How long should my system run before put plant in?

[DIYer]

Aero system, 20 gallon res,.. right now i have just the water in it pumping and spraying everywhere, air pumps on 24/7 as well,... but no nutes or pH up/down. Just straight Culligan water from Walmart as of yet.
How long should I have everything running for before I put the plants in? I know things need to settle and neutralize and you know the water just in general needs to get used to its environment first. I grew DWC once and had pH swings because I didn't let things acclimate so I won't make that same mistake twice. Also should I add nutrients and set the pH and fight with it moving now or will it not do that if I just let the water acclimate?

thanks

 

[Hydrosun]

Well if it is all clean maybe run a wet test with tap water if no leaks just throw everyone in. The ladies can swim cause this is Hydro time. I mix my nutes pump them straight into my new systems and then carry over plants from the veg room and drop them right in. My ladies are quite happy.

Peace,

 

[fatigues]

You don't have to cycle a hydro system like an aquarium tank, if that's what you mean.

That said, letting it run for several days to highlight condensation, light leaks encouraging algae growth, and to ensure you have all heat issues under control is all good idea. As for establishing you have no water leaks? All to the better. 3-4 days - or even up to a week (to ensure you have any latent algae issues under control) - is a short wait in the grand scheme with a brand new system.

 

[DIYer]

ok, thanks for the info. one more thing,.. what level ppm to start out at with my nutes? ill have some real small week old lowlife autoflower blueberrys in the system in a day or two.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Start at 1/4 the recommended levels. GH asks for 5ml each per gallon of Micro and Bloom so I start at 1.25 ml. After roots start showing, 1/2 strength. After that, using EC and pH readings, the plants tell me if it wants more or less.

 

[DIYer]

Ya im semi familiar with the whole plants telling you what they need thing as i tried to listen to what they were telling me last time i did hydro (DWC not aero like this time). Not so much by reading the EC as the PPM's though, but i get that basically if pH is going down and ppm's are going up then the plants are drinking more then there eating and im over feeding,.. and vise versa if ph is going up and ppm going down.

Could you maybe explain the EC reading thing freezboy? I'm not even sure what it actually measures or how to interpret what it tells me.

Also,..
I'm curious, why say 1/4 strength exactly? I'm not saying you're wrong i just want to better understand doing a percentage of what the bottle says rather then following a guide like the below that i recently found in my searching.

Indica's
Seedlings and clones 300-400ppm 5.3-5.5 ph
early vegg 500-600ppm 5.3-5.6 ph
middle vegg 600-800ppm 5.4-5.6 ph
late vegg 800-1000ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
early flower 1000-1300ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
middle flower 1400-1600ppm 5.5-5.8 ph
late flower 1000-1100ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
ripening 300-500ppm 5.4-5.6 ph

sativa's
seedlings and clones 250-350ppm 5.3-5.5 ph
early vegg 300-500ppm 5.3-5.6 ph
middle vegg 500-700ppm 5.4-5.6 ph
late vegg 700-900ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
early flower 1000-1100ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
middle flower 1100-1300ppm 5.5-5.8 ph
late flower 800-1000ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
ripening 300-500ppm 5.4-5.6 ph


PS As for fertilizers i have on hand Botanicare Pure Blend Grow and Bloom.
http://www.americanagritech.com/product/product_detail.asp?ID=1&pro_id_pk=34
I used it last hydro and got really good size results from my buds even though i did over feed a bit and dried the bud too fast so smoke taste suffered unfortunately. Anyone who can tell me anything more about how to use these nutes let me know.


Thanks again

 

[DIYer]

Hey I just noticed on the back of my bottle of Botanicare Pure Blend Grow it says and i quote:

"If using reverse osmosis water, it is recommended to use 1tsp (5 ml) of Cal-Mag Plus per gallon (4 l) of water."

I own a bottle of Cal-Mag Plus (never realized till now there both made by Botanicare) because i started to get cal/mag defic spots that last DWC grow and ya it makes sense i should add it before i see the spots this time around but im just curious, am i using what would be considered "reverse osmosis water"? My water is all from the Culligan dispenser at my local Walmart.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Not so much by reading the EC as the PPM's

EC and "PPM" are the same thing except that "PPM" is lying, non-existent bullshit. True PPM and TDS (look Ma, no quote marks) require chemical analysis. Our pens and meters measure Electrical Conductivity or EC. "PPM" and "TDS" pens measure EC and EC alone before converting the actual findings for babel.

Hydro nutes are extraordinarily concentrated and will fry a seedling if you're not careful. Whatever the recommended grow formula your bottles call for, cut that by 75% or more for seedlings or you'll burn them to a crisp.

