Learning HydroBuddy - Nutrients Needs per Growing Phase?

ExNavyInSTL · Mar 20, 2023

Part 1: Source for Nutrient Needs?

I'm in the middle of teaching myself HydroBuddy, To do so I loaded up a variety of salt-based nutrient manufacturers. I'll share those charts here.

However, as I was comparing these compainies and their products I wondered what are the actual nutrients needs of the cannabis plant (elemental ppms).

I don't mean exactly, but more of a range. I know each cultivar and even each plant can vary in needs.

But, there has to be a range to compare all of these companies.

The only thing I found was a graphic from Zombie Gardens (attached). However, that has to be more science-based information?

If you know a source, please share it here.

Part 2: The Numbers - HydroBuddy Gone Wild

Disclaimer: Remember, I am learning this program (HydroBuddy), so don't trust me or my numbers. Use these charts for comparison, or to correct me.

In other words, entertainment purposes only. Correcting me can be seen as a form of entertainment.

If there are blanks where you think there shouldn't be, it's because I could not find the info on their "Guaranteed Analysis."

As for the "doseages," it is hard to do all of them Apples to Apples because some vary by week on suggested E.C.

Another example is that others are open that you need to bring your own Calcium Nitrate to the party, etc. I added it where I could.

I tried to stick with the label or recipes I've learned from YouTube. For instance Jack's 4:2 is from Greengen's Garden vidoes.

Anyway, have fun playing in the data. And if you know a source that we can use to compare these companies by using data from a study or something, please post it.

ExNavyInSTL · Mar 20, 2023

I'll post the numbers in sections, it's too hard to read the chart by including all in one.

ExNavyInSTL · Mar 20, 2023

Update on my Nutrient Comparisons:

FloraFlex answered my email asking about their Micros.

I wanted to know why weren't the micros in the Guaranteed Analysis chart? I have them now.

They seem to be the only company that admits they have Sodium (Na) in their nutrients.

ExNavyInSTL · Apr 2, 2023

After watching this video from February, where they look for optimal amounts of N-P-K and Mg, I have come up with a recipe.

It's missing Disodium EDTA (Chelator) and Sodium Benzoate (preservative). I'll have a question about this at the end.

Note for persons new to all of this, but learning aboout E.C. and PPM, this is not about that. This discussion is about elemental PPM.

First of all, it seems some of these nutrient companies have been fibbing to us about needing a boost in flower. In fact, the only metal she recommends changing between Veg & Flower is Magnesium (65 ppm - Veg and 40 in Flower). This presentation only covers N-P-K and Mg.

The following (video) study is from Nirit Bernstein, senior research scientist and head, Cannabis Physiology and Agronomy Lab, Volcani Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Israel 2023 -- Cornell University Hemp Webinar Series

Video Name: Link to Video starting at point where nutrient details begin.

I'll give you the gist if you don't want to watch the video where they break down to specifics.

Nitrogen (elemental): No need for more than 160 ppm in Veg or Flower

Phosphorus (elemental): No more than 30 ppm in Veg or Flower. Although has a wide forgiving range (15 - 90).

Potassium (elemental): No more than 100 ppm in Veg or Flower. 100 - 150 are also safe zones.

Magnesium (elemental): 65 ppm in Veg and 40 ppm in Flower. Friendly range of 35 - 140 ppm.

On to the recipe for you guy to kick around the playground.

This recipe is taking the Israeli study and melding the other parts with Bruce Bugbee's standard mix at Utah State:

Utah Hydroponic Solutions

So, after watching Daniel's video:

How to DIY your own hydroponic nutrients from only raw salts

I've decided to jump into making my own fertilizers. I'm starting with 0.5 liter 200:1 concentrates and it looks like this:

That works out to per gallon (separate Cal/Nit as A Formula):

This is the concentrated (200:1) for 0.5 liters. Don't forget to separate Ca/Nit as A Formula.

If you have read this far, I have two areas of confusion:

How much Disodium EDTA to add and how much Sodium Benzoate?

I did find a comment from Bill Farthing on SB. I think he says: 0.25 - 0.1 % is enough.

