So I got this PPM meter......

[Bongofury]

and my reading was 003 in 4 or 5 jars of rain water I tested and 013 in one of them. I have no clue about PPM's at the moment. Something else to research. I tell ya, my head is spinning.

 

[Bongofury]

Did some searching. It's starting to sink in. I guess 003 is darn good. :confused2: 500 to 800 is good for the run off in an organic dirt grow?? Did I get that right??

 

[Grower13]

Did some searching. It's starting to sink in. I guess 003 is darn good. :confused2: 500 to 800 is good for the run off in an organic dirt grow?? Did I get that right??

1100 - 1400 ppm is the high end ppms for most strains with synthetic nutrient feeding ......... not sure ppms count with organic............... the 800 ppm run off suggest there's something in the soil....... but is it organic........ I don't know.....:48:

 

[Bongofury]

I will check the run off next watering.

 

[Rosebud]

I got nothing, don't know nutten about no ppms...organic rules.ha
Just wanted to say hi Bongo.

 

[Bongofury]

I got nothing, don't know nutten about no ppms...organic rules.ha
Just wanted to say hi Bongo.

Hi Rosebud. Organic DOES rule :aok:

 

[Hushpuppy]

Lemme see can I splain ya sumpun here The ppm is a measure of parts per million. The meter reads the electrical conductivity in the water with a special tip that reads and adjusts according to the chemistry of a solution. That number is adjusted with an algorithm to give you the TDS(ppm) read out.

Generally with synthetic nutrients, as you mix in Tbsp/tsp/ml to a given body of water, it is going to disperse into the water and become part of the solution. If the water was pure H2O, it would have 0ppm as there is no dissolved solids in it. If you put 5ml of the Micronutrient part of a 3 part nute brand(I use ml per gallon) into 1 gallon of water, you may get a reading of 350ppm which is relatively low. If you put all 3 parts in at 5ml, you would be around 850ppm (which is a max level of nutes for vegging full veg plants for me)

Now if you put that same 15ml of nutrients into a 5 gallon bucket, your TDS meter wouldn't read ~850ppm anymore. It will read at 1/5th of the first reading which is ~170ppm. The reason is that you have added 4 more gallons to the initial solution. That water causes the dissolved molecules to spread out into the larger body of water and disperse itself evenly throughout that body of water(law of physics).

Now I use Jungle juice from Advanced Nutrients and my general feeding numbers that I use for solutions are ~200-400ppm for seedlings beginning at ~200ppm on first feed. then veg begins at ~600ppm and goes to ~850ppm. When I switch over to flowering, I move up to ~1150 for the first 3 weeks, then up to ~1250-1400ppm depending on the kind of plants.

Now testing for organic TDS is almost impossible to do with any kind of accuracy due to the nature of the raw materials that vary in structure, size, and dispersion in the solution or substrate. What you can do is begin with what is manufacturer recommended and take reading, then adjust periodically to determine what ppm the plants like. You really have to do this with ANY nutrient, organic or synthetic as no 2 are made alike. Plus the different plant strains (genetics) will vary the feeding likes and dislikes of the plants.

800ppm in dirt probably isn't far off of right for veg (I would think)

 

[Bongofury]

Thanks for taking the time Hushpuppy. I think I got it.

 

[Bongofury]

I tested the ppm from the run off of 2 pots tonite. 1 was 726 and the other was 1020. Same nute mixture, Same THC bomb strain, same everything. Go figure. My head is spinning out of control.

 

[Hushpuppy]

I hope I didn't offend you with my country language above.

If I remember correctly, you are in organic soil? then your readings will vary from plant to plant because the elements are not equally dispersed in organic mediums and nutes, but more so in the liquid nutrients but not soil or amendments. In synthetic nutrients, everything is chelated, balanced, and mixed to not interfere with each other while in solution. Everything is raw in organics and is not equally chelated.

There's not anything you can do about that. You just sort of guesstimate until you get used to figuring it. That is what I call cifering.

 

[Bongofury]

I hope I didn't offend you with my country language above.

If I remember correctly, you are in organic soil? then your readings will vary from plant to plant because the elements are not equally dispersed in organic mediums and nutes, but more so in the liquid nutrients but not soil or amendments. In synthetic nutrients, everything is chelated, balanced, and mixed to not interfere with each other while in solution. Everything is raw in organics and is not equally chelated.

There's not anything you can do about that. You just sort of guesstimate until you get used to figuring it. That is what I call cifering.

oh no offence hushpuppy. you have done nothing but help me.

 

[Dumme]

I just going to assume everyone uses the 500 scale on this site. PPM's are not universal.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Unfortunately, different makes of TDS meters use one of the 2 algorhythms for measuring TDS. I use a Hanna TDS and I believe it uses the 500 scale. You have to go to the manufacturer site to determine to scale.

 

[wordwar-ingreenink]

Unfortunately, different makes of TDS meters use one of the 2 algorhythms for measuring TDS. I use a Hanna TDS and I believe it uses the 500 scale. You have to go to the manufacturer site to determine to scale.

wow, I don't use a ppm meter just yet in my grows trying to still keep it simple, but that just gave me some nice base info about it and how it works, I'm bookmarking the info in my brain for later use. Haha thank you.

 

[Bongofury]

wow, I don't use a ppm meter just yet in my grows trying to still keep it simple, but that just gave me some nice base info about it and how it works, I'm bookmarking the info in my brain for later use. Haha thank you.

I used the ppm meter to test my rain water and it was 003. That told me there were NO minerals in my water. That is why the cal/mag supplement helped me so much.

I won't use it again unless I change water sources as my rain water is pure.

 

[Hushpuppy]

That sounds like a plan but you will need to keep giving them some calmag throughout the entire grow. I use it until I get within 3 weeks of harvest, then I cut the amount in half for another week or 2 depending on how the plants are doing, then I cut it off about a week ahead of harvesting as its not needed at the very end.

 

[Bongofury]

That sounds like a plan but you will need to keep giving them some calmag throughout the entire grow. I use it until I get within 3 weeks of harvest, then I cut the amount in half for another week or 2 depending on how the plants are doing, then I cut it off about a week ahead of harvesting as its not needed at the very end.

Thanks for dropping by Hushpuppy. Now that I re read my post it was confusing. I meant I won't use the PPM meter again unless I change water sources. I feed a full dose of calmag every feeding.

Do you stop the calmag at the end of bloom for flavor?

 

[Hushpuppy]

I figured that's what you meant. I do similar if I know everything is staying the same. I only cut off the calmag and some of the nutes as well so to not waste them. If the plants are nice and healthy all the way to the end then they won't need much during the last week except water. Also as the plants are winding down their process, they need less nutes anyway. However, If you are afraid of cutting off the nutes too early then just cut them back some if you want, or carry them all the way to cut day. If the flowers are dried and cured slowly and long enough, the nutrients will not affect the final flavor of the bud.