runoff ppm's /EC

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BL2001

Member
m trying to determine how much nutrients my plant is uptaking with each feed. let say today I feed my plant 0.55EC and runoff comes back at 1.43EC. My previous watering EC runoff was 1.9. Does that mean my plant absorbed 0.47 EC worth of nutes or do I need to subtract the 0.55EC from the 1.43 and then subtract the result from 1.9?

math example:

1.9(previous ec runoff) -1.43(today’s EC runoff)= 0.47 (nutes absorbed)

or

1.43(today’s EC runoff) -0.55( today’s Nute input)= 0.88
1.9(previous feed EC runoff)-0.88= 1.02(nutes absorbed by plant)
 

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
m trying to determine how much nutrients my plant is uptaking with each feed. let say today I feed my plant 0.55EC and runoff comes back at 1.43EC. My previous watering EC runoff was 1.9. Does that mean my plant absorbed 0.47 EC worth of nutes or do I need to subtract the 0.55EC from the 1.43 and then subtract the result from 1.9?

math example:

1.9(previous ec runoff) -1.43(today’s EC runoff)= 0.47 (nutes absorbed)

or

1.43(today’s EC runoff) -0.55( today’s Nute input)= 0.88
1.9(previous feed EC runoff)-0.88= 1.02(nutes absorbed by plant)
Stop worrying about run off EC and focus on what you are feeding your plants.
 

Star Dog

Well-Known Member
Run off is important to check it lets you know how your plants feeding and if you're using too much or to little so you can adjust what's going in if necessary.

I don't understand you're ec figures, you don't get 1.34ec

Ec scale is 0.1 to 3.6 only 2 figures.
 

BL2001

Member
Run off is important to check it lets you know how your plants feeding and if you're using too much or to little so you can adjust what's going in if necessary.

I don't understand you're ec figures, you don't get 1.34ec

Ec scale is 0.1 to 3.6 only 2 figures.
My ec meter measures to 2 decimal places. What will I be looking for exactly from the runoff? How will I determine what I need to do for next feeding based on the runoff ec reading? I just want to understand how to make a decision based off of the runoff ec reading wether I should increase or lower nute levels. Thanks
 

Star Dog

Well-Known Member
My ec meter measures to 2 decimal places. What will I be looking for exactly from the runoff? How will I determine what I need to do for next feeding based on the runoff ec reading? I just want to understand how to make a decision based off of the runoff ec reading wether I should increase or lower nute levels. Thanks
What i do is aim for the same out as goes in or within a point or two.

If the run off is consistently low I'd increase it, if were high I'd lower it, that's basically what I used as my feed strength guide.
 

BL2001

Member
What i do is aim for the same out as goes in or within a point or two.

If the run off is consistently low I'd increase it, if were high I'd lower it, that's basically what I used as my feed strength guide.
Okay thanks. In my case, right now, i'm feeding at 0.6EC and my runoff is getting lower each time i feed. Last two feeds i did at an input of 0.6 EC , the first runoff came back at 1.4EC and second feeding came back at 1.0 EC. Is it okay to keep feeding at the same strength for now until Runoff gets to around 2-3 points less than what im currently feeding?
 

Star Dog

Well-Known Member
Okay thanks. In my case, right now, i'm feeding at 0.6EC and my runoff is getting lower each time i feed. Last two feeds i did at an input of 0.6 EC , the first runoff came back at 1.4EC and second feeding came back at 1.0 EC. Is it okay to keep feeding at the same strength for now until Runoff gets to around 2-3 points less than what im currently feeding?
How often are you feeding?

You need to feed frequent enough so that your run off ec isn't that high.

I'm assuming that you're using coco and nutrients?
 

BL2001

Member
How often are you feeding?

You need to feed frequent enough so that your run off ec isn't that high.
I was doing feed feed water last week. Each feed was around 1.8 EC and I fed around 3 times a week. I was getting a lot of salt build up that way so now I'm only doing feeds at a lower EC. No plain watering
 

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
Right now my plants are flowering. Its about the second week and they're autoflowers. How would I know if im under or overfeeding them without checking runoff EC?
Knowing what medium you are in would be a great start. Usually with a strain you’ve never grown before I think people start off low with nutrients and slowly increase until you see tip burn.