As for EDTA, after watching Daniel's video I tried to reverse engineer this. I think I figured it out, or it is an awesome coincidence. I added up the weights of his formula, and it came out to 18.793g, and you have 1.8g of Disodium EDTA . So, I am guessing that about 10% is enough to get the job done. If I take that same way of thinking for the preservative (Sodium Benzoate), 0.05 is 0.266% of 18.793. If I am way off, please let me know.

The SB part jibes with Bill Farthing's range.

j1sonbrother · Jun 28, 2023

Great thread , Thx for sharing this inf.

Harpua88 · Jun 28, 2023

Hey. First of all......thank you.

I don't know how experienced a grower you are. I see you started this thread a few months ago, are you currently growing? It could be tat you're very experiencef with a lot of grows under your belt and you want to tackle the world of complete nutrients, how to maximize them, deliver them........it doesn't really matter if you're not super experienced, it only matters from the standpoint of how much you can bite off and chew and if it's more than is necessary at whatever stage you're at.

What I'm getting at is before you get into complicated, lengthy charts and graphs and analysis of various products......maybe you're trying to find the "perfect products" or something in the analysis that will give you success......deal with all the different parts of growing from a simpler way. Plants don't care about or thrive on analysis or charts and graphs. ;) . And again, you may very well be very experienced, I'm talking to you just as much as if you're an experienced, knowlegeable grower.........and you can tackle anything you put your mind to. It's more like "ok, what varieties are you growing? What's your space, light, environment, your goal, and how are you delivering on the badics......from a bottom up approach, not a top down, products-driven approach. Believe me, I'm not in any way trying to limit you or "dumb you down", you may easily be far more knowledgeable and experienced than I am. I just want to see you find the beauty in covering all the bases simply........before you go after the complex.

ArtfulCodger · Jun 29, 2023

@ExNavyInSTL, given that you're looking at elemental ppms, I thought you might be interested in this study of individual elemental deficiencies. It made the rounds a while back...just in case you haven't seen it.

Foliar Symptomology, Nutrient Content, etc.

ExNavyInSTL · Jun 29, 2023

Disclaimer: I'm not a scientist or botanist, or any other "ist" of consequence. I just used my own twisted interpretations of all of this data and came up with what I wanted.

I did make the jump into making my own and so far it is going well.

In the end, I looked at the words (and studies) of Bruce Bugbee and Dr. Nirit Bernstein (Israel) to formulate my final recipe.

I call it, "1L-200-1 - 168(N) - 39(P) - 176(K) - 171(Ca)."

It's a 200:1 Concentrate (5ml/liter or 19ml/gallon) that is designed to go from seedling to harvest.

Dr. Bernstein's studies show you don't need more of anything in Flower than you do in Veg. This means you can have 160 ppm of Nitrogen, and 30 ppm Phosphorous the whole life span of the plant. Cannabis is fairly forgiving when it comes to P. These studies also show that 100 ppm of Potassium is all that is needed as well. I went with 175 ppm of K because the plant is fine up to that level and I wanted my K to be similar to my N.

Even though cannabis is forgiving of P, it is just overkill to go much more than 30 ppm (and bad for waterways). When I say forgiving, I mean 15-90 ppm will get you to harvest.

The irony of all of this discussion is almost always about happy, healthy, and full-of-biomass plants. However, being happy & healthy can shortchange the quality of the final product. Studies show that slightly starved plants make better cannabinoids and terpenes.

Of course that is the way life works. If you go for healthy you may increase yield, but you don't make the best medicine. It seems counterintuitive.

Plus, I don't think the common technique of cutting off the nutrients in the final week or 2 is enough to move the needle much when you are concentrating on increased cannabinoids and terpenes.

But as we all know, science is right until it is not.

Here is my final breakdown and recipe. After the recipe, I'll point out a couple of things.

I elevated my Calcium quite a bit because I grow in Coco. I was always adding in Ca/Mag anyway, so I just decided why not put the Ca/Mag into my recipe. : )

As for Magnesium, Dr. Berstein says 35 - 45 ppm is all that is needed. I think she says 35 in V and 45 in F. I bumped mine up some because I wanted to get it closer to 50% of my Ca. Although, I didn't push it that far. She says the plant can tolerate 140 ppm of Mg, but doesn't help the plant.

