optimal PPM for vegetative etc..

panta

Well-Known Member
its the combo meter, measures ph,ec,ppm,etc.
i use the same meter,so i mesure the solution in EC and then convert it to ppms just to be more precise couse on the ppm mesure u can see a change of 10ppms wile the ec would take 40 or 50 ppms to change for a single decimal
 

captain insaneo

Well-Known Member
well from my hours scouring the internet I found an older article talking about using cf and ec and they were talking running .9 to 2.4 through the entire cycle. But every strain and system is different. From my meager hydro experience 1- 1.9 works for veg at 1.9 the leaves started to droop a bit so I diluted with RO and all was fine. So those numbers seem reasonable to me. My hydro cucumbers like it in the 1 range but the tomatoes like it in the 2 range. I am a bit frustrated at the crappy directions on the back of allll the nute packages.
 

panta

Well-Known Member
i just set my solution at 0.3 ec,the plants had some problems till now,so is this too low
 

captain insaneo

Well-Known Member
well that depends what problems they had where they are at in their life cycle. Pics are the best way to see and post them in the plant problem section. but sometimes you need to back it off a little bit so they can recover from too much nutes. But it is harder to kill a plant with too little nutes than it is to do with too much nutes.
 

pHebb

Member
Okay, nobody asked, but given that it took me over two hours to find the info, I'll post it here as well.

Nutradip TDS II handheld pen has a conversion factor of .7. so 1.0 EC = 700ppm for the nutradip pen.
 

Hardbuck

Member
Question. I have tap water that is PH'd to 5.8. I have no nutes in my res at the moment. I just got a PPM tester today. Just to check, I tried the tester in my res and it reads 550 PPM. Does this mean when I begin to Veg, in order to maintain 400PPM with veg nutes that my total PPM will be 950 since it is 550 with no nutes? I added a very small amount of nutes to my res water in a separate cup just to gauge and it read 750PPM.

I'd really like someone to elaborate. Thx
 

NoDrama

Well-Known Member
Upon further research, my tap water sucks ass and I need a Reverse Osmosis (RO) machine or an additive.https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/269220-500-ppm-tap-water-normal-2.html
To reply to your first post. yes you would add the number to your water PPM to come up with the total PPM. i.e. if you wanted to have a 500 PPM solution you would Add nutes until it reached 1000. 500 for the nutes and 500 for the water.

500 PPM tap water is pretty darn high, you might have issues with too much calcium. RO water is good, but you will have to add calcium and magnesium to the mix to make up for the loss. You should try with the tap water first and see how the plants tolerate it. I use tap water and its around 350PPM which is pretty high also, but the plants do fine.
 

trunkneck

Member
OK, just googled disolved oxygen and it says that the level is affected by the level in the surrounding air (at 5K I would suspect your oxygen content is lower than mine here about 200 feet above sea level), aireation and what the plant gives off. I would say yu definately want to compensate by running a lot of air stones in you res.

Here's what I use:

This pump:

http://www.discount-hydro.com/productdisp.php?pid=412&navid=8

With there airstones: I use the 4"

http://www.discount-hydro.com/productdisp.php?pid=548&navid=8

The pump comes with a 4 way spliter and I use 2-3 per 10 gallon res and the water just boils and spalshes which is what I want! Big air also soves or prevents lots of root problems.


I'd also see what I could do about getting the humidity up over 60% at least for veg and then lower it to under 45% during flower. It will help the plants breath.
Also, as a boost to the res, he can add H2O2 once a week or so (Your mileage may vary) not only will it boost the oxygen levels in the res, it will keep the roots nice and bright white. Try to find the food grade 35% type, the other will work, just not as well.
 

trunkneck

Member
To reply to your first post. yes you would add the number to your water PPM to come up with the total PPM. i.e. if you wanted to have a 500 PPM solution you would Add nutes until it reached 1000. 500 for the nutes and 500 for the water.

500 PPM tap water is pretty darn high, you might have issues with too much calcium. RO water is good, but you will have to add calcium and magnesium to the mix to make up for the loss. You should try with the tap water first and see how the plants tolerate it. I use tap water and its around 350PPM which is pretty high also, but the plants do fine.
I'm with you, I like the idea that I have complete control over my PPM and what that number actually represents. As in, if you test tap water and find it to be say 500, that's all well and good, but what does that PPM number contain? Mystery PPM makes me uneasy. You have high whatever and add that as well from your macro end, now your plants are saturated with that mineral.
 

Hardbuck

Member
Guys really appreciate the feedback so far. + rep to the both of ya's. Couple more questions:

(1)Drama, you said if I go with an RO, I would have to add Calcium and Magnesium to the mix. Is this an additive or will normal Veg nutes do the trick?

(2) Trunk. I researched my water report. Looks like Greek but it has 132 PPM "Alkalinity", 77PPM calcuim, 91 PPM Chloride, 300PPM "Hardness", 26 PPM Magnesium, 6 PPM Potassium, 7.8 Silica, 92 PPM Sodium, 244 PPM Sulfate, with "total dissolved solids" being 619PPM.

Looking for a little direction here. I really want to start off on the right foot to avoid problems later. Looking forward to your response. Buck-
 
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