Hydroponic Nutrients

[Meowza]

Hey everyone, I’m getting ready to start my first hydroponic grow. I’ve got some Sour Diesel and OG Kush seedlings almost ready to go in to my ebb and flow hydroponic system. I will have 3 Sour Diesels and 2 OGs in the table, which has an 8 gallon reservoir that will flood the table for 15 minutes every 3 hours.
I will be using the GH Flora Trio as well as GH CaliMagic. The guy at my local hydroponics store gave me this feeding schedule from GH, it’s intended for photoperiods but he told me I could use the same dosages for autos. Has anyone here used the GH Flora Trio for hydroponic autos? I’m worried this feeding schedule will burn my autos since they don’t need as much nutrients. I was planning on starting them with the “Week 2 Early Growth” nutes since they’re already developing their 3rd sets of leaves. Thanks in advance for any help with this and any other hydro auto tips.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

A couple of things first if your "flood" period does not cover your grow medium completely you will get toxic salt build-up in your containers at the water line. You must flood over the top to prevent this. If your volumes do not allow you to flood like this then you will need to top fertigate to waste at least once a week.

I have used GH successfully in hydro. Their charts are too strong for hydro and/or autos. here is a spreadsheet you can use to adjust the percentages to what ever you need. Plug in the volume and percent you want and it does the math for you. I start seeds at 1/4 strength then the first week is at 50% and I increaase 10% each res change until I get a wee bit of tip burn and then back off 10%. This will dial in your plants to what they like.

Flora Series.xlsx

Shared with Jumpshare

jmp.sh

 

[Meowza]

A couple of things first if your "flood" period does not cover your grow medium completely you will get toxic salt build-up in your containers at the water line. You must flood over the top to prevent this. If your volumes do not allow you to flood like this then you will need to top fertigate to waste at least once a week.

I have used GH successfully in hydro. Their charts are too strong for hydro and/or autos. here is a spreadsheet you can use to adjust the percentages to what ever you need. Plug in the volume and percent you want and it does the math for you. I start seeds at 1/4 strength then the first week is at 50% and I increaase 10% each res change until I get a wee bit of tip burn and then back off 10%. This will dial in your plants to what they like.

Flora Series.xlsx

Shared with Jumpshare

jmp.sh

Awesome, thank you so much for the info and the chart! I have the same ebb and flow setup already running for various leafy greens and the waterline does not reach the top of the hydroton pellets. For the weekly flush should I just use pH balanced water? And can I just pour it over the pellets like a quick shower or does it need to be like a sustained rinse?

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

No, it is not good to change the osmotic pressure on the roots by a large swing in PPMs (nutrient water vs. plain water) unless absolutely necessary. You should be changing your reservoir at minimum every week and keeping the PPMs up with minor additions during the week. So at the end of the week just pump the water out of the res and over the tops of the containers. It does not take a lot to flush the salts away if you do it on a regular basis and you are using the PPMs of the plants last watering. Make sure this is going to Waste now and not recirculating back into the res. I catch mine and fertilize the yard with it.

 

[Meowza]

No, it is not good to change the osmotic pressure on the roots by a large swing in PPMs (nutrient water vs. plain water) unless absolutely necessary. You should be changing your reservoir at minimum every week and keeping the PPMs up with minor additions during the week. So at the end of the week just pump the water out of the res and over the tops of the containers. It does not take a lot to flush the salts away if you do it on a regular basis and you are using the PPMs of the plants last watering. Make sure this is going to Waste now and not recirculating back into the res. I catch mine and fertilize the yard with it.

Thank you so much, you’ve been really helpful. One last question about the pH levels, I’ve read that the pH for hydro autos should be between 5.5-6.1, that sound right to you? And should I be varying the pH within that range every time I change the water in order to prevent nutrient lockout? Like if the water for one week is 5.6 should the next week I make it 6.0? Or am I fine always keeping it at around the same pH as long as it’s in that 5.5-6.1 range? Thanks again!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

The

Thank you so much, you’ve been really helpful. One last question about the pH levels, I’ve read that the pH for hydro autos should be between 5.5-6.1, that sound right to you? And should I be varying the pH within that range every time I change the water in order to prevent nutrient lockout? Like if the water for one week is 5.6 should the next week I make it 6.0? Or am I fine always keeping it at around the same pH as long as it’s in that 5.5-6.1 range? Thanks again!

proper range for hydro is 5.6 - 6.4. I try to stay within 5.8 - 6.2. It is going to fluctuate enough on its own.