The EC is closer to 2.2 than it is to the predicted 1.799 EC.

As for the Micros, I looked at all of the manufacturer's recipes as well as the data that is in the studies. In the eye-burning amount of text, they include a recipe for what was used. I did this only when the study had nothing to do with Micros.

For those who haven't watched or listened to Dr. Bernstein, the following is a link to a recent (Feb) video conference she made in partnership with Cornell University. It's an hour and a half, but half of that is Q&A.

Trash_2002 · Jun 29, 2023

ExNavyInSTL said:
Disclaimer: I'm not a scientist or botanist, or any other "ist" of consequence. I just used my own twisted interpretations of all of this data and came up with what I wanted.

I did make the jump into making my own and so far it is going well.

In the end, I looked at the words (and studies) of Bruce Bugbee and Dr. Nirit Bernstein (Israel) to formulate my final recipe.

I call it, "1L-200-1 - 168(N) - 39(P) - 176(K) - 171(Ca)."

It's a 200:1 Concentrate (5ml/liter or 19ml/gallon) that is designed to go from seedling to harvest.

Dr. Bernstein's studies show you don't need more of anything in Flower than you do in Veg. This means you can have 160 ppm of Nitrogen, and 30 ppm Phosphorous the whole life span of the plant. Cannabis is fairly forgiving when it comes to P. These studies also show that 100 ppm of Potassium is all that is needed as well. I went with 175 ppm of K because the plant is fine up to that level and I wanted my K to be similar to my N.

Even though cannabis is forgiving of P, it is just overkill to go much more than 30 ppm (and bad for waterways). When I say forgiving, I mean 15-90 ppm will get you to harvest.

The irony of all of this discussion is almost always about happy, healthy, and full-of-biomass plants. However, being happy & healthy can shortchange the quality of the final product. Studies show that slightly starved plants make better cannabinoids and terpenes.

Of course that is the way life works. If you go for healthy you may increase yield, but you don't make the best medicine. It seems counterintuitive.

Plus, I don't think the common technique of cutting off the nutrients in the final week or 2 is enough to move the needle much when you are concentrating on increased cannabinoids and terpenes.

But as we all know, science is right until it is not.

Here is my final breakdown and recipe. After the recipe, I'll point out a couple of things.

View attachment 2000832

I elevated my Calcium quite a bit because I grow in Coco. I was always adding in Ca/Mag anyway, so I just decided why not put the Ca/Mag into my recipe. : )

As for Magnesium, Dr. Berstein says 35 - 45 ppm is all that is needed. I think she says 35 in V and 45 in F. I bumped mine up some because I wanted to get it closer to 50% of my Ca. Although, I didn't push it that far. She says the plant can tolerate 140 ppm of Mg, but doesn't help the plant.

The EC is closer to 2.2 than it is to the predicted 1.799 EC.

As for the Micros, I looked at all of the manufacturer's recipes as well as the data that is in the studies. In the eye-burning amount of text, they include a recipe for what was used. I did this only when the study had nothing to do with Micros.

For those who haven't watched or listened to Dr. Bernstein, the following is a link to a recent (Feb) video conference she made in partnership with Cornell University. It's an hour and a half, but half of that is Q&A.

Nice! You growing with your custom made atm?
Any photos of the girls?

I've worked in a orchids tissue culture and micropropagation lab many moons ago, the lab lead did all the custom nutrients recipes there, I didn't learned the craft at the time with her tho, didn't had the time available :-( I wish I did.

ExNavyInSTL · Jun 30, 2023

Nice! You growing with your custom made atm?
Any photos of the girls?

Yes, this current grow is with my recipe only and it is going pretty well. I made a timing error early on and was late to start nutrients. This meant some light nutrient deficiencies. The most obvious was nitrogen.

But, that was solved right away, and the yellowed leaves are now gone. They are only on Day 40.

However, the last grow I started with FloraFlex and about 4 weeks into flower I took a leap of faith and switched to my fertilizer. Thankfully, everything continued to flourish.

Here are a few flower pics from what I just harvested:

Flower: F3 Velvet Punch by Jack Greenstalk (podcaster).
Jack created the F2 & F3 from DNADoja's F1.
These were tester seeds, but I think he has taken it to market.

