Hey guys I read the ph/ppm sticky but was unable to find the exact answer to my question. I'm growing in soil and when I mix my nutes (foxfarm trio) I'm using the recommended dose of big bloom in distilled water (6 tsp per gallon). When I use my tds/ppm meter it is reading lower than the recommended ppm on the feeding chart by 100-200 points. Should I add more nutes to meet the recommended PPM level or should I stay with the recommended dose as far as actual tsp per gallon goes? Also in an instance where I'm adding extra stuff I was wondering how that works. For instance I am using dynagrow protekt for a silica supplement. The bottle says 1tsp per gallon = approx 100ppm. The recommended dose is 1/4 to a 1/2 tsp. Would I add my foxfarm nutes to the water mix it and take the ppm of that and then add the protekt until I see a 25-50 difference in the ppm?
The only way to find out is to try it. If you end uo having to add a crazy amount of silica then you might want to just add more nutes and then based on your evaluation of how much silica it took to get a 20 or 30 boost add it when your 20 or 30 away from after you put your nutes. Also when you add silica you should feed it when your watering with just water. Like inbetween feedings and raise your ph to 7 and then switch back to what tou normaly run with the nute mix. The dose on the bottle is pretty good i ran it for a couple years as well. I did like it. Also distilled water has nothing in it thats why your ppm can be 50 to 100 lower than it should. I ran fox farm with straight sulfer water out of my well and i had a great turn out. Either way let me know how it goes bro have fun and grow safe
The reason that your end level PPM ended up lower even though you followed the recipe is that you're using distilled water. The recipes on the bottles of nutrients or charts are based on average tap water ppm's of 50-200. Just like the amount of nutrients recommended is based on 1000 watt hps bulbs since that is the most common indoor light. Other lights like LED's and cfl's cause less nutrient usage. If you have a smaller garden and use a smaller light you should probably be using 50% recommended nutrient strength to start out. Different strains feed at different rates. The same strain will feed at different rates based on environmental conditions. It is always better to error on the side of less and prevent burn. You have to watch your plant and learn what it's telling you it needs weather it's more or less feeding. The signs are there if you know what to look for as far as if the plant is thriving or deficient. You should always test your ppm of the feed water after all products are added never after one or in the middle. Most nutrients will change both the ph and ppm. Silica is known for raising ph. It's alkaline and requires a certain amount of ph down to balance it out. Silica also reacts with certain minerals like calcium if I remember right and it will cause it to form solid particles that fall out of solution before they're absorbed. If you're using a silica supplement it should always be added first to prevent it from reacting and not being dissolved. I do silica, then ph down, mix, then add flora micro, grow, bloom, calimagic, florablend, humic fulvic acid, hydroguard. I do a ph check after everything is added. If it needs to be adjusted I do that and the last thing I check is ppm. If it isn't high enough you can add a slight amount more of micro & bloom until it's in your desired range. When balancing a ppm level don't worry about getting equal amount of side supplements in like silica just for a ppm bump. Just bump the ppm up with a balanced NPK profile nutrient selection. I bump up with micro and bloom because only one of either doesn't have very equal npk numbers. Micro has no phosphorus and bloom has no nitrogen. Like I said earlier you don't add silica supplements after you already have a nutrient solution. They will react and cause solids to form instead of dissolving. Silica always first in the feed water. I only add it at water changes because of this.