simple quick question about keeping consistant ppm levels

ok so my plants are doing very well right now in 4th week of veg...they are drinking a shit ton of water everyday and ppms are lowering by 10 each feeding total of -50ppms per day or so currently. they are in an ebb n gro recirculating system. i usually dump out the rez once a week and up the ppms accordingly with my nutrient schedule im on...so here is my question. the last week or so the ppms have been dropping because they are taking everything i throw at them and then wanting more. i started out at 1040 ppms and by the end of the week they dropped down to 960 without even topping off the rez with fresh water that week.

so now i started them at the beginning of this week at 1070 and its now thursday and the ppms dropped down to the 880 range with topping off fresh water...i called a few grow shops and asked them if its ok to keep adding my 2-part base nutrients to keep ppm levels up to account for the loss of ppm levles...i got one person who said yeah its fine to keep the ppms constant and i also got another answer of well the plants take up what they want so you might get some extra buildup if the plants are not taking up one element but take up a lot of some other element.

i went ahead and just started adding nutrient base this week when i topped off the rez everytime it gets too low about twice a week to keep the ppms at the desired level..

what are the expert opinions on this...is it ok to keep the ppms constant or should i leave it alone and watch the ppms drop 100 per week or more so now that they are soaking up everything i give them.

any help would be appreciated. thanks.

when I add back in the ebb I go 1/4th nute strength and add till it get back to the target ppm range you want. to simple

"when I add back in the ebb I go 1/4th nute strength and add till it get back to the target ppm range you want. to simple"

so it wont cause too much of one element stacking up in the rez if say the plants dont take it up cuz of nutrient lockout ( thats not the case in my situation ) im just curious if its ok to add it in instead of when i drain and refill the rez.

Na your changing your res often enough its not going to matter

I top load all the time, add direct to the res, but I have a RDWC setup and my pump 880gpm will distribute the new nutrients in under 2 minutes. I also do it in my big system, 250 gal, in 30 gallon barrels, 2250gph pump. top up with Ph RO water.

I use plain ph adjusted water in my add back water and change my res when my ph starts to drift,I like to know my plants are taking in the nutes,if I see a huge drop in ppm then I raise my ppm in the res, some plants can take alot of nutes and others cant,I grew some blue mystic and 1000 to 1100 was tops for them,grew some kandy kush and I ran those at 1400ppm and I think they could have handled a little more than that.you can use nutes to your add back water but I think its a waste of nutes, as long as your changing your res often enough

I would say yes, it is absolutely better to keep a stable, constant environment daily.

This little thread is actually very interesting. I notice that all of you have a slightly different way of arriving at pretty much the same or similar goal.

I, too, wouldn't recommend just letting them drink without adding back throughout the week. I have an auto top system with an external res triggered by a float switch in my main res. Top with plain RO water and inject back to desired ppm daily. Plants feeding at a certain level is just that. Feeding at say 1000ppm means keeping it there every day, not letting it drop by hundreds of ppms throughout the week.

Edit:

Oh, and never listen to the guys at the grow shops. A lot of RIU posters know more about this shit than they do (yours truly included).

sounds like you found their sweet spot... keep them there n they will reward you jmo