Flora series and hard water

[Herm722]

Ok.... My plants are 3 days old and lookin good. I have about 650 ppm (400 ppm is calcium) water right now and the plants are under my 400hps. I have flora hardwater micro along with gro and bloom. My question is, when do i add my nutes, and what ppm should i strive for max in the 1st 2nd 3rd week ect. including the the water ppm. Example 1st week 1000, 2nd 1200 so on. Depending on what you all think my max ppm should be, i will add nutes in appropriate parts as indicated on the label. Thanks :p

[trillions of atoms]

i would add more nutrient when they need them. every plant can be different so when they show signs of yellowing - bump it up :D

[smokybear]

Trillions said it my friend. The plants will tell you when they need some more food. You will know when the leaves start to look kinda yellow. Good luck and keep us posted. Take care and be safe.

[Puffin Afatty]

Ok.... My plants are 3 days old and lookin good. I have about 650 ppm (400 ppm is calcium) water right now and the plants are under my 400hps. I have flora hardwater micro along with gro and bloom. My question is, when do i add my nutes, and what ppm should i strive for max in the 1st 2nd 3rd week ect. including the the water ppm. Example 1st week 1000, 2nd 1200 so on. Depending on what you all think my max ppm should be, i will add nutes in appropriate parts as indicated on the label. Thanks :p

you just add the desired ppm to the tap water ppm. I run my Lucas formula about 900ppm(in your example it would be 1300). I use distilled though, it is much much much easier to keep balanced, eh.. you can start at about 800ppm and use the methods discussed herein to determine what your plants like.:cool:

[Herm722]

So Puffin afaty, I would add 800ppm to my 650 ppm water and get 1450ppm total? What is the max ppm my water can be with out burn? AND do I keep the nutes at that level at all time adding in equal parts, or let them deplete to a certain ppm and then add? Man I am having a tough time comprehending this, I have gotten so many different contradicting ways of adding nutes so far and i just more and more confused. Some say keep total ppm at 1000 (but when, for how long), some say subtract the ppm of water, some say NO add it. If you could just tell me what my ppm total should be with my 650 water from week to week and when to add nutes that would make my day. I have everything else down to a T except for this. Its this like a secret or something it seems? lol Thanks

[headband]

S What is the max ppm my water can be with out burn? strain dependent, grow dependent, theres no set # you have to :eek: at your plants reactions.

[Puffin Afatty]

So Puffin Afatty, I would add 800ppm to my 650 ppm water and get 1450ppm total? What is the max ppm my water can be with out burn? AND do I keep the nutes at that level at all time adding in equal parts, or let them deplete to a certain ppm and then add? Man I am having a tough time comprehending this, I have gotten so many different contradicting ways of adding nutes so far and i just more and more confused. Some say keep total ppm at 1000 (but when, for how long), some say subtract the ppm of water, some say NO add it. If you could just tell me what my ppm total should be with my 650 water from week to week and when to add nutes that would make my day. I have everything else down to a T except for this. Its this like a secret or something it seems? lol Thanks

:confused: eh???
:farm: Ok, it is very very simple. Since you are using with tap water with a starting PPM of 400, you can EITHER subtract it from FINAL PPM, which leaves just THE ppm pf your nutes, or add it in at beginning and the final PPM reading includes the tap water ppm.

{in algebraic form-- 400(tap water) + 250(nutes) = 650
650(final reading) - 400(tap water) =250(nutes)}

Soooo, if you want a nute strength of 800(nutes) and your tap water is 400(tap water) your final reading would be 1200(tap water +nutes).

I would suggest you keep the final ppm(tap water + nutes)around 1300ppm. As the water evaporates it leaves behind the calcium and other minerals raising the PPM daily, but reducing the volume in the res thru evaporation. You will need to pay close attention to the readings before and after you add water. Each time you add tap water you are putting in more minerals. This will have the effect of diluting your nute strength in the res by the amount of minerals in the tap water, although your ppm reading will go up, by the amount of minerals in water.

Keep it simple, only add water to the res between changes. If the ppm drops below 800(final readings with tap water) or so just change the res.

Also, with using the tap water, I would recommend you also change out the res every week.

Finally, I really suggest everyone use distilled water, the balancing act is sooooo much easier.

I use reverse osmosis deionized water from my own filter. I get a water alone reading of 4-5 ppm. I never have to adjust ph and dont change out the res at all, never. My grow is sooooo easy this way. I just take the reading each day, add water and/or nutes to keep ppm at 900.

Good Luck Herm, eh!!!!:cool:

[Herm722]

Thanks for the info, I think i can tackle it now. I will start adding nutes tomorrow and probly just stay on the low side for now until they grow a little bigger to be safe, I took a bunch of pics and will be uploading them so you all can see my setup.

[Herm722]

also, is it ok to add distilled water to my tap water instead of the same tap? Would this be a good to keep my ppm from fluctuating so much? I dont mine getting a couple 5 gallon jugs every week.