ppm questions

weednurd420

Well-Known Member
ok im wanting to start testing the ppm before feeding my plants in soil , how do i test the ppm with the ppm pin to get all nutrents in the 1 gal to where they need to be, do i put lets say grow big in the gallon of TAP water then test the ppm of that alone then when the ppm for that nutrients is where it needs to be I add lets say tiger bloom then add the ppm of that on to the last nuterent i put in the same gallon if so how do i know how much ppm of that single nutes needs to be im my water for each stage of groth and also how do i calculate then end result all to gather in the gallon of water after adding all the nutes do i just lets say 200 ppm of tiger bloom then add 200ppm big bloom 200 ppm grow big so on and so on sorry if i confuse
 

weednurd420

Well-Known Member
any 1 this may seam like a stupid question, but i only know a little about how to feed plants by testing the ppm
 

GrowinDad

Well-Known Member
I would recommend following their feeding chart, start at about 1/4-1/3 the recommended dose, rather than messing with PPM.

But ultimately, it is about using the nutes in the proprtions recommended to get to the right PPM.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
how do i calculate then end result all to gather in the gallon of water after adding all the nutes do i just lets say 200 ppm of tiger bloom then add 200ppm big bloom 200 ppm grow big so on and so on sorry if i confuse
I use this spreadsheet to model how different bottles contribute ppm (and create a new NPK). You can measure the ppm of your starting water (should be 120-180ppm if using tap. If it's higher, you can mix with reverse osmosis filtered water). Then measure the ppm after adding each bottle. It should be close to what you got in the spreadsheet.

Normally, you just follow a feeding schedule's instructions, doing half what it says unless someone who's used it says you can use more. Feeding schedules are in tsp or ml, especially for soil. You don't need to measure ppm. If you want to be informed, that's a good trait to possess. But, you can just use the spreadsheet to delve into the numbers. Those numbers will be beneficial if you choose to recreate what you're doing with other fertilizer products.

In soil, the only time you'll use a ppm meter is to test your starting water ppm, a sanity check when starting new nutrients, monitoring your runoff ppm (which will inform you of salt buildup as it occurs instead of waiting for it to show in the plant). The meter is useful, but limited use.
 

weednurd420

Well-Known Member
I use this spreadsheet to model how different bottles contribute ppm (and create a new NPK). You can measure the ppm of your starting water (should be 120-180ppm if using tap. If it's higher, you can mix with reverse osmosis filtered water). Then measure the ppm after adding each bottle. It should be close to what you got in the spreadsheet.

Normally, you just follow a feeding schedule's instructions, doing half what it says unless someone who's used it says you can use more. Feeding schedules are in tsp or ml, especially for soil. You don't need to measure ppm. If you want to be informed, that's a good trait to possess. But, you can just use the spreadsheet to delve into the numbers. Those numbers will be beneficial if you choose to recreate what you're doing with other fertilizer products.

In soil, the only time you'll use a ppm meter is to test your starting water ppm, a sanity check when starting new nutrients, monitoring your runoff ppm (which will inform you of salt buildup as it occurs instead of waiting for it to show in the plant). The meter is useful, but limited use.
ok i wont mess with it i will just get 1 for salt build up. what will the ppm b in my run off if i have salt build up
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
ok i wont mess with it i will just get 1 for salt build up. what will the ppm b in my run off if i have salt build up
Measure your runoff each time and watch the trend. If you see it going higher, you'll know what to suspect. You can either reduce nutrient strength or let it go and actually find where lockout happens (then flush 100% of container volume, feed mild nutes after that).

For me, I get lockout when my runoff ph gets to 5.2 and my runoff ppm goes above 2500. When I see it reaching 2000-2200, I start reducing nutes, maybe feed water only the next time, then reduced nutes. I like to see 1200-1800.

I don't measure it much now because I know the strength and runoff that keeps me in the safe range. But, since you haven't dialed yours in yet, you should monitor runoff each time and that will help you get it dialed in. If you see it going higher, don't be afraid to let it go and find where lockout occurs. That's how you learn. It's easy to recover from. (What's painful for people is when they don't monitor, aren't prepared for it, then spend a week or two trying to diagnose the plant problem they see.).
 

weednurd420

Well-Known Member
Measure your runoff each time and watch the trend. If you see it going higher, you'll know what to suspect. You can either reduce nutrient strength or let it go and actually find where lockout happens (then flush 100% of container volume, feed mild nutes after that).

For me, I get lockout when my runoff ph gets to 5.2 and my runoff ppm goes above 2500. When I see it reaching 2000-2200, I start reducing nutes, maybe feed water only the next time, then reduced nutes. I like to see 1200-1800.

I don't measure it much now because I know the strength and runoff that keeps me in the safe range. But, since you haven't dialed yours in yet, you should monitor runoff each time and that will help you get it dialed in. If you see it going higher, don't be afraid to let it go and find where lockout occurs. That's how you learn. It's easy to recover from. (What's painful for people is when they don't monitor, aren't prepared for it, then spend a week or two trying to diagnose the plant problem they see.).
ok I will do that my next grow witch will be soon im almost dun with flower on my autoflowers they got like 30 days left
 
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