Overfeeding plants

[chuckpumpkins]

Hi,

I am a new grower and seems like everybody are overfeeding their plants. Is it just me or some people feel the same ?
I was getting nutrient burnt at 300 ppm solution in veg. And I see people feeding at 600-700 ppm in veg. I saw a few posts of experienced growers who were saying they feed max 200 ppm in veg and 400 in flower.

What are your inputs on this subject ?

 

[Chris Scorpio]

I think every strain is different
I've had some that burnt at half nutes, others at 1/4 nutes
Lights, media, all play a part for sure

 

[Weaselcracker]

'Ppm' is kind of a tricky measurement to throw around without knowing the all important conversion ratio your meter uses.
Mine is .500. Here is a rough range I use. I am a light feeder and have hardly ever been guilty of overfeeding. I've much more often had problems from underfeeding.

Feeding in veg is extremely easy. Newborns up to about 5" tall or so - or let's say the first two or three weeks- generally just get plain rainwater which has about 150-200 ppm of cal mag in it as a base. The N in the cal mag is enough to feed them. Once they start looking pale I start giving them some Grow.

Mid- large sized veg plants get around 500-600 ppm. But I'm extremely lax about feeding them. I basically just toss them some when they start looking a little pale, and give them water-only if they look dark green.
Feeding light/more often seems preferable to feeding heavy/less often. I don't have a fixed feeding schedule in veg. Also sometimes my room is full and I feed lighter to try and slow them down.

The strongest veg mix indeed would be around 700 ppm for hungriest strains. At that point it's usually when they're in ten gallon pots and about to go into flowering. I know I could feed them more- I just don't see them needing it.

Heavy feeders (mainly the indica strains) average 30-50% higher ppm than pure sativas.

For pure sativas I tend to max out and hover at 750 ppm during flowering.

Heavy feeders max out around 1100 ppm. Sometimes 1200.

There are some medium/light feeders that are halfway in between that will max out around 900 ppm.

The lightest feeder I've found so far was an Ace landrace called Thai Stick which was basically a generic Thai ditchweed strain. That one didn't seem to like to go to more than about 650 ppm. But generally all my pure sativas have been pretty happy at 750 other than a couple weirdos like Panama that feeds heavier.

 

[gr865]

'Ppm' is kind of a tricky measurement to throw around without knowing the all important conversion ratio your meter uses.
Mine is .500. Here is a rough range I use. I am a light feeder and have hardly ever been guilty of overfeeding. I've much more often had problems from underfeeding.

Feeding in veg is extremely easy. Newborns up to about 5" tall or so - or let's say the first two or three weeks- generally just get plain rainwater which has about 150-200 ppm of cal mag in it as a base. The N in the cal mag is enough to feed them. Once they start looking pale I start giving them some Grow.

Mid- large sized veg plants get around 500-600 ppm. But I'm extremely lax about feeding them. I basically just toss them some when they start looking a little pale, and give them water-only if they look dark green.
Feeding light/more often seems preferable to feeding heavy/less often. I don't have a fixed feeding schedule in veg. Also sometimes my room is full and I feed lighter to try and slow them down.

The strongest veg mix indeed would be around 700 ppm for hungriest strains. At that point it's usually when they're in ten gallon pots and about to go into flowering. I know I could feed them more- I just don't see them needing it.

Heavy feeders (mainly the indica strains) average 30-50% higher ppm than pure sativas.

For pure sativas I tend to max out and hover at 750 ppm during flowering.

Heavy feeders max out around 1100 ppm. Sometimes 1200.

There are some medium/light feeders that are halfway in between that will max out around 900 ppm.

The lightest feeder I've found so far was an Ace landrace called Thai Stick which was basically a generic Thai ditchweed strain. That one didn't seem to like to go to more than about 650 ppm. But generally all my pure sativas have been pretty happy at 750 other than a couple weirdos like Panama that feeds heavier.

