Okay… here’s my dilemma. I have been have been using the Masterblend 4:18:38 solution. And I have:
Zucchini
Squash
Tomato
Tomatillos
Cabbage
Mustard Greens
Collard Greens
Cowpea Purple Hull
Broccoli
Bush Beans
Banana Peppers
Bell Peppers
My squash/ zucchini has a great amount of foliage but I’ve noticed that it’s started aborting fruit once they reach about 4 inches. I got two nice sized zucchini and the rest have grown to that size and then start to get squishy and just don’t grow anymore.
My tomatillo plants have tons of flowers on them now, but no fruit quite yet. I’ve been hand pollinating and I’m hoping to see some soon.
My peppers have tons of flowers but drop a lot of them and I’ve yet to get a pepper.
My banana peppers now have four peppers growing on it. Although it produces a ton of flowers. A lot of them just drop off.
ChatGPT said that each type of plant needs a different nutrient concentration. Check the pictures below.
So my question is, is that correct? Does each type of plant need a different nutrient concentration? What do you use?
by lifeislifingforsure
5 Comments
Yes its true that plants like peppers and tomatoes are going to want a higher EC than lettuce. If they share the same water reservoir, each plant is going to drink at different rates too .
Thats not the only reason for flower drop. It could also be too hot or too dry. Or not enough light. A few other reasons too.
It’s amazing how ML translates weights into teaspoon volumes, because that’s how Americans cook. Density of these three salts differ. So best to weigh them as recommended by the manufacturer. Or make stock solutions and use an EC meter.
GPT is terrible in hydroponics.
Yes, but most plants are not too fussy.
I usually settle on 3 ranges,
Lettuces, and strawberries, 1.0-1.5 mS/cm.
Brassicas (inbcluding asian greens and kohlrabi) and beetroot, 2.0-2.5 mS/cm.
Tomatos and other large fruiting plants, 2.5-3.0 mS/cm during the fruiting stages.
As far as proportions, there’s no real need to deviate from the 2:1:2 ratio (MB:ES:CN), except I find in the case of cauliflower/brocolli/romanesco where reducing the calcium nitrate a bit and increasing masterblend a bit can help to produce a cleaner head without leaves running through it, at least anecdotally.
For all the things you posted, without checking, I would say around the 2.5 mS/cm range would be fine.
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