start changing that's usually a sure sign it's time to change the res or something funky is growing. Let's just say that your PH isn't 5.8. No big deal, just add PH up or down until you get it dialed in. Always adjust your ph last.
There you go bro...hope this helps someone, someday...
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panhead
Well-Known Member
With an experienced hydro grower i'd agree on the bluelab , infact its what i use in my rez's but i cant see it being an option for a 1st time hydro grower , too many scales will have him all fuked up .
You just read the best lesson in hydroponics you'll get , especially the last part about learning to read the signs , after a while you'll get so in tune with how the plants look you'll be able to read them like a book .
Another important aspect of learning hydroponics is dont join the strain of the month club , pick a strain & stay with it until you've mastered hydro , every strain is different & if your switching every 2 months you'll never be able to glance at your grow & walk away for 3 days .
