Every time i water and check runoff ec keeps rising

[MrGreenfinga]

Me and this fella isnt really good friends right now
Last time i watered runoff ec was 3000
Just watered now its 3200
I only give 450EC worth of calmag in RO water
Any idea on whats going on?

 

[Fromunda506]

If you are only giving her calmag and she is accumulating something in the soil, you know the culprit. I would probably hold off on the calcium or drop it by at least half. Too much can lock her out. She doesn’t need a ton at this point and I’m sure there’s quite a bit in the soil already. Good luck. Looking nice. Cheers.

 

[MrGreenfinga]

If you are only giving her calmag and she is accumulating something in the soil, you know the culprit. I would probably hold off on the calcium or drop it by at least half. Too much can lock her out. She doesn’t need a ton at this point and I’m sure there’s quite a bit in the soil already. Good luck. Looking nice. Cheers.

i will try pure water from now on thanks alot
Mr.Formunda

 

[Fromunda506]

i will try pure water from now on thanks alot
Mr.Formunda

Depending on how hot your soil is, keep an eye on her getting hungry. The ca in the soil can affect k uptake and can lock the ph high. Once she gets sorted, she’s likely to get hungry. Cheers dude

 

[MrGreenfinga]

Depending on how hot your soil is, keep an eye on her getting hungry. The ca in the soil can affect k uptake and can lock the ph high. Once she gets sorted, she’s likely to get hungry. Cheers dude

My Hero

 

[mancorn]

Lots of growers get confused about EC/TDS/PPM thinking it tells them about feed levels. Which is true if you’re doing hydro or use a sterile/inert grow medium like coco or rockwool. But it’s much more complicated in soil, especially if you’re using organic (in which case it’s meaningless) and end up chasing their tail trying to hit a magic number.

There’s many factors that affect the electrical conductivity in soil. In organic material (dirt) most elements (food) plants need are bond to other stuff, forming a neutral molecule and don't conduct electricity and your EC meter is useless. Most of the time growers use bagged soil that contains lots of organic material, then start using synthetic fertilizers and think they’re measuring the levels of the synthetic - which most likely will be widely inaccurate.

If you’re indoor in dirt, it’s best to use a simple grow fertilizer and skip all the extra bottles (like the ubiquitous cal/mag nonsense). You can use a meter (using a standard pour through test) to track changes, but shouldn’t rely on the numbers as a determinant on feed levels.

Not sure why you’re using RO, but there’s a fair amount of useful elements in tap water.

Some good info on EC (from the folks that want to sell you meters).

The Ultimate Guide to Testing Electrical Conductivity of Soil

The electrical conductivity of soil can tell you if you need more nutrients, or if you have too much. Saving you time & money when managing your plants.

blog.hannainst.com

 

[MrGreenfinga]

Lots of growers get confused about EC/TDS/PPM thinking it tells them about feed levels. Which is true if you’re doing hydro or use a sterile/inert grow medium like coco or rockwool. But it’s much more complicated in soil, especially if you’re using organic (in which case it’s meaningless) and end up chasing their tail trying to hit a magic number.

There’s many factors that affect the electrical conductivity in soil. In organic material (dirt) most elements (food) plants need are bond to other stuff, forming a neutral molecule and don't conduct electricity and your EC meter is useless. Most of the time growers use bagged soil that contains lots of organic material, then start using synthetic fertilizers and think they’re measuring the levels of the synthetic - which most likely will be widely inaccurate.

If you’re indoor in dirt, it’s best to use a simple grow fertilizer and skip all the extra bottles (like the ubiquitous cal/mag nonsense). You can use a meter (using a standard pour through test) to track changes, but shouldn’t rely on the numbers as a determinant on feed levels.

Some good info on EC (from the folks that want to sell you meters).

The Ultimate Guide to Testing Electrical Conductivity of Soil

The electrical conductivity of soil can tell you if you need more nutrients, or if you have too much. Saving you time & money when managing your plants.

blog.hannainst.com

I totally agree but i use synthetic bottled nutes in peat moss it has an EC

by checking my runoff i can monitor how much it drinks and how much it needs

My growing medium contains no microbes or nothing organic its been reused many times

I agree on checking EC in organics is pointless but the only thing my soil contains is what i feed it

 

[mancorn]

I totally agree but i use synthetic bottled nutes in peat moss it has an EC

by checking my runoff i can monitor how much it drinks and how much it needs

My growing medium contains no microbes or nothing organic its been reused many times

I agree on checking EC in organics is pointless but the only thing my soil contains is what i feed it

my mistake. Looked like soil in your picture.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

I totally agree but i use synthetic bottled nutes in peat moss it has an EC

by checking my runoff i can monitor how much it drinks and how much it needs

My growing medium contains no microbes or nothing organic its been reused many times

I agree on checking EC in organics is pointless but the only thing my soil contains is what i feed it

Peat moss is organic, isn't it? I don't use it because it's a non-renewable resource, and thus I am somewhat unfamiliar with the specifics. So, I'm wondering if the peat moss you're using has been made inert somehow?

 

[MrGreenfinga]

Peat moss is organic, isn't it? I don't use it because it's a non-renewable resource, and thus I am somewhat unfamiliar with the specifics. So, I'm wondering if the peat moss you're using has been made inert somehow?

Peat moss is organic the kind that i buy
Is Plagron Lightmix pre fertilised with mineral fertilisers

Doesn’t contain microbial life

I dont treat mine like an organic soil
I don’t add microbes to it
In fact i actually dont add anything other than water and synthetic nutrients

So yes youre right the substrate itself is made from organic material but

Other than that it has nothing to do with organic growing

i am indeed not an expert so dont take my words for good