using 1/6th ppm in a hydro system? advanced nurtients feeding guidlines

WetBetty

Member
so i email advanced nutrients "AN" with a complaint that they seem to be keeping secrets or assuming that everyone is a schooled horticulturists.. they were very promp and helpful in there response, but one part of it is quite odd, and awesome for the wallet if true..

so they also included in response a feeding guide, ill post the whole thing it at the end of this, but the part i have the question on is this.. and this is my situation

"In case of reservoir that does not need to be topped up.

Add to the reservoir the amount of water that the plants are going to be using for the week, include some extra water to allow for evaporation.

Mix the nutrient solution at 1/6th of the strength that is suggested in the calculator for that week.
example: If the plants need 1200 ppm for the week, divide 1200 by 6 and mix the reservoir at 200 – 250 ppm.

Allow the solution to sit long enough to stabilize the pH. Adjust pH

Feed the plants."...


does anyone have experience with this? have i just been throwing out nutrients?


I posted AN's reply to my email a couple posts down.. thanks for looking




and here is the whole feeding guide.. sorry i had a hard time changing the big font.

by the way, i just thought my user name was funny, i have nothing to do with "AN".. other than using there products



Feeding Guideline

Don’t start feeding nutrients to rooting clones or seedlings such as the 2 part Sensi A & B (Grow) until they develop 3 or 4 sets of new/true leaves.

Until they develop 3 or 4 sets of new (clones)/true (seedlings) leaves feed them only water. You can foliar spray them with 1/4 strength B-52 (1 mL/liter) until then. You can also add 1/4 strength applications of Piranha, Tarantula and Voodoo Juice, to the water that you will use in the root zone.

Clones seedlings need high levels of moisture in the medium
(80% -85% is good 100% is too much)

They also like a warmer environment in the root zone 70 F – 80 F.



Entering the Vegetative stage, Use the Rooted Clones / Seedlings schedule in the nutrient calculator for the first two weeks of feeding)

Week 1

At 3 or 4 sets of new leaves mix nutrient solution at 300 ppm

Week 2

Mix nutrient solution at 600 ppm

Switch to Vegetative Stage feeding schedule if you are going to vegetate the plants longer than two weeks, the calculator goes up to another 8 weeks (you don’t need to veg the whole 8 weeks).

Week 3 is Week 1 on the vegetative chart

Mix nutrient solution at 600 - 900 ppm depending on size

Week 4

Mix nutrient solution at 900 -1200 ppm depending on size

Follow chart for additional weeks as required

When entering the Bloom Stage follow the medium feeding strength. (If growing indoors the bloom stage starts when the lights are switched to twelve hours of darkness and twelve hour of light).

Week 1- mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1000 ppm
Week 2 - mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1200 ppm
Week 3- mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1400 ppm
Week 4- mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1600 ppm
Week 5- mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1400 ppm
Week 6- mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1200 ppm
Week 7- Flush

The nutrient calculator is set for a 7 week strain; it can be customized for plants that require more than 7 weeks to complete their flower stage. Just click add a week.

The amounts suggested in the nutrient calculator are the total nutrient to feed the plant for a whole week, not the amount to give them per feeding.

If you want to give your plants nutrient solution more than once per week, divide the amount (total ppm) for the week by the number of feedings that you want to give them to calculate the ppm per feeding. A light cycle of plain ph adjusted water prior to commencing a new week’s feeding schedule will help prevent lock out conditions.

Plants may increase their over all size up to 2/3, during the bloom stage, for this reason the feeding schedules in the calculator increases the strength of the nutrient solution every week, reaching the highest concentration on the fourth week of bloom. If plant needs longer than 6 weeks of feeding (7 week strain, the 7Th week is a flush week), repeat week 4 for each extra week.

Always reduce the amount that you feed your plants during the last two weeks of feeding.

Overfeeding

If the very tip of the leaves gets yellow it is an early sign of overfeeding. Reduce the solution strength slightly (100 – 150 ppm), if not increase slightly.

Deficiencies

If the margins or any other part of the leaves yellows off it is a possible sign of deficiencies. Check pH in medium and reservoir, if the pH is off from the ideal levels look out conditions may develop. At first symptom of a deficiency apply rule # 1 (When in doubt flush them out).
If growing in a medium that takes some time to dry up, allow the medium to dry and feeding them plain pH adjusted water when they are ready. If growing in a re circulating system, find a way to give them only pH adjusted water for the length of a light cycle, a second reservoir just for water may be a simple solution, then it is just a matter of moving the pump over, maintain the regular water pump cycle during the flush.

pH conditions in medium

In Soil/Soiless (Soil or Soiless mixtures that may also contain peat moss but not Coco Coir) adjust the pH to 6.3

In Hydro (It includes products such as Rockwool, Hydroton Rock, and Lava Rock) adjust to 5.6

In Coco Coir adjust the ph to 5.8 – 6.0. You may want to supplement with SensiCal when growing in coco with a base nutrient that in not specific to growing in coco

Root damage

Another possibility is damage in the root zone, check for the possibility of root rot, or insect larvae as potential causes for root deterioration, brown, mushy, smelly roots are a good indicator of root damage. Hydrogen peroxide is an efficient way to destroy root rot causing bacteria.

