I've read many threads where people talk about the ppm's being in the 1000 - 1500 range. Is the ppm dependent on the plant strain or the brand of nutes? Mine seem to be doing well at 900ppm and lower but I read so much of people reaching such higher numbers. Everything is growing well but I wonder if it could be better.
Are you using fully synthetic nutes, fully organic nutes or something thats a mix of both? Most organics wont show up on ppm readers. Synthetics are mostly salt based so they will fully show up on the reader. I know with pure blend pro I keep the ppm reading slightly lower because its a part synthetic part organic fert.
i can only say what i do "this is maybe wrong" but measure your ppm of the tap water or fresh rain water first, normally between 200 and 600, so if your water is 600 which mine is then your final reading will be 2100, also the ppm of tap water may change through the year as water supply will normally come from several differant souces before being piped to homes.
Yeah that's correct you want to measure how much ppms are in the water prior to adding nutes with 0ppm r.o. being the best choice. Indicas can handle more nutes usually and sativas usually handle less. PPM requirements also differ depending on what brand of nutes your using. I run the proven "lucas formula" and use either general hydroponics or advanced nutrients 3 part nutes. But you only need the micro and bloom when using the "lucas formula" there's no need to buy the grow formula. With the "lucas formula" you raise ppms slowly over time to a max of 1000ppms during vegging than again in flowering to 1800ppms
Huh? Where is the "salt" (NaCl) in NH3, NO3, P2O5, or K2O Or do you mean "salt" as the "combination of a metal and non-metal" in which case ALL nutrients are "salts" And the only nutrient that I know that is "organic" is Urea (CH4N2O) because it contains Carbon and Hydrogen and is thus "Organic" ... all else are not...
Your right most nutes are salts absorbed by the plant in the form of inorganic ions in water . This is the fundamental way a plant absorbs nutes and a plant cannot directly take in organic compounds as nutes . With organic nutes you have to rely on beneficial microbes and fungi(this is what happens in nature) to break them down into inorganic ions in which case you'd be better off using chemical nutes to begin with. IMHO organic nutes have no place in hydroponics since hydroponics is supposed to be about max yeild+shortest amount of time.
So basically all nutes absorbed by plants are salts or inorganic ions. But no we aren't talking about table salt.
I agree - but for a slightly different reason. That being that hydroponics don't have (and really can't support) the herd of bacteria that are needed to oxidize the organic analogs of the "rocks" into forms that can be used by the plant (such as Urea -> Ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate).
Well there are products like gh subculture a and b that introduce beneficial bacteria and mycrohizzal roots that are designed to work in hydro systems. But I have tried them and found them to be more of a PITA then their worth it's easier to use chemical nutes and the lucas formula. If someone wants to grow "organically" they oughta stick to dirt. Peace dude
Ummm, hmmm so I use beneficials and compost solutions with my GH nutes. Is that counter productive you figure ?
Not necessarily counter productive per say just not necessary. Beneficials are there to assist the roots by breaking down organic molecules and turning them into inorganic ions that the plant can then absorb(they have a symbiotic relationship with the plants). To some degree they can also assist the plant in the uptake of water too. But in hydoponics where your already providing nutrients in the form of inorganic ions(chemical nutes like gh flora series) and plenty of water beneficials don't provide any well.........benefits In that situation they are just a wast of time and money. Peace