ASK Erik
Big Charts:
Will More Stuff Give Better Yields?
Erik Biksa
I have been growing for over a year and I am starting to get the hang of
things. It took some work to get the environment to stay optimal with the
lights on, but that’s dialed in now. At the recommendation of a friend, I
started simple with my nutrients and growing medium. My harvests are
good, but I know they could be better. The environment is great, so I want to
see if I can step up my yields and quality with my growth method. I plan on
changing my large containers to an automated drain-to-waste system with
coco coir as the medium. My question is: Do I really need all of that stuff I
see on the “experienced” sections of hydroponic nutrient feed charts? What
about organics for my system?
You speak for a lot of growers, and
I would like to bring attention
to the fact that you are building
your garden on a solid platform by
optimizing one area at a time. By
not changing more than one critical factor at a time, you can see if
your changes are working or not.
One of the things you should
consider in your decision on what
program to use, or the types of
products you need to customize
your own program, is how you’re
going to set up your drain-towaste system. The main factor is
if the solution will be pre-mixed
before being fed to the crop (i.e.
reservoir and pump via timer) or
mixed while the crop is being fed
(i.e. dose system injects nutrient
concentrates and pH adjusters
into the main line from concentrate reservoirs)?
Besides the big difference in cost,
the critical factor here is that one
solution is left standing and the
other is mixed fresh. In the standing solution, even if recirculated
or aerated between feedings, you
run the risk of having biological
components become active in the
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reservoir rather than in the growing medium. Also, some ingredients and microbial life don’t like
to swim, and nasty imbalances and
growths might occur. Now, if you
mix that same solution fresh and
apply it to the growing medium
right away, you typically won’t have
any issues because the ingredients
are being delivered in balanced
ratios and at the correct pH.
So, if you go with a standing
reservoir, try and limit the biological load. In other words, stick to
mostly synthetic nutrient sources
and go lighter on the biologicals.
If you do use bio-ingredients, reservoir temperature is critical and
the solution shouldn’t stand for
more than a few days. Also, it’s a
good idea to recirculate or aerate
it between feedings if left standing
for more than a few hours. If you
go with an accurate dosing system,
look for one that is suitable for
injecting organic liquid concentrates and you’ll typically be able
to run totally organic solution
without issue. Look at it this way:
synthetics are like leaving a glass
of orange juice made from drink
crystals out on the counter—not
much is going to happen quickly.
Then try that with fresh squeezed;
this OJ is likely to turn bad within
a day or two (especially when coupled with warmer temperatures).
To answer the other part of
your question: no, your plants
don’t need all that stuff to survive until harvest. However, that
stuff can be used as the building
blocks to create better flavors and
aromas while potentially making
your plants hardier and capable of yielding greater harvests.
If you want to get more out of
something, you typically have to
put more into it. Choose wisely,
though. Do your research on a
feeding program. What works
great in one garden might not
do as well in another. It depends largely on the application;
although, today’s crop nutrient
technologies can help make anybody a better gardener than ever
possible before.
Cheers,
Erik Biksa
grozine.com