How do YOU feed in soiless?

I use synthetic ferts and Promix Myccorhizae. Through veg I usually w-f-w-f etc. and in flower I usually w-f-f-w-f-f-w etc. And for the feeding I mix the ferts as strong as I can. IE; the White Russians I have blooming right now are up to 1250 PPMs, which is just under what gave the leaf tips and ever so slight burn.

This is how I learned and it's worked fairly well, I guess. But what I see is rapid growth during the feeds and then very slow growth during the water only spots. So I wonder.... would it be better to dial back on strength and feed every time, for more steady growth...or....???

What does everybody else do, who grows soilless with synth ferts?

I grow in a similar but different mix, 50% triple mix/50% pro-mix Myco. I keep trying and tracking different feeds and slight changes can make a huge difference. I feed lower (600ppm max) as the soil lasts well into the flowering so I need to feed lower or they burn. The one I've settled on right now is f-w-w-f in veg, f-f-w for the first 2 weeks in flower (stretch), then f-w-f-w, one f-f-w with 2 weeks left, then f-w-f-w until the last week where they get water-only. Anything more than this in my medium has caused a lot of salt build-up and a couple of lock-outs. It's a real juggling act and difficult to track when you're changing up strains almost every run. Pretty happy with the current schedule/feed levels as I'm getting very dense buds and resulting weights without burn or lock-out. Cheers.

i use light feed every watering.

qwizoking said:

i use light feed every watering.

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What PPM do you consider a light feeding?

No probs with salt build up?

GroErr said:

I grow in a similar but different mix, 50% triple mix/50% pro-mix Myco. I keep trying and tracking different feeds and slight changes can make a huge difference. I feed lower (600ppm max) as the soil lasts well into the flowering so I need to feed lower or they burn. The one I've settled on right now is f-w-w-f in veg, f-f-w for the first 2 weeks in flower (stretch), then f-w-f-w, one f-f-w with 2 weeks left, then f-w-f-w until the last week where they get water-only. Anything more than this in my medium has caused a lot of salt build-up and a couple of lock-outs. It's a real juggling act and difficult to track when you're changing up strains almost every run. Pretty happy with the current schedule/feed levels as I'm getting very dense buds and resulting weights without burn or lock-out. Cheers.

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Is 600 PPM max strain dependent or the absolute max you've found to protect against salt build up?

Gquebed said:

Is 600 PPM max strain dependent or the absolute max you've found to protect against salt build up?

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In this medium, pretty well any strain I've tried burns above 600 ppm, I typically have 6-8 strains going so it's been pretty consistent.

GroErr said:

In this medium, pretty well any strain I've tried burns above 600 ppm, I typically have 6-8 strains going so it's been pretty consistent.

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Thanks!
Valuable info... gives an idea of where to start (with feeding regimen changes) with strains I'm familiar with.

Simple hempy bucket with a whole drilled 2" from the bottom. 100% perlite and lucasformula.com

1 small scoop of Maxibloom powder.
1ml CalMag
Approx. 1.5-2 ml ph up to 5.8-6.
Per gal tap water is under 100 ppm.
Every other day once the roots are established.

Th-that's all folks.

Bump

I lightly feed with every watering. My water from well is about 380ppm on 500scale. To that I add at the most 750ppm of nutes on flower, in veg its closer to 350-500 ppms. With my water starting off at nearly 400ppms, in flower I never go over 1150ppms.

I really think light feeding is the way to go.

My buddy feeds his 2000ppm in flower. He's feeding almost 3x what i feed, for no reason IMO.

When I grew in straight Pro-Mix HP I used the so-called "Useless" schedule. The following is the NPK ratios and strength for each week. (The PPMs are calculated. In practice they will be 20% lower when measured.).

--------------- R A T I O S
-------- N-P-K ----------- K-Mg-Ca -------- PPM
VEG
week-1 1.32-1.00-2.41 -- 6.76-1.00-2.15 --- 323
week-2 1.85-1.00-3.06 -- 8.08-1.00-2.82 --- 574
week-3 2.06-1.00-3.31 -- 8.54-1.00-3.07 --- 667 [2]
BLOOM
week-1 1.00-1.29-1.88 -- 4.54-1.00-1.77 --- 745
week-2 1.00-1.47-1.70 -- 3.75-1.00-1.90 --- 767
week-3 1.00-1.52-1.70 -- 3.65-1.00-1.88 --- 875
week-4 1.00-1.72-1.87 -- 3.53-1.00-1.66 --- 946
week-5 1.00-2.21-2.25 -- 3.33-1.00-1.31 --- 966 [3]
week-6 1.00-2.70-2.36 -- 2.91-1.00-1.23 --- 966
week-7 1.00-3.16-2.72 -- 2.88-1.00-1.06 --- 930

