New Grower Why EC is a million times better than PPM. Plus a question for all the growers who currently use EC

[Happy Horticulturist]

Everyone should be talking to each other in EC. Not PPM. EC is a global standard and much easier to think in than PPM.

PPM differs depending on the part of the world you're in, and which meter you're using.
There are not one... not two... but THREE different PPM scales.
For example 1000ppm to one person might be 1400ppm to you. Or visa versa. So you're either possibly under feeding or over feeding your plant by following someone elses PPM.

EC always stays the same. No matter where you are from or who you are talking to, if you're talking in EC you're talking the same language.

1000ppm using the 0.5 scale and 1280ppm using the 0.64 scale and 1400ppm using the 0.7 scale are all the same... they are all 2.0 EC

http://www.manicbotanix.com/hydroponic-grow-guide/ec-to-ppm-conversion-chart.html

So to reiterate ... everyone needs to use EC. Any long time grower I've talked too talks to me in EC. If someone talks to me in PPM I've no clue what they're saying to me. They'd need to tell me the scale they're using then I've have to go and check the PPM conversion scale to understand them. Usually.. honestly... I just skip over / ignore when they talk about PPM

Okie dokie everyone? Got it? EC from now on. Lets all talk to each other in the same language. It's bad enough we've got gallons and litres etc


However EC isn't 100% fool proof.... For the growers who already use EC please discuss this part with me.

I've noticed some people when talking about EC seem to be giving the EC of their nutrient solution, including their background EC... so what the EC meter actually reads when you put it into the nutrient solution. This is the way I've always done it and the way I think it SHOULD be done.

Some other people seem to minus their background EC from the nutrient solution... So they're effectively giving the EC only of the nutrients they're adding effectively by minusing their background EC.

For those who don't know background EC is the EC of your water without adding any nutrients. Some people can have near zero EC and some people can have 0.8 EC water which is pretty high.

When you are talking about your EC... How do you measure and say what your EC is?

Do you think it should be the EC as it reads on the meter when you put it into your solution? Or is there some good reason why we should be talking about EC minus the background EC?

 

[epenguin]

Why EC is a million times better than PPM.

What on earth does Eric Clapton have to do with growing the herb ? And who is PPM. Not a blues guitarist I have heard of. Unless it's Piss Poor MacKenzie the Carolina Klutz. (I never rated her)
Once again I trample over a serious thread. Sorry HH.
Actually, I agree. EC it is. And as for gallons and litres, well there are three types of gallon!!! UK, US and US dry.... where does it end.... eP.

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[WingsFan]

Since this is a new growers' forum, I'll bite--what's EC other than Eric Clapton?

 

[faded187]

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yeah im a fairly new grower and you just blew my mind...figured out what I was wanderin earlier though.paint bucket said 2.6 gallons but its got 3.5 gallons soil in it now thought I stepped into a nasa thread or some shit..JK I got a little idea what ur talkin bout but I don't use one have a hard enough time aready

 

[Happy Horticulturist]

EC stands for Electrical Conductivity. It's just another way of measuring the strength of the nutrient solution of hydroponics. PPM stands for Parts Per Million and basically starts off with EC and then adjusts it to make PPM depending on the PPM meter manufacturers scale. Each manufacturer has a different scale which is why I don't understand why people use PPM really at all. If you ever get a meter to measure the strength of your nutrient solution, make sure it reads EC and talk in EC on the forums.

@ eP... damn you... I shall avenge thee one day ... when you least expect it ... thou foot shall trampleths threads. Seriously though, I also equally dislike the imperial measuring system which is summed up perfectly and beautifully showing just how ridiculas and completely outdated it is... here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7x-RGfd0Yk

If you didn't think inches yards and miles are silly before watching this video you sure will after

 

[epenguin]

EC=Electric conductvity
ppm=part per million
TDS =total Dissolved Solids

Here is a link to convert them all....
http://www.manicbotanix.com/hydroponic-grow-guide/ec-to-ppm-conversion-chart.html

I started a thread a long time ago where I called for a list of herb related acronyms or TLA's. Maybe we should restart this thread, not just for new guys, but for penguins and animals of all persuasions?

GM,BBG-E. eP.

 

[epenguin]

HH, Just watched that link bro'. Whats not to understand?

Join me down the pub for a yard of ale and a sixth of a gill of gin. The more you look into imperial measures the dafter it gets. ie

The gill is sometimes spelled jill. There is an explanation of the nursery rhyme:
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.
When Charles I scaled down the 'jack' (a two-ounce measure) so as to collect higher sales taxes, the jill, by definition twice the size of the jack, was automatically reduced also and 'came tumbling after.'

And you think I am daft??? By the standards of olde English measurements I am as sane as .....

answers on a postcard. A4 size. eP.

 

[pop22]

A scale is a unit of measurement and nothing more, and I find EC to be less useful personally, but to each his own. I don't care how many variants there are, I'm only using one. I find EC to be a rather broad scale. and maybe my plants don't need to be as precise as ppms lets me be, but then if that's true, why bother measuring in ml? Why not teaspoons etc I oh yea, THERE'S a scientific measurement, rates right up there with our antiquated inch/foot/ yard/etc. We only keep it around because us Americans ( well U.S. citizens anyway..... ) can't add, subtract, multiply or divide by 10, its too hard..... :smoke:

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HH, Just watched that link bro'. Whats not to understand?

Join me down the pub for a yard of ale and a sixth of a gill of gin. The more you look into imperial measures the dafter it gets. ie

The gill is sometimes spelled jill. There is an explanation of the nursery rhyme:
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.
When Charles I scaled down the 'jack' (a two-ounce measure) so as to collect higher sales taxes, the jill, by definition twice the size of the jack, was automatically reduced also and 'came tumbling after.'

And you think I am daft??? By the standards of olde English measurements I am as sane as .....

answers on a postcard. A4 size. eP.

Hey you forgot weight in Stones... Now there's a winner...lol!

 

[Happy Horticulturist]

EC is perfectly accurate for measuring the strength of a nutrient solution for hydroponics use. It's neither too accurate or too broad. 0.1 EC seems to be the perfect unit of adjustment needed in order to either increase of back off the nutes. Anything smaller than that in my opinion and experience would be overkill.

PPM is on the other hand too accurate and not standardised. Like eP pointed out it would be like a person from the UK and the USA talking in Gallons and both of them assuming the other is the same nationality as them, then they've both got different measurements.

We measure in mls because mls are the best (and standardised) measurement for measuring liquids. We measure in EC because EC is the best (and standardised) measurement for measuring in hydroponics.

 

[Gloomshade]

I use EC...i try to always talk in terms of the nutrient content disregarding my background EC, because then everyone is speaking the same language.