Trying to figure out PPM movement

  • Thread starter davecw
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
davecw

davecw

26
3
I've been struggling with a couple of plants. 1 is almost 2 months old and another is almost 1 month old. I'm trying to figure out how much to feed them but every time I raise the PPM level I start to see issues. I read that if the PPM level goes up overnight it means I'm feeding too much and if the level goes down then I'm not feeding enough. So I thought I'd just bring the PPM for both plants to around 210 and watch the movement of the PPM to see what I need to do and that way I can dial in how much my plants need.

Well overnight the PPM went up on both plants. Considering that neither of them are seedlings they should be needing way more than 200 PPM. Yet the PPM are going up which is indicating the PPM/nutrient level is too high.

I don't know if there's something wrong with my water or my PPM meter is broken or if I'm just crazy but I have no idea what is going on here and I kind of feel like giving up because its stressing me out 😩

2x4x5' tent
Maxisun PB1000 at 30"
GH Flora Trio
Air Temp 77-80 degrees F
Water temp 65-69 degrees F
Using Hydroguard and Piranha
3 fans for air circulation
 
DankNugz420

DankNugz420

959
143
This chart helped me it might help you!
PH and EC fluctuations in Hydroponics 768x576
 
DankNugz420

DankNugz420

959
143
Another thing, if the plants getting lock out it will not eat much. You using reverse osmosis water or tap? And what ph are you at? I used country well tap Water without filtering and it locked my hydro plant out so bad I had to use florakleen clearing solution once then it came back with a vengeance! Started calling for more nutrients. Im atleast using filtered water now but would like to start using RO
 
davecw

davecw

26
3
Another thing, if the plants getting lock out it will not eat much. You using reverse osmosis water or tap? And what ph are you at? I used country well tap Water without filtering and it locked my hydro plant out so bad I had to use florakleen clearing solution once then it came back with a vengeance! Started calling for more nutrients. Im atleast using filtered water now but would like to start using RO
Well I have a rainsoft water softener and RO system. I've been using the water out of the RO but noticed that the PPM out of the RO is 120 which didn't seem right to me. I bypassed my water softener and checked the water out of the tap and it is 88 so I think there may be something wrong with my water softener and RO system. They're sending someone out to take a look at it tomorrow. Yesterday I made my nutrient solution with just tap water for the first time which has PPM 88. Added nutes to PPM around 229 and PH 5.7. This morning it was PPM 240 and PH 6.23. So because the PPM and PH went up I added tap water to bring it back down to 222 PPM and PH 5.76

Guess I need to use EC to use that chart...
 
Cashmeh

Cashmeh

2,007
263
I've been struggling with a couple of plants. 1 is almost 2 months old and another is almost 1 month old. I'm trying to figure out how much to feed them but every time I raise the PPM level I start to see issues. I read that if the PPM level goes up overnight it means I'm feeding too much and if the level goes down then I'm not feeding enough. So I thought I'd just bring the PPM for both plants to around 210 and watch the movement of the PPM to see what I need to do and that way I can dial in how much my plants need.

Well overnight the PPM went up on both plants. Considering that neither of them are seedlings they should be needing way more than 200 PPM. Yet the PPM are going up which is indicating the PPM/nutrient level is too high.

I don't know if there's something wrong with my water or my PPM meter is broken or if I'm just crazy but I have no idea what is going on here and I kind of feel like giving up because its stressing me out 😩

2x4x5' tent
Maxisun PB1000 at 30"
GH Flora Trio
Air Temp 77-80 degrees F
Water temp 65-69 degrees F
Using Hydroguard and Piranha
3 fans for air circulation

Get you some Calibration solution for your meters, and calibrate them, then double check them before every use to ensure they are still correct. Its tedious, but unless you have a fancy one, its gonna need calibrated frequently.

If your ppm is going up slowly, even 1 ppm over a week, its too much. You want to see ppm dropping, if its increasing, you will have issues that will leave your head spinning trying to diagnose.

