no man it isn't that complicated ,here maybe this will help you out.seedlings early sprouts 100 to 250 ppm/0.2-0.5 ec.early veg a lot of people have there on opinions in this matter ,i consider the first set of 5 finger leaves early veg but here is 300/400 ppm and 0.6 to 0.8 ec ,full veg i consider this time at the 4th node and i top to get bushes,450/700 ppm,0.9-1.4 ec.early bloom 750/950 ppm ,1.5 to1.9 ec i also feed 2 weeks of veg nutrients and ease them into full flower nutrient here with slowly uping nutrient to full bloom .full mature bloom 1000/1600 ppm and 2.0-3.2 ec.all these calculations are from the hanna scale ,i hope that this will stop the confusion ,it did me ,i use blue planet nutrients and even by this scale i have to go to low side because of my soil .the best thing to do i would suggest is to mix 1/4 strength and test it with your meters and yes you will need them ,they don't cost that much but when you buy them or it get the solution to ,your nutrient are sticky and it will build up on it ,you can buy the ones that have tds-ppm-temp-ec all in one pin. any way hope it helps