water amount and nutrient questions.

[kcl5287]

hello,

i've been going through the forum, reading the stickys and searching through old posts but i never find anything that answers my exact questions.

my first is how much water is needed when using a drip system or ebb and flow system to water your plants? i know it varies on how many plants you have, but generally speaking is there a ratio of amount per plant?

as for the nutrient question. everyone seems to say to use GH Flora Series nutrients. i assume directions on how much to use for your systems comes with the nutrients, but i was curious if there was anything else, perhaps better? ive read and heard about keeping a balance between the three main elements N P K are important when considering nutrients and that a lot of growers experiement with the levels of them?

any help on any of this is greatly appreciated! thanks in advance!

[Homemadegravity]

Im not a hydro grower so Im sorry I couldnt tell you about how much water to use. Maybe this link will help it answered alot of questions for me http://www.hydroponicsdictionary.com/index.php
As far as nutrients Ive heard good things about GH, I personally use Advanced Nutrients http://advancednutrients.com/ and try this http://www.discountadvancednutrients.com/. GH and AN are top quality nutrients but AN products run a little steep. Its not about keeping NPK balanced its knowing what and when to feed your plants. Generally for seedlings and veg stage use nutes higher in N than P and K ratio. As soon as calyx development shows , switch to a food with a higher P than N and K. This is just a general rule I go by. Most nutes will tell you if its for flowering or for vegging. MJ burns pretty easy so be careful, start off using 1/4 or 1/2 strength of the recommended dose. The frequency of your feeding and food strengths will vary from strain to strain; however the basic elements of these foods and their composition will not. Your plants need NPK as the basic building blocks of their diet. You need to know how to select for these as your plants grow.http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17323 and http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1957. Check those out I dont know if I helped at all but those links mite help you more than I did.

[g-13]

you want to make sure that when your system is watering the pump is still under water with a little extra to make up for evaporation. the nutrients are on the back of gh nutrients. but they dont tell you that your plants will burn if you go full strength. so you want to work your way up to the suggested amount. a good nutrient for hydro is diamond nectar and hygrozyme.

[Stoney Bud]

how much water is needed when using a drip system or ebb and flow system to water your plants? i know it varies on how many plants you have, but generally speaking is there a ratio of amount per plant?

There is no ratio. With ebb and flow, you run your pump to flood the grow chambers. I run mine one hour on, two off, 24/7. With a drip system, it depends on the size of the plants and other variables like ambient humidity and air flow/evaporation. The point is to give the plants water that is aerated. If the water is aerated properly, you can't give them too much unless you really got crazy. With a drip system, you can aerate the water using air-stones in your reservoir as you would with a DWC system. With ebb and flow, this is unnecessary.

as for the nutrient question. everyone seems to say to use GH Flora Series nutrients. i assume directions on how much to use for your systems comes with the nutrients, but i was curious if there was anything else, perhaps better? ive read and heard about keeping a balance between the three main elements N P K are important when considering nutrients and that a lot of growers experiment with the levels of them?

I use GH nutes exclusively. I start seedlings on a 1/8th strength mix and work it up from there. Let me know if you're going with an ebb and flow system and I'll tell you the rest of my system.

[kcl5287]

wow, thank you all for the speedy and very helpful replies! ive got a few links and other posts to read up on! :)

as for what system im going to attempt im leaning more and more toward ebb and flow. ive seen a lot of recovery drip systems that look promising but this seems pretty versatile. mainly because im turning my entire closet (including a shotgun closet inside the closet) into the "grow room". ive done a lot of reaserch on my own but im always looking for more.