Aqua Man
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Yeah I'm gonna say the 400 ppm is prob fine. 300 is my feeling.
The 50/50 is not only for minerals and buffering but also reduce the amount of RO since it creates waste water.
The nutrients will mix absolutely fine in tap or tap/ri mix.
If using the 50/50 and want silica then go with a silicon dioxide as that form is ph neutral and will eliminate the needing to mix at high ph. The 59/50 SHOULD eliminate the need to add additional buffering.
Nkw when we are talking ppm of nutrients it's just that nutrients only. 300ppm increase to whatever you are adding it to.
For eg. Your do 50/50 ans starting ppm is 150, add silicon dioxide to say 220ppm then you add the 300ppm of nutes. You will finish at 520ppm.
Ppm can be a confusing thing even when sharing between experienced growers because there is no one way it's used.
Generally we talk in terms of total ppm of NPK and micros. Extras that we add like silica are usually excluded. Fast explanation of why.
Total ppm when you measure say a slurry test of an organic amended soil can be 3000 to 4000. Ppm measure the total dissolved solids it does ot however tell you what they are and while some contributions to nutrients many do not.
Ok in hydro not the same but same principle. Not everyone uses say silica, fulvic, aminos, enzymes, bacteria etc. A of which can contribute to ppm but not necessarily NPK or micros so they don't have an impact on nutrient ratios or atleast minimal.
Eg. someone use a single source base nute may have a ppm of 300 and someone else using all the additional products may have 600ppm but both may have the same NPK and micros. Where if the guy using only base was at 600pm you will see toxicity from the high NPK. Example not actual numbers.
Ppm is a good guide but all things need considered as to what the makeup of it is. Some water sources are ok at 300ppm but other may not be.... it depends what it's made up of. Generally 300 will not be good due to the high content of something in it but not always.
The 50/50 is not only for minerals and buffering but also reduce the amount of RO since it creates waste water.
The nutrients will mix absolutely fine in tap or tap/ri mix.
If using the 50/50 and want silica then go with a silicon dioxide as that form is ph neutral and will eliminate the needing to mix at high ph. The 59/50 SHOULD eliminate the need to add additional buffering.
Nkw when we are talking ppm of nutrients it's just that nutrients only. 300ppm increase to whatever you are adding it to.
For eg. Your do 50/50 ans starting ppm is 150, add silicon dioxide to say 220ppm then you add the 300ppm of nutes. You will finish at 520ppm.
Ppm can be a confusing thing even when sharing between experienced growers because there is no one way it's used.
Generally we talk in terms of total ppm of NPK and micros. Extras that we add like silica are usually excluded. Fast explanation of why.
Total ppm when you measure say a slurry test of an organic amended soil can be 3000 to 4000. Ppm measure the total dissolved solids it does ot however tell you what they are and while some contributions to nutrients many do not.
Ok in hydro not the same but same principle. Not everyone uses say silica, fulvic, aminos, enzymes, bacteria etc. A of which can contribute to ppm but not necessarily NPK or micros so they don't have an impact on nutrient ratios or atleast minimal.
Eg. someone use a single source base nute may have a ppm of 300 and someone else using all the additional products may have 600ppm but both may have the same NPK and micros. Where if the guy using only base was at 600pm you will see toxicity from the high NPK. Example not actual numbers.
Ppm is a good guide but all things need considered as to what the makeup of it is. Some water sources are ok at 300ppm but other may not be.... it depends what it's made up of. Generally 300 will not be good due to the high content of something in it but not always.