Flower: Alani Skunk x Gluey by Brothers Grimm.
It now has an official name, "1111."
I got the seeds when still a Tester..

Flower: Another tester ... from Irie Genetics.
Testing Name: Heavy Duty Fruity x Afterglow

This is the whole SCROG Gang. (Left) 1111, (Center) Velvet Punch, (Right) Heavy Duty Fruity x Afterglow

FactorialSecret · Jul 16, 2023

Awesome work, does this recipe suitable for coco growing? I see that you are growing in soil. Thank you!

ExNavyInSTL said:
Disclaimer: I'm not a scientist or botanist, or any other "ist" of consequence. I just used my own twisted interpretations of all of this data and came up with what I wanted.

I did make the jump into making my own and so far it is going well.

In the end, I looked at the words (and studies) of Bruce Bugbee and Dr. Nirit Bernstein (Israel) to formulate my final recipe.

I call it, "1L-200-1 - 168(N) - 39(P) - 176(K) - 171(Ca)."

It's a 200:1 Concentrate (5ml/liter or 19ml/gallon) that is designed to go from seedling to harvest.

Dr. Bernstein's studies show you don't need more of anything in Flower than you do in Veg. This means you can have 160 ppm of Nitrogen, and 30 ppm Phosphorous the whole life span of the plant. Cannabis is fairly forgiving when it comes to P. These studies also show that 100 ppm of Potassium is all that is needed as well. I went with 175 ppm of K because the plant is fine up to that level and I wanted my K to be similar to my N.

Even though cannabis is forgiving of P, it is just overkill to go much more than 30 ppm (and bad for waterways). When I say forgiving, I mean 15-90 ppm will get you to harvest.

The irony of all of this discussion is almost always about happy, healthy, and full-of-biomass plants. However, being happy & healthy can shortchange the quality of the final product. Studies show that slightly starved plants make better cannabinoids and terpenes.

Of course that is the way life works. If you go for healthy you may increase yield, but you don't make the best medicine. It seems counterintuitive.

Plus, I don't think the common technique of cutting off the nutrients in the final week or 2 is enough to move the needle much when you are concentrating on increased cannabinoids and terpenes.

But as we all know, science is right until it is not.

Here is my final breakdown and recipe. After the recipe, I'll point out a couple of things.

View attachment 2000832

I elevated my Calcium quite a bit because I grow in Coco. I was always adding in Ca/Mag anyway, so I just decided why not put the Ca/Mag into my recipe. : )

As for Magnesium, Dr. Berstein says 35 - 45 ppm is all that is needed. I think she says 35 in V and 45 in F. I bumped mine up some because I wanted to get it closer to 50% of my Ca. Although, I didn't push it that far. She says the plant can tolerate 140 ppm of Mg, but doesn't help the plant.

The EC is closer to 2.2 than it is to the predicted 1.799 EC.

As for the Micros, I looked at all of the manufacturer's recipes as well as the data that is in the studies. In the eye-burning amount of text, they include a recipe for what was used. I did this only when the study had nothing to do with Micros.

For those who haven't watched or listened to Dr. Bernstein, the following is a link to a recent (Feb) video conference she made in partnership with Cornell University. It's an hour and a half, but half of that is Q&A.

ExNavyInSTL · Jul 16, 2023

FactorialSecret said:
Awesome work, does this recipe suitable for coco growing? I see that you are growing in soil. Thank you!

Sorry if I wasn't clear, but I'm growing in coco.

Now as to your question about calcium. Let me walk you through my thinking and give you opinions based on the first full grow using my own homemade nutrients (57 days from seed).

When this adventure started, I wanted to do a side-by-side comparison of the major nutrient players (mostly dry).

That ended up looking like this regarding calcium based on label doses.

Mega Crop (1 part): 118 ppm
Jack's 3-2-1: 190 ppm
Master Blend / w CalNit and Epsom: 120 ppm based on (4.5g/2.4g/0.5g)
Master Blend Tomato with CalNit and Epsom: 113 ppm based on 2.25/2.25/1.5
MasterBlend Bloom with CalNit: 201 based on 5.5 and 4.0
Flora Flex (Veg): 119 ppm
Flora Flex (Flo): 46 ppm
Athena Core: 193.11

I'm a Jack's Fan and originally set out to copy their elemental ppms. Then I started reading studies and deep diving into Dr. Bruce Bugby's video and presentations. There are a lot of misconceptions out there about Veg and Bloom feeds. I'm not saying they are wrong. They are just not necessary.

