New Grower Do I need a ppm meter ?

[bad dragon bzzz]

i have been growing just over a year.a ppm/tds meter is the only bit of kit im missing.
whilst my grows have been so so,no great disasters just very small plants.
im wondering if a ppm meter will actually help me in any way.i dont believe im in a hard water area,friends in the same area have grown decent sized plants using much the same kit as me,with 1/4 the knowledge/research/homework i have done.
scratching my head to come up with some answers.if i get a ppm meter and discover i actually do have hard/high ppm water from the mains supply.then how come my mates plants were a good size.or should i just go out and buy some bottled water to see how my plants like that.
confused.

 

[Darth Vapour]

I just ordered a pH meter and will look into a ppm after a few grows. I think if you plan on growing in the long run there will be times when it'll be helpful to get an accurate reading. So far I've been lucky but I'm at the point where I want to understand how my plants are reacting to the food I've given them in order to max out production. Plus it's always fun to get stuff in the mail other than bills lol

 

[AndyBotwin]

Archie, if your water is very high ppm then it may be worth trying bottled water just to see if it makes a difference. But it's unlikely that yours is significantly different from your friends in the area. It's possible that you are underfeeding your plants which will obviously not maximize their growth. After all the stories about going light on the nutes with autos, I was very gun-shy about feeding when I first started out. Over time I've learned through a combination of trying different nute combinations, reading the plants, and testing ppm that I can usually go higher than the 1/4 to 1/2 dose that many people stick to. Sometimes through ppm testing you'll even find that two nearly identical plants of the same strain have different feeding needs.

 

[hank]

Sometimes through ppm testing you'll even find that two nearly identical plants of the same strain have different feeding needs.

Hate this. It happens a lot.