You can use this chart I made, just print it out, and check your PPM every 12hrs, write it down and watch the trend. https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/a-simple-chart-to-use-for-hydro.126059/

Dont be scared to add just water if the ppm is climbing. As for knowing how much they need, ignore what you know. The plants tell you, you dont tell them. I have plants that are over 5 weeks old at 230ppm right now, it will be fine, you have to lower it. The majority of issues comes from over feeding and root rot, that is for new growers, in my opinion.

But yea, fill out that chart, and post it. . I was checking mine at 9am and 9pm for about 3 weeks until I understand the ratios. What blend are you using, do you have pics? Whats your ph?

If I had to guess, your overfeeding it or your meter is way off. My meter screwed me for my first month :( So best bet, act like its broken. It will still tell you if the plant needs more or less water. Give it more water.
 
davecw

davecw

26
3
Get you some Calibration solution for your meters, and calibrate them, then double check them before every use to ensure they are still correct. Its tedious, but unless you have a fancy one, its gonna need calibrated frequently.

If your ppm is going up slowly, even 1 ppm over a week, its too much. You want to see ppm dropping, if its increasing, you will have issues that will leave your head spinning trying to diagnose.

You can use this chart I made, just print it out, and check your PPM every 12hrs, write it down and watch the trend. https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/a-simple-chart-to-use-for-hydro.126059/

Dont be scared to add just water if the ppm is climbing. As for knowing how much they need, ignore what you know. The plants tell you, you dont tell them. I have plants that are over 5 weeks old at 230ppm right now, it will be fine, you have to lower it. The majority of issues comes from over feeding and root rot, that is for new growers, in my opinion.

But yea, fill out that chart, and post it. . I was checking mine at 9am and 9pm for about 3 weeks until I understand the ratios. What blend are you using, do you have pics? Whats your ph?

If I had to guess, your overfeeding it or your meter is way off. My meter screwed me for my first month :( So best bet, act like its broken. It will still tell you if the plant needs more or less water. Give it more water.
I only started charting PPM and PH a couple days ago but his is what I have so far. I check when I wake up in the morning around 7 AM and when I get home around 6 PM.
 
Capture
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Is your RO unit new?

Big issues here... you can't use water out of a water softener. It exchanges minerals for sodium and pretty much the entire ppm will be sodium..

Lot more questions but do you have pics of the plants?
 
Cashmeh

Cashmeh

2,007
263
I only started charting PPM and PH a couple days ago but his is what I have so far. I check when I wake up in the morning around 7 AM and when I get home around 6 PM.


Keep ur ppms at 211 for now. You never mentioned your hydro system or res size. How many gallon does your system hold? Seems like you've almost dialed in your ppm meter.. And it's broken lol.. I understood your charting. Your ph increasing so fast makes it seem as if your res is small? If not, your ph needs to be lowered a bit, say 5.6 to 5.8 it will absorb more in acidic water, which is why it could be lower ppm absorption. Regardless how much did that ppm meter cost you, how long have you used it, and when have you last checked its calibration. There's solution you dip it in to make sure it's accurate lol. Those massive 12 ph swings makes me think ur ph meter might be off too? Ur pp. Swings are not that bad when low. Just don't think they need more food ever.

My res started at 350, 2 plants 20 gallon. I'm lazy, and it's dropped down to 220 in almost 2 weeks. I've added 0 water, only ph up and down.

Regardless act as if ur meter is way off.. So every ppm matters. If it's stable at 212 ppm and slowly dropping do that.. If it's 215 it will matter. Anyways I'm off to bed.

Post up some pics too,
 
davecw

davecw

26
3
Is your RO unit new?

Big issues here... you can't use water out of a water softener. It exchanges minerals for sodium and pretty much the entire ppm will be sodium..

Lot more questions but do you have pics of the plants?
The RO is a couple years old. I think I changed the filters about 9 months ago. The company is supposed to be sending someone to take a look at the system. I have bypassed the water softener for now and using the water from fridge filter since it measures the lowest ppm at 88.

