Even though MDbuds touched on it I will drop a side note becuse I am guilty of doing it. Any time making adjustments or treating deficiencies. DO NOT chase a rabbit down a hole. Make your adjustments and give them time to work before trying something else.
Patience and observation go a long way.
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I’m only laughing because it’s awesome advice and true.
Me: Hmmm…it doesn’t look like she responded, I’ll just add a little of… 
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@kmac03 hell I’m guilty of it too. How do you think I learned? Certainly wasn’t the easy way listening to people with more knowledge. 
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Well, no, because there’s no physical evidence and well, I haven’t been the best judge of character so I must see it for myself. 
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I am 1 month from into flower from light flip and have almost messed up the good advice given here several times already. If it was not for my habit of double and triple checking everything I would have managed to mess up several times already. It is so easy to panic and start doing before the brain catches up.
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@KriZm I just realized I completely skipped over your questions about NPK, TDS, and PH.
First TDS since it is the simple one. TDS means total dissolved solids and is an estimated measurement of the salts/solids/minerals/metals/contaminates in your water based off of an electrical conductivity reading which can also be measured in ec which stands for electrical conductivity. Lol
PH. Our bodies can process just about anything in a wide range of ph levels and the 4.2 of the LA Croix is nothing for the human body. Now, for a plant, that 4.2 would start killing beneficial bacteria and locking out the more alkaline nutrients needed such as potassium and calcium. Ph for soil, waterings, and feedings for cannabis should be kept between 6.2 and 6.8. I aim for the sweet spot in the middle at 6.5 but I let it naturally fluctuate between 6.0 and 7.0 because it helps increase nutrient uptake. Nutrients are absorbed at different ph ranges and slight fluctuations in healthy levels let’s the plant take up more of certain nutrients at different ph levels. For instance phosphorus and nitrogen are more bioavailable at a lower ph so if you are having nitrogen or phosphorus deficiencies feeding and watering with a ph of 6 will increase the uptake of N and P. Things like potassium and calcium like a higher ph so if you were having calcium or potassium deficiencies feeding and watering closer to ph of 7 would increase uptake of calcium and potassium etc… This is for growing in soil BTW. Hydro ph ranges are slightly different.
NPK is simple enough but it can start getting very complex once you start working out conversions for volume, water solubility for solutions, and true elemental levels etc…
The basics though is that N-P-K is the percentage by weight of each macro in that fertilizer. Some people say it’s parts, but it’s percentage by weight.
So an N-P-K of 3-1-1 would be 3% nitrogen 1% phosphorus and 1% potassium by weight. There is a more advanced breakdown I will share with you as well to give you a better idea of how much elemental phosphorus and potassium the fertilizers actually have because they both need to be bonded with other elements etc… so they don’t oxidize or become volatile. Like phosphorus for instance, in its true elemental form when it contacts oxygen it oxidizes rapidly generating a large amount of heat and it glows usually either white or red and consumes itself. Definitely can’t use it in that form, so we use others.
Here are the basic formulas to find the true elemental phosphorus and potassium levels in nutrients.
Phosphorus: P x .436 = elemental phosphorus percentage.
Potassium: K x .83 = elemental potassium percentage.
Nitrogen needs no conversion for advanced nutrient mixing etc.
Final and last quick tip for NPK is that organic nutrients will almost always have a lower NPK than chemical salts.
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Absolutely. I get caught up in that flow and then my mind likes to throw curve balls occasionally. 
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Where did you get all of this information ? Did you go to school for this? Any classes you recommend if so ? Or just self taught by hella reading?
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@KriZm a bit of everything. Earth science classes in high-school and some college, horticulture classes at the local rec/community center, and lots and lots of reading. I have a lot of cannabis and agriculture books.
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I figured man, super knowledgeable. Much appreciated.
Still a little confused about the numbers on NPK. I have to figure out the conversion I believe is what I’m not understanding as of now. I’ll look into it more deeply when the time comes to feed.
Any books or classes specifically you would suggest specifically to dial in nutrients?
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@KriZm just a basic horticulture class. It goes over the basics of what plants need for nutrition, different styles of gardening, and how to identify and address pests and diseases.
Depending on where you live you can take a course at a community college or if you have a rec/community center you can see what family or adult education classes they have.
Rec centers are a great resource for free or inexpensive education. Some offer everything from cooking and agriculture to self defense and martial arts classes.
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I happen to live right next to a community center that I took acting classes at when I was like 5 lol. I’m not sure if they’re open but I will definitely look into it soon.
Horticulture class here I come!
Thanks again !
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I might be off subject here, but I sure would like to know which NPK store product you all like…Fox Farm, Advanced Nutrients, etc.
I’ve been using MG plant food; the yellow box…Also a bag of 0-50-30 during flower…
My grows are OK…But when I see the amazing buds from growers who use these Pot based NPK products, I’m thinking why not try it…I’ve seen the 3-1 pt. for $33
there about…How many autoflower harvests,start to finnish per plant, can I expect using these size products?? I use MG potting soil…
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I’m new to all of this myself so the answers will be valuable from long term growers. I’ve used fox farm and I wish I had more of it for the initial starting of the seeds as I did that my first time and they all florished. I think I will buy more and go into smaller pots as that shits pretty expensive. That’s the one products I know works well so far. Worm castings seemed to keep the plants healthy as well.
Hope we can get some good responses to your question! Happy growing bud
So I gather Foxfarm 16oz-trio does not go very far…How many plants–autoflowers- start to finnish is Foxfarm good for ??
Be careful those are some serious NPK %.
Can burn you plants and overload your medium.
Me personally started with low concentration liquid. It’s easy to add if needed later on.
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I did the math one time and think I remember FF trio turning out to be about 15 dollars a plant.
Is it safe to put 1 tps of calmag, kelp, and molasses into your watering solution? I’ll be making 5gs, check ph after mixed and alter it based on reading.
About the kelp or kelp/calmag foilsge spray, do the dew drops from the spray burn your plants with the magnifying glass effect from the lights?
So many more questions but I’ll keep it at this for now. Looks like I will lose at least two plants from I’m assuming the wrong soil in beginning although some came out just fine? I don’t understand how some survive and some don’t, would that be from genetics if they all started the same?
The only other thing I think that may have happened is that I helped the seed pod come off so I may have intervened in the growing process which possibly could have cut the fragile stem not allowing the proper nutrients to be absorbed including water itself?
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@KriZm yeah it’s safe. 1 tsp per gallon. Just make sure you ph it before watering and feeding.
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