PPM vs. recommended nutrient amounts (your input)

I'm doing an aerogarden grow with a three part nutrient system. Does anyone strictly use the amounts recommended on the bottle the whole grow (gradually introducing them once leaves begin forming of course) or do you make a mixture that would have a certain PPM that you use that gradually introduces the proper nutes as the plant progresses?

What's your advice on proper PPM / plant stage?

cool beans.

Dirty Harold said:

I'm doing an aerogarden grow with a three part nutrient system. Does anyone strictly use the amounts recommended on the bottle the whole grow (gradually introducing them once leaves begin forming of course) or do you make a mixture that would have a certain PPM that you use that gradually introduces the proper nutes as the plant progresses?

What's your advice on proper PPM / plant stage?

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forming a proper feeding schedule depends on the strain, the plants behavior will telll u everything, slowly introduce nutes raise ppm by 25 to 100 at a time as the plant grows, once u have the proper feeding schedule down u can bring out the max potential of a strain..

i was using technaflora for awhile and what they said to mix did NOT agree with me ladies. i actually had to cut the "guidelines" in half! of course this is gonna depend on the strain. from my trials i would say keep your veg between 450-650, once you go into flower bump it up every week 50-100ppm until you see what they want. i would take ppm and water level every day. if your water stays the same and your ppms drop you need more nutes, but if water drops and ppm rises, back off.
-thats what worked for me, hope it helps you.

I always start with 1/2 of whatever they recommend...Remember they want you to use them as fast as possible.....

rupert pupkin said:

i was using technaflora for awhile and what they said to mix did NOT agree with me ladies. i actually had to cut the "guidelines" in half! of course this is gonna depend on the strain. from my trials i would say keep your veg between 450-650, once you go into flower bump it up every week 50-100ppm until you see what they want. i would take ppm and water level every day. if your water stays the same and your ppms drop you need more nutes, but if water drops and ppm rises, back off.
-thats what worked for me, hope it helps you.

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So I will be aiming for the water level to drop while the ppm stays the same... makes sense. but then when I add water to the res would I add water that had the same ppm with the nutes mixed in? I've heard mixed things with that, because some people say that you only add fresh water in between res changes, but that would obviously lower the ppm and take away from the nutrient intake of your plants... +rep

johndoe12345678 said:

forming a proper feeding schedule depends on the strain, the plants behavior will telll u everything, slowly introduce nutes raise ppm by 25 to 100 at a time as the plant grows, once u have the proper feeding schedule down u can bring out the max potential of a strain..

Click to expand...

This helps a lot, thanks johndoe. +rep

Hemlock said:

I always start with 1/2 of whatever they recommend...Remember they want you to use them as fast as possible.....

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Goddamn profit seeking assholes!
+rep

Dirty Harold said:

So I will be aiming for the water level to drop while the ppm stays the same... makes sense. but then when I add water to the res would I add water that had the same ppm with the nutes mixed in? I've heard mixed things with that, because some people say that you only add fresh water in between res changes, but that would obviously lower the ppm and take away from the nutrient intake of your plants... +rep

This helps a lot, thanks johndoe. +rep

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You can do it either way. Personally, I like to keep my res in ideal conditions at all times, this means fine tuning the PPM and pH every couple of days. This does take more work then simply topping off with plain water between res changes, but I like to exercise as much control as possible.

If you mix nutes in every top off expect to add less nutes with every watering then you would during a res change. If you top off with no nutes the girls will want more food every res change to carry them through to the next res change.

Just keep in mind, it is better to have not enough nutes then too much.

vh13 said it. i checked my rez everyday ph/ppm and wrote them down so you can look back and see what your needing. i changed rez every 2 weeks but depending how many were on the table i had to top often anywhere from 3-7 days. when you top off get your grow or whatever you feel like you need in the rez and start with a 1/4 or 1/2cup and see how much it adds to your ppms and go from there.