3 E.C.

DaFreak

Well-Known Member
Ok so a young friend of mine who I introduced to growing and got going, has ended up becoming a grower for one of the larger suppliers in my state. Immediately all the things I tried to teach him is out the door, now he is all defoliation, booster this and booster that. I'm an old school K.I.S.S. grower. Anyway this place pays big bucks to belong to some pay-for-access pot board where he has been "studying" hence the defoliation, flushing and 48 hours of dark before you cut etc. The craziest thing he has told me, is that they want him to grow close to 3 E.C. WTF? Does anybody actually grow that high? I don't know how much of what he tells me is true, he says the guy is associated with the jungle boys out of L.A. I was supposed to be impressed but I am not a follower of pot news. Is this really a thing?
 

DaFreak

Well-Known Member
Ok, I actually had to look it up, I thought 3 EC would be higher but it's 1500ppm. Still, pretty high if you ask me. Then they add boosters.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Er3

DaFreak

Well-Known Member
This place had a bunch of experienced growers who they fired, and I'm told part of it was because they were ignoring the advice and growing at a lower PPM. So they fired them and hired people with little to zero experience in the believe that if they just follow this guy's advice they will have mad yields.
 

OG Doge

Well-Known Member
Anytime I tried to push high ppm's, indoors or out, the weed turned out like garbage taste wise. I don't notice a big enough yield difference to waste nutrients like that, waste of money and bad for the environment along with the harsh smoke.
Every time I buy dispensary weed I cough uncontrollably. I always assumed it was the nutes. I always said weed buyers will lower their standards and buy the cheapest weed.
They think throwing away money on lots of nutes will return profits somehow. Then they get played out trash weed no one wants, especially at 50+ an 1/8 plus tax. The "legal" market is a fucking clown show.
 

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
3 sound crazy to me.
i see people using 2 with good results, myself is maxing out at 1.4-1.5 mostly.
bugbee is saying everything above 1.5 is salt stress and there is no need to go higher, he uses 1.3 in peat if i remeber right.
would guess between 1-2 most people should be happy, no need for 3! its not a tomato we grow.
 

2com

Well-Known Member
3 sound crazy to me.
i see people using 2 with good results, myself is maxing out at 1.4-1.5 mostly.
bugbee is saying everything above 1.5 is salt stress and there is no need to go higher, he uses 1.3 in peat if i remeber right.
would guess between 1-2 most people should be happy, no need for 3! its not a tomato we grow.
Did he give the rest of the environmental conditions and parameters? Variety? Light source type? Irrigation style? He gave the medium type.
I'd have to assume wherever your taking that from (video or paper) he would have all that information noted.

Just to note, too, that from my limited understanding: Some of the people/groups who are having "high" EC levels of 3.0+, are doing it via "crop steering" - where they irrigate to a point that it doesn't run off *at all*, and the EC rises in the medium do to planed dry back amounts (water evaps and gets used, so the EC rises), for most of the day - then maybe the last watering or two (or three, I duno) they'll irrigate to a certain amount of water. These people aren't necessarily mixing solutions up at an EC of 3.0, or 4.0, or 5.0. But maybe, I'm sure, some people are.

I find it interesting, though. It's cool.
Do whatever works. It should be obvious to everyone with some experience that there is no number you can just apply to everyone's garden/situation.
 

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
check out youtube for "usu cannabis lab tour", could be some infos are hidden in other videos.
there is a video where he gives very detailed infos, media mix, nutrients, EC.
he growing quite some varieties and he irrigate quite often to avoid salt buildup.
well, its research in progress, read on reddit he just said he just reviewed his view on P levels a bit.
his opinion isnt the only one in the world.

how high people here go with their EC, without burned tips or other problems?

i know tomato producers do increase the EC end of flower, sometimes just by using regular cooking salt.
this saltstress makes the fruits sweeter, but am quite sure this is something special to tomatos and cant be applied to our "fruits".
 

2com

Well-Known Member
how high people here go with their EC, without burned tips or other problems?
You asking us?
For my experience, I've messed around with too many different grow styles, mediums, systems, lighting, nutrients, etc. etc. that it'd be difficult to answer that. Which is kinda my point. I know you know this, I'm just saying :)
I honestly can't remember, and never kept good track or "logs" of anything.

I'm not certain that what the majority of people/us are calling "burnt tips" are even that; not from "nute burn" anyway (which should mean EC strength). Based on the things I've tried in the past to "fix" or remedy the symptom, which were the common recommendations made/found.
 

cobshopgrow

Well-Known Member
am asking all, yes, just some input we can play with.
of course would be nice if one mention the grow method.

yes, thats all true its very media dependend, fertilizer ratios, and other factors, burned tips can be also other reasons etc., it aint easy.
maybe i should ask for whats the max EC you think your plants are growing completly healthy with.

atm i feel my recent plants do like an EC of 1.4 in cocos chips daily watered., so run to waste hydro.
1.2 wasnt enough, while it seems that mainly the magnesium was lacking.
it feels like the strain is more hungry then others i know.
i could not imagine how an EC of 3 would make any sense for me,
but there would be a wide range to test in between 1.4 and 2 while not really sure if there is some benefit to expect.
 

waterproof808

Well-Known Member
You can run EC that high with the right set up...i.e. precision irrigation, fully automated, constant monitoring of EC levels in your medium, etc.
I know Jungle Boys run EC levels that high but their rooms are state of the art. Would definitely not recommend for hand watering...sure way to fry your plants if you ever let your medium run dry.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Er3

waterproof808

Well-Known Member
Just to note, too, that from my limited understanding: Some of the people/groups who are having "high" EC levels of 3.0+, are doing it via "crop steering" - where they irrigate to a point that it doesn't run off *at all*, and the EC rises in the medium do to planed dry back amounts (water evaps and gets used, so the EC rises), for most of the day - then maybe the last watering or two (or three, I duno) they'll irrigate to a certain amount of water. These people aren't necessarily mixing solutions up at an EC of 3.0, or 4.0, or 5.0. But maybe, I'm sure, some people are.

I find it interesting, though. It's cool.
Do whatever works. It should be obvious to everyone with some experience that there is no number you can just apply to everyone's garden/situation.
Yes, exactly. EC levels that high are only possible with precision irrigation and utilizing something like Grodan's Grosense that gives you complete control over drybacks, etc. Good luck trying to do that with handwatering.
 

OG Doge

Well-Known Member
There's no correlation between plant health, growth, quality, etc and EC; higher is not better!
Exactly.
I get a good amount of quality with a 1.3 EC max, and that is without monocrop or co2, environment is the key to everything in my experience. Instead of watering with high ec people should keep ec low and water more often as needed.
 
Last edited:

waterproof808

Well-Known Member
There's no correlation between plant health, growth, quality, etc and EC; higher is not better!
Yes, not with all mediums and not if you are just arbitrarily feeding high EC...but if you are growing in something like rockwool and following crop steering methods, there are benefits to higher EC with the right irrigation setup.

Also, the right approach to this is when the grower themselves determines the correct EC for their own plants based on what they are observing. Lot of forum peeps like to throw out EC values like there is a "one size fits all" EC that will work for every one. For the OP, if some random guy is just telling you to feed close to 3.0 without knowing your set up or what your plants are doing, dont listen to them...listen to your plants. There are tons of variables that will determine what a proper EC value is for your plants.
 
Last edited:

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
Anytime I tried to push high ppm's, indoors or out, the weed turned out like garbage taste wise. I don't notice a big enough yield difference to waste nutrients like that, waste of money and bad for the environment along with the harsh smoke.
That’s the conclusion they’ve come to as well..

Just more money through weight
 
Top