I start my plants off low at 0.4EC from sprout and slowly increase the feed EC as they get bigger and typically finish around 1.4EC-1.6EC.

This is in coco.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I never check runoff because it's not necessary and is a waste of time. Just feed and water your plants properly and move on.
 

BL2001

Member
Knowing what medium you are in would be a great start. Usually with a strain you’ve never grown before I think people start off low with nutrients and slowly increase until you see tip burn.

I start my plants off low at 0.4EC from sprout and slowly increase the feed EC as they get bigger and typically finish around 1.4EC-1.6EC.

This is in coco.
im using coco/peat mix. its more on the peat side though. This is my first grow so any strain is new to me and to make things more difficult on myself, I decided to plant 3 different strains haha. I was getting tip burn but i can't recall how much I was using at the time. Now im feeding at 0.4EC and I'll increase slightly every week until i start seeing tip burns again
 

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
im using coco/peat mix. its more on the peat side though. This is my first grow so any strain is new to me and to make things more difficult on myself, I decided to plant 3 different strains haha. I was getting tip burn but i can't recall how much I was using at the time. Now im feeding at 0.4EC and I'll increase slightly every week until i start seeing tip burns again
If you are feeding low, are under florescent lights and have normal temperatures that pretty much rules out over feeding, light stress, and heat stress.

You may have pests.
 

BL2001

Member
If you are feeding low, are under florescent lights and have normal temperatures that pretty much rules out over feeding, light stress, and heat stress.

You may have pests.
A few weeks back i was feeding at 1.8 EC about 3 times a week which i found out that its a lot and even exceeded the max dose from the nutrient company. When you said you start with 0.4EC, Is that 1 feed for a whole week or do you do multiple feeding a week with 0.4EC?
 

Star Dog

Well-Known Member
I was doing feed feed water last week. Each feed was around 1.8 EC and I fed around 3 times a week. I was getting a lot of salt build up that way so now I'm only doing feeds at a lower EC. No plain watering
Sorry i got side tracked what medium and nutrients are you using?

Don't listen to the nonsense about not testing your run off, it tells you a lot of information if you know how to read it.
 

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
A few weeks back i was feeding at 1.8 EC about 3 times a week which i found out that its a lot and even exceeded the max dose from the nutrient company. When you said you start with 0.4EC, Is that 1 feed for a whole week or do you do multiple feeding a week with 0.4EC?
I feed daily from sprout, starting with 0.4 EC.
 

BL2001

Member
Sorry i got side tracked what medium and nutrients are you using?

Don't listen to the nonsense about not testing your run off, it tells you a lot of information if you know how to read it.
I'm using this as my medium. I think i kind of got the hang of reading my runoff. I'm trying to aim for 1.3EC in my medium. So if I understand correctly, If my runoff is measuring at 1.0EC I can feed slightly higher than 1.0EC so I can bring it up closer to 1.3EC. and if its higher than 1.3EC by a lot, I could bring it back down by using low strength nutes or just water.
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Star Dog

Well-Known Member
I'm using this as my medium. I think i kind of got the hang of reading my runoff. I'm trying to aim for 1.3EC in my medium. So if I understand correctly, If my runoff is measuring at 1.0EC I can feed slightly higher than 1.0EC so I can bring it up closer to 1.3EC. and if its higher than 1.3EC by a lot, I could bring it back down by using low strength nutes or just water.
View attachment 5186531us
I'm not familiar with your media it looks more like a soil mix which afaik requires a different approach to feeding?

If you were using coco you would spot with raising the nutrient a little when the run off is coming out lower than goes in but in soil it's different.

Maybe @PadawanWarrior can advise you better or possibly he'll know someone who can advise you on soil/compost.
 

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
I'm not familiar with your media it looks more like a soil mix which afaik requires a different approach to feeding?

If you were using coco you would spot with raising the nutrient a little when the run off is coming out lower than goes in but in soil it's different.

Maybe @PadawanWarrior can advise you better or possibly he'll know someone who can advise you on soil/compost.
Sounds like he's using salts. I'm an organic grower so I don't go by EC.
 
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