Crazy high runoff PPM on first feeding

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Glassdub

Glassdub

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I'm on day 22 of my present grow & started light feeding of .5 ml of Pro-TeKt & 1.5 ml of Foliage-Pro.
Water PH before/after mixing 7.2/6.6 PPM 28.9/212
Run off on the 3 plants I watered:

LSD #1 PH 6.3 PPM 719
LSD #3 PH 6.3 PPM 476
Gelato #1 PH 6.0 PPM 492

On the low end the PPMs are about double what they were last grow at this point when I was overfeeding.
Prior to this Ive been watering with nothing but water with some K-L-N Concentrate PPM 30
I'm dumbfounded as to why these reads are so high I'm using about the same ProMix BX with a little worm castings.
The plants look pretty ok but I'm not sure how to proceed, hate to flush so early on & don't know why I should have to. 🤷‍♂️
 
Day 21 all
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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I'm on day 22 of my present grow & started light feeding of .5 ml of Pro-TeKt & 1.5 ml of Foliage-Pro.
Water PH before/after mixing 7.2/6.6 PPM 28.9/212
Run off on the 3 plants I watered:

LSD #1 PH 6.3 PPM 719
LSD #3 PH 6.3 PPM 476
Gelato #1 PH 6.0 PPM 492

On the low end the PPMs are about double what they were last grow at this point when I was overfeeding.
Prior to this Ive been watering with nothing but water with some K-L-N Concentrate PPM 30
I'm dumbfounded as to why these reads are so high I'm using about the same ProMix BX with a little worm castings.
The plants look pretty ok but I'm not sure how to proceed, hate to flush so early on & don't know why I should have to. 🤷‍♂️


Pro mix has a starter nutrient pack. Last bale 1.2 ec (600ppm) this bale .7 ec (350ppm)
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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@Glassdub they dont list it on american bales to avoid labeling laws. A pro mix rep emailed me this info.
 
Glassdub

Glassdub

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Pro mix has a starter nutrient pack. Last bale 1.2 ec (600ppm) this bale .7 ec (350ppm)
I thought only General Purpose did, thought HP, BX etc were dry, like I said was using the same mix as last time & getting double/triple the reads, I would think if it was dosed that plants would not be looking hungry as the biggest (Gelato #1) does.
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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I thought only General Purpose did, thought HP, BX etc were dry, like I said was using the same mix as last time & getting double/triple the reads, I would think if it was dosed that plants would not be looking hungry as the biggest (Gelato #1) does.


Depends a lot on how long ago the bale was packaged and how it was stored. Bacteria slowly eat the nutrients in soil. And i have confirmation of the nutrient pack in pro mix hp and bx. The bale used to have it labeled and they had a neutral bale called “aggregate” but i dont see that anymore and the rep said you can feed young plants for the first week and then start fertilizing. Which is the directions anyway.

Not sure about your ec issue. I will have to look at it again.
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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@Glassdub you added .4ec of nutrients (200ppm aprox) to a possible say 1.0 (500ppm) left in the soil nutrient pack and those little plants havent used much yet. Weed can usually go a week or two on its own cots stored food to start. All seems right to me unless im missing something. I havent slept. I worked in the middle of the night last night.
 
Glassdub

Glassdub

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PRO-MIX 'BX' Technical Data Sheet PRO-MIX 'BX' is a "General Purpose" peat-based growing medium . During the course of crop production, it is necessary to initiate a fertilizer program. The fertilizer program selected should consider water nutrient content, crop type and stage of plant development. It is essential to begin fertilization within 7 days after planting and maintain fertilizer applications throughout the course of crop production. To insure plants receive proper nutrition, it is advisable to periodically analyze fertilizer solution, nutrient content of growing media and plant tissue throughout the production cycle
 
Madmax

Madmax

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@Glassdub you added .4ec of nutrients (200ppm aprox) to a possible say 1.0 (500ppm) left in the soil nutrient pack and those little plants havent used much yet. Weed can usually go a week or two on its own cots stored food to start. All seems right to me unless im missing something. I havent slept. I worked in the middle of the night last night.
Your a night owl MIMed..😁
 
Glassdub

Glassdub

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Depends a lot on how long ago the bale was packaged and how it was stored. Bacteria slowly eat the nutrients in soil. And i have confirmation of the nutrient pack in pro mix hp and bx. The bale used to have it labeled and they had a neutral bale called “aggregate” but i dont see that anymore and the rep said you can feed young plants for the first week and then start fertilizing. Which is the directions anyway.

