EVERY GOOD GROWER has a pH / ppm meter

[GrowerGoneWild]

On a side note..

It was possible for me to grow without a PPM/PH meter. I lost my pen for that grow, It got lost in my car.. I found it later.. (It was in my glovebox)

Anywho the meter will only tell you so much..

It was more challenging for me to grow this way. I had to really watch for overfeeding.
PH imbalance, Excessive N, P, K. So in essence my plant was the meter.

As cliche' as this sounds when I lost my meter, I paid more attention to the plant.

Would I do it again?... Hell no.. But I really learned ALOT about plant conditions, watching for the small hints that something was wrong.

I thought I did good, .8 GPW, scrog from seed, with no meter.

 

[Jellyfish]

Since y'all are waving your tools around , lemme ask a question.

Is there a relationship between ppm and strength? In other words, you don't increase strength of nutes because of a low ppm reading? Do ya?

Conversely, if you're using RO water, you don't really need to worry about ppm, unless you're pushing your nutes past the recommended strength. Right?

Am I the only one who is confused on this point?

what's the 411?

 

[FreezerBoy]

Yes but, you're not measuring ppm. You're measuring the waters ability to conduct electricity aka Electrical Conductivity or EC. Water alone is a very poor conductor, it's the minerals in it that conduct. Thus, distilled water, having it's minerals removed, measures 0. The higher the EC the more minerals in the water. The more minerals in the water the stronger the solution.

 

[gmanwho]

I've been through 4 oakton ph pens, 2 hanna ph pens, 3 china knock off nutridrips trimeters. due to multiple rezs and the need /want of more then one meter.

i bought my nutridrip trimeter 8 years ago, and it still is the most accurate and trustworthy hands down. I had to replace the ph elctrode a few times, thats it. old faithfull for me.

Go with the REAL nutridrip trimeter. pens are a crapshoot sometimes........

B-safe

 

[superultramega]

Since y'all are waving your tools around , lemme ask a question.

Is there a relationship between ppm and strength? In other words, you don't increase strength of nutes because of a low ppm reading? Do ya?

Yes. I watch the ppms drop when I top off and add nutes to the res as neccessary to bring them where I want them. This can be once a week or less early on, but can be as often as every 4-6 days in the late-middle of flower.
The ppm meter gives you some information about what the plants are eating. You combine that info with the amount of water they're using and what they look like to dial in your target ppms throughout the grow. Take notes and improve on the next grow.

 

[whodair]

gone 17 yrs straight indoor without a meter, no probs. listen to the plant !! and certainly outdoors i would think meters not needed. its a weed!!

 

[MarquisBlack]

You need both the drops AND the meter for accurate measures.(if your a ninja, like im trying to be)

But if you just want it to work; go with drops, they never fail, meters do and thats reason enough.

Redundancy is your friend!