New Grower ec vs ml per gallon

[Smokechoke]

Okay so first,
Could not decide to post this in hydro or new growers but considering im a new hydro grower I figured this will do, but feel free to correct me and I will gladly post in the hydro section

second,
im almost positive that this information is already out there on the forum somewhere I just would like an "up to date explanation"

So here lies the question(s)

What is the difference between growing hydro and using nutrients based on mlpg vs ec?

Is there a substantial variation in the results you may get growing one vs the other as far as general yeild ( given the environmental controls are identical)

Is one easier to maintain than the other throughout the grow?

& lastly is ec more cost effective ?

 

[Pal23]

Hey man, I only use Ml per Litre for my soil plants. I think in hydro you will have a lot more control over the grow if you pay attention to EC or even PPM, it allows you to tailor your feed to what the plant is asking for. I'd say it's easier to monitor and change as well. As far as cost goes it COULD be more effective to use EC as it reduces the chance of over feeding / waste. This is all in my opinion though buddy, I've only ever used EC!

 

[wwwillie]

Hey,
I would think that they are not mutually exclusive. Both being a measurement of your nutrients. I am going to equate EC with TDS I know they are not quite the same but for purpose of discussion. If you take a liter of distilled or RO water it should have nothing in it and read 0 (zero) on the meter. You add 4ml of a nutrient, that would give a reading on the meter. So now you know that x amount of nutrient to produce and EC value of Y. IOW word they are both a measurement of the same thing. EC would be the mots accurate. When I mix my solutions I consider myself lucky to get within 10 ppm of the last time on any specific nutrient. Measuring as accurately as I can with my equipment.

 

[Smokechoke]

Whats happenin pal, I have a badass ph/ppm/ec meter ( Hanna Hi 9813-6) and can really dial in the res if I just knew what i was doing lolol but i see ppl like seymore ( just as an example) who pretty much just monitor ec , ph, and res temps with great results. Naturally as a new hydro grower I want a piece of the ec action hahaha.

thanks for the 2c my friend

 

[Smokechoke]

Hey,
I would think that they are not mutually exclusive. Both being a measurement of your nutrients. I am going to equate EC with TDS I know they are not quite the same but for purpose of discussion. If you take a liter of distilled or RO water it should have nothing in it and read 0 (zero) on the meter. You add 4ml of a nutrient, that would give a reading on the meter. So now you know that x amount of nutrient to produce and EC value of Y. IOW word they are both a measurement of the same thing. EC would be the mots accurate. When I mix my solutions I consider myself lucky to get within 10 ppm of the last time on any specific nutrient. Measuring as accurately as I can with my equipment.

Okay so although they are two different units of measure they are quite similar in function, got it... and on my last grow ( first hydro in a waterfarm dwc/drip combo) I went off of ppm and could usualoy get within about 10ppm of my mix every res change but when I would go to ec it wouldn rgister half as high as what some of these fellas are putting up. Is there a ppm to ec comparison ? Say for every 500ppm your ec should be exactly .x?

 

[Pal23]

Okay so although they are two different units of measure they are quite similar in function, got it... and on my last grow ( first hydro in a waterfarm dwc/drip combo) I went off of ppm and could usualoy get within about 10ppm of my mix every res change but when I would go to ec it wouldn rgister half as high as what some of these fellas are putting up. Is there a ppm to ec comparison ? Say for every 500ppm your ec should be exactly .x?

