Live Stoner Chat crash course in ppm/ec

[Magic]

Hi guys, I'm a soil grower but I want to learn how to grow every way possible is there anyone that can give me a crash course in the basic understanding of ppm/ec and how you find out how much ppm/ec to feed each feeding? Thanks

 

[pop22]

Hi guys, I'm a soil grower but I want to learn how to grow every way possible is there anyone that can give me a crash course in the basic understanding of ppm/ec and how you find out how much ppm/ec to feed each feeding? Thanks

Maybe this will help:

http://www.growweedeasy.com/ppm-what-it-is-and-how-to-track-it

Of course, you probably opened a can of worms with this, because people are going to want to say one method is better than the other etc. So my take on it is, either works fine. I like ppm measurement simple because it feels more precise. I'm also sure my plants could care less about a few ppms one way or the other though lol! I like seeing 600 ppm on my meter rather than .5 ec ( no this is not an accurate conversion, just an observation )

 

[Muddy]

That's a hard one to answer as the nutrient requirements can vary so much from one strain to another. I just finished my second hydro grow. The first one was WoS Space. I was able to feed it as high as 1200 ppm. The second grow was Barney's Pineapple Chunk. Most it would tolerate was 600 ppm. With my autos, I start out at around 300 ppm and slowly increase it, depending on how the plants respond. By the time I hit full bloom I may be feeding at 1100 - 1200 ppm. The starting ppm of your base water also factors in. I'm using RO, so my starting ppm is less than 10. I add enough cal/mag to raise it to about 100 - 125, then add my nutes. If your starting ppm is higher, say 300 ppm, then once the nutes are added your ppm will generally be about 200 higher than mine. Start low, watch how your plants respond, and slowly increase is about the best answer I can give you.

 

[Magic]

Thanks for the replies I will do some more reading. So question do you measure you nutes in tsp then check ppm or do you just go by ppm reading to measure feedings?

 

[briman]

Hey IDS, It might help, if you gave the brand of nutes you use as well. I know there are feeding charts around, that tailor the basic feed that you can play with up or down to get your ladies dialed in.

 

[pop22]

Thanks for the replies I will do some more reading. So question do you measure you nutes in tsp then check ppm or do you just go by ppm reading to measure feedings?

Could be done either way. I added nutes till i was at/near the ppms I'm wanted. after that, I knew how much to measure for a res change. If i wanted to just raise the ppm later, I'd calculated it by how much i used at the res change, minus the amount the plants had consumed. So if you run 600 ppms, a 1/4 of what you added previously brought the ppms in range. . If i hit 520 or 640 it was close enough. The plants didn't care. When my plants were ready for their first batch of nutes, I added a150 ppm to my water's base of about 150. after 2 weeks, I raised it to 600 ppm and kept it there till Bloom, then went to 800. I slowly raised to 1000 ppm. Next grow, I'm going to run 600 ppm all the way thru.

 

[Muddy]

Thanks for the replies I will do some more reading. So question do you measure you nutes in tsp then check ppm or do you just go by ppm reading to measure feedings?

I measure my nutes, then check the ppm. I use syringes to measure out my nutes, which I find to be more accurate than using teaspoons or tablespoons, plus are easier and less messy. While the ppm isn't exactly the same on every feeding, they tend to be pretty close.