That's the results using the unmodified schedule. However, I added GH liquid Koolbloom (LKB) during flower, and powdered Koolbloom (PKB) the final week (prior to 10-20 days of water only). The following is how it turned out:

week-2 1.00-1.92-2.16 -- 4.75-1.00-1.90 -- 888 [4]
week-3 1.00-2.12-2.31 -- 4.95-1.00-1.88 -- 1055 [5]
week-4 1.00-2.53-2.68 -- 5.06-1.00-1.66 -- 1187 [6]
week-5 1.00-4.09-3.34 -- 5.07-1.00-1.22 -- 739 [7]

[1] Useless schedule: http://forum.growkind.com/showthread.php?t=35174#.UmIsPhDK7Kc
[2] Repeat until bloom.
[3] Cut dose in half if using bloom booster.
[4] 2ml/gal LKB
[5] 3ml/gal LKB
[6] 4ml/gal LKB
[7] Cut base nutes in half, as described in the Useless schedule. Use 1.25g/gal PKB.

The official GH label results in this:

--------------- R A T I O S
---------------- N-P-K ---------- K-Mg-Ca ------- PPM
Seedlings -- 1.21-1.00-1.82 -- 5.48-1.00-2.67 --- 126
Mild veg --- 1.21-1.00-1.82 -- 5.48-1.00-2.67 --- 503
Aggr veg --- 2.07-1.00-2.98 -- 7.98-1.00-3.57 --- 970
Transition - 1.21-1.00-1.82 -- 5.48-1.00-2.67 --- 1005
Flower ----- 1.00-1.28-1.59 -- 4.00-1.00-2.12 --- 1040

People usually feed 50% of the label. So, the PPMs would be half shown.

"Useless" pushes the strength as far as it can go. Not necessarily a good thing. I had some N-toxicity. And, I don't think I would use Liquid Koolbloom again. I had some burn in mid-flower. I should have reduced the base nutrients to make room for LKB. But, I think it's better to feed the base nutrients and forget about LKB.

I have since switched to a light soil and feed more organic nutrients.

Wouldnt you be more inclined to have issues with salt build up if you fed every watering? I don't bother with ppm it being soil but whatever rocks your boat.

no

theslipperbandit said:

Wouldnt you be more inclined to have issues with salt build up if you fed every watering? I don't bother with ppm it being soil but whatever rocks your boat.

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No.

Don't over do it. If you avoid feeding in high concentrations then you will avoid salt buildups.

I have seen your grows so imma assume it's possible..what we talking here 2.5ml per litre? in reference to canna but I'm assuming a 3rd of any feeding suggestion should suffice or am I being generous?

.8-1.2 EC for promix. I'll go a little higher with rockwool. Feed every time, flush once every 2-3 weeks. Run off never reads above 1.4.

theslipperbandit said:

Wouldnt you be more inclined to have issues with salt build up if you fed every watering? I don't bother with ppm it being soil but whatever rocks your boat.

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I've always fed each watering. I watch runoff ppms to be sure the amount I'm feeding (and amount of runoff) doesn't lead to salt buildup. For me, 2500ppm (0.5 Hanna scale) runoff is when I see deficiencies/lockout in the leaves. If I see it reach 2000, I reduce the strength and/or more runoff. 2200 and I stop feeding (water only, or mild nutrients). I like to stay in the 1600-1800 range in flower. It takes awhile for it to build up that strongly.

But, that could be different for different soils and nutrients. After dialing in the strength and runoff I don't monitor runoff ppms. Maybe 1-2 times in flower just to make sure my assumptions are correct.

Not necessarily man don't matter the soil if the pmm is the same but I'm probably gonna try it now n see how it goes I've a fairly solid plan of action at the moment in veg as I feed n then silica water then foliar feed then water with silica then repeat but I do like the idea of feeding consistently but fuck ppm lol

theslipperbandit said:

I have seen your grows so imma assume it's possible..what we talking here 2.5ml per litre? in reference to canna but I'm assuming a 3rd of any feeding suggestion should suffice or am I being generous?

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I don't know how many ml/L, I don't use liquid nutes, sorry bub.


Lots of assumptions in that post, lol!

Hey man if in doubt assume lol if ur uber organic then u don't even have to feed? Or is it teas n slumber parties? You americans gotta learn our measurements lol jk