Some EC meters will have a ppm reading on the side for reference, take the BlueLab for example - it's the one I use and very reliable. whether you use mlpg or ec or ppm they all do the same job it's just how accurately you want to get it done. I recommend using your meter from start to finish and calibrate it regularly. If you are confused about how much to feed a common starting point for new plants in hydro is 0.8EC, I start them at 0.6 because I have strong nutes. Once you know the starting point that's all you need because the plant will tell you if it needs more food or less food. the way to read that info is to check your meter and see if the EC had risen or dropped, if it dropped then she wants more food, if it rises you can replace a litre from the res with plain water to take the EC down. If the res stays where you set it, then that is the sweet spot for that plant, and you can keep her there until she tells you otherwise. Obviously as she matures she will require higher strength feed but she will let you know!
I know thats a lot to take in lol my apologies..there are a few EC>PPM charts, im pretty sure you could google one pretty quick even if it's searching for a pic of the bluelab meter (has the measurements on the front) but I did the same thing before my first dwc grow, was hoping to find a ppm chart which tells me how much to feed every week but they just don't exist brother, the best way is to record your own feeding schedules on a chart, that way you will know roughly what each strain wants and when, they all differ
Best advice? keep reading those journals man its the best way to soak up the info and wrap your head around it! hope some of this helps, I tend to ramble on :Sharing One:

 

[Smokechoke]

Some EC meters will have a ppm reading on the side for reference, take the BlueLab for example - it's the one I use and very reliable. whether you use mlpg or ec or ppm they all do the same job it's just how accurately you want to get it done. I recommend using your meter from start to finish and calibrate it regularly. If you are confused about how much to feed a common starting point for new plants in hydro is 0.8EC, I start them at 0.6 because I have strong nutes. Once you know the starting point that's all you need because the plant will tell you if it needs more food or less food. the way to read that info is to check your meter and see if the EC had risen or dropped, if it dropped then she wants more food, if it rises you can replace a litre from the res with plain water to take the EC down. If the res stays where you set it, then that is the sweet spot for that plant, and you can keep her there until she tells you otherwise. Obviously as she matures she will require higher strength feed but she will let you know!
I know thats a lot to take in lol my apologies..there are a few EC>PPM charts, im pretty sure you could google one pretty quick even if it's searching for a pic of the bluelab meter (has the measurements on the front) but I did the same thing before my first dwc grow, was hoping to find a ppm chart which tells me how much to feed every week but they just don't exist brother, the best way is to record your own feeding schedules on a chart, that way you will know roughly what each strain wants and when, they all differ
Best advice? keep reading those journals man its the best way to soak up the info and wrap your head around it! hope some of this helps, I tend to ramble on :Sharing One:

well thanks.... pal... haha get it?jk
but that pretty much sums things up I appreciate you taking the time to explain that, made it super easy to understand. So thank you for that for sure. Ill be sure to take your advice and do some thread shredding to learn the " fine print". Im Also interested in mobile and non mobile
Nutrients , how there absorbed / used by the plant at certain ec, basically the how, what, and why certain nutes are utilized. But I wont bother you with all of that there is ton of research to be done on my part for all of that but again I appriciate you taking the time to reply this info is invaluable

 

[Pal23]

More than welcome bro, best of luck! :Sharing One:

 

[wwwillie]

Here is a bit more of a technical discussion on the subject of EC vs TDS.

EC stands for Electrical Conductivity and is measured in mS/cm or millisiemens per centimeter. TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids and is measured in PPM or parts per million. TDS is acquired by taking the EC value and performing a calculation to determine the TDS value. Because TDS is actually a calculation it is really only a guess at what the nutrient concentration is. On top of that, there are three different conversion factors to determine TDS and different manufacturers use different conversion factors. In other words you could test the same solution with two different meters and get two totally different readings. But the EC is read the same by all meters the only difference is the conversion factor.

 

[Smokechoke]

Here is a bit more of a technical discussion on the subject of EC vs TDS.

Whats up Wwwillie, thank you for that.... so based on the fact that ec is pretty much a standard would it be the preffered method? I know how important consistency can be when it comes to growing in genral. And also I guess to keeo track of how many ml of each nute you put in to reach a certain ec ( if you can make sence of that haha) and one last thing... can you have a certain ec of lets say .8 with a mix of nutes, make a new mix of nutes and reach the same ec? Like veg to bloom stages? Or different nutes all together? Will two different sets of nutes mixed to the same EC?
Sorry im heavily medicated and can hardly make sence of my self lol this new hi si has me on my rumph