Only focussing on N-P-K & Mg, If you keep them in the ballpark of the following numbers, you don't have to change anything through the whole growth cycle.

N: 160 ppm
P: 30 ppm
K: 100 ppm
Mg: 35 - 45 ppm

Having said this, the plant is fairly forgiving. For example, 30 - 90 ppm of Phosphorous is not going to damage anything, but going higher than 30 is a waste and harmful to the environment.

Same with Potassium, between 100 - 175 your outcomes are not likely to change.

Magnesium is similar, 35 in Veg and 45 in Flower is the sweet spot. Even so, Cannabis is forgiving up to 140 ppm of Mg.

Back to Calcium: I settled on 171 ppm because when you are mixing these recipes there has to be some give and take with compound products such as Calcium Nitrate. You don't want to blow Nitrogen out of range. For instance, my K is way above what is required, but it is still in the safe zone. That's because I am trying to make nice with both Potassium Nitrate and M-K-P.

So 171, because I grow in coco I am still not trusting of it when it comes to Calcium. I pre-buffer, but I still add 1-2 ml of CalMag per gallon on top of my recipe. I forget how much that adds in addition - probably an extra 60 - 100 ppm. I need to check that.

I have multiple varieties growing now and only 1 plant of the bunch showed deficiency in Ca. That was when I decided to "trust" my recipe and just use that.

This brings us to the BIG Asterik on this whole conversation, everything is strain dependent.

In the end, I am very happy with my results so far. Of course, I always check pH to make sure nothing is locking up. So far so good.

I think, on paper, my recipe is supposed to be 1.8 EC made as listed. However, I add my A and B and then use my RO water to bring it up to around 2.0 EC. Then I add my extras and the final result is about 2.2 EC.

I'll conclude by saying, this is the logic of someone who is super interested in all the science in and around nutrition but has no formal education regarding the subject. I read and watch as much as I can and then run it all through the computer between my ears. Most of the time I get pretty lucky this way.

Even so, I'm still just under 2 years (Sept) growing and just had my first grow where I created really nice flower nugs. I'm humble enough to accept that the strain could have been very kind to me.

Since science is ever-evolving, I reserve the right to change everything on a whim. : )

Thanks again for your question. I like answering because it makes me revisit how I came to these conclusions.

This is by far the most educational video I have found. It is by Dr. Nirit Bernstein (Israel) giving a video lecture to Cornell University's help/cannabis program. She is where my comments about N-P-K & Mg originate.

Trash_2002 · Jul 16, 2023

ExNavyInSTL said:
Sorry if I wasn't clear, but I'm growing in coco.

Now as to your question about calcium. Let me walk you through my thinking and give you opinions based on the first full grow using my own homemade nutrients (57 days from seed).

When this adventure started, I wanted to do a side-by-side comparison of the major nutrient players (mostly dry).

That ended up looking like this regarding calcium based on label doses.

Mega Crop (1 part): 118 ppm

Jack's 3-2-1: 190 ppm

Master Blend / w CalNit and Epsom: 120 ppm based on (4.5g/2.4g/0.5g)

Master Blend Tomato with CalNit and Epsom: 113 ppm based on 2.25/2.25/1.5

MasterBlend Bloom with CalNit: 201 based on 5.5 and 4.0

Flora Flex (Veg): 119 ppm

Flora Flex (Flo): 46 ppm

Athena Core: 193.11

I'm a Jack's Fan and originally set out to copy their elemental ppms. Then I started reading studies and deep diving into Dr. Bruce Bugby's video and presentations. There are a lot of misconceptions out there about Veg and Bloom feeds. I'm not saying they are wrong. They are just not necessary.

Only focussing on N-P-K & Mg, If you keep them in the ballpark of the following numbers, you don't have to change anything through the whole growth cycle.

N: 160 ppm
P: 30 ppm
K: 100 ppm
Mg: 35 - 45 ppm

Having said this, the plant is fairly forgiving. For example, 30 - 90 ppm of Phosphorous is not going to damage anything, but going higher than 30 is a waste and harmful to the environment.

