The Gee Spot - You Finally Found It

[g-one-three]

I’m confused about ppm. Do I need to measure any time I add something to the water? I assume there is an upper limit - is there a minimum? FYI, I use rainwater when it rains enough to collect a few gallons & store bought purified water when I have to. I’m an SIP devotee, but top water with calmag once weekly or so. I’m about to add RO component to my filtration system & then I’ll use that exclusively. I’ll put on some coffee…

I may be able to answer this as I use RO water and then dolomite water concentrate.

Long story short I check my ppms after adding the dolomite water concentrate but I'm finding if my inputs are consistent my resulting ppm's have been consistent and I've been checking less often.

I mix smaller quantities of Dolomite water concentrate than Gee does. So Each time I mix up a new batch of Dolomite concentrate I will have to check the ppms after adding it to the RO. I've been able to get it pretty consistent that 20ml of Dolomite concentrate = 23ppm/gallon. So I add 40ml of dolo concentrate per 1gallon RO to get it around 46ppm of dolomite concentrate. I can hit this + or - a couple ppms pretty consistently, even after mixing up a new batch of concentrate.

46 ppm/gallon of Dolomite concentrate is my maintenance dose, which is less than Gee's, that I use every other watering to help keep my soil calcium in check. It's also an easy and convenient number that it worked out too because my syringe is 20ml lol. My soil and organic top dress nutes are short on calcium which is why I water with the dolomite water more frequently. If I see the Brix line starting to loose it's fuzziness I will up the Dolomite concentrate ppms to a slightly heavier dose and I will always check ppm after adding more.

This ppm works for my situation but may not for yours but I was able to dial it in using my refractometer. If you follow the Brix line the calcium part of growing will become really easy and consistent. Also your forearms will be massive .

 

[Thirvnrob]

I may be able to answer this as I use RO water and then dolomite water concentrate.

Long story short I check my ppms after adding the dolomite water concentrate but I'm finding if my inputs are consistent my resulting ppm's have been consistent and I've been checking less often.

I mix smaller quantities of Dolomite water concentrate than Gee does. So Each time I mix up a new batch of Dolomite concentrate I will have to check the ppms after adding it to the RO. I've been able to get it pretty consistent that 20ml of Dolomite concentrate = 23ppm/gallon. So I add 40ml of dolo concentrate per 1gallon RO to get it around 46ppm of dolomite concentrate. I can hit this + or - a couple ppms pretty consistently, even after mixing up a new batch of concentrate.

46 ppm/gallon of Dolomite concentrate is my maintenance dose, which is less than Gee's, that I use every other watering to help keep my soil calcium in check. It's also an easy and convenient number that it worked out too because my syringe is 20ml lol. My soil and organic top dress nutes are short on calcium which is why I water with the dolomite water more frequently. If I see the Brix line starting to loose it's fuzziness I will up the Dolomite concentrate ppms to a slightly heavier dose and I will always check ppm after adding more.

This ppm works for my situation but may not for yours but I was able to dial it in using my refractometer. If you follow the Brix line the calcium part of growing will become really easy and consistent. Also your forearms will be massive .

What happens if you just use RO water & nothing else? Is zero ppm water sufficient?

 

[g-one-three]

What happens if you just use RO water & nothing else? Is zero ppm water sufficient

I use plain RO water most of the time I water. I believe it's pretty common to water with plain water in organics. @Gee64 or @Azimuth have been doing it a lot longer than I have and can probably verify that.

From my experience and research, Reverse Osmosis water should still have some TDS in it, mines about 25-40ish ppm but I have read online that it can go higher and still be fine. Using 0ppm Reverse Osmosis Deionized water without building back up the micro nutrients can be detrimental to the plant because it will pull minerals out of the soil and away from the roots. I found out the hard way about this. I was using my old RODI system from a saltwater tank and was getting water at 0ppm. Once I unhooked the Deionization part of it, making it just an Reverse Osmosis filter my TDS weren't 0ppm and my plants improved.

An interesting thing about RODI water is when it comes out at 0ppm TDS, you can then add back in different minerals and know exactly what's going into your plant. This part is over my head science wise but I tried to read up a little on it and thankfully didn't fall down that rabbit hole lol.

 

[Azimuth]

I use rain water which is about 6 ppm, and then add dolo water to get it up to 50ish. I think it matters more with synthetic nutes since some of them are built assuming you are using tap water for example which usually has a variety of minerals in it so if you use ro water you could be short on some of the micronutrients.

