Hydroponic Feeding Clarification

[TheObserver]

Hey guys-

Can someone please clarify for me the mid-week feeding approach. Let me explain. The is my first hyrdo DWC grow and so far it's going really great and I am learning a ton. However, I am a little confused on what I am supposed to do in between feedings when the plants have consumed some of the nutes. Should I be adding nutes in between feedings or should I wait until the following feeding to replenish/replace the reservoir?

Right now my plants are on week 3 and I am replenishing the res every week to full nute potency and adjusting PH almost daily. Do you guys also notice the PH rising daily in your DWC setups? I adjust mine at night to 5.9 and next day it's back to 6.5.

Thanks,

 

[BuddroGreen]

Do you use a ppm meter? If you use a ppm meter just watch as the ppm lowers or rises, if it lowers the plants are using up nutes, if it rises then the plants are drinking more water. If they are using nutes, then you could top off with a 1/4 - 1/2 strength nutes per gallon and hit ppm level.

If the ppm rises that means they are drinking more water and the nutes are becoming more concentrated and only pH water is needed to top off and lower ppm's to desired level. I use a ppm of 500-600 in third week of vegetation, meaning I have a ppm level of 197 out of the tap, I then add nutes to bring my total ppm up to 600 ppm nutes + 197 ppm tap water = 797-800 ppm, so if the ppm level goes lower than 800 ppm they are using nutes, if the ppm goes higher than 800 they are using more water. Once you can find the sweet spot of ppm vs drinking water you will be good, meaning as the water level goes down your ppm level should be close to a constant ppm of what you started with.

I lower my pH to 5.5, I use Advanced Nutrients pH perfect GMB (Grow, Micro, Bloom) at 600 ppm which is 1/2 strength per gallon from bottle directions (AN nutes are strong & concentrated)...800 ppm w/tap water, this helps the pH perfect buffers keep my buckets from going over 6.1 for 4-5 days, by that time the water level, ppm's are lowering and pH is going up, so I change water & nutes.

Just remember plants don't use nutes & water in equal proportions, you can dial in the ppm-water usage ratio, but it will still be off a little, but finding that sweet spot of ppm-water usage is ideal at all stages of growth.

 

[solocup]

Do you use a ppm meter? If you use a ppm meter just watch as the ppm lowers or rises, if it lowers the plants are using up nutes, if it rises then the plants are drinking more water. If they are using nutes, then you could top off with a 1/4 - 1/2 strength nutes per gallon and hit ppm level.

If the ppm rises that means they are drinking more water and the nutes are becoming more concentrated and only pH water is needed to top off and lower ppm's to desired level. I use a ppm of 500-600 in third week of vegetation, meaning I have a ppm level of 197 out of the tap, I then add nutes to bring my total ppm up to 600 ppm nutes + 197 ppm tap water = 797-800 ppm, so if the ppm level goes lower than 800 ppm they are using nutes, if the ppm goes higher than 800 they are using more water. Once you can find the sweet spot of ppm vs drinking water you will be good, meaning as the water level goes down your ppm level should be close to a constant ppm of what you started with.

I lower my pH to 5.5, I use Advanced Nutrients pH perfect GMB (Grow, Micro, Bloom) at 600 ppm which is 1/2 strength per gallon from bottle directions (AN nutes are strong & concentrated)...800 ppm w/tap water, this helps the pH perfect buffers keep my buckets from going over 6.1 for 4-5 days, by that time the water level, ppm's are lowering and pH is going up, so I change water & nutes.

Just remember plants don't use nutes & water in equal proportions, you can dial in the ppm-water usage ratio, but it will still be off a little, but finding that sweet spot of ppm-water usage is ideal at all stages of growth.

That's a really good in detail explanation. I use an ph perfect also. I top off with half strength base nutes between Rez changes but I don't add extra additives until Rez change day. AN ph perfect is definitely the best nutrients that I have ever tried. I have 5 other brands just sitting and collecting dust.

 

[BuddroGreen]

That's a really good in detail explanation. I use an ph perfect also. I top off with half strength base nutes between Rez changes but I don't add extra additives until Rez change day. AN ph perfect is definitely the best nutrients that I have ever tried. I have 5 other brands just sitting and collecting dust.

