Ph/ppm/ec/tds.....wtf/smh/lol

jojaxx

jojaxx

Well-Known Member
Can someone please let me know which of these testers/meters are really needed. Wanna start my 1st hydro/waterfarm grow but wanna be able to get & keep my water & nutes in check. Been reading alot as of late & some just worry about ph....others ph/ppm.....some ph/ec.....just got my "ice" from nirvana yesterday, everything else I need will be here next week....just need to know exactly which meter or meters I need......would also love it if someone could recomend a good one that I dont need to go to school to learn how to operate the darn thing......thanx
 
Your going to need a PH tester and TDS tester. You can find some that are combined in one, they are a bit more spendy. Both will be required for a hydroponic grow, although some people with a lot of experience can get away without using one.
 
It is actually easier than it all sounds. You need something to read your ph and also to read your ppm/ec. The ph you want for hydro is between 5.5 and 6.0, as for the ppm's that just tells you how many parts per million there are in the water. In other words how much shit is in your water. I start at a ppm of 400 and by the time I am getting ready to flush it's around 1400. Everybody does it a little different though.
Some sell pens that read all of that in one but I am a cheap fuck and get the two cheapest ones i can and they seem to work fine.
Here is a ph pen and this one is like 28 bucks
PH600-600__24668_zoom.JPG


Here is a TDS pen for 24 bucks. This read out your parts per million (ppm)
HM-TDS-EZ-600__77187_zoom.jpg
 
Thank u both for your replies.....@ MnW....im a cheap fuck also so much thanx for taking the time to put up the pens your using.
 
Also thanx for clearing up the whole ppm/tds thing....now I see why I didnt find a ph/ppm combo meter, uh I did its just that they said ph/tds combo meters.....nice to know the tds meter is wut reads the ppm's, thanx again....think im just about ready to start my hydro/scrog journey in the up coming week.
 
Doesn't it have to be an EC tester? TDS is total dissolved solids. That's probably why they are so cheap. The TDS pen would be better than nothing but they're not really designed for hydroponics. The TDS testers are for drinking water quality testing, how much general crap is in the water, anything soluble. The EC testers only measure the nutrient salts themselves, because those are the only things that conduct electricity in the solution. At least as far as I know. Could be wrong.
 
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