Slight problem with ppms or not?

Los Reefersaurus said:

Well I would guess that the first drop in ppm was due to residual water in the system diluting your ppms , them I would say that either the plants ate the food or your nutes either locked out and fell out of solution or reacted with the plastics and medium, then stabilized. Now the pppm is rising because of evaporation and transpiration

and the ladies look lovely and ready for stronger foods

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urbanfarmerz said:

So as they rise should I let them without topping off to see what they can handle but I know with ppm drop I'm unsure of what they are intact consuming lol

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Los Reefersaurus said:

How long do you intend to go between rez changes?

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urbanfarmerz said:

Only once before flower like Lucas describes

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Los Reefersaurus said:

How long do you intend to go between rez changes?

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toaster struedel said:

I would change every 7 days, a lot less problems that way. Topping off with just water in between. That's how I was taught. If you're not chilling everything an your Rez temps get above 75 you're just asking for trouble.

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urbanfarmerz said:

What's up guys what will cause my ppms to rise and fall ?

DWC 5 gal Bucket
Lucas method 0-2-4
5xautos

Some insight all started around 300ppms
Within the last 5 days the ppms dropped to around 240 and are slowly working there way back up to the starting base.

When I notice these drops am I suppose to top off with nutes and bring it back up to were they started ?

When the ppms start to rise from what they were the previous day am I supposed to bring to what the were the day prior?

My ph is stable at 5.8
RO
GH 2 Part

And how do my ladies look for day 19 ?

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OldMedUser said:

I've never run into a situation where the ppm would rise other than the water levels were down so testing should always be done after topping up the rez first. If you are topping off with tap water then you have to take into account the ppm of your tap water when testing. This is why I always use RO or distilled so I don't have to factor in that part. Changing nutes weekly wastes a lot of nutes so even if using tap water you should keep track of how much water you add back until it is the same as the amount your rez holds then change nutes. You can grow from clone to a decent size plant before putting that much water back.

If nutes were precipitating out of sol'n you'll find a crusty substance on the bottom of the rez and/or pails and the ppm will go down faster as those nutes are no longer in sol'n.

I use syringes to measure out small amounts of nutes to bring my ppm back up to my target level as the plants eat them or to raise the ppm to a higher level as they grow. Measuring spoons will work too

Your plants are looking good but I don't know about using the Lucas formula in veg and if you are using two part nutes how are you doing that? With 3 - part nutes I'm going Lucas after the stretch to reduce N in later flowering. With the way autos keep growing throughout the flowering stage too low N might not be a good idea until the last 3 weeks or so. For vegging I've always gone with a 3-2-1 ratio of G-M-B but as autos start flowering I likely go with 3-2-2 or even 3-3-3 or a 1-1-1. The last two of course are the same ratio just different strengths.

I have no idea why your ppm would rise other than maybe some root rot starting and it adds to the ppm load?

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OldMedUser said:

I can't explain the fluctuation. For me it just goes down as the plants eat. If you top up first then you should be able to tell how much per day the plants use and that number should get bigger as the plants get bigger. I always topped up every 3 days using a rubbermaid tub to grow in.

The Lucas formula is a ratio and 0-8-16 is the same ratio as 0-1-2 just stronger. The ratio is 1:2/M:B so like using nutes in the regular way you just use those two in that ratio and make it what strength you want and still be using the Lucas Formula.

Your plants aren't that big yet so they aren't drinking much but once they get 4x that size they'll go through a gal a day.

I wouldn't fuss with them but would raise the ppm a bit. I'd be at 500 for that size. What type of ppm pen do you use? I have a Hanna and others use different scales to show ppm. I have a chart for that if you need it.

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OldMedUser said:

I can't explain the fluctuation. For me it just goes down as the plants eat. If you top up first then you should be able to tell how much per day the plants use and that number should get bigger as the plants get bigger. I always topped up every 3 days using a rubbermaid tub to grow in.

The Lucas formula is a ratio and 0-8-16 is the same ratio as 0-1-2 just stronger. The ratio is 1:2/M:B so like using nutes in the regular way you just use those two in that ratio and make it what strength you want and still be using the Lucas Formula.

Your plants aren't that big yet so they aren't drinking much but once they get 4x that size they'll go through a gal a day.

I wouldn't fuss with them but would raise the ppm a bit. I'd be at 500 for that size. What type of ppm pen do you use? I have a Hanna and others use different scales to show ppm. I have a chart for that if you need it.

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