'knock off' EI method (WILL IT WORK)

[aaronnorth]

i have been looking at EI but i go away quite a lot so i dont want my neighbour having to dose different chemicals daily etc.

so i have come up with this routine

Mon -
Tue - NPK & Excell
Wed -
Thur -
Fri - trace elements
Sat -
Sun - 40% w/c with NPK & Excell

1) Would this work as a mini EI method or is it a recipe for disaster?

It is a 180l/ 40g
2 x 24W HO T5's = 1.2WPG (more like 2WPG)
Nutrafin co2 at moment but this *possible* routine won't be happening unless i get a pressurized system.

2) Any ideas to improve, any pros and cons you can think of please say.


3) I will be dosing via dry ferts.

pottasium nitrate
pottasium phosphate
trace mix

**will i need to dose magnesium sulphate?**


THANKS IN ADVANCE.

 

[ceg4048]

Hi,
EI is not really concerned with any rigid dosing schedule per se. The concept is to have enough nutrients in the tank at all times that exceeds the consumption rate of the tank. If you go 4 days without dosing NPK then you need to think about how much you need to dose to tide the tank over till water change/re-dosing day.

It doesn't seem like your lighting is extreme so you ought to be able to pull it off if you have a nutritious substrate and if the dose prior to the 4 day interval is proportionally higher than the dose that has only a 2 day interval (if that makes any sense )
If you don't want to have two different dosing quantities then you'd have to dose both at the higher value. Either way I'd do a larger water change on the Sunday, probably 70% or more. That's because if you stress the plants during the 4 day interval the ammonia production might be a bit higher so you'd want to lower it's concentration as much as possible.

Try it for a few weeks and see how it goes before you let the neighbor try it.

Cheers,

 

[alexandre]

With the lighting you have you might get away with just using TPN+, will be more easy for your neighbours