PPM Calculator and what it means?

[Cwmoore577]

So throughout my last two grows I've used the nutrient ppm calculator on the CannaStats website to try to keep my ratios near the Lucas/H3ad formula.

Here's my question..

Right now I use 4ml Calmag, 2ml FloraMicro, 5ml FloraBloom, 1.5ml Liquid KoolBloom per gallon which puts my ratios at..

N 55
P 54
K 96
Mg 33
Ca 71

0.75 EC
540 ppm
pH 5.8-6.0
Starting water is tap 0.1 EC

I need to drop nitrogen (nearing end of stretch) but also keep from decreasing calcium too much (seeing cal def signs), could I increase the Calmag supplement and decrease FloraMicro which would be..

8ml Calmag, 5ml FloraBloom, 1.5ml Liquid KoolBloom per gallon giving me..

N 42
P 54
K 91
Mg 45
Ca 74

The formula I am trying to base my feeding on says to drop FloraMicro completely after stretch ends and "calyx production begins to slow and budswell begins" which means feed only 9ml FloraBloom for the remainder of flower until flush.
That would be..

P 60
K 91
Mg 41
No N or Ca

Although I'm not at the point where budswell starts, if I'm already seeing calcium problems would it be a bad idea to cut it out? I read that most cannabis requires higher Ca during flowering.

Any ideas welcome, the hardest part for me in learning to grow is getting the nutrient ratios down. This has been my most successful grow health wise and would hate to see it crash in flowering. I've learned to read the plants better but still have much learning to do.

Thanks!!

Are the ppm numbers that main focus no matter which supplement they come from or am I missing something?

 

[Weaselcracker]

Not sure I can answer many/any of your questions. And I’m not using the GH nutes.

I do not think that cutting the calcium is a good idea. If anything- calcium deficiency is one of my biggest problems. But I’m mostly wandering in the dark....
Out of curiosity- where are you getting your target numbers from? These are the target numbers I am aspiring to lately- roughly

N- 155
P- 50-60
K- 230
Ca- 140
Mg- 60

Edit - never mind I googled and found that site you mention- reading through it now....at first glance still doesn’t seem to match your numbers (?)

 

[Weaselcracker]

The formula I am trying to base my feeding on says to drop FloraMicro completely after stretch ends and "calyx production begins to slow and budswell begins" which means feed only 9ml FloraBloom for the remainder of flower until flush.
That would be..

P 60
K 91
Mg 41
No N or C

Ok I’m a little stoned and just falling asleep now so probably haven’t digested this properly- but where do you get the need to drop the calmag as well as the FloraMicro?
You may or may not want to lower N in flower, that’s being debated a little bit at the moment. But either way, you don’t want to drop N completely, Or the Ca, or Mg. And there are the micro elements to consider as well.

Are the ppm numbers that main focus no matter which supplement they come from or am I missing something?

Generally speaking yes, assuming you’re dealing with the same basic type of nutrient sources - ie soluble nutes/ hydro salts. My knowledge doesn’t go much beyond that though

 

[Cwmoore577]

Not sure I can answer many/any of your questions. And I’m not using the GH nutes.

I do not think that cutting the calcium is a good idea. If anything- calcium deficiency is one of my biggest problems. But I’m mostly wandering in the dark....
Out of curiosity- where are you getting your target numbers from? These are the target numbers I am aspiring to lately- roughly

N- 155
P- 50-60
K- 230
Ca- 140
Mg- 60

Edit - never mind I googled and found that site you mention- reading through it now....at first glance still doesn’t seem to match your numbers (?)

Yea I realized my post is a lot to digest.

So the formula if followed exactly is 6ml micro to 9ml florabloom with 1g of epsom per gallon (theres debate on if the epsom salts is necessary)

Which would give
N 97
P 60
K 105
Mg 67
Ca 97
S 61
Fe 1.95

I started very similar but have adjusted a bit but still try to get close to the same ratios.

and like I said, he cuts micro out completely around the time budswell starts.
I did this last grow but I don't think I'll completely cut nitrogen this time. I'd still like to lower it but with the calcium issue I don't want to lower that.

