Feeding and water quality
Draft. Parts of this page describe behaviour not yet verified on a real Gardyn.
seedypod doesn’t add nutrients for you. It tells you what the tank actually reads, so you feed by measurement instead of by calendar. This page gives the numbers to start from. The evidence behind them, with every source, is in the knowledge bundle: Gardyn feeding guidance and community nutrients .
Gardyn’s routine
For Gardyn Plant Food. A Home holds 5 gal, a Studio 4 gal; never let it fall below half.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Setup | Plain water, no food |
| Most yCubes have sprouted (usually within 2 weeks) | Sprout dose: 1/4 tsp per gallon |
| Weekly, true leaves to early growth | Top off to full with 1/2 tsp per gallon added |
| Weekly, mature or fruiting | Top off with 1 tsp per gallon added |
| Every 4 weeks (2 with four or more fruiting plants) | Refresh: drain, wipe with water and a little baking soda, refill |
HydroBoost goes in weekly; its dose depends on your water (1–4 tsp for a Home).
Using another nutrient
Teaspoons don’t carry over between products. What owners use:
| Product | N-P-K | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| General Hydroponics MaxiGro | 10-5-14 | Leafy greens and herbs (high nitrogen) |
| General Hydroponics MaxiBloom | 5-15-14 | Flowering and fruiting (high phosphorus) |
| Hydroponic Research Veg+Bloom | 8-5-13 | Whole grow, one part. Buy Tap/Hard or RO/Soft to match your water |
A tower of greens and herbs runs on MaxiGro alone. Dissolve powder in a jug before it goes in the tank. Mixed straight in, owners have seen pH read below 4.
Targets
| pH | EC (mS/cm) | |
|---|---|---|
| Seedlings | 5.5–6.5 | 0.8–1.2 |
| Leafy greens | 5.5–6.5 | 1.2–2.0 (owners run 1.3–1.6) |
| Herbs | 5.5–6.5 | 1.0–2.0 |
| Fruiting | 5.5–6.3 | 2.0–2.4 |
Gardyn’s food at its stock dose has been measured at about 1.2 mS/cm. Adjust pH slowly: start at 1 mL of pH Up or Down per gallon and retest after 15–30 minutes. Overshooting is the common mistake.
With seedypod
- Fit a pH and an EC probe (Adding a probe). The readings show under Water quality on the home screen and go into history.
- Feed to the EC target, not the teaspoon. Add nutrient until EC reaches the target for the crop; add plain water to bring it down.
- Let Autopilot watch (Autopilot). For example, notify when the one-hour average pH leaves 5.5–6.5, or when EC drops below 1.2. Backtest it against your recorded readings before you arm it.
The tank-level sensor shows real water use, so top off when the tank is low rather than on a weekly reminder.
Sources: Knowledge: Gardyn feeding guidance · Knowledge: Community nutrients · Adding a probe · Autopilot
Imported from docs/FEEDING.md in seedypod/core. Edit it there, not here.