im retarded when it comes to hydro. would you mind explaining the Lucas water add-back method
I feed my plants using the Lucas Formula. It calls for
General Hydroponic brand nutrients. Buy a bottle of General Hydroponics
Flora Micro and
Flora Bloom (micro is black and bloom is red in color). Don't buy the
Flora Grow. You have to get them online (ebay is good) or at a hydro store. I buy everything online (nothing illegal about it.)
General Hydroponics Flora Series Feeding Strategy - Lucas Formula
G-M-B (Grow-Micro-Bloom)
0-5-10 - For Vegetative cycle (24/0)
0-8-16 - For Flowering cycle (12/12)
The numbers above indicate the number of milliliters (ml/cc) of Flora Grow, Flora Micro or Flora Bloom formulas that I use in one gallon (US Liquid) of nutrients.
You will notice I dont use any of the "Flora Grow formula, do not need to, the "Flora Micro" provides plenty of Nitrogen.
1. Top off the reservoir daily using a pH corrected water solution as required to maintain full reservoir level. After adding back an amount of water equal to the amount of your reservoir capacity you should change the reservoir and put in fresh solution.
How to use the Lucase formula in my bucket?
I will give an example step by step.
Vegetative cycle (first stage of growth when the lights are on 24 hours a day):
My bucket's fill point is at 3.5 gallons. So I need to measure 3.5 gallons of pure water (distilled or reverse osmosis) into an empty bucket (not your bubble bucket, just a clean bucket).
The formula calls for 5cc of Flora
Micro per gallon (5x3.5=17.5cc). So I add 17.5cc of the Micro to my bucket of water. Stirr it in good.
Next the formula calls for 10cc of Flora
Bloom per gallon (10x3.5=35cc). So I add 35cc of bloom and stirr.
Always add the nutrients seperate. Never mix them together before stirring them into the water.
PH....... Your PH needs to be between 5.7 and 6.2. Test your nutrient. Add your adjustment solution in small amounts until you know how strong the stuff is. Mine take 5 full eye droppers of PH up to get my target PH of 6.0
Yours will not be the same. Depends on the water.
Flowering Cycle (lights on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours).
Same as above except a bit more nutrient.
8cc of
micro per gallon (8x3.5=28cc).
16cc of
Bloom per gallon (16x3.5=56cc)
They sell paint buckets that are clear and have measurments on the side. Good tip.
Any questions?