Answer my B'Lab Truncheon PPM question pls ?

[pacificrim]

OK , as in the thread title, i have a BlueLab Truncheon that , amongst other readings, has a PPM reading.

the problem is that there are 2x PPM measurements to go by, one says

-> "PPM(EC x 500)" the other "PPM(EC x 700)".

the brackets/etc are not of my own accord, on the truncheon, this is exactly how it is written.

 

i have no clue why there are 2 PPM measurements but there u go.

quite a few ppl here use PPM instead of EC when showing what levels they go for so i want to know which is the most used of the 2 measurements.

when asking an EC question a few weeks ago i was told by Sukonmi (who uses PPM) that i should aim for an EC around 2-2.4 w' a PPM of between 1400 & 1700 (roughly).

now given these numbers one would have to assume he's using the "PPM(EC x 700)" coz if i go by the "PPM(EC x 500)" the PPM would be 1000-1200.

 

now i know it's no big deal as all the numbers end up giving same result but i want to know what most ppl use (re' ECx500 or 700) so when i read ppls examples of their PPM levels in grow diaries,general questions,etc i know which measurement they are referring to on my truncheon.

 

ie)i read grow diaries & look at photos of said diaries to give myself a (ruff) idea of where i should be at in my grow & knowing straight off the bat which PPM measurement they are referring to would help me.

 

thx for ur time fellas , hope ur all doing well in general & in the growing sense, hope my post made sense, it was hard not to sound anal/trivial given the BlueLab Truncheon is pretty self explanetory.

Edited March 25, 2007 by pacificrim

[godonacid]

this can be a pain in the ass, i have a hanna pen and i can change the conversion ratio (when i got was set to 1ec = 500ppm), different countries use different readings, so what i did was called the nutrient company i am using (advanced nutrients) and asked them, they told me that their ferts are worked out on the 1ec = 700 ppm, so i set my pen to that. so what you realy need to do is find out what you nutes are woked out on and use that, so if on the bottle it say mix to 1.4-2.4 ec use ec, if it says mix to 1200ppm you need to find out if they are using 500ppm = 1 ec or 700ppm = 1ec, all depends on what nutes you are using, hope this dont confuse you to much but sort of hard question to answer. Edited March 25, 2007 by godonacid

[bufo marinus]

Hey pacificrim. To save any confusion(on my part) I always try and talk in terms of EC(electrical conductivity), and use a BlueLab as well. The PPM(parts per million) bit is just plain confusing

Thinking about it they are exactly the same measurement of course.

De-mineralised water in it's purest form will NOT conduct electricity, it is only the impurities/minerals in the water that allows current flow, so, I suspect our truncheons are basically an overpriced ohm meter we are reading how conductive(in this case how high in mineral salts) the solution is.

[pacificrim]

thx for the reply guys......appreciated.

 

yeah i use EC too, just wanted to know the PPM deal when checking their grow diaries etc coz quite a few use PPM when giving stats.

 

as a ruff quide i've been checking if ppl here quote a PPM that is a number divisable by 100, then i can be pretty sure they're using 'ECx500' & if they quote a number like 1120 they're using 'ECx700'.

since there's few PPM readings (on the truncheon) that are divisable by 100 i find the odds are one will guess correctly.................most/nearly-all seem to be quoting ECx700.

 

after getting advice from some of the experienced growers here i don't take much notice of the bottle (within reason), as long as i add enough equal A+B to get the EC to where it should be (depending on how far along i am in my grow maturity-wise) i'm happy.

 

as an aside, when buying my truncheon i asked at several (general) garden stores if they had an EC meter & not one single garden store knew what an EC meter was....................one guy at Nth Manly Garden Center said he went to Uni & studied horticulture & had never heard of an EC meter.

my old girl checked a few places too when coming home from work & one dude at Warringah Mall Garden Center said "i'd check what ur husband is putting on his breakfast cereal"......

i ended up buying one online coz there;s no Hydro centers within walking distance of my house,just garden centers.

 

btw,i dropped my digi PH meter fully underwater & now it gives dud readings, has water inside it when opening.

can't believe it isn't more water proof/resistant.

now i gotta buy another 30 buck meter.

sure do spend a lot of money buying gear for hydo grows.

u end up spending more than u would if u just bought weed off a dealer, problem is, quality weed these days is getting harder to come by & i generally hate most dealers therefore dont wanna be lining their pockets.

lucky the actual process of growing is fun coz imo it wouldnt be worth it in the long term if all ur after is a smoke.

(had a shit morning, things will look more positive 2morrow i hope)

Edited March 25, 2007 by pacificrim

[Shithappens]

for $30 you dont expect water tight meter spend the extra man mine even floats

[buddy.g]

I use X700 PPM on my trunchon

X500 is too high an EC and plants will burn.

 

Buddy.g

[pacificrim]

yeah fair enough, for 30 u shouldnt expect 'water proof' (& i dont) but given u stick half the meter in water i'd expect it to be more water resistant than it is/was.

my mobile phone is a cheap ass one & it went thru the washing machine in pocket of my jeans & after i dried it out it works like it never went for an hr swim (in very hot + cold water as well).

 

the PH meter fell in the water, then i fished it out, it was slippery & i lost contact w it for long enough for it to slip but i got it out damn so quick i was suprised it now is a dud.

i'm just upset coz i cant afford a new one atm & i dont know how i'm gonna measure PH till i do get a new one.

+ that 30 bucks was meant to go towards some new seeds i wanna order today.

 

i'm just venting, it's been a bummer of a weekend.

 

urs floats ey?.......must be a pretty cool one to do that & survive to tell the PH-tale.........mine sinks,i know that much.....

 

yeah 'buddy',i'm w' you on the x700 being the go......thx for the input mon.

[Luke Skywalker]

The 500 scale relates to phosphorus, and the 700 scale to sodium. Neither is accurate in truth....Most peeps in oz have used the 700 scale but this is at best a guess.

 

Use e.c. and there can't be confusion. PPM is the single most confusing and pointless conversion I've ever seen, and makes little to no sense to use really as you can't really measure it, you can only infer it from electroconductivity.

 

So why not just use mS (e.c.) and be done with it?