Did I get the right nutes? Also PPM help.

Went to the hydro shop and got Flora Nova Grow 7-4-10 for my vegetative stage and Flora Nova Bloom 4-8-7 for my flower stage. Would these work to grow in hydroponic?

Also how does a ppm meter work? I know that's a better way of measuring plant nutrition. I get the principle that it measures parts per million of a solution. But how do you determine the nitrogen, potassium, and other elements from the one reading that shows up on it?

Thanks.

Well you could calculate the amounts of npk by taking the ratios you have on your ferts and converting them into real numbers based on your ppm if you really wanted to know how much ppm of each individual nutrient is in your solution. But make sure you check your tds with the water you're going to use before you add the nutes so you can, essentially, tare off the amount of the contaminates of the water when it comes out of your tap, bottle, well, etc. I'm still learning, but I'm pretty sure that would work if my math skills are working right now.

Also, if what I've learned is right, that you don't need to worry about the individual ppm of each nutrient, but more so the total ppm of the solution going into your plant. You don't want to give a seedling a nute solution with a ppm of 1000 or your plant will lock up all the nutrients in the leaves, and cause your leaves to die. So you want to ease your plant into higher concentrated (higher ppm) nutrient solutions. I.E. - Seedlings get maybe 100 ppm nute solutions, veg week 2 plants would get 250, veg week 6 would get 500 etc. Again, I'm very much still learning, so if someone more knowledgeable could confirm this, that would be sweet.

High on the moon said:

Also how does a ppm meter work? I know that's a better way of measuring plant nutrition. I get the principle that it measures parts per million of a solution. But how do you determine the nitrogen, potassium, and other elements from the one reading that shows up on it?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

That is what I ask myself.

Been doing reading, haven't gotten a PPM meter yet, but want to get one. I thought in different phases of growth the plant needs different amounts of nutrients, I.E. more nitrogen, potassium, or what ever. I've read that most people when going by the N-P-K will go 20-5-5 for veg, and 10-30-10 for bloom. I've also read 20-20-20 and 0-5-10, and so on. and of course they say start quarter dose and move up as the plant grows. So how do you determine which N-P-K formula is right to use? I've read that these are the PPM values I should get Nitrogen 160-250 ppm, Magnesium 45-75 ppm, Calcium 160-280ppm, Iron 2-7 ppm. But again how do I get these numbers from one reading? And if I do use the nutrients I have 7-4-10 and 4-8-7, what should my target N-P-K be? If these numbers are per tsp, I have to know a number to get to in order to know how many tsp to mix for the proper N-P-K value right? Thanks.

High on the moon said:

Been doing reading, haven't gotten a PPM meter yet, but want to get one. I thought in different phases of growth the plant needs different amounts of nutrients, I.E. more nitrogen, potassium, or what ever. I've read that most people when going by the N-P-K will go 20-5-5 for veg, and 10-30-10 for bloom. I've also read 20-20-20 and 0-5-10, and so on. and of course they say start quarter dose and move up as the plant grows. So how do you determine which N-P-K formula is right to use? I've read that these are the PPM values I should get Nitrogen 160-250 ppm, Magnesium 45-75 ppm, Calcium 160-280ppm, Iron 2-7 ppm. But again how do I get these numbers from one reading? And if I do use the nutrients I have 7-4-10 and 4-8-7, what should my target N-P-K be? If these numbers are per tsp, I have to know a number to get to in order to know how many tsp to mix for the proper N-P-K value right? Thanks.

Click to expand...

So how it works is dissolved salts containing sodium, potassium, and nitrogen can give and take electrons, so they conduct electricity. The meter puts a measured voltage one side of a known gap, and by how much voltage arcs, it can determine the electrical charge. This is then mathematically changed into PPM which are real numbers. So it knows how much conducting salts/solutes are in the nutrient bath. You need to give the feeding in the right order and keep the nutrients at the right level and you don't need to worry about NPK, if problems arise that say that you are lacking in one of the aforementioned then add more or less. That is how it all works.

+rep for the plant bio lecture, dudeface.

Dude face you rock!!! That's the simplest way I've ever heard it explained. So basically aim for around 250ppm early stage, around 500 mid, and 950 end veg or bloom, then. Thanks again.