Ppm & runoff when feeding

kaydeezee

Well-Known Member
Hi guys , question 'when I feed my girls "let's say a ppm of 1000 ,and when I water again I test the run off and it's the same as I put in 'is that good or bad???
I'm a little confused about it but let me have a go at explaining ' if the ppm is lower when I test the run off that means they are maybe in need if a little more nutrients??? and if the running is higher than what went in then I should cut back on the nutrients???
Any info would be great
 

weedemart

Well-Known Member
Hi guys , question 'when I feed my girls "let's say a ppm of 1000 ,and when I water again I test the run off and it's the same as I put in 'is that good or bad???
I'm a little confused about it but let me have a go at explaining ' if the ppm is lower when I test the run off that means they are maybe in need if a little more nutrients??? and if the running is higher than what went in then I should cut back on the nutrients???
Any info would be great
Yes and no. It depend on your medium.

reading your plant is more important imo as some nutrients can be uptake in excess, as nitrogen.

but yea if your ppm run off keep increasing , it mean your feeding too much or your nutrient is not balanced for your needs
 
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Aeroknow

Well-Known Member
Hi guys , question 'when I feed my girls "let's say a ppm of 1000 ,and when I water again I test the run off and it's the same as I put in 'is that good or bad???
I'm a little confused about it but let me have a go at explaining ' if the ppm is lower when I test the run off that means they are maybe in need if a little more nutrients??? and if the running is higher than what went in then I should cut back on the nutrients???
Any info would be great
I would say you have a pretty good understanding for how it works;-)

Only thing I would add is that if the ppm runoff is higher coming out(with inert mediums) than what goes in, it can also be from not watering with enough nutrient soulution and because of that, not achieving enough runoff everytime you water/feed. Usually this leads to salt buildup.
 

kaydeezee

Well-Known Member
I would say you have a pretty good understanding for how it works;-)

Only thing I would add is that if the ppm runoff is higher coming out(with inert mediums) than what goes in, it can also be from not watering with enough nutrient soulution and because of that, not achieving enough runoff everytime you water/feed. Usually this leads to salt buildup.
I think you hit it mate ' I don't feed with enough nutrients in fear of over feeding?
I also don't usually water for run off ' 500ml / 1000ml every other day in 3 gal pots in soil 'but now I'm trying to cut 1 watering out and water/feed once per week each? So water then wait 3 full days days then feed? I'm getting runof at about 1.5 litre is that cool you think?
 

JDMase

Well-Known Member
I think you hit it mate ' I don't feed with enough nutrients in fear of over feeding?
I also don't usually water for run off ' 500ml / 1000ml every other day in 3 gal pots in soil 'but now I'm trying to cut 1 watering out and water/feed once per week each? So water then wait 3 full days days then feed? I'm getting runof at about 1.5 litre is that cool you think?
I think the target is 30% run off?
 

kaydeezee

Well-Known Member
I think the target is 30% run off?
I'm a little scared to put that wuch water through the pots to get that much runoff??
I used to water just 500ml every day with 3 gal pots and 5 ft kush clones lol mental isn't it ?? 'That never looked underwater once in all 13 weeks flowering?
So how often should I water and how much for my girls at 33 days from seed in 3gal pots and 10" tall ' topped and basically wunderkind when to flip to 12/12 for these BLUEDREAM FEMZ??
 

JDMase

Well-Known Member
I think rather than trying to find an amount in ML you should just water until you start getting some run off and stop there. I usually water once a day because my girls like regular feeds. I probably give them about 2 litres or so, it varies. Im running some dark devil autos about 3 weeks from finishing so they're pretty well established. I don't measure run off as I probably should I just usually check PH run off in my soil and PPM and PH run off in my soilless
 

kaydeezee

Well-Known Member
I think rather than trying to find an amount in ML you should just water until you start getting some run off and stop there. I usually water once a day because my girls like regular feeds. I probably give them about 2 litres or so, it varies. Im running some dark devil autos about 3 weeks from finishing so they're pretty well established. I don't measure run off as I probably should I just usually check PH run off in my soil and PPM and PH run off in my soilless
I just get a little confused in what is best for my plants in terms of how damp or dry the soil should be. Some say let the soil dry a little and breath?some say never let the soil go dry at all?
I'm going to take your advice and make up a nutrient sulution say 4 litre and feed my girls untill a shit load of water comes out the bottom?? In doing this ' if I let the pot dry out it can take 3or4 litre per pot to get runoff is this still cool in 3gal pots? I won't be over watering will I?
I have just fed my girls untill I got some runoff 'only about 100ml came out the bottom but I didn't makeup enough nutrient water in the first place lol so now I want to wait untill the pots are dry and then repeat the process but this time water untill 20%/30% comes out the bottom "yes"? And if it takes 7/8 days to dry out should I just feed nutrients again and keep doing the same untill they are drinking enough to add in just a watering feed?
 

