Grow Mediums good E.C levels

[ukgrower77]

hi guys was wondering if some of the more experienced growers on here could help me with E.C and auto's, realizing that autos are much lighter feeders im struggling to to get my head round where i should be starting and trying to get to with my EC levels.
I do understand that all strains are different but a rough guide would be a help.
I,m currently growing Cream of the Crop cash crop and Im using DWC,

thanks

 

[Taviddude]

Hydro I'm guessing?

It depends a lot on your water unless your using RO/Distilled.
There are a lot of thoughts on factoring in background EC.
What works for one may, or MAY NOT work for another depending on what the background EC of your water is actually made up of.

I have a background of 8ppm straight from the garden hose (250 foot deep mountain well).
That would be comparable to RO/DI water.

Pure water as the seed sprouts and 5 days after.
0.2 for the next week and watch how they respond to it, and after that just read your plants and give em what they want.

I can't push above 1.2 EC in Full Bloom.

You can check some of the grows in my sig.
Pretty sure they have my feeding schedules in there.

Peace.
Tav

 

[ukgrower77]

thanks for that Tav was thinking to start real low and work it out from there just wasn't to sure how low. Im using the Ionic range of nutes and their nutrent calculator which takes into account raw water EC, tank size etc to make sure you add the right amount nutes to reach desired EC

 

[DWCocha]

Hey ukg :Sharing One:what system are you using bud .
Good to see you round Tav

 

[Happy Horticulturist]

I'd seen people not go over 1.4 EC and I've seen people go up to 2.8 EC. Both examples have been extremely successful. I think it depends on a number of factors. What's your waters starting EC, what chemical composition makes up your water, what your environment is Humidity CO2 Light Temps, what type of hydro system you are using, what nutes you are using, etc etc.

Without knowing all that info (and more) it's gonna be really hard for anyone to give you a figure

 

[ukgrower77]

Hi I'm using 4 21L oxy-pot bubblers over which is a 600w hps in a 1.2x1.2 grow tent and will be feeding them with the Ionic nute range from growth technolgy

 

[Pal23]

Hey buddy, as stated there are many variables and a lot of the time there is no strict EC guide for auto's. When feeding auto's the general rule is the use 1/4 strength of what is advised on the feeding charts and then slowly build her up as you said in your first post. The most common starting point I've seen is 0.8 EC, that's total EC with background EC of the water. This is a safe zone to aim for when starting an auto but you may find some are happier starting a little slower, at 0.6EC for example. These are just my experiences and shouldn't be taken as hard facts, just thought I'd try and help out

Edit: Is this your first grow? you may only fit two of those bucket into a 1.2m tent, I have two DWC buckets in mine right now and one small soil plant, there's no way I could fit 4 DWC plants in that tent and if I did they would be very squashed and not reach their potential..carrying out res changes would be quite an ordeal too.. If they were 4 20L soil pots that would be perfect and it's a lot easier to learn Sorry not trying to put you off, some things just might get over looked if it's your first try and I'd like you to be as prepared as possible

 

[Happy Horticulturist]

your temperature, humidity and airflow are just as important as everything else you've mentioned

Like Pal says I would start at 0.6 or so and up the EC by 0.2 every week as a rough guide. Generally if you set the EC at say 1.0 and you come back the next day and it's 1.1 that means, they are drinking water faster than nutes concentrating the solution which means you've too much nutes in there, so drop it down to 0.9 EC by adding pure water and check it the next day. If it's still 0.9 the next day then the plants are happy there. They are drinking water and nutes at the same rate. Visa verse if you set it at 1.0 and you check it and it's 0.9 the next day it means they're drinks nutes faster than water so up it to 1.1 by adding more nutes and check it the next day. You feel me?

 

[ukgrower77]

Hey buddy, as stated there are many variables and a lot of the time there is no strict EC guide for auto's. When feeding auto's the general rule is the use 1/4 strength of what is advised on the feeding charts and then slowly build her up as you said in your first post. The most common starting point I've seen is 0.8 EC, that's total EC with background EC of the water. This is a safe zone to aim for when starting an auto but you may find some are happier starting a little slower, at 0.6EC for example. These are just my experiences and shouldn't be taken as hard facts, just thought I'd try and help out

Edit: Is this your first grow? you may only fit two of those bucket into a 1.2m tent, I have two DWC buckets in mine right now and one small soil plant, there's no way I could fit 4 DWC plants in that tent and if I did they would be very squashed and not reach their potential..carrying out res changes would be quite an ordeal too.. If they were 4 20L soil pots that would be perfect and it's a lot easier to learn Sorry not trying to put you off, some things just might get over looked if it's your first try and I'd like you to be as prepared as possible

hi Pal 23 this isn't my first grow with auto's but it is my first with DWC, I was using an 8 pot Amazon aeroponic system but felt that plant were no way reaching there potential grown that way. The reason i went with 4 bubblers was I felt I needed to cut down number of plants by at least half straight off, (may be a couple more plants will need to go due space if so will keep the best 2 pheno's).
The reason I'm asking about EC is, if I'm entirely honest, is I've never bothered with it before but I've changed the nute's I use for this grow and feel my plants will only benefit if i start to pay abit more attention to my EC levels !!!

 

[Pal23]

hi Pal 23 this isn't my first grow with auto's but it is my first with DWC, I was using an 8 pot Amazon aeroponic system but felt that plant were no way reaching there potential grown that way. The reason i went with 4 bubblers was I felt I needed to cut down number of plants by at least half straight off, (may be a couple more plants will need to go due space if so will keep the best 2 pheno's).
The reason I'm asking about EC is, if I'm entirely honest, is I've never bothered with it before but I've changed the nute's I use for this grow and feel my plants will only benefit if i start to pay abit more attention to my EC levels !!!

We all have to start somewhere brother The key to success in DWC is monitoring those EC/PPM and PH levels, keep her in the zone and she will reward you! :Sharing One: