when to dose???

[NateFank]

i was wondering what time of the day or nite does everyone do their dosing? i usually do mine in the morning just after my lights come on and was wondering if that is ok or if i should dose at a different time
thanx

[bradac56]

That should be fine. I think the perfect time would be about an hour before the lights come on but it's not a hard science.

- Brad

[hoa101]

Say you are using a dosing schedule like EI, designed to purposely overdose a bit and reset every week with a 50% water change. The level of ferts in your tank is basically a power series with this method, converging at some value based on plant usage and amount added per week.

Anyway, assume after doing it for a few weeks you have around 20-30ppm nitrates in the water column at all times. Why would adding your ferts at any given time make a difference? Say you add in the morning and go from 20ppm to 25ppm. Or say you add at night. Why would either case matter? There is already plenty in the water.

Now if for some reason you had 5ppm and dosed to 20, maybe that would matter. However, that isn't how dosing schedules work.

My 2c.

[Hoppy]

I agree with Hoa101. Also, if you put the ferts in the water at midnight, with all lights out, they just stay in the water until the plants start feeding the next morning. They don't evaporate, or otherwise vanish. Now, if you are trying a lean dosing method, where you try to match your dosing to the plants' demand, it might be a little different. But with EI type dosing it doesn't matter.