4th grow finally asking questions

Hello everyone. This is my forth grow since starting last January. My first grow was DWC in a 5 gallon bucket with a big air stone and high volume air pump with 1/4 output to a manifold. I use advanced nutrients 3 part micro grow bloom and is PH stable, well it was. A year later and it doesn't seem to work. Does it go bad? My biggest question is the feeding schedule. I understand the PPm but when looking at the feeding chart, are the numbers that they show how much you feed in a week total? if that's the case at a week where its 700ppm does that mean that I add 100 ppm per day or do I put you ppm in for the week? The way I did it last time was to just give it about 60-100 ppm per day and added the difference the plant used that day for the next. So if ppm started at 100 and went down to 60 then I put in 40 the next day bringing it back to 100. Is this correct or should I have a higer overall ppm in my buckets. I am so confused. Also should I give equal parts of micro grow bloom each time. I did this last time but notice the leaves turned yellow sorta fast when switching to flowering. I now think that is because there was too much nitrogen. How do I know exactly when to start switching ratios? This time I am going with 4 plants under a 600 w MH/ HPS lamp. rather than use buckets I am using a 4 ft round plastic kiddie pool with a 2" thick 4ft round piece of foam. I wanted to cut holes for the net pot but not sure how much air space if any is needed under the foam? if space is needed should I block up the whole sheet of foam or cut rings and raise just the net pot? I went with soil the last 2 grows but wasn't impressed by the yield or quality of DWC. One more question what temp should I set my chiller/heater for resivor? I am sure I have more questions but those are my main concern right now.

I stopped reading after I saw the PH Perfect Sensi/Advanced Nutrients line. That nutrient did NOTHING but kill ANYTHING I fed it too.

What do you recommend for nutrients?

I had great results with Sensi Grow and Bloom (original ones... not Ph Perfect) w/ Cal-Mag, Dutchmaster Silica, Rapid Start (root booster), and now I use Hydroguard (used Dutchmaster Zone until Firsttime (grower on the forum) showed me a picture of his roots lol)). I think I am a hydroguard believer now. Mine have never been whiter and my res temps were at 80 yesterday! Currently at 75 and working to whip up a res chiller or some ice for a temp fix.

I currently run Dutchmaster Flower A/B, Dutchmaster Silica, Rapid Start (great stuff), Cal-Mag, Neem Oil (foliar spray), and the recent addition of Hydroguard to replace the Dutchmaster Zone. I keep it hand incase I need to nuke my rdwc lol... which I see coming with my high res temps and no $$$ for chiller atm.

hey Thanks Ill give it a try. Can you tell me how to feed nutes? if you see my first post you will see where I get confused. a quick tip for keeping the res temp lower without a chiller is to install fans that blow across the resivor. I do this during the winter so my chiller doesn't run. My chiller has a built in heater as well so if it gets too cool it will kick on. you can just use a fish tank heater and set it to temp but use a separate thermometer as the ones on the heater isn't too accurate unless you get a quality heater. That method can drop it an easy 5-6 degrees. you may want to vent the exhaust of the resivor out of the grow room to avoid humidity

I need higher humidity in my room and I need lower res temps. So I turned all the HIDs off and Im going to let it cycle/cool down. I would never use a heater in a hydro system. Thats asking for trouble.

I have been using a heater for the past year and have used the same ones in my coral reef tank which required much more balance than growing weed. a temp flux over 85 degrees and coral dies and usually doesn't bounce back like marijana. Same if it gets under 64 degrees, almost all dies and starts showing stress at around 66-67 degrees. I assure you an aquarium heater is just fine and guarantee many others use them for hydroponics. There is a thermostat that turns it on and off. I have never in all the years of taking care of a coral reef tank had a problem with a heater getting stuck on. If anything they stop working. In your case exhaust the fans into your grow room to bump up the humidity. The heater will never turn on unless the fans cool the res too much. This is a common practice in reef tank setups which is very close to all the equipment you would use for hydroponics including metal halide lamps, just in a much high kelvin rating which ranges between 10-20k. If you are short on money it is a cheap and safe way to manage water temps. Its a simple concept. the fan constantly cools the res and the heater kicks on when its gets too cold and turns off when it reaches the proper temp. Mine is set at 71 degrees. So your res stays withing about 1-2 degrees at all times. I used the fans from an old pc. very quiet and efficient.

by the way light cycle interruptions slow growth

HIDs off, not the whole room.

And at no point will my res get TOO cold. I won't ever need a heater was my point.

if you use the fan it may. the heater is there just to use as a thermostat. I was just trying to give you a cheap alternative to a chiller since you dont have the money for one. Like I said it will bring it down a good 5-6 degrees. The fan will not turn off when the water gets too cold so a heater is used to keep it at the desired temp. I'm not quite sure that you understand what I am saying.

You might need to do a bit more research with the nutes. I'm Not familiar with your brand but if it says your target is 700ppm you need to add enough to your water to make it 700ppm. Unless your water started at 200ppm out of the tap then your ending ppm should be 900ppm.

If your doing a res change every week you dont need to add any nutes after a batch has been created. During the week when water levels decrease you top off with fresh water nothing added to it. You should see that 700 decrease down throughout the week and thats ok because you will make a fresh batch at the weeks end. Adjustments can be made once you notice how much and how fast that 700ppm gets eaten.

Ph adjustments dailyand your target is 5.8

If your ppm drops due to feeding your not feeding enough. Find the sweet spot of what the plant likes and it will drink nutrients and water at the same rate

Thank you so much! that is way easier than what I was doing.I really appreciate the clarity!