General Hydroponics 3-Part Nutrient Feed Schedule

Here's a slightly tweaked feeding schedule week by week  for General Hydrponics 3-Part Series. I will only use the volume of each part per gallon of water in the following manner: grow, micro, bloom, ppm range. Example – 10-5-5-400/800 would mean 10 ml grow 5 ml micro, 5 ml bloom and a ppm of 400-880. Remember it’s per gallon. 4 liters is just a little bit over 1 gallon. It should also be noted to use the hard water micro if your tap water is hard. I suggest using the hard water micro in place of the regular micro if your tap water is over 200 ppm total or you have over 70 ppm Ca. RO water users should use the regular micro.

1 gal – 3.785 liters

Veg –week 1  – 5ml Grow – 2.5ml Micro – 2.5ml Bloom-400/600 ppm
week 2  –  10ml Grow  – 5ml Micro – 3ml Bloom – 600/800 ppm
week 3  –  12ml Grow – 6ml Micro  – 3ml Bloom 800/1000 ppm (continue week 3 formula if additional veg time is required.)

Bloomweek 1  –   6ml Grow -6ml Micro – 10ml Bloom – 800/1200 ppm
week 2  –  3ml Grow -7ml Micro – 12ml Bloom – 1000/1400 ppm
week 3  –  3ml Grow -8ml Micro – 14ml Bloom – 1000/1400 ppm
week 4  –  3ml Grow -8ml Micro – 16ml Bloom – 1000/1400 ppm
week 5  –  (discussed in detail below*)
week 6  –  0ml Grow  – 7ml Micro – 20ml Bloom – 1000/1400 ppm
week 7 –   0ml Grow – 6ml Micro – 20ml Bloom (see bleow**)

**If running an 8 week strain you should only run the ferts during week 7 for a maximum of 3-4 days. This gives you 10 days for flushing. I should note that if I use ferts for a few days in week 7, I take the plants over the 8 week mark. Personally I flush for a min of 14 days. But 10 is bare minimum imo/ime.

The ppms work out almost exactly. I tend to lean toward the lower side of the range, unless I have a really heavy feeder that I know can handle it.

At every ressy change out I add in 5 drops per gallon of 35% food grade H2O2. During flush use ph adjusted water at 5.5-6.0
I will add Epsom salt at week 1 of bloom if the plants are heavy feeders AND I see signs of an Mg def. Otherwise I won’t use it. The only time I have ever had Mg def is during transition. The GH 3 part is a little low on Mg, but the PBP and Canna nutes are way lower.

Now- how to control your PH…
There are a couple factors that cause your PH to drift. The most common is running the nute solution too strong or too weak. If it’s too strong, your PH drops. If it’s too weak the PH rises. You have to find the balance point. If you find that the formula above is say, a little strong, and says you have a 20 gallon ressy, mix the nutes for 18 gallons. If it’s a little weak, mix it for 22 gallons. You follow?
The other common mistake is mixing your nutrient solution and trying to adjust the PH right away. You have to allow time for the ph buffers in the nutrient solution to do their job. Mix the nutes up, and bubble or circulate for 12 hours before even looking at your PH. You will find the PH to be almost right on target.
I use little or no ph adjusters. (Except during flush). I use tap water, with a starting PPM of 300-400 and a starting PH of 7.4-9.0 (That’s crazy you say! The water is too hard, you will never get stable PH and you will have too much Ca, causing a lockout of Mg!) Bollocks I say.
Every week, on Friday I drain the ressy and fill with plain water. I let that run overnight giving the plants a little flush. This also allows the chlorine and ammonia to evap. On Saturday morning, I mix the nutes into the ressy. I DO NOT adjust ph at this time. Let that run as is overnight. On Sunday morning, I check ph and adjust if needed. Usually don’t have to.
Doing things this way has saved me from constant PH drifts, and using about 150 ml of ph down every ressy change, and a little here and there throughout the week to keep it in the desired range. Now, the most I ever have to use is about 30ml. if any at all. (I have a 35 gallon ressy btw) My Ph stays at a constant 5.5-5.8.