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proper feeding/ runoff ppm in soil

T

thcrefugee

Member
Hello all.
I have been having some problems with my plants lately.

I was wondering what the proper ppm reading was for a month or two old plant, about 18 inches tall, in soil would be.

feeding with distilled water, and fox farm grow big.

My initial problems resulted in a flush, where i saw 900+ppm on a 12-14 inch plant.

what should i be putting in at each watering? i know 0ppm distilled water cant be good.
what do i want to see in the runoff ppm on the waterings?

what about when i feed, assuming i use the water, water, feed schedule. what strength should i feed with? and what should i see coming out in the runoff?


ive generally gone organics before now, but my current space does allow that at this point
 
joe fresh

joe fresh

Active member
Mentor
Veteran
look in my signature, im sure you will find the answers you are looking for, too much for me to type out...

but the general average runoff should be in these ranges:

ph: 5.8-7.0

EC: 2.0-6.0

but as with everything there are variables....imo a runoff EC of 1.6-3.5 is good in soil, ph would depend of the water going in
 
U

Ultra Current

Joe fresh gave you some good numbers for run off. I will add that after you nute just add water for about 10-14 days after that all the time unless you go way down on the nutes. Hand weigh your pots too when you water.
 
T

thcrefugee

Member
joe fresh said:
look in my signature, im sure you will find the answers you are looking for, too much for me to type out...

but the general average runoff should be in these ranges:

ph: 5.8-7.0

EC: 2.0-6.0

but as with everything there are variables....imo a runoff EC of 1.6-3.5 is good in soil, ph would depend of the water going in
Click to expand...

So i should be feeding around 1.0-2.0 EC, or 500-1000ppm.
and i want to see a runoff around 2.0-6.0 EC, or 1000-2000-?

and this is for a small-medium vegging plant? what sort of range should i want to see from feeding seedlings/ to full veg, to flowering and finishing?

im new to the EC/ TDS idea.
 
T

thcrefugee

Member
Seedlings, Early Sprouts.........100 ppm to 250 ppm--------0.2 ec - 0.5 ec

Early Vegging....................... ...300 ppm to 400 ppm--------0.6 ec - 0.8 ec

Full Vegetation.................... ....450 ppm to 700 ppm--------0.9 ec - 1.4 ec

Early Blooming...................... ...750 ppm to 950 ppm--------1.5 ec - 1.9 ec

Full Mature Blooms..................1000 ppm to 1600 ppm------2.0 ec - 3.2 ec
Click to expand...

nevermind :)
 
T

thcrefugee

Member
so i should start to feed a 400-500 ppm solution..

im still curious as to what i should be watering with between these feedings though?

pure water- 0ppm? or some plain ca/mg water around 150-200ppm? or just pH'd tap water around 150ppm?
 
U

Ultra Current

thcrefugee said:
so i should start to feed a 400-500 ppm solution..

im still curious as to what i should be watering with between these feedings though?

pure water- 0ppm? or some plain ca/mg water around 150-200ppm? or just pH'd tap water around 150ppm?
Click to expand...

Any type of water. Tap, RO, whatever you want just don't feed for at least 2 waterings after every feed.
 
joe fresh

joe fresh

Active member
Mentor
Veteran
any water, but just plain phed water...forget the cal mag, only use it if you see a def, otherwise adding added calcium will just throw the nute ratios off and can lock out other nutes

ive actually never needed cal/mg, the only time i bought it and used it i ended up fucking my plants up because the cal def i was getting was from too much ferts....so ive lerned the hard way to only use it if you need it....

this is what give growers the experience is learning the hard way...it easy to give someone opinions based on what they read in someones thread, but info from experience is more accurate, and i would not give out and "tips" with out having the experience to back it up....which is why when i give advice in any hydro threads i tell ppl take my advice as you will and wait for others to respond before making any rash moves because im a dirt guy and only giving my opinion on the plants themselves
 
T

thcrefugee

Member
sweet. thanks very much for your help.

i just worried that feeding totally "pure" water would pull salts out of the soil and/or plant if i were to use plain RO or distilled between feedings.
My tap water is high in Ca and Mg, would i want to avoid this as well?
 
U

Ultra Current

Please stop over thinking everything. Feed, water twice, feed, water twice and keep repeating. You have RO then use it if you dont then use tap. If your tap has a lot of chlorine then let it sit for 24 hours. pH everything that you put in. Feeding less is better than feeding more. I nute my soil plants 4-5 times a crop with 4 foot bushes. Dont use tons of suppliments and snake oils just use your basic nutes and your bloom booster unless you dont run salts then go to the organic soil section.
 
Z

Ziggaro

I saw someone post their water quality report recently and it had a tds of 900 ppm or something crazy like that.
Of those 900 ppm, around 30 were calcium and 30 were magnesium. The rest was bi-carbonate and sodium!
Check your water quality report before assuming it's all cal and mag.

Anywho..this is an old thread huh? I wonder if that guy fixed his issues.. I don't know how I'd feel about 2.0 to 3.2 EC runoff :dunno:

I can never seem to push my nutrients that high without serious damage but I remember getting good growth from some FFOF that had runoff in that range.

Yeah I'm rambling now ADD is a bitch
 
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