Ec, Tds, Ppm

Just_Grow · Mar 17, 2016

I am on my second cycle run n with flood and drain. I used soil for couples years i had a ppm/ph meter but it broke.. So when i started F&D i was using the Gh drops for ph and bought the cheap blue lab ppm pen. Well i was a hinking that my ph was off so i broke down bought a new meter and its the bluelab guardian. Well on the meter it has all three measurements ( Ec, Tds, Ppm) im wondering which is the best to use for my F&D setup..

LostTribe · Mar 17, 2016

Most will now say Ec but I am old fashion and really dont use one too much just to make sure the nutes arent too hot as I run a mild pbp solution.

Just_Grow · Mar 17, 2016

Thank you LostTribe

Yea thats what i read when i googled so i am using ec and getting used to it.. I just noticed how its got all three and when i switch from tds to ppm its a different number. I was always under the impression that tds and ppm are the same..

dansbuds · Mar 17, 2016

BOOMHAUER · Mar 17, 2016

I always used a ppm pen. Then I read about everyone's different conversion factors. Needed a new meter so I bought Milwaukee ec meter.
A note on the ph drops. I used to use them as well. Pain in the ass and not very accurate. Now it takes 5 seconds to get a reading with no guesswork.

barletta · Mar 17, 2016

I have a bluelab combo pen too & I use the 700 scale as it's the 'finest', then I divide by 700 to get my ec & I 'think' in terms of ec. Love my bluelab pen

Just_Grow · Mar 18, 2016

BOOMHAUER said:
I always used a ppm pen. Then I read about everyone's different conversion factors. Needed a new meter so I bought Milwaukee ec meter.
A note on the ph drops. I used to use them as well. Pain in the ass and not very accurate. Now it takes 5 seconds to get a reading with no guesswork.

Hahahaha yes drops are a pain in the ass.. Always about a full point off. Id get 6.0 on drops but a ph pen would show 5.3......

Just_Grow · Mar 18, 2016

barletta said:
I have a bluelab combo pen too & I use the 700 scale as it's the 'finest', then I divide by 700 to get my ec & I 'think' in terms of ec. Love my bluelab pen

Is that how you do it. Nver knew. I used tonuse ppm thats all th meter would whow now i been using EC from what i read its th best to use

Just_Grow · Mar 18, 2016

barletta said:
I have a bluelab combo pen too & I use the 700 scale as it's the 'finest', then I divide by 700 to get my ec & I 'think' in terms of ec. Love my bluelab pen

So whatever ppm you get you divide by 700....

Just_Grow · Mar 18, 2016

dansbuds said:
View Image

Hey thank you dansbuds

Ill keep this chart for future referene

Just_Grow · Mar 18, 2016

My question was hat the best tds ec or ppm. Only one person answered the question right. He said ec.... Well maybe two now

dansbuds · Mar 18, 2016

When discussing nutrient strengths , always use EC . .5 ppms (tds) & .7 ppms all convert back to EC . so if you say your running 600ppms ..... we don't know what conversion your running to be able to help . but if you say its .6 EC ... we know exactly what strength your talking about ., dig it ???

Just_Grow · Mar 18, 2016

dansbuds said:
When discussing nutrient strengths , always use EC . .5 ppms (tds) & .7 ppms all convert back to EC . so if you say your running 600ppms ..... we don't know what conversion your running to be able to help . but if you say its .6 EC ... we know exactly what strength your talking about ., dig it ???

Thanl ypu dansbud

Thats the answer i was looking for.. So i was right wheni switched to EC.... Its the better measurment

bearminimum · Mar 18, 2016

I buy cheap China ppm meters. They use NaCl scale which is .5 conversion. Perfect because most solutions like GH TDS solution says right on bottle 1500 NaCl. From what I see the .7 scale is going away and NaCl and direct EC are the numbers floating around.

RockinRobot · Mar 18, 2016

Regardless of the conversion factor of the meter, monitoring PPM is more helpful when adding nutes back to the reservoir.

Knowing starting PPM and PPM after adding back water will allow you to get an add back value for nutes.

For me it also makes it easier to monitor whether the plants are eating more or less as smaller changes are more noticeable when reading PPM as opposed to EC.

BOOMHAUER · Mar 18, 2016

RockinRobot said:
Regardless of the conversion factor of the meter, monitoring PPM is more helpful when adding nutes back to the reservoir.

Knowing starting PPM and PPM after adding back water will allow you to get an add back value for nutes.

For me it also makes it easier to monitor whether the plants are eating more or less as smaller changes are more noticeable when reading PPM as opposed to EC.

I don't follow your logic. If you start at 2.8 ec and want to raise it to 3.0 what's the difference between that and 1400 to1500 or 1960 to 2100? Same amout of nutes will raise each accordingly.

LostTribe · Mar 20, 2016

with all honesty if you are not a commercial grower then you really don't have to have a meter for nutrient content. Most run mild solutions hovering around 1100 ppm or 2.0 ec at most during peak bloom with the exception of pk boosters.....

Just_Grow · Mar 20, 2016

LostTribe said:
with all honesty if you are not a commercial grower then you really don't have to have a meter for nutrient content. Most run mild solutions hovering around 1100 ppm or 2.0 ec at most during peak bloom with the exception of pk boosters.....

I dont even run that high i always thought that was to high.. The most i topped out at was about 900 ppm. The ec reads 1.5 right now. Should i try going higher. The plants seem to like it they dont look burnt or anything..

BOOMHAUER · Mar 20, 2016

LostTribe said:
with all honesty if you are not a commercial grower then you really don't have to have a meter for nutrient content. Most run mild solutions hovering around 1100 ppm or 2.0 ec at most during peak bloom with the exception of pk boosters.....

Why not. I like to know as much as I can about my environment. I think it is very important. You either waste nutrients or have underdeveloped product. One way or another you are losing money. Can it be done? Absolutely. Almost everyone has had to fly blind at some point and when I have I have had success. But I hate guessing. I have homemade systems so I don't have exact gallon measurements in my reservoirs. Meters give me flexibility.

BOOMHAUER · Mar 20, 2016

Just_Grow said:
I dont even run that high i always thought that was to high.. The most i topped out at was about 900 ppm. The ec reads 1.5 right now. Should i try going higher. The plants seem to like it they dont look burnt or anything..

Depends on your growing method. I have a aero/nft system that most hang at 3.0. There have been times when I wasn't able to get to my room and they had climed to 3.6 when I checked and they were loving it. I think in the future I'm going to run a side-by-side one table my normal routine and one with a lower ec to see the difference. I say if they look healthy don't over think it. Its worse to overfeed than under. You can always recover from the latter. If you are going to raise it go slow.
I just re-read the first post. I have no experience with flood to drain. But if I remember all that I have read those guys run lower levels.

Ec, Tds, Ppm

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