Hi kekon,
very interesting experiment. I've changed my dosing routine to nearly your specs and it resulted in alot healthier grow in my semisoft water (gh 6-7). For the last 6 months i was unable to get very good growth with the estimative index and tried nearly everything to get more of the "missing" nutrients into the tank. I've rised iron and trace elements to really high levels (iron around 1-2ppm). Dosed magnesium, calcium etc. My CO2 levels have been really high during the whole time at around 40ppm with direct misting towards the plants (checked via drop checker and digital pH meter).
At all my growth was never satisfying
. Now i've reduced my macro dosing alot and have switsched to Eudrakon N from DRAK for nitrogen supplementation, also i've upped my K dosis to 20ppm. My plants are getting better with each day.
The big question that confuses me is why some people are getting great results with EI even in soft water (Tom for example is using a GH around 5 or WolfenXXX has nearly no GH with pure Osmosis and no extra Mg and Ca addition) and i (and alot other) struggle with proper conditions.
The main argument for no success with EI is not enough CO2, but at my case it can't be that simple. High CO2 all the time and the plants are pearling like mad but at the same time not growing very good (stunting, curling and other deformations)
. I even rised my GH to higher levels (GH 13) due to your last thread hoping that with those higher ca/mg values i might be able to keep NO3 around 20ppm levels. For example freeman with a GH at 12 is able to keep 20ppm of NO3 and alot other people too.
Regards
Tobi