GH 3 Part Nutrients - Schedule and PH Instructions

compliments of useless:


So OK - feeding schedule week by week. This is the GH weekly feeding program, slightly tweaked. I will only call out the volume of each part per gallon of water in the following manner: grow, micro, bloom, ppm range. Example - 5-2.5-2.5-400/800 would mean 5 ml grow, 2.5 ml micro, 2.5 ml bloom and a ppm of 400-880. Remember it's per gallon. You Euro's can easily convert to liters. 4 liters is just a little bit over 1 gallon. It should also be noted that I use the hardwater micro due to my tapwater. I suggest using the hardwater micro in place of the regular micro if your tap water is over 200 ppm total or you have over 70 ppm Ca. RO water users should use the regular micro.

Veg
week 1 5-2.5-2.5-400/600
week 2 10-5-3- 600/800
week 3 12-6-3 800/1000 (continue week 3 formula if additional veg time is required.)

Bloom
week 1 6-6-10- 800/1200
week 2 3-7-12 - 1000/1400
week 3 3-8-14 - 1000/1400
week 4 3-8-16 - 1000/1400
week 5 (discussed in detail below*)
week 6 0-7-20 - 1000/1400
week 7 0-6-20 (see bleow**)

* During week 5 if not using a booster like Superbud, Bushmaster Kabloom etc. run 2.5-7-18. I use MOAB (Mother of All Blooms) or BushMaster at 50% of recommended strength, and use 1.25-3.5-9 for the fert base.

**If running an 8 week strain you should only run the ferts during week 7 for a maximum of 3-4 days. This gives you 10 days for flushing.

The ppms work out almost exactly. I tend to lean toward the lower side of the range, unless I have a really heavy feeder that I know can handle it.

At every ressy change out I add in 5 drops per gallon of 35% food grade H2O2. During flush use ph adjusted water at 5.5-6.0
I will add epsom salt at week 1 of bloom if the plants are heavy feeders AND I see signs of an Mg def. Otherwise I won't use it. The only time I have ever had Mg def is during transition. The GH 3 part is a little low on Mg, but the PBP and Canna nutes are way lower.

Now- how to control your PH...
There are a couple factors that cause your PH to drift. The most common is running the nute solution too strong or too weak. If it's too strong, your PH drops. If it's too weak the PH rises. You have to find the balance point. If you find that the formula above is say, a little strong, and say you have a 20 gallon ressy, mix the nutes for 18 gallons. If it's a little weak, mix it for 22 gallons. You follow?
The other common mistake is mixing your nutrient solution and trying to adjust the PH right away. You have to allow time for the ph buffers in the nutrient solution to do their job. Mix the nutes up, and bubble or circulate for 12 hours before even looking at your PH. You will find the PH to be almost right on target.
I use little or no ph adjusters. (Except during flush). I use tap water, with a starting PPM of 300-400 and a starting PH of 7.4-9.0 (Thats crazy you say! The water is too hard, you will never get stable PH and you will have too much Ca, causing a lockout of Mg!) Bollocks I say.
Every week, on Friday I drain the ressy and fill with plain water. I let that run overnight giving the plants a little flush. This also allows the chlorine and ammonia to evap. On Saturday morning, I mix the nutes into the ressy. I DO NOT adjust ph at this time. Let that run as is overnight. On Sunday morning, I check ph and adjust if needed. Usually don't have to.
Doing things this way has saved me from constant PH drifts, and using about 150 ml of ph down every ressy change, and a little here and there throughout the week to keep it in the desired range. Now, the most I ever have to use is about 30 ml.if any at all. (I have a 35 gallon ressy btw) My Ph stays at a constant 5.5-5.8.

can someone move this to the hydro section please?? sorry i thought i had clkicked it but it was because i had just made a diy thread on harvesting pollen in this section.

sorry!

why dont you follow the directions on the bottle? "ph buffered nutes" does that mean they will somehow adjust the water to the correct ph level? 5.5-6

that is a tweaked regime specified for cannibis tested and proven beyond need.

and yes.

so if my water is around ph of 7, when i add my nutes it should bring me to the correct ph level without adding any ph down?

Sounds good trillions. I use gh as well and have for a while. I use almost the same except just a little more micro, whatever works right? I would suggest to try a little more or a little less just to see any changes. GL man. Try Floralicious Grow, Bloom,or plus they are great products

I just use the Lucas formula. 8 ml of micro and 16 ml of bloom in each gallon of distilled water. dont use the grow component at all. very stable, plants love it. like you say, maybe a little epson salts for some strains in transition. I keep the ppm at 800 and the ph at 5.5-5.8. I use this same formula in bloom and veg. I dont change res at all until grow is finished. very simple, very cheap.

If anyone is still having problems with PH even after using the above method, try adjusting the PH of the water down to 5.5 or wherever you want it before adding nutes. Let this sit overnight and stabilize as the chlorine evaporates. This way you aren't fighting the buffers in the nutrients. Then add in nutes the next day. Rock solid PH.

i have a little question, i started using this formula for my girls, should i refill my watertank everytime b4 adding nutrients, or should i continue using same water adding nutrients every week?

also, after reading this again, you add bushmasters during week 5 of bloom?

Change your reservoir every week.

You can use Bushmaster either at the start of flower to control height and stretch, or during week 5 as bloom booster. It really makes the calyxes swell.

useless. thats interesting! i did not know that. can you do it at both the beginning of flowering and at week 5?

I wouldn't. I would use a different booster in week 5 if you use BM for transition.

like, gravity? from the same company that makes BM (giggle giggle, BM means more than one thing) LOL

Trillions of atoms thanks man. Very helpful info. I ran into issues with over fert and an unknown PH and PPM. Im a rookie with hydro so this will help me out. Also I was wondering if anyone has used Superthrive with their hydro grows ?

trillions of atoms said:

compliments of useless:
The other common mistake is mixing your nutrient solution and trying to adjust the PH right away. You have to allow time for the ph buffers in the nutrient solution to do their job. Mix the nutes up, and bubble or circulate for 12 hours before even looking at your PH. You will find the PH to be almost right on target.

Click to expand...

:yeahthat: