Organic Fertilizers PPM'S?

Cpappa27

Cpappa27

Well-Known Member
I am doing my first true organic soil grow and Im used to using the foxfarm trio from before that wasn't organic. I used to measure the ppms of the nutrient solution when I was growing before to make sure Im not burning my plants. This time Im using organic and I first used half strength of all the Humboldt Organic line according to their 10 week feed schedule. The plants responded great to half strength so I went to full strength and its been a few days and the plants exploded in growth and are still responding well, no burning at all. The only problem Im having is the PPM reading, it doesn't get much higher than 200 even at full strength. I just don't understand if organic (fish, kelp etc) doesn't give a solid ppm reading or what. Could someone explain this to me please. Thank you.
 
hi proberly got this wrong but the soil will be feeding the plants youll feed the soil, i dont think its like hydro etc where its all instant, some organic stuff is slower to release i spose thats why most soil growers dont do much ppm etc, not to say its not relevent or could help you see how far you can push etc, just not gonna give the same readings as your used to, thats how i see it anyway
 
PPM comes from TDS meter total disovled salts. wont find much if any in organic nutrient lines. PPM is important in hot synthetic soil but not organic. 200 is normal for tap water so you most liekley get those numbers from the water source not even your nute Line. or if your useing RO like me i keep my organic feedings to 200-250 which is all CalMg
 
Cpappa27 said:
The only problem Im having is the PPM reading, it doesn't get much higher than 200 even at full strength.
Click to expand...

I switched from purely synthetic nutrients to a product containing organic ingredients. Now, overfeeding manifests itself weeks later as the soil acidifies. I was used to immediately burned tips. When I wasn't getting that, I assumed I was in the safe range and the acid soil was something else. It took a couple grows before I reduced the nutes to 50% and everything became *much* better.

Evidently synthetic nutes are more available, like force feeding. Organic is stuff made available for the plant (soil biology?) to take as needed. But, if you provide more than needed *over time*, it acidifies the soil.

Keep track of your ppms. Don't be afraid to stay low. In veg I'm doing about 400ppm with base nutrients, and about 580 after adding supplements. In flower it might be 500 and 650.

I suggest monitoring your runoff ph and ppm. This isn't very accurate as a one-time reading. But, over time (as a trend) it was very helpful to catch acidification before it manifested itself as lockout deficiencies. For me, if runoff ph got down around 5.5 I needed to start thinking about feeding water only. Or, reduce nutes every feeding. Runoff ppm tended to coincide with this. If it rose above 1250ppm, I was facing a problem. If it was in the 1150 range, it was better.

Once you know how much to feed you don't need to waste your time measuring runoff. But, when changing soil and/or nutes like you're doing, I think it's invaluable to interpret problems.
 
Cpappa27 said:
I switched from purely synthetic nutrients to a product containing organic ingredients. Now, overfeeding manifests itself weeks later as the soil acidifies. I was used to immediately burned tips. When I wasn't getting that, I assumed I was in the safe range and the acid soil was something else. It took a couple grows before I reduced the nutes to 50% and everything became *much* better.

Evidently synthetic nutes are more available, like force feeding. Organic is stuff made available for the plant (soil biology?) to take as needed. But, if you provide more than needed *over time*, it acidifies the soil.

Keep track of your ppms. Don't be afraid to stay low. In veg I'm doing about 400ppm with base nutrients, and about 580 after adding supplements. In flower it might be 500 and 650.

I suggest monitoring your runoff ph and ppm. This isn't very accurate as a one-time reading. But, over time (as a trend) it was very helpful to catch acidification before it manifested itself as lockout deficiencies. For me, if runoff ph got down around 5.5 I needed to start thinking about feeding water only. Or, reduce nutes every feeding. Runoff ppm tended to coincide with this. If it rose above 1250ppm, I was facing a problem. If it was in the 1150 range, it was better.

Once you know how much to feed you don't need to waste your time measuring runoff. But, when changing soil and/or nutes like you're doing, I think it's invaluable to interpret problems.
Click to expand...

Hmm ive never had any Organic nutes mess with ph. az2000 are you describing organic grow above?? cause it sounds much more like synthetics if your anywhere near the ppms listed.
 
green_machine_two9er said:
Hmm ive never had any Organic nutes mess with ph. az2000 are you describing organic grow above?? cause it sounds much more like synthetics if your anywhere near the ppms listed.
Click to expand...

I described my use of Grow More Sea Grow compared to prior use of GH Flora 3-part. Former contains organic ingredients (but isn't organic). Later is purely synthetic. With the latter I had burnt tips the day after feeding too strong. Overfeeding the latter doesn't do that. 1/2 or 1 tsp is all the same -- until I've done it for 4-5 weeks and the soil starts acidifying.

I attribute the difference to the organic ingredients in the fertilizer.
 
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