What's new
  • Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

Get the Most Out of a PPM Meter

EL1M1N80R

Member
New to growing and been measuring my nutes in mililitres.

Now I have started using a PPM meter. I noticed in 1 reservior the PPM has dropped to almost half the initial value, over the space of 5 days.

Question for the Pros - How can I use my PPM meter to get the maximum benefits out of my nutrients?

Cheers :tiphat:
 

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
Personally, I use the ppm meter to check nutrient strength to record it for later use. Each strain has different needs for nutrient, these needs also change according to environmental differences. Knowing what each strain prefers makes it easier for me to feed them appropriately, without ever overloading them. ;)

Once I know the maximum ppm ranges for a strain/pheno, I use the ppm meter when mixing the initial reservoir. Once mixed, with pH set at the bottom healthy range, I don't use the ppm meter at all. Health of the reservoir is determined through checking pH.

I top off my reservoirs daily with pure r/o water. As the plants eat the nutrients the pH slowly rises and the ppms drop. When the pH reaches the maximum healthy range I add nutrients until the pH is again at the lowest healthy range (Nutrients are pH down...). The ppms are automatically within range of when I first set the reservoir up.

Super easy. :)
 
Top