Over the past month the local hydroponics store gave me fairly large quantities of nutrient for free. The first was a liquid rated at 2-2-6. I mixed it to achieve a ppm of 2800 in my ebb and flow system. My tomatoes and peppers are doing great - the peppers are covered in buds and flowers and the tomatoes are flowering and have many green fruit.

Today I went to buy some more of the same nutrient but they didn't have any. They gave me (for free) a box of samples of a dry mix that is specific for growing tomatoes and vegetables. It is rated at 10-6-18.

I spent quite a bit of time with my TDS meter, a calculator, and surfing the web for answers. But I'm still puzzled. If I follow the vague instructions on the label (1 teaspoon dry nutrient to one gallon water) I get a ppm of 400. So my questions are:

1) At 400ppm is the mixture really the equivalent of a 10-6-18 fertilizer? Is this just a ratio? At 2800ppm does this ratio remain the same? Is the ppm the strength of the solution?

2) If I mix the dry nutrient to achieve a ppm of 2800 will the 10-6-18 ratio of the nutrient harm my plants? (This works out to be 1 1/4 cups dry nutrient to 15 gallons water. Similarly, the liquid worked out to be 500ml to 15 gallons water. The guys at the hydroponics store seem astonished that my tomotoes and peppers are even growing. But honestly, they've done so well I've even sent pictures to relatives).

3) Are the N-K-P ratios essentially identical when mixed to the same ppm?

I changed the nutrient solution of the tomatoes to the dry mix at 2800ppm today. The peppers got the last of the liquid mix.

The plants are outdoors. There are 30 peppers (red, orange, yellow, and purple) in 6 x 6 square containers and 12 tomatoes (several varieties) in 2 gallon containers.

Please help. There seems to be a basic principle I'm not understanding.

Thanks in advance - Hal