 

[Hydrosun]

I think the PH you list is too low. I think you want 5.8 - 6.1 until late in flower. But really listen to what the plants tell you. I like the PPM suggestions and will defer to FB about the fine points between EC and PPM.

Peace,

 

[DIYer]

Whatever the recommended grow formula your bottles call for, cut that by 75% or more for seedlings or you'll burn them to a crisp.

I can do that but im going to need to measure levels as i grow so that EC PPM stuff is going to have to make more sense to me,.. so on to that.

EC and "PPM" are the same thing except that "PPM" is lying, non-existent bullshit. True PPM and TDS (look Ma, no quote marks) require chemical analysis. Our pens and meters measure Electrical Conductivity or EC. "PPM" and "TDS" pens measure EC and EC alone before converting the actual findings for babel.

You speak of PPM's like its a meaningless measurement...
My meter is a Hanna HI 98129 Combo pH & EC meter. It measures PPM, pH, and something else that looks like "us" only the 'u' has a tail like a "p" (maybe it's a 'ps' with open top, lol) is that EC?

I'm really confused now, how do i feel confident in my readings and more importantly know im giving my plants the right ammount of nutes? Should i use ppm at all?

 

[DIYer]

Ya know as for letting just the water acclimate like i have been, maybe if oxygen levels settle there's something to be said for what im doing?

No leaks to speak of over the last 2 days so at least that's good to know.

 

[SuperHemp]

µS is EC, or micro-Siemens.

 

[DIYer]

thats what i thought, thanks superhemp,.. now how do i read it and everything else i asked above? ..anyone?

 

[DIYer]

So last night i added the recommended dosage of cal mag plus to my res and after it settled in my ppm's we're 300,.. they jumped to that from 50 which is what just straight Culligan water is. I just added the recommended dosage of Pure Blend Grow and im pretty sure that's going to get me over 400ppm (im guessing around 600+) but i followed the directions on the bottle exactly, and the amount i added was for "seedlings" as well,.. it actually said that on the back of the bottle. Seems high to me though.

 

[FreezerBoy]

You speak of PPM's like its a meaningless measurement...

PPM is an acceptable measurement. Problem is, you can't measure it with a pen. TDS and PPM require chemical analysis. "TDS" and "PPM" pens can't do chemical analysis. They measure the waters ability to conduct electricity, aka electrical conductivity or EC. They then "convert to nonsense" by multiplying it by 500, or 640, or 650, or 700, or 768, or two numbers so stupid I can't remember them anymore.

"PPM" and "TDS" say 500, 640, 650, 700, 768 are identical numbers while 550 is a larger number than 750. If I said that, you'd correctly label me as a lying idiot. Why give "PPM" and "TDS" a pass?

EC is commonly measured in two ways: mS/cm (millisiemens per centimeter) or µS/cm (microsiemens per centimeter). 1mS/cm=1000µS/cm just like 1 kilometer=1000 meters.

A "PPM" of 1283 does NOT mean you have 1,283 parts per million! It means you COULD have an EC of 1670, or 1832, or 1973, or 2001, or 2566 depending on the bullshit factor of your pen. An EC reading of any given number is exactly that, an exact, specific number that can be confused with no other.

Again, plants are illiterate. They don't care that "PPM" and "TDS" are babel. If you can see numbers rise and fall, the numbers themselves don't matter to the plants. However, like feet and Fahrenheit in a world knowledgeable of meters and Celcius (said the hypocritical American who still uses f&F) there's no excuse for "PPM" and "TDS" pens in the 20th Century, let alone the 21st.

So, just what are we measuring here? We're measuring comparative strength. How does todays number compare with yesterdays and the day before. While we list numbers in our journals, the numbers themselves are secondary to the direction the numbers are moving.

EC and pH move in opposite directions because nutes are acidic. More nutes=lower pH. Less nutes=higher pH. The plant will rarely drink nutes and water at identical rates. Overfed, they drink water faster than nutes, leftover nutes build up thus lowering pH. Underfed, they drink nutes faster than water, less nutes means less acid which raises pH.

The key to "dialing in" your grow is to get pH to swing between 5.6 and 6.0 over the course of a week or two because no single pH reading allows absorption of all nutes.

 

[DIYer]

I got ya freeze,.. im with ya,.. but plants eat more/less depending on there stage of growth as im sure u know,.. so can you really just add more nutes or straight water to dial down the nute concentration dependent on pH movement alone? Wont there be a time when the plants slow or speeds up its eating and the pH swing you were watching becomes a mute tainted point to go off of? Not questions you as much as im just curious