NER, EC and why both matter!

[KD]

When buying nutrients, they normally come with a guide on how to mix them, but lots of growers start off with half the recommended dosage and work their way up to full strength as their plants develop... But why?

Well the chart you're reading is made by the nutrient company that produced the nutrients you're using and this gives you the ideal Nutrient Element Ratio (NER) that your plants would need to grow healthily. There's a good reason that this chart is too strong for your plants. It's easier to make a solution that's too strong and dilute it while maintaining the NER than it is to make a weak solution stronger and maintain NER.

The way we do this is by measuring the parts per million (ppm) or Electrical Conductivity (EC) of a solution. EC is a measurement of salinity and as the salinity of a solution raises, so does the EC of the solution. You can use this to mix up your solution to the correct NER and then dilute it down to the correct EC to ensure you're giving your plants all the necessary minerals it needs to grow healthily, without over doing it and burning your plants!

This is especially important when using coco or hydroponic grow methods as they contain no extra minerals or buffers. Over time, you will get to know your nutrients so well, you won't even need an EC meter anymore. You'll be able to tell what the plant needs just by looking at it.

[duke]

When buying nutrients, they normally come with a guide on how to mix them, but lots of growers start off with half the recommended dosage and work their way up to full strength as their plants develop... But why?

Well the chart you're reading is made by the nutrient company that produced the nutrients you're using and this gives you the ideal Nutrient Element Ratio (NER) that your plants would need to grow healthily. There's a good reason that this chart is too strong for your plants. It's easier to make a solution that's too strong and dilute it while maintaining the NER than it is to make a weak solution stronger and maintain NER.

The way we do this is by measuring the parts per million (ppm) or Electrical Conductivity (EC) of a solution. EC is a measurement of salinity and as the salinity of a solution raises, so does the EC of the solution. You can use this to mix up your solution to the correct NER and then dilute it down to the correct EC to ensure you're giving your plants all the necessary minerals it needs to grow healthily, without over doing it and burning your plants!

This is especially important when using coco or hydroponic grow methods as they contain no extra minerals or buffers. Over time, you will get to know your nutrients so well, you won't even need an EC meter anymore. You'll be able to tell what the plant needs just by looking at it.

hi if your water supply has a stable ph ie its the same everyday out the tap then you soon find you have zero need for the ec meter or regular checking ec (talking a rtw system not recirc) and i think the resoning for most growers feeding at half the bottle rate is just so they do not need the ec meter and so concentrate on the ph side of things ,maybe a bit too much tbh and ive not had need of any additives no extra ca;/mag or anything as had zero defs since learning the trick is not sticking to rigid 5.8 ph but to vary every feed from 5.6-6.2 and seems to work a treat.
2 weeks of your first grow you may find you have no need of ec meter,but later esp if you find a problem theres simple ways of testing run off etc to find causal links and fix them so fast,its plant magic but not the shop kind!
ps dave there the coconutters thread thing i started here its good spot to share learning,peace

[KD]

When buying nutrients, they normally come with a guide on how to mix them, but lots of growers start off with half the recommended dosage and work their way up to full strength as their plants develop... But why?

Well the chart you're reading is made by the nutrient company that produced the nutrients you're using and this gives you the ideal Nutrient Element Ratio (NER) that your plants would need to grow healthily. There's a good reason that this chart is too strong for your plants. It's easier to make a solution that's too strong and dilute it while maintaining the NER than it is to make a weak solution stronger and maintain NER.

The way we do this is by measuring the parts per million (ppm) or Electrical Conductivity (EC) of a solution. EC is a measurement of salinity and as the salinity of a solution raises, so does the EC of the solution. You can use this to mix up your solution to the correct NER and then dilute it down to the correct EC to ensure you're giving your plants all the necessary minerals it needs to grow healthily, without over doing it and burning your plants!

This is especially important when using coco or hydroponic grow methods as they contain no extra minerals or buffers. Over time, you will get to know your nutrients so well, you won't even need an EC meter anymore. You'll be able to tell what the plant needs just by looking at it.

hi if your water supply has a stable ph ie its the same everyday out the tap then you soon find you have zero need for the ec meter or regular checking ec (talking a rtw system not recirc) and i think the resoning for most growers feeding at half the bottle rate is just so they do not need the ec meter and so concentrate on the ph side of things ,maybe a bit too much tbh and ive not had need of any additives no extra ca;/mag or anything as had zero defs since learning the trick is not sticking to rigid 5.8 ph but to vary every feed from 5.6-6.2 and seems to work a treat.
2 weeks of your first grow you may find you have no need of ec meter,but later esp if you find a problem theres simple ways of testing run off etc to find causal links and fix them so fast,its plant magic but not the shop kind!
ps dave there the coconutters thread thing i started here its good spot to share learning,peace

Wow that's pretty cool. Makes sense though as its hydro and calcium and magnesium get taken up at different pHs. Do you change every feed or by plant stage? I saw somewhere that it's better to water at 6.2 during the transitional period for magnesium uptake.

You got a link to the coco nutters thread too?

[2-Scoops]

Never done the NER thing Dave i just aim at what EC im looking for from the off its how ive always done it and i can`t see me changing that now. TBH its first time I've heard of NER.

[KD]

Never done the NER thing Dave i just aim at what EC im looking for from the off its how ive always done it and i can`t see me changing that now. TBH its first time I've heard of NER.

Same for me too when I stumbled on it. Was looking into how well people have used Flora Duo in coco when I first saw it and then found an article explaining why nutrient companies charts are always too high and this is why. You get the right ratio and then need to dilute the strength yourself. Makes sense really cause every plant is different.

[2-Scoops]

You get the right ratio and then need to dilute the strength yourself. Makes sense really cause every plant is different.

Yes it does make sense, im not saying it doesn`t tbh, but tis just that I've never done it that way and if i was a betting man I'd bet my knackers on it that most growers haven`t either. I mean im from whatever i pick up first gets slung into tank tribe, whether its A or B in my hand first, i then add additives and silicon last. Still works and does exact same jobby if ya ask me.