OK, so I've searched and have found many conflicting posts on this topic. My question is this... I have tested the PPM of my tap water which came out to 247... Now let's say in the seedlings or first week of growth stage that I need my PPM to be 600 for my nutrient solution... Do I ADD 600+247 for a total of 847 in my reservoir or do I bring the 247 to a total of 600??? Also, I'm using Floranova Grow, one part solution. Not exactly sure what feeding amounts should be for different stages... I've gotten "1/4 strength" "1/8 strength" Ect. Answers but they aren't what I'm looking to hear... I want to understand what I'm doing. Thanks in advance.
600 total. Not 847. However, the plants are going to tell you what they want by you monitoring the ppms over the course of a few days. Read some of this thread <--- If you haven't already...
Are you sure your plants even need nutes yet? They're designed to be given once the plant has used up what came naturally in the soil. A very young plant doesn't need any nutes. Until it's had time to form it's root system nicely, the foliage will just sit there and do nothing. Once the root system is formed, then the foliage starts to grow and the plant takes in more water and nutrition. If you're using soil of any quality at all, you shouldn't need any nutes in your plants until they're at least a month old...depending on the size container they're growing in. When you do start nutes, ALWAYS dilute your dose much less than recommended by the manufacturer. Mix up your feed solution and then take a ppm measurement. It should be in a range of 500-800 for nutrient water. Keep it within this range, starting at the low end and working up over time, and you'll avoid burning your plants. TWW
I'm doing a dwc grow... Everything I've read said to start nutes on week two and that's in 3 days so I'm just trying to get prepared. This is where she's at today.
And that is one of the threads that mentioned something different then a previous thread I had read. That's kind of why I wanted another opinion. You definitely helped though. One more question. Do you have any suggestions for a starting point for each stage as to where the PPM should be? Or is this something you have to come by through trial and error?
Well, not all plants are going to eat the same. Hence starting low (400ish ppms) and monitoring to determine where to go from there. There is no predetermined ppm values for each stage. The plant dictates what it wants. Monitoring tells you.
