Fox Farm has the math wrong?

sexbobomb

Member
Hi everybody! I have a newbie question. On Fox Farm's feeding schedule, it appears they have the math way wrong on ppms. For example, it says to use 3 teaspoons per gallon for the first week, equivalent to 700-840 ppm. Since there are 768 teaspoons in a gallon, we divide 3 by 768, and get .003906. We then multiply that by 1 million, and we get 3906 ppm. Am I way off here, or what's the deal?
 
Way off.

There's really no accurate way to determine what is in the bottle because they only list what they Guarantee and there will inevitably be more in the bottle.

Parts per million is a percentage. Percent really represents more like parts per 100.

You can do a little arithmetic to figure out what the bottles provide ppm wise by using the percentages listed on the bottle, converting them to ppm (multiply by 10,000), then compensate for the volume used by multiplying that value by the number of ml of fertilizer added, and then dividing by the total volume of solution in ML.

This can give you a VERY ROUGH estimate of what you might be looking at ppm wise.

Short of busting out my Fox Farms and mixing up the nutrients, based on my own estimations.
15ml of Grow Big in 60ppm water (pretty clean) will total to ~700ppm +/- 50ppm
15ml of Tiger Bloom in 60ppm water will total to ~700ppm +/- 50ppm

It is really difficult to predict these things without a meter. Basically, just a shot in the dark, but it might help get you on the right path when it comes to ratios.

Personally, I think a better veg nutrient ratios require supplementing the system a little.

During veg, 7.5ml of Grow Big per gallon, 2.5ml Tiger Bloom per gallon, and 10ml Cal-Mag Plus per gallon.
This gives a ratio that is more like 7-5-4 with a good deal of Cal-Mag. The 6-4-4 ratio is okay, but the lack of calcium in Grow Big can throw things off and a little extra N and P go a long way to developing strong plants.

After the 2nd week of flowering I'd suggest running something like 10ml Tiger Bloom, 2ml Grow Big, and 5ml Cal-Mag plus. This brings out more like a 1-2-1 ratio of nutrients (or a 4-8-4 instead of a 2-8-4) and again, the cal-mag helps maintain the healthy plants. You can slowly phase out the Grow Big and work up to 15ml of the Tiger Bloom by the 5th week if the plants seem like they can take it. Make sure you are getting plenty of run off when feeding this strong and to use plain water rinses between feedings. Eventually hitting more like a 1-3-2 ratio with the Tiger Bloom and Cal-Mag plus.

Figure 15ml total of Fox Farms is about all you need to hit about 700ppm. Any higher than that and you risk burning in a soil media. So you cut back on those a little, supplement with some Cal-Mag plus, and bingo... Just keep the volume of all nutrients used under 20ml combined and you should remain in a safe zone for growing.

Don't feed every day. Figure, when you see that the plant has a strong root system and can be "pushed" then you feed once, and water again until you need to feed again. Soil growers can get by with a handful of feedings over the course of a plants life and those bottles will last you a long ass time as a result.
 
Thanks for your detailed response. I am growing in hydro though, so I think my ratios will have to be a little different. I have grow big hydro, and big bloom only.

I guess my confusion was related to the math I get when calculating ppms, and what they calculated. My math was right I believe, technically 3 teaspoons per gallon would equal to 3900 ppm; which makes me think that their nutrient solution has a lot of water in it? I thought it was supposed to be super concentrated. Anyway I have a great ppm meter so I'll be able to mix the right amount, but I just wanted to know beforehand so I didn't add way too much to begin with. Thanks again.
 
3 tsp will not equal 3900 ppm. Your math is not right. I explained to you how to add it up. Your method is not well contrived and leaves out all the important aspects (like the concentration of nutrients for example).

Even with the Hydro nutrients, 3 tsp. (aka 15ml) will not exceed 900ppm and is probably closer to 700-800ppm.

The ppm meter will show you.
 
NOT TO JACK YOUR THREAD, BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS???:


Their bottle of Tigerbloom doesn't list any calcium under the guaranteed analysis, but under their "Formula is derived from" list has Calcium Nitrate as an ingredient.

How are you going to say you use Calcium nitrate, but not lost any calcium in the analysis???
 
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