Here's some pics. I really screwed up the older one and the newer one is heading down the drain fast
 
20210428 203146
20210428 202406
20210428 202420
20210428 202427
20210428 202432
davecw

davecw

26
3
Keep ur ppms at 211 for now. You never mentioned your hydro system or res size. How many gallon does your system hold? Seems like you've almost dialed in your ppm meter.. And it's broken lol.. I understood your charting. Your ph increasing so fast makes it seem as if your res is small? If not, your ph needs to be lowered a bit, say 5.6 to 5.8 it will absorb more in acidic water, which is why it could be lower ppm absorption. Regardless how much did that ppm meter cost you, how long have you used it, and when have you last checked its calibration. There's solution you dip it in to make sure it's accurate lol. Those massive 12 ph swings makes me think ur ph meter might be off too? Ur pp. Swings are not that bad when low. Just don't think they need more food ever.

My res started at 350, 2 plants 20 gallon. I'm lazy, and it's dropped down to 220 in almost 2 weeks. I've added 0 water, only ph up and down.

Regardless act as if ur meter is way off.. So every ppm matters. If it's stable at 212 ppm and slowly dropping do that.. If it's 215 it will matter. Anyways I'm off to bed.

Post up some pics too,
There's 3 gallons in each bucket. The PPM meter is only a few weeks old. It was like $10. The PH meter cost about the same. Its a couple months old but I just calibrated it a couple days ago. I think I need to pony up some money for a couple good meters. Either the PPM meter is broken like you said or I'm going crazy lol. Or my strain just requires extremely little amounts of nutrients. Its bubblegum autoflower.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Ok lots to go over... your PH is rising because of a lack of buffering.

See this post then ask questions.


What is your source of ph down? It makes a world if difference.

Do you have ph up?

How much of which nutrients are you mixing and in what order?

Your nutrients are to low. 300-400ppm total should server you well. Have to remember you tap water is not balanced nutrients.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
There's 3 gallons in each bucket. The PPM meter is only a few weeks old. It was like $10. The PH meter cost about the same. Its a couple months old but I just calibrated it a couple days ago. I think I need to pony up some money for a couple good meters. Either the PPM meter is broken like you said or I'm going crazy lol. Or my strain just requires extremely little amounts of nutrients. Its bubblegum autoflower.
Take 1 gram of table salt (sodium chloride) and dissolve it in 1 litre of DISTILLED water. The ppm should be 1000 or close to in order to verify the ppm meter
 
Last edited:
davecw

davecw

26
3
Ok lots to go over... your PH is rising because of a lack of buffering.

See this post then ask questions.


What is your source of ph down? It makes a world if difference.

Do you have ph up?

How much of which nutrients are you mixing and in what order?

Your nutrients are to low. 300-400ppm total should server you well. Have to remember you tap water is not balanced nutrients.
General Hydroponics PH down and up
I'm using GH Flora Trio
The older plant was given in this order: Micro 2.4 ml - Gro 0.6 ml - Bloom 2.4 ml
The younger was given: Micro 2.4 ml - Gro 2.4 ml - Bloom 0.6 ml
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Hmmm where ya get that?

I would use the ratios here... (if it were me I would actually use equal parts start to finish but I have never used it)

Mix the amounts they say then dilute it to the ppm... ratios are very important. Then dilute to the ppm you want with water.

I would add 30-40ppm of ph up to the tap first.

Then add the nutrients as direct in the photo.

Then ph down to 5.6-5.8
Screenshot 20210428 213452 Samsung Internet
 
davecw

davecw

26
3
Bluelab is probably the best. I cheaped out and got apera for half the price I believe. Been using about 2 or 3 months now, I recalibrate every week or 2, they usually don't need it.

Been working great so far

If you don't mind spending the extra get the bluelab and youll be set for life 👍
Yeah I just went ahead and ponied up for the blue lab combo just for my piece of mind so I know I'm getting an accurate reading
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Yeah I just went ahead and ponied up for the blue lab combo just for my piece of mind so I know I'm getting an accurate reading
You won't be sorry.

Make sure to keep the sponge wet in the ph pen.

You can make your own storage solution with kcl potassium chloride. Let me know if ya need the recipe
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom