Need Help With Feeding...

[TokinBluntz]

So for some crazy reason I thought, hey... let's do a hydro setup, can't be too hard right?! 15ml of what's in this bottle, 10ml of this bottle etc... @ 1/4 strength... WTF!!!
Haha so anyway, finally got a PPM/EC/Temp pen but Im not exactly sure what I'm trying to achieve with it and I only have a p.o.s. rapitest probe for the ph right now. I'll be getting a digital ph pen soon, its next on my list (I know, should of already had it.)

So before I added any nutes to my water the ppm @500 showed 150-200 ppm if I remember correctly (I have it wrote down but I'm not home) EC was 1.0
Res is 5gallon so I added 25ml of Micro and 50ml of Bloom and got the ph down to 5.9 and the finally ppm @500 was like 800 I think.

This was Monday and now today (wednesday) the ppm are at 880, water temp is 79* :( and ph was up to 6.5 or so. I've had problems keeping my ph stable every since I started this adventure.

I've gotten a few inches of growth within this past week. Bottom leaves turned mostly yellow and we're falling off so I cut them off. The new growth seems to be doing ok, it's pretty green but somewhat of a yellow tint working it's way TO the tips. What all could/should I do to get these babies healthy again?!?!

 

[TokinBluntz]

I'm using Xnutrients btw...
15ml Grow
10-15ml Micro
15ml Bloom
15ml Bloom FX
15ml Amino Blast
10ml Silica

These are the values on the bottle but from what I've read, this is way too much...

Is this true and what is recommended for feeding?

 

[jumpincactus]

First lets start with your Ph. Keep in mind the larger the Rez the more stable technically your Ph will stay.

I use a 55 gallon rez and have very little problems with Ph stability. If you have the available space upgrade to a larger source for your rez. There is a school of thought and one I use is you don't have to be too concerned in keeping your Ph rock solid at one setting. Reason is because if you look at various nutrient uptake graphs for the different NPK and micronutes they all have a varied range of when they are taken up by the root system. So I let my Ph wander if you will between 5.2 and 6.0 This in my mind gives a better range of nute uptake over the range of the applicable Ph scale.

I would be more concerned at this point at getting your rez temperatures under control. At 79 deg you are looking at possible issues with pathogens. Another issue with higher rez tewmps is the warmer the rez the lower your DO (dissolved oxygen) levels will be. I run my rez temps at a setting of 66 deg F with a deadband setting on my chiller at +/- 2 deg F. So my chiller kicks on once the rez temp hits 68 deg. I wrapped the rez in R-14 insulation as it keeps the temps more stable and the chiller doesn't have to run as much. I dont imagine you will run our\t and buy a chiiler as they can be pricey, but you can use other ways to regulate your temps by taking some 2 liter bottles and freeze them and then add to your rez to get your temps down. Sort of a PITA but it works in a pinch. Also blowing a fan breeze over the top of the water level will help to cool things a bit. The downside there is you have to have the rez top cover off and this speeds up your evaporation rates. Open your rez and make a totally full mark on the side of the rez. Then be sure to check it daily and add fresh water to the mark you made and it will help keep your EC more stable. Your EC will drop over time even with topping off as the plants eat more of the goodies in your nutrient solution.

The PPM/TDS question is an easy one, what you are trying to achieve with your PPM/EC meter is to determine the nutrient mix you have going. Most mfgr's will list the PPM's or EC you are shooting for on their product label. If you cant find it on the label contact the supplier and get with their tech dept. Always remember that you need to include your base PPM from your stock water. If your water is reading say 300 ppm and your nutes need to be at 800 ppm then you would include that starting 300 PPM as part of the total 800. A word of caution, start lower than the recommended doses from the nute supplier. Always easier to get nutes up to where you need them then having to deal with over-fertilization issues. By getting to know your strains you will come to know which strains are nute hogs and which ones aren't.
Not every strain prefers to be force fed a bunch of nutes. Again, getting to know your ladies and practice will help you there. Here is a link for X-Nutes feeding schedule. Again without knowing at what phase of the grow your in its going to be hard to help with the nutes at this point.

http://www.xnutrients.com/feeding_schedule.pdf

I would start at 50% of what they state on the bottle until you get to know this brand.



There are several things that you haven't shared that will help make an analysis of your situation and a fix.

1. Is your rez aerated?
2. What type of media are you using in your gro sites?
3. At what stage of growth are your plants? ie: seedlings, rooted cuttings, what stage of veg etc etc.
4. What type of hydro setup are you running?
5. Are you topping up your rez with fresh water to account for evaporation? Reason is, as your plants take up and transpire water from the system and the evaporation from the surrounding ambient conditions your salt levels will rise unless you are topping off with fresh water. That in turn will drive up your total PPMs/EC in solution.

Hope this helps. Peace