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nutrients Experiment Time, going to test different PPM ratios on plants with hydro nutrients

J

JesterJoker

So I'm going to plant some seeds from a Morouga / Moruga, but I'm going to use straight pro-mix (soil-less)

I'm going to keep them in the same size containers, but I'm going to try different ratio's of hydroponic nutrients to see the
correct mixture that is optimum for growth of the plants and pepper production.

I plan to have hundreds of pictures for every level and posting them to run a good experiment. I have a 8 bulb T5 (over 400+ watts) running for my light so
I have a pretty good control light source.

I have heard all sorts of things from experienced growers, that "Their way" was the right way, and they always have good luck.

I'm going to chart it out, and show pictures of the experiment, I want to keep it to certain control levels, to simplify

I'm thinking, ratios right around, 300, 600, 900, 1200 PPM / as a testing ground to see if they will take in the spare nutrients.

But I'm wondering if I should be doing even part ratio's of the nutrients, or using the recommended ratio's from the containers to achieve those PPM levels


The point of the experiment is to show either

1: Peppers have way less requirements for nutrients then others like Tomato
2: Peppers can use the extra nutrients correctly and produce better harvests.

Feel free to follow the experiment.
 
Cool idea! I wish I had the space/resources to do something like that...

Just a couple of (hopefully helpful) hints from a grad student who is used to critiquing experiments. In general, anything alive seems very difficult to control for me, but this is what comes to mind:
1. Make sure you have a large enough sample to have decent statistics. I'd rather see 4 plants each of just two nutrient levels than 2 each of 4 levels. Sometimes, even when everything else is the same, there is that one sample that for whatever reason is always a runt. Maybe consider using clones, to keep the genetics controlled, although I think even those have various rooting rates, etc.
2. Change nutrient solutions often enough. One thing I might worry about is the lower dose getting depleated of one specific nutrient and that causing problems.
3. Keep water sources consistent. Tap water varies from day to day. That one nutrient that depleats fast might be calcium or magnesium, which varies in concentration with tap water.

In general, while I bet you can still learn something, there are a TON of variables in this system. Even if you can perfectly control environmental factors like light, oxygen, airflow, temperature, humidity, etc., you have the concentrations (and chemicals forms, eg nitrate vs nitrite) of about 12 nutrients that could be important in order to optimize growth.

Don't mean to discourage you, I just hope that we all learn as much as possible from your efforts! Good luck, and keep us posted :)
 
Like the poster before me pointed out, it is difficult to make an "experiment" of this nature statistically meaningful. Try to grow as many plants in each group as possible, and remember to try to ensure that all of the plants experience the same conditions EXCEPT for the ppm. Good luck & I hope you find significant results, it always good for the community to have more information.
 
Agree with the comments above, so many variables that can make the experiment fail.

I'm very interested in the experiment and will be following this thread! Doing a lot of hydroponic systems myself now. I'm not measuring ppm but EC mostly. Doing 1800EC to 2000EC on grown up plants.
 
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