Bought PPM Pen...Now what?

[Sctanley007]

I'm just finishing up my first week of flower and everything is still running awesome and all the plants are booming. A few upgrades and modifications (adding a humidifier and RH Controller, new Cloudline T6, and filter, switch to Jack's Citrus, weighing each pot daily) along the way.

Everything really is great but I'm always thinking of ways to improve...so I bought a HM TDS-4TM. Problem is I really don't know much about them or how to use the info gained to adjust my feedings and increase yields.

I will first say that I am not planning any drastic changes this run. Why start monkeying around with a good thing. I'm planning on using it now to become familiarized with it and the info and to monitor what I have been and am feeding the plants.

My space is
2x4x5 tent
LED lighting Mars Hydro 2x300's & 300 Eco = 380 actual watts
6 plants total area at about 90% capacity
3 gal pots Happy Frog
During veg I used.
1/4 tsp Jack's citrus
3ml Botanicare CM+
2 ml Rhino Skin
Tent conditions are a constant 72 degrees and 50% RH.

Now that the plants are in flower I added 1/8 tsp of Jack's Bloom Booster to the Citrus. There have been not adverse signs, no burning at the tips so I know they can take more...just don't know how much more or what the general rule of thumb is. I will say there is one Jack Herrer that is a bit sensitive to the nutes...She showed a tiny sign of burn at the very tips but seems to have gotten accustomed to the current dosage.

Thanks for any help or direction.



I searched and read some posts but I'm looking for nuts and bolts on up. If anyone can point me to a thread I'd gladly read.

Otherwise can anyone summarize the steps and what I'm looking for given the grow conditions and previous feed schedule.

 

[Rucifer999]

Want to see what people say. If I understand it correctly your suppose to read the run off and see how much or Part Per million is left in the water. From there it should help you guage your nutes and what to adjust. Never used one but would like to see what others say.

I just go by my leaf tips. I watch the very tip of the leaf. If you want to get technical pull out a loupe haha. I try to keep it just barely. My girls have always been happy that way and if they show other deficiencies than I'll throw a bit of what they show me they want.

 

[Rucifer999]

PPM and You: A Quick Guide | BlueSky Organics

While we try to make cannabis growing as simple as possible, some technical terminology is just unavoidable. Lately, we’ve had many novice growers ask us to explain PPM, TDS and EC readers, and how they all work together to help you grow better cannabis. Understanding these concepts isn’t the ea ...

www.blueskyorganics.com

 

[Sctanley007]

Want to see what people say. If I understand it correctly your suppose to read the run off and see how much or Part Per million is left in the water. From there it should help you guage your nutes and what to adjust. Never used one but would like to see what others say.

I just go by my leaf tips. I watch the very tip of the leaf. If you want to get technical pull out a loupe haha. I try to keep it just barely. My girls have always been happy that way and if they show other deficiencies than I'll throw a bit of what they show me they want.

Yeah I’ve been going by the tips as well but there’s gotta be a bit of room for improvement.

Besides it keeps me busy and distracts me from wanting to defoliate during stretch. I get to learn something new and hopefully better my grow.

 

[Sctanley007]

@Rucifer999 thanks for the article. I read another with a linked video where the guy did an equation using grow area, wattage, etc to figure ppm.

I finished watching it and figured I’d ask here. The dude could have been selling me unicorns for all I know.

 

[Rucifer999]

@Rucifer999 thanks for the article. I read another with a linked video where the guy did an equation using grow area, wattage, etc to figure ppm.

I finished watching it and figured I’d ask here. The dude could have been selling me unicorns for all I know.

Haha yea always have to question info when it comes to the girls. I like to get a few opinions on stuff. I've been debating on a ppm meter. I'd like to see how it turns out for you. I learned a few new things also from that article.

 

[Gadfly]

Someone growing in organic soil like Happy Frog would just be wasting time and effort measuring run off and ppms.

Ppm measurements are more for hydro/coco grows where folks are building their water profiles from scratch.

 

[Rucifer999]

Yeah I’ve been going by the tips as well but there’s gotta be a bit of room for improvement.

Besides it keeps me busy and distracts me from wanting to defoliate during stretch. I get to learn something new and hopefully better my grow.

Have you read about stretch if so Any pointers? I might try using the MH the first 2 weeks of flower then switch to HPS.

 

[bobrown14]

Yeah I’ve been going by the tips as well but there’s gotta be a bit of room for improvement.

Besides it keeps me busy and distracts me from wanting to defoliate during stretch. I get to learn something new and hopefully better my grow.

Just ask yourself "why?" am I doing this, before doing stuff.

That will probably help with yields.

Like this: I want to defoliate, where's the science to doing that?

Then look it up, and find the science.

If no science, put the trimmers down.

PPM meter just reads whats in the water. Basically you're measuring EC of the water.

Whats your water source BEFORE you add anything to it?

Take your PPM meter and measure your water plain. Whats the measurement?

Lets take a look at that measurement before we go any farther.

Report back..

Advice for stretch. - turn down the lighting to 12/12 or 11/13, water the plants and let them grow. Stretch could take up the 3 weeks or even longer depending on the strain you are running.

Less stress at this point is a good thing. So before you do something ask yourself is it going to stress the plant?

About the only thing I might do switching to flower times are wait a week and clean out all the lower branches and that aren't going to make flowers.

 

[Sctanley007]

Plain running water was 94

The mix I have ready to use, and one I know will not harm any of the 6 plants is reading 469 @ ph 6.6 (if that matters)

 

[Sctanley007]

The dosage above is given every watering.

 

[GrizzWald]

Just ask yourself "why?" am I doing this, before doing stuff.

That will probably help with yields.

Like this: I want to defoliate, where's the science to doing that?

Then look it up, and find the science.

If no science, put the trimmers down.

PPM meter just reads whats in the water. Basically you're measuring EC of the water.

Whats your water source BEFORE you add anything to it?

Take your PPM meter and measure your water plain. Whats the measurement?

Lets take a look at that measurement before we go any farther.

Report back..

Advice for stretch. - turn down the lighting to 12/12 or 11/13, water the plants and let them grow. Stretch could take up the 3 weeks or even longer depending on the strain you are running.

Less stress at this point is a good thing. So before you do something ask yourself is it going to stress the plant?

About the only thing I might do switching to flower times are wait a week and clean out all the lower branches and that aren't going to make flowers.

No on the science tip.. why somebody else has to prove something before somebody should do it? That's saying science has no knowledge to gain, only to give..

 

[Sctanley007]

I think I have the basics...who knows. While taking into consideration all the variables is there a range to shoot for?

 

[bobrown14]

No on the science tip.. why somebody else has to prove something before somebody should do it? That's saying science has no knowledge to gain, only to give..

I'm not sure what you mean.

But I've been trimming all day so a little high right now. lol

My point is; we should seek out knowledge thats been proven with science. Then we can make an educated decision.

Horticulture is a science. There's a boat load of knowledge at our fingertips.
We are for sure not on the cutting edge with growing weed.

Plain running water was 94

The mix I have ready to use, and one I know will not harm any of the 6 plants is reading 469 @ ph 6.6 (if that matters)

That's pretty good starting point for your water source.

What would you think if it measured say 440ppms out of the tap?

You'd probably want to know whats in those 440ppms right? No one wants you to know the answer. You'd have to have a water test done. Easy enough.
Fresh safe drinking water is a thing.

007 - your ppm nutrient thing - I have no idea about your answer. I only use a ppm meter to measure my RO water. When it gets above 10-12ppm I start thinking about changing my filters.

 

[GrizzWald]

Not on the cutting edge but still in the middle of techniques that respond differently to each environment..