Only way to do this with the nutrients I have is to drop the micro but increase the calmag, just wanted to make sure that wouldn't cause an issue because of anything I'm unaware of.

Ok I’m a little stoned and just falling asleep now so probably haven’t digested this properly- but where do you get the need to drop the calmag as well as the FloraMicro?
You may or may not want to lower N in flower, that’s being debated a little bit at the moment. But either way, you don’t want to drop N completely, Or the Ca, or Mg. And there are the micro elements to consider as well.


Generally speaking yes, assuming you’re dealing with the same basic type of nutrient sources - ie soluble nutes/ hydro salts. My knowledge doesn’t go much beyond that though

I mentioned that because that's what the formula calls for but I don't think I should.
Ideally I'd lower N but not completely and keep or raise the calcium.

At the numbers you mentioned, what EC is your water? and is that for flower?

 

[Bush Doctor 77]

Floramicro needs to be give constantly and don't reduce P-K during bloom. I grew with GH for years, using both their dry and liquid nutes. I just followed their schedule for gms/ml per gallon during the various growth phases. You may be over thinking the growing of this weed. I never did one calculation, and even quit using TDS and even pH meters as I grow in a well buffered media.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I agree that you might be overthinking it. That GH trio nutrient line is basically made for dummies or beginners. Not to imply that there’s something wrong with it. It’s just made to be mixed by the directions and gives you limited options to vary it, just because of the way the bottles are mixed.

The only stage you might want to consider cutting out N completely is at the very end of flowering- at which point the plants will draw some of their N from the foliage. I definitely wouldn’t consider doing this around the time of bud swell (not actually really sure what growth period you’re referring to by ‘budswell’ but it implies growth- and growth requires nitrogen).

Most versions of calmag have N in it so unless you have a zero nitrogen version you won’t be able to remove it completely anyway.

Basically your options are limited using those bottles. You can tweak things a little, but there’s no way to adjust individual macro elements however you want. You’ll always be throwing something else out too high or too low.

If you really want to get into tailoring things more precisely I’d recommend checking out this thread here.

Making Your Own Nutrient Concentrates

This is my attempt to compile and condense all of the information I've collected from other grower sites and share it here on 420 in hopes of generating more feedback and ultimately learning more myself. I grew with General Hydroponics for years, but could never seem to nail down a perfect feed...

www.420magazine.com

At the numbers you mentioned, what EC is your water? and is that for flower

For flowering yes. And I use rainwater- zero EC.

 

[nature2]

Yea I realized my post is a lot to digest.

So the formula if followed exactly is 6ml micro to 9ml florabloom with 1g of epsom per gallon (theres debate on if the epsom salts is necessary)

Which would give
N 97
P 60
K 105
Mg 67
Ca 97
S 61
Fe 1.95

I started very similar but have adjusted a bit but still try to get close to the same ratios.

and like I said, he cuts micro out completely around the time budswell starts.
I did this last grow but I don't think I'll completely cut nitrogen this time. I'd still like to lower it but with the calcium issue I don't want to lower that.

Only way to do this with the nutrients I have is to drop the micro but increase the calmag, just wanted to make sure that wouldn't cause an issue because of anything I'm unaware of.

I mentioned that because that's what the formula calls for but I don't think I should.
Ideally I'd lower N but not completely and keep or raise the calcium.

At the numbers you mentioned, what EC is your water? and is that for flower?

To be honest I have never checked the ec. I'm new to all this and have heard about this before. I ordered my self a ec meter once its arrived I would be checking it. Also another question, I'm growing in coco and my plant is 5 weeks old now, the ppm of my water is 500. I'm reading threads where people is going up to 1000ppm. Would you recommend me staying at 500 or pushing it abit more?