I’ve seen Flora Nova Bloom used a lot too. I read grows where they used it veg to harvest. I’m definitely interested, same as MC, one nute use. I’m not sure the conversion, it’s a cheap amazon PH pen, I have a 4.0 solution to calibrate before I use it. Last night I started double checking with the old school vile and drop tester. Any suggestions on how I might get the smaller one growing again?
Honestly, you're making mistakes because you aren't mixing your nutrients properly. The EC pen you're using, doesn't measure mg/L, which is actual ppm. Every ion effects conductivity in a positive or negative manner, and the same goes for pH.
For an experiment, I'll use a mixture I made from calcium nitrate. I created 1L of concentrated solution for my part A by dissolving 77.5 grams in RO water. The solid ferts, were 15.5% nitrogen, and 19% calcium. Some of the mix is inert fillers that do nothing. This 1L of concentrate makes 100L of nutrients.
77.5 grams X 0.155 = 12.0 grams or 12000 mg/L or 12000 ppm. (Nitrogen)
77.5 grams x 0.19 = 14.7 grams or 14700 mg/L or 14700 ppm. (Calcium)
So if I mix 10mL with water to make 1L, the solution will have 120 ppm nitrogen, and 147 ppm of calcium. This makes 267 ppm of dissolved solids in the mix. So I pull out my EC meter, and check the solution, and it reads 1mS/cm, or 500 ppm on the NaCL scale, or 700 ppm on the KCl scale. So why does my meter read 500 when the solution only has 267 ppm? The answer is, EC is relative to a mixture, and doesn't tell you how many ppm there are in the solution at all. It only tells you if your solution is getting weaker or stronger as plants take in water and nutrients. For example, the final solution of this mixture at full strength contains 768 ppm of dissolved salts, but the EC of this mixture is 2 mS/cm or 1000 ppm. Basically, you can only use EC to compare the strength of exactly the same mixtures. You should be using it to compare changes in strength. If someone is on a different regiment than you, then their numbers should be ignored.
To know the actual strength and ratio of nutrients, you have to compare them using math. Usually, you make nitrogen a constant of 200. For example, Floranova grow @ 2.85 mL/L has 200 ppm of nitrogen. For Botanicare grow you're using, you'd would need 6.7 mL/L to have 200 ppm of nitrogen. For Veg, I would shoot for about 120 - 140 ppm nitrogen.
FN grow @ 2.85 mL/L
N 200
P 50
K 236
Ca 114
Mg 43
S 57
Botanicaire grow @ 6.7 mL/L
N 200
P 58
K 220
Ca 67
Mg 33
As you can see, they are very similar at the same nitrogen concentration, except the Botanicare has much lower calcium and magnesium content. That is why you need to add Cal-mag at the recommended dosage. Keep in mind, 200 ppm of nitrogen is way too much, and I would dilute the mixture down to about 140 ppm of nitrogen, or less if the plants use more water than nutrients.
Now, when mixing nutrients, it's important to remember that it's about proportions. If 1mL/L of cal mag needs to be added to 4ml/L Botanicare, mix it like that. For example. If you want 20 litres of final solution at half strength, you would add 10 mL of cal-mag to 9L of water, and stir in completely. Then add 40 mL of grow to the same solution and mix. Then you top up the solution to 10L. Measure the EC of this solution and record. If you want half strength, add water until your EC meter reads half of the full-strength EC, or simply measure out 10 L of RO water and add. What I do, is mix up a large quantity at full strength, and dilute it down to what the plants can handle in a separate container or in the res itself. It's much easier to dilute with water accurately, than it is to try and reduce how much of each ingredient there is.
How to fix your girl. Well, simply add the grow and cal-mag at full strength when mixing, and dilute to about 80% with water; pH and record the EC. The next day, check the EC and pH. If the EC drops, you need a stronger solution. If the EC rises, add water until it's below the starting EC by the amount it went up. pH typically rises as nitrate is absorbed from the solution. If the pH swings rapidly, you have too much carbonate, or not enough ammoniacal nitrogen in the mix. Increasing the volume of nutrient solution in the system, will also reduce the rate of change.
At 100% suggested strength this is your breakdown. Grow + cal-mag.
N 140
P 35
K 132
Ca 72
Mg 32
To me, this is a very balanced.
I've grown with floranova bloom from veg to flower. I mixed mine at about 2mL/L and then dilute. It only has slightly more potassium than your grow + cal-mag. The only thing I don't like about it, is it's kind of dirty, and leaves a film on everything.
N 140
P 35
K 166
Ca 80
Mg 30
S 40
When I mix several additives, I make a spreadsheet that calculates the ppm of every macro and micronutrient. If a deficiency or excess arises, then I have a visual of which additive could be decreased, increased, or removed to create a better balance. For the most part, the idea is to balance your cations, which are potassium, calcium, magnesium which limit each other because of cation exchange capacity. After that, all you're mainly doing is dicking around with nitrate, ammoniacal nitrogen, and phosphorous levels. The hardest part of growing DWC, is maintaining the lower pH without using too much ammoniacal nitrogen, as it will stunt flowers later in bloom.
To calculate actual ppm, you simply multiply the concentration 3% X (mL/L) X 10.
4mL/L would be 120 ppm.
For phosphorus (P2O5) and potassium (K2O), you will need to multiply by 0.4364 for phosphorus, and 0.8302 for potassium. These ions contain oxygen, and these number represent the percentage of each element in the ions based on molar mass. I did the math so you don't have to.
2% X 4mL/L X 10 X 0.4364 = 35 ppm phosphorus
Calculate for every additive, add up the numbers, and you'll have your actual fertilizer content. Eventually you'll figure out that there are really only a few things you can change. Cation ratios K, Ca, Mg. Cation to anion ratio. Nitrate to ammoniacal nitrate ratio, and nitrogen to phosphorus ratio. The lesser micros aren't easily manipulated unless you are mixing from scratch, which is possible, but tedious, especially on a small scale. Typically, the goal is to control pH, and to find a good balance between THC concentration, THC quantity, essential oils, and weight of the flowers.
My experience with floranova bloom, has been that it gives you a reliable single nutrient mix, with balanced production. It'll get you a nice crop of good quality, size, and strength flowers, but you need to dial in your atmospheric controls. If you have your atmospherics dialed in, everything about hydroponics because a whole lot easier to manage.
