Long posts... not trying to convince anyone... just not often there are people here I can have a somewhat normal discussion about this...
I have a friend in D.C. that runs at half strength, his plants look great to be honest.... Much better than mine in most cases, however, his buds don't get nearly as hard or thick as mine. They stay pretty fluffy and airy.
His leaves always have a lighter paler green than mine which always end up being extremely dark purplish....
It's hard to get over that thought of more nutes resulting bigger buds I know. What you basically claim with the above is that unhealthier plants that have been overfed results in more dense buds, which just isn't true, on the contrary. Comparing to a friend's grow means little, do a for-you-lower-ppm run and experience for yourself that healthy plants result in the most quality and quantity (which is a well-known fact for non-cannabis growers). I've had runs with as little as 1% popcorn, and I don't/hardly defoliate. Besides being hard and dense, they are also as frosty as can get as any one who has seen my frost shots in the frostiest bud thread can confirm. Plenty of growers who don't use such high levels and get great results.
Read Heath's post if you skipped it:
http://rollitup.org/t/why-are-my-ppms-going-up-now.835107/page-2#post-10657292
The leaf color is highly affected by the amount of N, and I too was able to push a lot of N (over twice the ppm I use in total now) in my plants. Cannabis love sucking up N.... but, we grow for resin, not for fiber. One of the challenges of growing the highest quality (and with that as a goal quantity automatically follows) is spreading out the needed N over the entire run (because it's also important for the proper uptake of other elements).
350ppm:
Yellowing leaf in front is from leaning against door. Note the plant right in the back, that one has roots growing back the rez below the tubes in which the plants are. That one could do with even 50ppm less, and is a very vigorous tri-whorled monster.
Lower bud that gets no direct light:
So no, what you suggest, that normal for cannabis (for you low) ppms lead to pale leads or fluffy buds, is not true.
Again, the lower ppm does not equal less nutrient use of the plant itself. You're treating it like a pig or goose instead of a plant. Plants don't eat, they create food for all other organisms based on basic elements, of which they only need "enough" to reach their genetic potential. More than 'enough' isn't going to get it to produce more buds than it would if it were to get just enough. There's an old test lab close to me that was recommend in a grow guide I got decades ago, which works closely with universities and scientists to determine the optimal range of nutrient levels for many different crops (for our many pro greenhouses) to get maximum yields. A range, not a supposed maximum value. More is not more when it comes to nutes and buds.
OK, I was just looking up General Hydro's PPM chart.. at Week 10, the mix I use(if everything is consistent and normal) runs about 12-1400ppm..
IN fact at week 3 they have you running 1400ppm...
http://generalhydroponics.com/site/gh/docs/feeding_sched/GH-FloraSeries-REC-Charts.pdf
Right, that's what you nutrient manufacturer tells you to use and is the worst indicator you can get. There's also a HUGE difference between minimum ppm levels in different systems. I need to stay about 400 in my small non-recirculating DWC boxes, I need to use 650-ish in my hempy and coco buckets and bottles to keep those green. Medium stores nutes of which only some are released to the plant. In a true hydroponics setup (DWC, flooded tubes, nft) the plant has an abundance of nutrients to take up as it needs.
Plants are immobile because they don't need to hunt for food, they can create it themselves, yet in a recirculating system, the root zone in which they are stationary continuously refreshes making it extremely easy for the plant to take up everything it needs.
But yes my levels do slowly climb as the week goes on but very slowly. I actually dont think I've ever had them drop.
I think you know what that means by now. I know, it's amazing, downright amazing. That was what I thought anyway when I lowered to 450-ish, and now at 350... it's baffling that I only add the amount nutrients of the same ppm level as my tap. The hydro guys here in NL that run on mapito run 1000-1500 and up (0.5 scale). I've never seen one that didn't burn his plants though. Not saying your 650 is really high, but that's peak in most cases (peak being during late veg/transition and midflowering not at the end of flowering as nutrient manufacturer charts suggest). Drop it a little (50ppm) till it slowly drops (like 10-20 ppm in a day) instead of climbs, and then instead of topping off with only water, add water+nutes. At the end of the week you'll still have used more or less the same amount of nutrients. I know scary
Dropping ppm does not equal small bud size.
A year ago I was in ya'lls boat:
That's actually pretty much how I'm looking at it, however, I have two reason for going just slightly higher than that sweet spot (like 50-65 ppm) :
1. I do 'need' to top off several times a week because I need to keep the solution level high enough (relatively small rez but also got pump near the top to prevent too much pressure reduction). If I were to sit on that sweet spot I would have to find it every time I top off. By going slightly higher the ppm increases and the ph drops (because it relatively uses more water than nutes as in not on the sweet spot) allowing me to use only water when topping off. Instead of adding water+nutes+additives+ph every time I need to top off. Added bonus is that I can add cold water at any point without ending up without having to readjust nute and ph levels.
2. I've been told many times to push the ppm level in order to push the plant's ability to take higher nute levels. If you merely give it what it asks for you're not pushing it to its full potential. Let me add that some of those (oldskool hydro growers over here that laugh when I add 'ponic') used burned tips as the main indicator for the max nute level. Lighten the tips, then take it a notch down and you got the real sweet spot. Not saying that's useful or recommendable as a default practice but I'm not sure sure the sweet spot is really that what the plant asks for).
Follow the quote to the original thread and read legallyflying's reply for more info about why more nutes does not equal more yield.
I see superstoner also posted in that thread: "I run about 600 ppm in my dwc and never top off and rarely does ph need to be adjusted. It starts at 600 and when 3-3.5 gallons have been used it is around 570-620 then i change it."