Same with Potassium, between 100 - 175 your outcomes are not likely to change.

Magnesium is similar, 35 in Veg and 45 in Flower is the sweet spot. Even so, Cannabis is forgiving up to 140 ppm of Mg.

Back to Calcium: I settled on 171 ppm because when you are mixing these recipes there has to be some give and take with compound products such as Calcium Nitrate. You don't want to blow Nitrogen out of range. For instance, my K is way above what is required, but it is still in the safe zone. That's because I am trying to make nice with both Potassium Nitrate and M-K-P.

So 171, because I grow in coco I am still not trusting of it when it comes to Calcium. I pre-buffer, but I still add 1-2 ml of CalMag per gallon on top of my recipe. I forget how much that adds in addition - probably an extra 60 - 100 ppm. I need to check that.

I have multiple varieties growing now and only 1 plant of the bunch showed deficiency in Ca. That was when I decided to "trust" my recipe and just use that.

This brings us to the BIG Asterik on this whole conversation, everything is strain dependent.

In the end, I am very happy with my results so far. Of course, I always check pH to make sure nothing is locking up. So far so good.

I think, on paper, my recipe is supposed to be 1.8 EC made as listed. However, I add my A and B and then use my RO water to bring it up to around 2.0 EC. Then I add my extras and the final result is about 2.2 EC.

I'll conclude by saying, this is the logic of someone who is super interested in all the science in and around nutrition but has no formal education regarding the subject. I read and watch as much as I can and then run it all through the computer between my ears. Most of the time I get pretty lucky this way.

Even so, I'm still just under 2 years (Sept) growing and just had my first grow where I created really nice flower nugs. I'm humble enough to accept that the strain could have been very kind to me.

Since science is ever-evolving, I reserve the right to change everything on a whim. : )

Thanks again for your question. I like answering because it makes me revisit how I came to these conclusions.

This is by far the most educational video I have found. It is by Dr. Nirit Bernstein (Israel) giving a video lecture to Cornell University's help/cannabis program. She is where my comments about N-P-K & Mg originate.

If the pure USP salts were easily available here in my country I would dive right in this. Will research more if I can find everything needed and see if prices make sense.

Cal nit (part B) is easily available here tho..
But part A (plant prod hydroveg 7-11-27 also has 3.5% mg and all micro nutrients already!) is also readily available here and pretty damn cheap.
I may go plant prod route soon when I run out of fertilizers, should be end of this year tho.

ExNavyInSTL · Jul 16, 2023

Trash_2002 said:
If the pure USP salts were easily available here in my country I would dive right in this. Will research more if I can find everything needed and see if prices make sense.

Cal nit (part B) is easily available here tho..
But part A (plant prod hydroveg 7-11-27 also has 3.5% mg and all micro nutrients already!) is also readily available here and pretty damn cheap.
I may go plant prod route soon when I run out of fertilizers, should be end of this year tho.

Regarding homemade nutrients, I know I am going way out of the realm of necessity, but it is fun for me.

No matter what, I have my Jack's 3-2-1 at the ready. Besides, if I get tired of this, those beakers will make cool cocktail glasses. : )

Truth is, It is not much quicker (or cheaper) than just mixing up powders to fill my reservoir by 10 - 20 gallons. By the time you buy all of the proper equipment (magnetic stirrer, volumetric flasks, beakers, etc) you are pretty deep in.

However, what is cool is when it is time to make the final product it is convenient. I just grab a couple of large syringes for the A & B concentrate I made earlier. Then squirt each into the reservoir and add RO water to bring it back down to what EC I want. 190 ml makes about 10 gallons. I makeup 1 liter of A and B concentrate. So, each batch makes about 50 gallons of nutrients.

Balanced against the up-front time investment of mixing and dissolving the various powders into the concentrated form does take a while. It's kind of like cleaning guns. It's all fun at the range, but the real work is breaking everything down and getting them clean again. It probably takes twice as long as shooting all of the rounds.

I'm retired, so I don't mind all of the experimentation. After all, I can't spend all day doing my wife's laundry while she still goes to work.

