help me with dwc nutes please

I am using the Advanced Nutrients Ph Perfect Grow Micro Bloom stuff. If I follow their full strength recommendations the leaves turn crispy and likely would kill the plant. I've been using about 500ppm in veg starting at 5.8ph. I let it raise until 6.3 then knock it back down to 5.8. I try to maintain 400-600ppm's. This is working but I fear going any higher will burn them.

When going into flower should I up the ppm's by 100ppm and wait until I see burn, or is it safe to just stick to my 5.8ph/500ppm goal? Also was thinking about getting 'big bud' with the ph perfect stuff but not sure when to use that stuff?

Is there any better products other than im using? I'm okay with changing the ph with ph up or down and I typically use 100ppm starting water. I would assume my real nute ppm would be 400ppm as my water is 100 ppm = 500ppm?

Thanks in advance for the help. I am starting to go broke from all these problems and expensive shit. Right now doing godberry, purple kush, bubblegum, and berrybomb

Aviatorshades said:

I am using the Advanced Nutrients Ph Perfect Grow Micro Bloom stuff. If I follow their full strength recommendations the leaves turn crispy and likely would kill the plant. I've been using about 500ppm in veg starting at 5.8ph. I let it raise until 6.3 then knock it back down to 5.8. I try to maintain 400-600ppm's. This is working but I fear going any higher will burn them.

When going into flower should I up the ppm's by 100ppm and wait until I see burn, or is it safe to just stick to my 5.8ph/500ppm goal? Also was thinking about getting 'big bud' with the ph perfect stuff but not sure when to use that stuff?

Is there any better products other than im using? I'm okay with changing the ph with ph up or down and I typically use 100ppm starting water. I would assume my real nute ppm would be 400ppm as my water is 100 ppm = 500ppm?

Thanks in advance for the help. I am starting to go broke from all these problems and expensive shit. Right now doing godberry, purple kush, bubblegum, and berrybomb

Click to expand...

I'd stay closer to 400 in veg and go to 600-800 in flower. DWC doesn't need to go above 800 pretty much ever.

Aviatorshades said:

I am using the Advanced Nutrients Ph Perfect Grow Micro Bloom stuff. If I follow their full strength recommendations the leaves turn crispy and likely would kill the plant. I've been using about 500ppm in veg starting at 5.8ph. I let it raise until 6.3 then knock it back down to 5.8. I try to maintain 400-600ppm's. This is working but I fear going any higher will burn them.

When going into flower should I up the ppm's by 100ppm and wait until I see burn, or is it safe to just stick to my 5.8ph/500ppm goal? Also was thinking about getting 'big bud' with the ph perfect stuff but not sure when to use that stuff?

Is there any better products other than im using? I'm okay with changing the ph with ph up or down and I typically use 100ppm starting water. I would assume my real nute ppm would be 400ppm as my water is 100 ppm = 500ppm?

Thanks in advance for the help. I am starting to go broke from all these problems and expensive shit. Right now doing godberry, purple kush, bubblegum, and berrybomb

Click to expand...

If you want a system that WILL work and is easy to follow and a fuck ton cheaper than advanced bogus crap, use GH Flora trio and also their CaliMagic.
THIS IS FOR RO WATER ONLY.
Follow this chart to a TEE Mixing in CaliMagic FIRST then Micro,Gro, and finally Bloom stirring WELL INBETWEEN adding each.
It's also fine to mix all you'll need for say 15-30 gals in a 5 gallon jug with maybe 3-4 gals of water so there's room to shake it.

i keep the ppm at 500-600 because sometimes the water drops and spikes the ppm.. am i overthinking it?

Yes you are overthinking it. Plants can take much higher PPMs without damage. That doesn't mean they need it or can utilize it, just that they can stand it. So find the right PPM for you. In dwc I was always around 1200 with no problem.

I also don't like chasing pH. My advice is to set your pH on your low end and if it drifts out of range just mix a new tank. You might have to remix once, or you may get through a cycle.

so its no worry when it goes up to 6.7? seemed high to me. i just dont want burned plants anymore

Aviatorshades said:

so its no worry when it goes up to 6.7? seemed high to me. i just dont want burned plants anymore

Click to expand...