Weasel,
As you know we are both in coco and we tend to feed the same, I run Canna nutes, so in veg I am running around 200 to 250 ppm, in flower 400 to 500 ppm. Now that is just the range for Canna A&B, including the Cal/Magic @ 1 - 2 ml and Epsom @ 1 gram (approx 1/4 tsp) per gallon.
Only burn I get is from my stupid mistakes, ie. letting the lights get to close to the plants.

He did not indicate what medium he was using, but I am assuming it is coco, if he has read up on the nutes at 200 and 400 ppm, only place I have seen those numbers used.

One important factor you failed to mention is pH! Your water like mine, being rain or RO, are very low in minerals so we add Cal/Mag and Epsom to get a base number prior to adding our nutes. Not sure what water he is running but he will need to pH the water and get the base to 120 to 150 ppm w/ Cal/Mag if running RO or rain water prior to adding nutes. He may have some issues, adjusting the pH if he does not prep his water.

GR

 

[rameraze]

@gr865 I am wondering how often and how much water are feeding them?

 

[gr865]

@gr865 I am wondering how often and how much water are feeding them?

Hi Ram,
It all depends on the stage of growth they are in. The plants now are in the final week of flower and I am feeding 4 one minute cycles per day. It is really more than I need but it is the lowest amount of time I can water, I get lots of runoff. I just ordered a timer that I can do in seconds so I will be able to control my ratio better.

I run between 2 an 3 gallons per night. When I get the timer I plan on doing 1.5 to 2 at this stage of growth.

During the early stage of flower till about 4 weeks I run two to three depending on strain, but have never gone over 3 gallon at any stage of growth.

It's all a matter of working out your schedule. At theis stage, the first cycle is 5 min after lights on, and the plants are the most dry, that cycle has no run off, the second and third cycles I get just a bit of run off, then the last cycle I run for 2 mins to get about 30% runoff and the carries me through the lights off cycle. That last cycle is 2 plus hours before lights out so I don't worry about them being too wet during the light out cycle.

GR

 

[Weaselcracker]

Oh I feel like a dope. I didn't see that this was coco growing- just found it among the new posts.
My numbers in my post are based on weekly feedings, not multiple daily feedings.

 

[rameraze]

@gr865 Thank you for sharing and the info.

 

[Old Salt]

I don't check the TDS of my nutrient solution, just that of the water from my RO once a month. I start with 1/4 the label recommended strength for coco/perlite. I water daily from seed through veg, twice daily during flowering. The amount varies with plant and pot size. It goes from a few oz in a 10cm (4") pot up to a liter per day in a 14.6l (3.8 US gal) grow bag. If there's no runoff, I increase the amount trying for about 20%.

I use General Hydroponics Flora Trio, with CaliMagic, Rapid Start, Floralicious, and KoolBloom. I flush the coco/perlite medium with 1/2 strength CaliMagic before using it. The last week or two I flush with FloraKleen. pH is set to 5.8 from seed through veg, and 6.1 for flowering.

 

[gr865]

I am flushing my LSD now, been adding just RO to the rez to bring the ppm down gradually. Started Sat. with a ppm of around 500, was at 45 ppm today. Will begin checking ppm of the catch basin tomorrow, want to be as close to 0 as possible by harvest at day 63, which will be Mon..

 

[rameraze]

Question about A&B nuits. Do you only use a 1/4 of those as well? I find now in my first week of flower I am needing to add a bit more than full strength. THe additives I use I put in at at 1/4. What about in Veg would you use a 1/4 then?

 

[Old Salt]

I used 1/4 strength from seed to harvest in coco/perlite. It worked for CKS Crown Royale. You need to 'listen to your plants.' Start at 1/4 strength and adjust up or down if you see nutrient burn or deficiencies.

 

[gr865]

@rameraze

I use 200 to 250 ppm in veg, and 400 ppm in flower.

 

[rameraze]

@gr865

THank you. That is pretty much where I am on the ppms. Thank you for clarifying.