Santiago7723 · Aug 28, 2023

Hello! assuming I need 120 ppm nitrogen vegetative and make a stock solution. How do I control the ppm of N from seedling to an advanced plant in vege?
I thought it was putting together a mother solution and adding it until reaching the EC indicated for the stage of the plant... is this so?
PS: sorry for my english haha

Trash_2002 · Aug 28, 2023

Santiago7723 said:
Hello! assuming I need 120 ppm nitrogen vegetative and make a stock solution. How do I control the ppm of N from seedling to an advanced plant in vege?
I thought it was putting together a mother solution and adding it until reaching the EC indicated for the stage of the plant... is this so?
PS: sorry for my english haha

You simply dilute more or less your base fertilizer and/or use a different NPK ratio base fertilizer.

ExNavyInSTL · Aug 28, 2023

Santiago:

I have no idea how accurate this is, but when you design your recipe in HydroBuddy it also calculates the total expected E.C. (+/- 10%) based on your individual salt input.

So, I know my recipe above says the estimate is 1.799 E.C., which comes from 5ml A and B per liter. I just round that to 19 ml per gallon.

I'll draw out 250 ml of A and B separately and mix them in with some fresh RO water. I take it to about half my goal in gallons, so the concentrates will play nice with each other. I use a big round Garbage Can for my reservoir. Of course, this spikes my EC meter up, and I just bring the dilution down to 1.8 E.C. by adding more water. I have a mix of aquarium agitators at the bottom of the reservoir to help with mixing.

I let it settle in overnight before adjusting my pH.

Since my recipe calls for 168N - 39P - 176K, I have to assume I am within 10% of those numbers.

I'll paste my recipe again, so you don't have to scroll up to find it.

The top half of the page is for actual weight amounts of salts.

The bottom center column is the Elemental PPMs.

Santiago7723 said:
Hello! assuming I need 120 ppm nitrogen vegetative and make a stock solution. How do I control the ppm of N from seedling to an advanced plant in vege?
I thought it was putting together a mother solution and adding it until reaching the EC indicated for the stage of the plant... is this so?
PS: sorry for my english haha

cemchris · Aug 30, 2023

(Fatman's) DIY nutrient mixing guide

This thread is a copy paste to begin with from Fatman's posts on another forum where he is currently banned. This will be a continuation of the discussion and information to those parties who are interested. This is by and large someone elses work that I am opening here for discussion and...

www.thcfarmer.com

Cheap alternatives to overpriced hydroponic nutrients

Good Morning :) So I came across a very interesting thread by Sky High this morning talking about why pay more for a cutesy label and after reading some of DesertS posts on nutrient profiles, I got to thinkin. What are large scale nurseries using in their hydroponic applications? I...

www.thcfarmer.com

cemchris · Aug 30, 2023

ExNavyInSTL said:
Having said this, the plant is fairly forgiving. For example, 30 - 90 ppm of Phosphorous is not going to damage anything, but going higher than 30 is a waste and harmful to the environment.

Same with Potassium, between 100 - 175 your outcomes are not likely to change.

Magnesium is similar, 35 in Veg and 45 in Flower is the sweet spot. Even so, Cannabis is forgiving up to 140 ppm of Mg.

Just remember that is taking into consideration what raw numbers the plants like/tolerate. That isnt taking into account PH balance for a nutrient/stock solution or a long term feeding program for a specific medium like coco which can care about K numbers. I think this is where i spent most of my time tweaking. Finished flower do care about Mg & Ca numbers. What a lot of these academics aren't is smokers. Always remember that.

Calcium will always be the bane of stock solutions and/or A/B's. Nitrate is really the only form that plays nice at concentration. Carb and sulfate are usable (even chloride if you wanna fuck with it) but all 3 of those have drawbacks especially sulfate (i laugh at your 1.6-2g per L solubility)

Just make sure you use the right numbers vs the labels

BudzAldrin · Aug 30, 2023

Cannabis is a hyper accumulator. Ratios are more important than ppms. Raising Ca and wondering why you feel inclined to bump K. If hydro is as picky as foliar sprays and I imagine it's about the same, there's not a target ppm on earth that makes sense. You can't triple P and expect things to remain the same because it's "in range".

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