No I would call that out of range for sure. You want to either mix a new batch of nutes or use pH down. I prefer to mix new. Your choice. I would say 5.5-6.3 is where you want to be, preferable with a bit of swing.

do you know what causes the swing? and thanks for the help bro

The swing is caused by the nutrients leaving the water and entering the plant

makes sense why one kept going to 5.4 and didnt do shit. had to keep it at 6 to revive it. probably be lucky to get anything at all now :/

You mentioned mixing a new batch when the ph goes out of range but if it still has 350-400ppm wouldn’t you just adjust ph and not waste expensive nutes?

Do NOT mess with the pH!

I've used AN for 20 years and back before pH Perfect came in I used to have to knock the pH back from 6.3 at every top up in DWC. After they went pH Perfect I waited 4 years before trying it as I had lots of the old 3-part left.

I found that the pH pen wouldn't accurately read the pH with the new nutes so retired it and just let it do it's thing and never once had any pH related problems in DWC or soilless growing.

I've done about 50 DWC grows and always used RubberMaid tubs and many times went the whole grow without ever changing nutes once. As I got close to the end I'd just remove some of the nutes and replace with RO water.

During the grow I'd let the water get to about 4" below the net pots then top up with water to about an inch below. THEN check the pH and ppm. After pH Perfect came in I'd just check ppm and add a little bit of nutes to the tub to bring it up to my target or raise it if the plants were getting larger and looked hungry.

I've used Big Bud since it was invented and after experimenting I started adding some Big Bud a week before I flipped to flower and got much faster bud appearance and growth with a lot more bud sites. During main growth I used the GMB in a 3-2-1 ratio but a week before flipping would change back to a 1-1-1 ratio if I was doing a nute change and add a half dose of BB. If not doing a change would just add a bit more Micro and Bloom than usual with the BB.

You always subtract the ppm of your water from your total for true nute ppm. I've always used RO or distilled water as the water in town was around 300ppm/pH 7.4 and the water I have here from my dugout is 400ppm/pH 8+

There is no need to change your nutes for at least the first month when the plants are smaller. Just boost the ppm up as they get larger. If you have decent humidity, 50%+ then you can run higher ppm safely but if like here most of the year you'll want to go lower. In the dead of winter here in northern Alberta it can be 20% in my grow room with it full of plants. Right now it's hovering around 60% but it's been really wet the last week or so and it's full of plants. 13 plants/6 strains and I just repotted 8 of them so I can flip tomorrow. Using Mega Crop this go and gave them 0.5g/L Big Bud powder with their water yesterday. I do have the Greenleaf P/K supplement but going with what I know works well for this round. Will experiment with the next batch when I have identical clones for decent comparison.

The only other AN supplement I've been using regularly is the Rhino Skin for some silica and I start using it from the beginning rather than wait until flower but at 1/4 to 1/2 doses in DWC once in a while. Best to add it to your water first then pH down it to around 6 then add the nutes but don't pH your nutes after that. Let it sit at 6.3 if it wants to stay there. Trust the technology!

I trusted it to sit at 5.4 and it probably made this bubblegum garbage.

Aviatorshades said:

I trusted it to sit at 5.4 and it probably made this bubblegum garbage.

Click to expand...

Are you having problems with the BG?

I did experiments with trying to read the pH of those nutes and it just wouldn't read right or consistently. I know how to use a pH pen properly too as I have a diploma in environmental chemistry and got plenty of training in stuff like that. My 7 yo pH pen still works fine and it was new at the time. Most people are lucky to get a year out of the cheap pens they get online because they don't care for them properly.

I've been doing the pot forum thing for over 10 years and everyone I've seen in forums that tries adjusting those nutes has nothing but problems after. Screws up the buffers or something. Could be something in your water causing issues too so you should get a water analysis report from your supplier and see what that 100ppm really is. I called the town works office years ago here and they emailed me one no charge. If they're nosy about why just tell them you want to raise fish and the guy at the pet store somewhere else said to get a report. None of their damn business but some people are nosy.

I'm going to have to try running a DWC tub with these Mega Crop nutes and see how well they work. With RO water the pH came out to 6.0. Using our tap water at pH 8+ they came out at 6.5 so they seem to be pH balanced as they claim. I won some in a contest that @AquaTerra put on for Canadian growers a couple months ago. Seems to work great in the semi-organic growing I'm doing atm.

Good luck eh.