plumsmooth
Well-Known Member
I am modifying my Power Grower RDWC systems to have a 13 Gallon Reservoir. And in general my tendency has been to make my PPM stronger then what they actually consume nutrient wise! I have done this because they don't seem to burn and because they can consume the whole entirely of the reservoir in one day at their peak flowering cycle. In Veg my plants can drink as high as 1400 PPM which seems crazy.
But as soon as I flip the light cycle this drops to about 600-700. .5 conversion
And I have usually made up a fresh reservoir during Flowering at almost 1000 and let it drift to as high as 1500 while continually topping off at around 5-600 PPM. Thereby leaving extra available nutrients in the reservoir like I said because it is too small and I have convinced myself that they will become deficient without this extra. However I have been having Potassium deficiency or lockout recently during flowering with this method in the smaller stock Power Grower Reservoirs and am starting to wonder if the problem is the concentration is creating the lock out K.
It has been so long since I tried simply giving them less during flowering and "see what happens" that this is stupid. The good news is I now am switching to all larger reservoirs and it doesn't make sense to me to go any higher than the actual concentration they suck up. Since they now have access to 5X more solution at a given time!
Even with topping off my concern has been that they are depleting the nutrients so fast they they will not get enough if I only give them the concentration that they are sucking up? (in the smaller reservoirs)
However now that I finally have a larger reservoir I am thinking should I feed them exactly what I know they drink -- which is around 600-650 PPM in flowering? I have heard this is ideally what PPM to feed: That which they consume -- balance between water and nutrients.
This certainly makes the most sense? IF you know exactly the concentration of nutrient they consume should you not provide that exact amount and also top off with that amount.
Over years I have seen different reservoir top off methods RDWC/DWC including half strength, and even plain water. I have never understood these approaches. Unless one was trying to simulate the Feed/rest watering cycle approaches of Soil gardening. Also, maybe plants feed mostly during the day and would prefer water at night? Thanks for your consideration with this very important topic!
P.S> I am a little dissappointed with Advanced Nutrients tech support as they say not to even follow a PPM E.C. based system when using their Formulas? Well they do not even have a DWC RDWC specific Feeding schedule/calculator. And, my plants drink half at 600 than the Total Dissolved Solids of their Standard nutrient recommended strength!!! IN contrast GH tech support agrees with the (to some extent) make the concentration based on what they actually consume?
But as soon as I flip the light cycle this drops to about 600-700. .5 conversion
And I have usually made up a fresh reservoir during Flowering at almost 1000 and let it drift to as high as 1500 while continually topping off at around 5-600 PPM. Thereby leaving extra available nutrients in the reservoir like I said because it is too small and I have convinced myself that they will become deficient without this extra. However I have been having Potassium deficiency or lockout recently during flowering with this method in the smaller stock Power Grower Reservoirs and am starting to wonder if the problem is the concentration is creating the lock out K.
It has been so long since I tried simply giving them less during flowering and "see what happens" that this is stupid. The good news is I now am switching to all larger reservoirs and it doesn't make sense to me to go any higher than the actual concentration they suck up. Since they now have access to 5X more solution at a given time!
Even with topping off my concern has been that they are depleting the nutrients so fast they they will not get enough if I only give them the concentration that they are sucking up? (in the smaller reservoirs)
However now that I finally have a larger reservoir I am thinking should I feed them exactly what I know they drink -- which is around 600-650 PPM in flowering? I have heard this is ideally what PPM to feed: That which they consume -- balance between water and nutrients.
This certainly makes the most sense? IF you know exactly the concentration of nutrient they consume should you not provide that exact amount and also top off with that amount.
Over years I have seen different reservoir top off methods RDWC/DWC including half strength, and even plain water. I have never understood these approaches. Unless one was trying to simulate the Feed/rest watering cycle approaches of Soil gardening. Also, maybe plants feed mostly during the day and would prefer water at night? Thanks for your consideration with this very important topic!
P.S> I am a little dissappointed with Advanced Nutrients tech support as they say not to even follow a PPM E.C. based system when using their Formulas? Well they do not even have a DWC RDWC specific Feeding schedule/calculator. And, my plants drink half at 600 than the Total Dissolved Solids of their Standard nutrient recommended strength!!! IN contrast GH tech support agrees with the (to some extent) make the concentration based on what they actually consume?
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