Mixing instructions

If also using supplements follow feeding schedule in the nutrient calculator.

When using a re circulating system, you will be dealing with one of two situations, either the reservoir is large enough to feed the plants for a week without the need to be topped up during the week or it is a small reservoir and in order to feed the plants through the week it will require to be topped up.

In case of reservoir that does not need to be topped up.

Add to the reservoir the amount of water that the plants are going to be using for the week, include some extra water to allow for evaporation.

Mix the nutrient solution at 1/6th of the strength that is suggested in the calculator for that week.

Example: If the plants need 1200 ppm for the week, divide 1200 by 6 and mix the reservoir at 200 – 250 ppm.

Allow the solution to sit long enough to stabilize the pH. Adjust pH

Feed the plants.

Allow the plants to feed on the solution and the pH to rise for 1 1/2 – 2 days before re adjusting the pH.

In case of reservoir that needs to be topped up with water during the week.

Add to reservoir the amount of water that the plants will use in 3 – 3 ½ days.

Mix the nutrient solution at the strength that is suggested in the calculator for that week.

Allow the solution to sit long enough to stabilize the pH. Adjust pH

Feed the plants

Allow the plants to feed on the solution for 1 1/2 – 2 days, top up with water to the original level first before re adjusting the pH, after adding the water allow solution to sit for an hour and re adjust the pH.

If growing in soil adjust the pH 6.3, in coco 5.8 – 6.0, in hydro 5.6.

When using a re circulating system having the pH rise after you start feeding the plants is a good thing, It means that the plants are up taking nutrient, it is important that it rises the plants up take different nutrients at different pH levels, allow the pH to rise for 1 ½ - 2 days at that point adjust the pH down to 5.6 again

http://www.advancednutrients.com/hydroponics/nutrient_calculator_old/

Measurements:

1 gallon = 4 liters (quarts)
1 tsp (teaspoon) = 5 mL
1/2 tsp (teaspoon) = 2.5 mL
1/4 tsp (teaspoon) = 1.25 mL
1 tbsp (tablespoon) = 3 tsp (teaspoon) = 15 mL
We use a 700 ppm/uS/m scale or a 0.7 scale to convert from EC to ppm
 

Lord Dangly Bits

Well-Known Member
WOW!! I am really not so sure what your real question is.
But how the hell does Advanced Nutrient Corp. Know what PPM your strain needs? They have no #*$&%ing Idea what your plants need. I have had one strain that you just show it the bottle of nuts and it would start to burn. While another strain right next to it was wanting all it could get.
I take the suggested amount per liter or gallon and use 25% of that. Every 4 days or so I bump the amount up a little until I just start to see a little burning on the tips of my leafs. I then hit them with a little fresh PH'd water, to flush out a little of the nutrients. Then when I water again I lower the amount a little bit from what I mix'd the last time. Everytime I grow a strain I keep a very detailed Journal of when, what, how much............

Myself I hate Advanced Nutrients. They are to greedy. Just check out the web site that has an auto feeding schedule. They list like 15 products you should be adding at inflated cost.
 

WetBetty

Member
"does anyone have experience with this? have i just been throwing out nutrients?" .. i have no debate that guidelines are just that.. im not talking about ph or any specific strain. so please dont get off topic in the first response ..

so you start at 1/4 strength in your hydro set up that you dont have to top up?.. and that is a 1/4 strength of what ppm?.. as in start flower at 1000 so you start flower at 250?
 

Spoc

Active Member
Google "Lucas Formula" What there telling you closely resembles the Add Back Formula. It is an equation to add back nutes to a depleted rez.

Edit: The Lucas Formula can be applied to AN. Just checked, the Formula can only be used with base
nutes. Still worth a read...
 

WetBetty

Member
that dosnt look at all like what there discribing... that lucas formula just want you to feed the same thing the whole way thru everything,as in 600ppm for all veg and all flower. thats not something im ever going to do.

the 1/6th is of the nutrients is for the whole way through any given schedule.. in a res that dosnt need topped up. so i use a schedule that peeks at 1600, meaning that i would peek at 266.
 