Thanks for adding "extra additives" section.

Solo, do you follow the AN GMB bottle directions about 4ml/Liter = 16ml/Gallon per Grow,Micro,Bloom? I'm only asking because they are way too strong for some adult plants, I have used GH, Botanicare and they never seemed so strong & concentrated. So if you're reading this and using Advanced Nutrients, cut the bottle directions in half or a little more than half for all stages of growth, or until your plant can show that it can take a little more.

 

[GambitM2K]

Quick question. When do "you" start veging?

 

[BuddroGreen]

Quick question. When do "you" start veging?

First you pop seeds, then you have seedlings, or you have clones once they get roots then you transplant into soil / dwc-rdwc bucket, run light 18 on - 6 off then you are (vegging) from that point until you decide to change the light cycle to (flower) 12 on - 12 off for a photoperiod strain. There are autoflowering strains, they will automatically start to flower with age into the vegging stage usually 2-3 weeks after germantion of seed, Autoflower strains have a time schedule, and regular photoperiod strains can be vegged until you change light cycle.

 

[GambitM2K]

Thanks I was just asking cause my roots are already out floating in my dwc I asked because i know my plants ok but it's looking a little lite in color that's all.

 

[L i n k]

Thanks I was just asking cause my roots are already out floating in my dwc I asked because i know my plants ok but it's looking a little lite in color that's all.

i say feed them more!
there are sooooo many posts about avoiding overfeeding (nuteburn). so many that it caused me to underfeed, because everyone, says less is more, less is more, over and over. im not saying that isnt true but,....im sure im not the first guy that ended up with way "less" than needed,...in an effort to accomplish the so-called "more".

after 2 weeks of no nutrient. i increased PPM from 30, to 100. a minor increase,...about 1/4 of what moondust food recommends. again,...fearing feeding them too much. 2 days later i noticed signs of stress...leaves drooping, stunted growth. and very light green new sprouts.
so,...still with less-is-more in mind....i flushed reservoir and filled with no-nutes. 2 days after that,...stress signs increased. deficiencies and spots everywhere,....still no growth and more droopy, /sadface.
so...after i came across some guys post on some forum somewhere....he had included pics that were about the same stage as mine and about the same problems showing.

end result is,..i was starving them. only about 1" tall and 2,almost 3 sets of leaves.....and they were super hungry.
i have read lots of posts here and on other forums claim....no nutes are needed until 3 or more sets of leaves are established, apparently for my conditions/strain/variables....that wasnt true.

so, i decided to scrap the moondust food, and go with a NOT all-in-one type of food (GH FloraSeries).
did the flora-kleen flush and re-fill reservoir,...this time with 400ppm. overnight,...major signs of improvement...droopy leaves are perking up,..height increasing...more leaves sprouting.
hopefully someone else may learn from my experience of under-feeding. because over-feeding is so so common....it wasnt easy to find info to narrow down my problem.

 

[PeytonManning]

When clones start to lighten in color it means they're ready to get fed.

 

[L i n k]

When clones start to lighten in color it means they're ready to get fed.

hind-sight is 20/20 heh.
but yeah i noticed that gambit guy say lite in color, and i thought of how my bad experience began. hopefully he will feed properly, unlike myself.

 

[BuddroGreen]

i say feed them more!
there are sooooo many posts about avoiding overfeeding (nuteburn). so many that it caused me to underfeed, because everyone, says less is more, less is more, over and over. im not saying that isnt true but,....im sure im not the first guy that ended up with way "less" than needed,...in an effort to accomplish the so-called "more".

after 2 weeks of no nutrient. i increased PPM from 30, to 100. a minor increase,...about 1/4 of what moondust food recommends. again,...fearing feeding them too much. 2 days later i noticed signs of stress...leaves drooping, stunted growth. and very light green new sprouts.
so,...still with less-is-more in mind....i flushed reservoir and filled with no-nutes. 2 days after that,...stress signs increased. deficiencies and spots everywhere,....still no growth and more droopy, /sadface.
so...after i came across some guys post on some forum somewhere....he had included pics that were about the same stage as mine and about the same problems showing.

end result is,..i was starving them. only about 1" tall and 2,almost 3 sets of leaves.....and they were super hungry.
i have read lots of posts here and on other forums claim....no nutes are needed until 3 or more sets of leaves are established, apparently for my conditions/strain/variables....that wasnt true.

so, i decided to scrap the moondust food, and go with a NOT all-in-one type of food (GH FloraSeries).
did the flora-kleen flush and re-fill reservoir,...this time with 400ppm. overnight,...major signs of improvement...droopy leaves are perking up,..height increasing...more leaves sprouting.
hopefully someone else may learn from my experience of under-feeding. because over-feeding is so so common....it wasnt easy to find info to narrow down my problem.

