all meters have to be calibrated.. so with that said I buy the not so expensive ones.. check it once a week and when they wont calibrate replace it.. seems to wrok out fine and its basically the cost of operation..imo...
Its always fun to read an article after you've found the round-about way to the same info. I learned the "basic's" of this here and there... and its nice to see it all together and explained with the right amount of science/tech talk. The last thing i learned about using and watching the #'s from my meter was Conversion Factors. Not all PPM's are represented equally. And a .5 conversion factor on your meter is much different than a companies chart that is figured on a .7 factor. Thanks Slinger!
yes the factor can fuck ya for sure... But ya know...once ya get going the plants tell ya allot to.. I always pay attention to what they are saying then adjust ppms to them... Ive grown a few strains and i can tell ya they all seem to have different tastes.. Maybe just a scoosh different but still different.. One may like heavy N while another may prefer heavy P... So watching the plants is by far better then anything else.. Keep them reaching for the sky.. thats a good sign they are happy... also watch the tips of the leafs...once they start to get a lil brown tip..back off on your nutes.. Just a couple pointers guys... This was a copy and paste guys I cant take the credit but I thought great info for anyone
ok so im about to but a ph pen and the solution to calibrate it, my question is.... is it necessary to buy more then one solution? or will buying the 7.0 solution be fine?
So what about when you start with fresh nutes, say 780 tds/ppm and 5.5 ph. Now, the first day it drops to 720 tds and 5.8 ph. The second day it only drops to 710 and 5.9 ph. On the third day it rises to 790 and 5.6 ph. So I add water untill it reads 560 tds and 5.8 ph. The next day it reads 590 tds and 5.7 ph. This is a general idea of what happens most everytime. I get a few good days where it feeds and then it starts to raise no matter how much I dilute it. Thoughts on that one ?
try this When you set ur ppms as you did... remeber that day.... in two days when its still dropping top off back to original water height.(fresh water only). then watch ur ppms... Its my guess you need to top off every two days... then every week 7 days....take the ppms back up to disired running... example: start mon at 700 tuesday 650 ppms wed 600 ppms..topoff fresh water thursday 550 it went down when you added water friday 525 sat 500 topoff and adjust ppm back to 700 and start cycle again... Remember the temp/ hunidity all play a part.. the plant usses only what it needs... But what ive told ya there I think you will find works great.... by adding every couple days your also putting back some of the micro nutes that lift from the agatading water..... Let me know how it goes mate Slinger
Thanks for the advice. I will definitely try that and get back to you. It makes sense, kind of anticipating the curve before it comes. Thats the best answer I've gotten to date.
Hey thanks, I really benefited from this information. I'm a new grower and I want the grow the right way and this helps out big time. Thanks again
your right on BS.my ph was 7.2 and was causing lockout and caused major problems just because I didnt have some calibration solution for my ph meter. as soon as it was corrected they perked right up.wont let that happen again.
The two brands of RO I have used from the machines in the groery stores was 5.0 for Culligan and 5.5 for Glacier for PH.
Thanks for the great info Budslinger! Wow, we'll have to google some stuff though! We thought that we would reply to Sextasticle's post way back there that we read it's good to let the PH fluctuate between around 5.2 to 6.1 for maximum nutrient uptake. We started to do it, and it seems to be working! Thanks again for the great read!
where can i buy calibration solution for a Ph meter? does it come with it? also, what is a good common Ph up & Ph down?
Usualy at a hydro store or online. What brand of PH meter are you looking at getting? Hanna and Bluelab are the top two reccomended brands but Milwaukee and Hanna each have a more economical model for a starter one then you just need some calibrations solutions for it. For PH Up & Down I just use General Hydroponics brand, its about $10.00 a bottle but its lasts a long time and doesnt take much to PH up or down your water or nute mix.
not sure on brand, will probably just get a cheap, but decent one on ebay. couldnt i just test tap water with a Ph meter? like if its not 7.0 or very close then i'd know its off.