JDMase

Well-Known Member
I just get a little confused in what is best for my plants in terms of how damp or dry the soil should be. Some say let the soil dry a little and breath?some say never let the soil go dry at all?
I'm going to take your advice and make up a nutrient sulution say 4 litre and feed my girls untill a shit load of water comes out the bottom?? In doing this ' if I let the pot dry out it can take 3or4 litre per pot to get runoff is this still cool in 3gal pots? I won't be over watering will I?
I have just fed my girls untill I got some runoff 'only about 100ml came out the bottom but I didn't makeup enough nutrient water in the first place lol so now I want to wait untill the pots are dry and then repeat the process but this time water untill 20%/30% comes out the bottom "yes"? And if it takes 7/8 days to dry out should I just feed nutrients again and keep doing the same untill they are drinking enough to add in just a watering feed?
Did you say U was growing in soil or coco or something else?
In my soil grow I have a tray that my pot sits in and usually it overflows. If it does I know that's enough at this late stage as that's well under 30% of what im putting in.
If you actually wanted to measure what's coming out each time you'll have to put your pot in a bucket and then transfer that to a measuring jug. I just think that's time consuming and not really worth it. Just focus more on what your plant tells u. Check out some guides on under and over watering. Id say just make sure ur soil never dries out on top. Keep it moist and you won't go wrong. I used airpots and they're meant to help with roots getting oxygen.
I don't think watering with nutes then watering with plain water is optimal, rather, find a happy medium and feed at that. I forget what it's called but I know there's a name for watering a plant with high nutes then plain water. I think it's called systemic shock or something
 

JDMase

Well-Known Member
It's actually called osmotic stress.

I know he's talkint hydroponics but this guy is an actual gardener and knows what he's on about when it comes to plants.

 

JDMase

Well-Known Member
image.jpg

For reference this is a soil grown dark devil auto flower. 7 weeks in and heavily stunted from temps over 35c but as you can see it's looking healthy and happy. Im giving her 6.5ph with around 900ppm of floranova bloom which is all she's had throughout. Today was a "flush" or rather a leach, which was around 500ppm. I use hardwater so no cal mag and it usually tests at around 7-8ph so I use a bit of ph down AFTER nuting and leaving it for 24 hours roughly.

You'll figure your own way out soon enough. Good luck !
 

kaydeezee

Well-Known Member
That's interesting about the calmag 'Im using LED and company's do sugest to use calmag but where I live the tap water ph is around 7.4 / 8.1 and I think has calcium & magnesium in it so I will be cutting back on my calmag ' another thing is I have 2 bluedream in a 2x2 and I'm a little nervous about the growth after I flip any ideas on sativa dom stretchy fucked in 12/12 lol ????
 

JDMase

Well-Known Member
That's interesting about the calmag 'Im using LED and company's do sugest to use calmag but where I live the tap water ph is around 7.4 / 8.1 and I think has calcium & magnesium in it so I will be cutting back on my calmag ' another thing is I have 2 bluedream in a 2x2 and I'm a little nervous about the growth after I flip any ideas on sativa dom stretchy fucked in 12/12 lol ????
Well I don't know about added cal mag, ive not had any deficiencies so I decided I didn't need it. If I had any then Id look into it. But I don't think it's necessary with tap water.
I think stretch is strain dependant, ive not grown blue dream but I have a stretchy sativa pheno of dark devil and all I done was super crop to get it to stay small and bushy. Be careful and don't go too fast or you'll break the stem. If you do you can use tape to repair but cut it off after a couple days. Or you can take them and use them as clones if you go too far and snap it.
 

grasscropper

Well-Known Member
As far as when to water is concerned you should wait till the pot is light when picking up. Less is better. I have had a lot of issues due to overwatering.
 
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