Not sure about your ec issue. I will have to look at it again.
I bought 4 bales together about 8 months ago, this is a second bale but I wouldn't think it would differ that much, I'm into the 4th week & they, or at least the biggest plant was starting to look hungry so I though a light dose was due.
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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I bought 4 bales together about 8 months ago, this is a second bale but I wouldn't think it would differ that much, I'm into the 4th week & they, or at least the biggest plant was starting to look hungry so I though a light dose was due.


They look great. There is no problem. Be aware that the lime and other nutrients and the wetting agent are compromised after a year. Its worth wetting a cup of it for a week and then poir through and measure ec and ph before using.
 
Glassdub

Glassdub

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I'm not seeing anything here but the base ingredients, mailed them to ask.
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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I'm not seeing anything here but the base ingredients, mailed them to ask.


Their email response is posted in my thread and a previous pro mix thread.
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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Oh and the ingredients on the canadian bales is the actual ingredients. They said they are the same.
 
Glassdub

Glassdub

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They look great. There is no problem. Be aware that the lime and other nutrients and the wetting agent are compromised after a year. Its worth wetting a cup of it for a week and then poir through and measure ec and ph before using.
I was purposely waiting to feed until it was really showing need unlike last time Gelato #1 has really been taking to off & getting a little faded/blotchy in the last couple days so thought it was time being 23 days in.
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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I was purposely waiting to feed until it was really showing need unlike last time Gelato #1 has really been taking to off & getting a little faded/blotchy in the last couple days so thought it was time being 23 days in.



You will figure it out. It was kind of a steep learning curve for me. And a big reason growers hunt for an easy to grow stable mom and then run her cuts until all dialed in.

Proper watering is equally imprtant amd comes with its own learning curve.
 
Glassdub

Glassdub

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I potted up a fresh pot of the mix I'm using & sure enough got a PPM of 434 on the runoff.
Looking back early reads for my last grow on one day I was feeding 3ml FP 257 PPM with run offs between 209-340.
The only thing I figure is that the fist bale was feed free & the second wasn't. 🤷‍♂️
This whole time I thought the whole ProMix pro line were cold mixes, even the hydro store I bought them from said this & the guy isn't a dope.
There were some worm castings mixed in on both grows not sure how that would effect the numbers.
I guess I should go back to straight water, at what PPM should I start to feed?
 
Last edited:
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

17,190
438
I potted up a fresh pot of the mix I'm using & sure enough got a PPM of 434 on the runoff.
Looking back early reads for my last grow on one day I was feeding 3ml FP 257 PPM with run offs between 209-340.
The only thing I figure is that the fist bale was feed free & the second wasn't. 🤷‍♂️
This whole time I thought the whole ProMix pro line were cold mixes, even the hydro store I bought them from said this & the guy isn't a dope.
There were some worm castings mixed in on both grows not sure how that would effect the numbers.
I guess I should go back to straight water, at what PPM should I start to feed?


Runoff is not always accurate. The soil can hold on to nutrients and not release them to the runoff. You are way overthinking a couple hundred ppm. If they show stress give water only next time. It is more likely they have water stress at this point with such low ppm’s. And they look good in the pic.

Read runoff numbers more over time to see trends. Not to micro manage each feed.

And yes I am aware how stressful and difficult this seems. But if you want that much control you want pure hydro. At least coco. Peat had a higher CEC. Cation Exchange. Look it up. The soil holds on to nutrients.
 
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