Lord Dangly Bits

Well-Known Member
so you start at 1/4 strength in your hydro set up that you dont have to top up?.. and that is a 1/4 strength of what ppm?.. as in start flower at 1000 so you start flower at 250?
As I said. PPM to me when I try a new strain does not matter. One strain might thrive on a PPM of 1,200 or greater, while another strain will start to burn at 800. This is why it is important to keep a journal when ever you try a new strain. I do check the PPM when i make my first batch at 25% strength. As in if they suggest 20ML per gallon, I start out at 5 ML per gallon. But remember, these plants at this point will be young. Then I find at what amount of nutrients they just start to get burnt tips and back off. Once I have established this amount, I log the PPM and check the rez every other day to make sure it is not spiking. I then bump it up a little about every 10-14 days. Keeping a very accurate journal. And all the time keeping track of the PPM of the Soup as well as what the PPM of the plain water is. As For TOPPING OFF A REZ with water and Nutrients, I never do that. I know Lucas has this magical formula for doing this. But to me there is to much possiblity the rez is loading up with to much of one nutrient, because of what the plant is eating. I would rather have to little of a nutrient, then to much If you are useing Flood and drain you will always be throwing out waste. I run my system for about 10 days and then dump it, clean it, and refill it. But other people live and die by Lucas. This is just one more reason I no longer run a Hydro system and just run Coco with drippers.

Just because this is my opinion, does not mean that someone else might follow a totally different method and have fantastic Returns for their work.
 

WetBetty

Member
answer

not sure why i was asking this hear when advanced nutrients was fast and helpful with the first question. of course they were fast and informative with the response to this..

[FONT=&quot]What that basically means is if you are not topping the reservoir with water, and your plants have enough water to last the whole week, without needed to add more, you should reduce the amount of nutrients you are applying to the system by 1/6 of the recommended amount (both the base nutrients and supplements.) This should theoretically reduce the ppm level by 1/6th and you will be feeding your plants at a reduced dose.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Since the amounts of nutrients we suggest to use are actually for the whole week, and not per feeding, the more often you feed your plants with nutrients per week, the less you should apply each time you feed. If, for example, we suggest to use 1000 ppm for week 1, you can either give them the full dose of 1000 ppm once a week, giving them water for the rest of the week as needed, or you can apply the nutrients several times a week, but at a reduced rate each time, twice a week at 500, 5 times a week at 200 ppm, etc. This is the reasoning behind dividing the nutrients by 6, since you will be feeding your plants 6 times a week, with that you should reduce the amount you apply each time, 1/6th. [/FONT]
 

decrimCA

Active Member
WOW!! I am really not so sure what your real question is.
But how the hell does Advanced Nutrient Corp. Know what PPM your strain needs? They have no #*$&%ing Idea what your plants need. I have had one strain that you just show it the bottle of nuts and it would start to burn. While another strain right next to it was wanting all it could get.
I take the suggested amount per liter or gallon and use 25% of that. Every 4 days or so I bump the amount up a little until I just start to see a little burning on the tips of my leafs. I then hit them with a little fresh PH'd water, to flush out a little of the nutrients. Then when I water again I lower the amount a little bit from what I mix'd the last time. Everytime I grow a strain I keep a very detailed Journal of when, what, how much............

Myself I hate Advanced Nutrients. They are to greedy. Just check out the web site that has an auto feeding schedule. They list like 15 products you should be adding at inflated cost.
First of all, it's really hard to take someone seriously when they don't even take two seconds to check their spelling.

Yeesh. What is this world coming to?

If you actually spent more than a minute looking at the Advanced Nutrients site, you would notice that the feeding schedule is not just one schedule. There are different schedules on the calculator, depending on what kind of feeding you want to do.

So, one size certainly doesn't fit all. Even AN says so.

Let's face it. While it would be easier to just listen to what a site says, all nutrient companies test their products in ideal conditions. And, if you're anything like me, my growing conditions aren't perfect.

So, you need to make sure you're using your head and not just blindly following instructions on a bottle. Chances are good that your plants will need different things and different nutes. Checking the PPM and the pH will show you what your individual plants are reacting to.

Then, since you're the GROWER, you can decide what to add or not to add to your grow.

For me, I tend to use about 25% less than what the Advanced Nutrients bottles say because I'd like to avoid nute burn. I haven't seen results that were anything less than amazing, so this is a good system for me. True, it might not work for everyone.

But that's the point.

You're a grower because you want to control your grow, so control it. Don't just assume that instructions are right. Try things out for yourself.

And as for the classic argument that AN wants you to use too many nutes. Um, you never *have* to buy anything. I use a strong lineup from Advanced Nutrients, but I certainly don't use everything they sell.

That would be silly and far too complicated for me.

This lineup works just fine for me. And since I don't use as much as they say I should, it lasts longer, making it cost effective.

Sensi A&B Grow

Sensi A&B Bloom


Voodoo Juice

Big Bud

Bud Candy

B-52

Overdrive

Just saying. :)
 
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