With organics it matters less since we generally add such a variety of things to our soil mixes including organics and minerals, that the plant can usually find what it needs.

The caveat there is if your water changes with the seasons like if you're on well water. In that case you'd want to be mindful of the change. So, maybe you'd need less calcium in the summer if your water is harder during that period for example.

 

[Gee64]

So in my current run I added the Gaia Green Mineralized Phosphate to the soil mix per the instructions and let it cook before even planting a seed in it. I have seen a nice improvement this run that when they flipped to flower they are ready to roll and start producing almost immediately after stretch. I don't believe it's all genetics either because of the difference in the 2 plants, one is a kush strain and one is a haze. I also think the Basmati rice was a good addition as well this run.

Is there a limit to the amount of nutrients you can pack into the soil before it gets too hot? I know using Gaia is a little different than using Revs recipe. I'm thinking my next run is going to be in 7 gallon pots and I want to get as much into the soil as I can.

The limit is really how much you can compost in, and still maintain balance, but slightly less hot soil in a slightly bigger pot is always better.

At a certain point you run out of space in a pot because a certain amount needs to be perlite, carbon, and organic matter. You could try cramming more minerals in, but top dressing minerals is safe and easy.

You need a really big pot to do a true water only grow. I find 7gal cubes grow good clones to flower and 10gals if I'm growing from seed. You still need EWC for sure and possibly top dressing.

Anything smaller and you need to feed and water alot, plus 7's and 10's hold RH in the tent better than smaller pots.

 

[Gee64]

What happens if you just use RO water & nothing else? Is zero ppm water sufficient?

I build my pots to try to run 0ppm RO water, but in reality somewhere around flip calcium starts to run low. If I used my tap water at 50ppm, and I dechlorinated it, I may get farther in before calcium runs low. Maybe even make it to harvest, but I like knowing my water is pure, and if I add the ppm's I know what it is.

 

[Gee64]

It was another warm cloudy humid day today, and the light was good for more spamming. The purple grows. I need to document this pheno. Sorry everyone.

 

[Gee64]

 

[Gee64]

 

[Azimuth]

It was another warm cloudy humid day today, and the light was good for more spamming. The purple grows. I need to document this pheno. Sorry everyone.

Pretty plant.

 

[MedScientist]

Looks like a Beautiful Oil Painting!

I would hang that on my wall!

 

[Azimuth]

An hour after lights on and the leaf temp is 0.9° below air, so better but not good enough so I lowered the plant another 2" and added a pitcher of water to the space. I'm now in the mid to low 700's on ppfd. I also increased my top dressing and castings amount by 3x. Seems like a lot.

I'll try to get up early and test it at the 10 hour mark.

 

[Gee64]

Miss Sticky clones - Day 24 in soil.

Miss Sticky - Day 27 of Flower.

Carmen, could this be what's happening to you? See these burnt orange hair tips? It's because the fan blows the leaf above and it touches this top. It's the only top getting rubbed, and the only top with red hairs.

 

[Gee64]

Pretty plant.

It is, and every morning it's purpler. Hopefully tomorrow is a bright sunny day, I'd like to get some bright pics.

 

[Gee64]

An hour after lights on and the leaf temp is 0.9° below air, so better but not good enough so I lowered the plant another 2" and added a pitcher of water to the space. I'm now in the mid to low 700's on ppfd. I also increased my top dressing and castings amount by 3x. Seems like a lot.

I'll try to get up early and test it at the 10 hour mark.

It will be interesting to see what happens here.

 

[Gee64]

Looks like a Beautiful Oil Painting!

I would hang that on my wall!

She is a beauty

I love how her leaves still have vigor in them. Her tank isn't empty yet.

 

[Kaldean]

It's done Lol, this winking face reminds me of how I felt last night. I went out with a few women to a wine tasting and I was absent mindedly examining the goings on and my eyes settled for a brief moment on a man in conversation. He noticed I was watching and he looked my way and winked at me. I tried to return the wink and it felt like this lol, like a lopsided gimp with my tongue hanging out. Remind me to never try to wink at anyone ever again

 

[Thirvnrob]

Gee, g & azz, thanks! It would’ve been cool if the four of us were passing a joint when I connected the dots & had my aha moment!

 

[Azimuth]

It will be interesting to see what happens here.

You mean whether or not I get up in the wee hours of the morning?

 

[Thirvnrob]

Gee, g & azz, thanks! It would’ve been cool if the four of us were passing a joint when I connected the dots & had my aha moment!