Each species of plant have unique nutrient desires. In addition, nutrient needs vary based on where the plant is in it’s lifecycle.
There’s a ton of information out there on what nutrients plants prefer at different times of their life. I’ve read through a lot of information on the topic but honestly, that sort of information doesn’t stick in my memory. I often plant multiple plants in the same container (something that other growers often discourage) but I take a super simple path that most plants seem thrive in.
My nutrient blend might not be optimized to harvest the maximum tomato crop but I’m happy hauling in more tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce than we can eat as a harvest. I believe that hydroponic growing is so efficient that even less than perfect conditions still outgrow most dirt gardens.
My recipe for nutrient management is super simple:
- I start plants in rock wool with no nutrients at all
- I move plants into a propagator tub when I first see roots poking out of the bottoms of the cubes. The plants get their first taste of nutes here but only at 25% strength.
- Once the roots are hanging down a few inches into the nutrients I give them a couple weeks of half strength nutrients.
- After that I simply follow the label on my nutrients and watch how the plants react.
- In the hot weather the plants drink a ton of water. If needed I top up the tubs with tap water between nutrient solutions. A huge tomato plant might drink close to a gallon a day in the heat of the summer. Topping off is normal and as long as things don’t totally dry out the plants seem to tolerate the fluctuations in water level.
The plants eat what they want in the nutrient mix and leave most of what they don’t want in the tub.. I’ve done grows where I never changed the nutrients from seedling to harvest. It works but I don’t recommend that approach. Things can get nasty and small problems like algae can snowball fast.
You probably want to change the nutrient solution every few weeks. Just add plain water when you notice things getting low. If you continue to add nutes into a tub, over time the solution will be skewed towards the stuff that plants don’t want. If you drain and refill every couple of weeks you will always know that you are running pretty close to the values on the side of the nutrient package.
Listen to your plants. If you notice your plants growing as half an inch a day, pat yourself on the back and don’t change a thing. If things look meh and you aren’t blown away with the growth check your ph first the bump up the nute concentration just a little.
Tags: Nutes