This is the problem with ppm--it is a derivation, a conversion and calculation, made from EC (electrical conductivity). As such, there are different conversion factors. The two I'm aware of are called the .5 and .7, or the 500 or 700 conversion factors, which is where my own head begins to spin because it's NUMBERS...! I am mathematically declined, and it's a serious disability, I'm not joking about this. In any event, those are only *two* conversions, two variations on the ppm theme, that we don't know here. Better to learn and use EC.
Second, a
huge part of the feeding scenario is lighting, and I don't think that can be hemphasized enough (that was a typo, but I've decided to leave it as my Freudian slip o' the finger). Light drives
every process for the plant, it is integral to
how well the plant will be able to utilize
available nutrients.
The issue that I have with what you're doing, and this is strictly personal, is that it's chemical salt solubles, and it's formulaic, and I personally have a really, REALLY hard time working that way. I don't follow recipes unless I'm baking, and even then, I take liberties. And that does conflict with my science-loving, definitive-answer-loving self. But it melds perfectly with the artistic side of things, the gut, the instinct, the feel.
That's what takes time to learn, and here's the rub--you absolutely HAVE to learn your own way, because THAT is what is going to work for *you*. What swerve does works for him. It just so happens that a variation on the Big Ricky method worked for me, but it was a mathematically-mistaken variation (I completely misread and misunderstood and so miscalculated how much Fox Farms Big Bloom to give, and so the plants were basically getting a mild flush every time I thought I was feeding them. NOT his recipe at all, yet it worked beautifully for me).
So, what conversion factor is/was swerve using when feeding his girls that he's talking about here? That's one place for a mistake to occur. EC is absolute, and it's absolute across the board as long as you're using it in the right scenario, and you are. And, I'll tell you this much, even if it's the .5 conversion he was using, that sure seems to be pushing them
awfully hard. I've only run crosses, but none of them were that hungry, nowhere nearly that hungry.
Finally, on the Lucas formula. It works great for some people, and terribly for others. That's it. This may not be the best method to grow for you, and it's just going to take some time for you to either get this method 'dialed in' or to figure out which method works best for you. Indoor growing isn't rocket science, but neither is it easy breezy unless you have a gift. It took me some TIME, and it's still taking me more time, I still make terrible mistakes and screw some things up pretty royally. See my post and pix in the Death by Stylet thread for the most recent proof of that.
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