I hear ya, but the odds of new growers over nuting is a lot higher than under nuting, sometimes they have thrown all kinds of stuff at them and more nutes isn't the answer until you really get down to what they have done in the first place.

 

[GambitM2K]

Thanks for the advise and pointers. I'm just gonna feed it some but not too much cause it's under a HPS light and from what I've seen was if seedlings are being feed under hps light they tend to burn. Thanks tho.

 

[BuddroGreen]

Thanks for the advise and pointers. I'm just gonna feed it some but not too much cause it's under a HPS light and from what I've seen was if seedlings are being feed under hps light they tend to burn. Thanks tho.

Light distance is important with seedlings, you can't drop a 400w MH/HPS right down on them...30" - 42" ideal, once they take off you can drop it lower...over nute & and low light, bad combo.

 

[McCdive]

Do you use a ppm meter? If you use a ppm meter just watch as the ppm lowers or rises, if it lowers the plants are using up nutes, if it rises then the plants are drinking more water. If they are using nutes, then you could top off with a 1/4 - 1/2 strength nutes per gallon and hit ppm level.

If the ppm rises that means they are drinking more water and the nutes are becoming more concentrated and only pH water is needed to top off and lower ppm's to desired level. I use a ppm of 500-600 in third week of vegetation, meaning I have a ppm level of 197 out of the tap, I then add nutes to bring my total ppm up to 600 ppm nutes + 197 ppm tap water = 797-800 ppm, so if the ppm level goes lower than 800 ppm they are using nutes, if the ppm goes higher than 800 they are using more water. Once you can find the sweet spot of ppm vs drinking water you will be good, meaning as the water level goes down your ppm level should be close to a constant ppm of what you started with.

I lower my pH to 5.5, I use Advanced Nutrients pH perfect GMB (Grow, Micro, Bloom) at 600 ppm which is 1/2 strength per gallon from bottle directions (AN nutes are strong & concentrated)...800 ppm w/tap water, this helps the pH perfect buffers keep my buckets from going over 6.1 for 4-5 days, by that time the water level, ppm's are lowering and pH is going up, so I change water & nutes.

Just remember plants don't use nutes & water in equal proportions, you can dial in the ppm-water usage ratio, but it will still be off a little, but finding that sweet spot of ppm-water usage is ideal at all stages of growth.

BuddroGreen, I have to thankyou!! It all makes perfect sense once you read it. BUT, this is the first time anyone has detailed the coalition of PPM, water use, and Ph as well as you did. I know, I know, it's something that experienced growers just take for granted - everybody knows. We don't. It took your simple slap in the face.
Thanks Bro, Andy.

 

[BuddroGreen]

NP, that's what paying it forward is all about, and when you get the knowledge you'll share it with someone else, and hopefully so on, and so on, until everyone is happy & green.

 

[McCdive]

NP, that's what paying it forward is all about, and when you get the knowledge you'll share it with someone else, and hopefully so on, and so on, until everyone is happy & green.

Well I apreciate. your help. I put my 2 cents worth in on different posts, but I don't want to give too much advice before I know what I know. Ya know? Lol Peace, Andy.

 

[Algreer]

I am new! Only grown one complete cycle in soil and like the results, however I wanted to try dwc. You have just given me a 4 yr degree in 7 sentences!!!. Thank You. I will definitely pay it forward.

 

[McCdive]

See Buddro? Another satisfied customer.

 

[Swampass]

sorry tried to delete. I was thinking it was a soil post.

 

[RootSpaGuru]

Budrrogreen is right on, i remember it different but its the same and i do it like this if my pH waiste rises add nutes and lower pH continue that every day til the next weeks feeding with fresh water.....