Do I need a EC Metre?

[banned_again]

Plants DO eat BASED on numbers!, the lower the amount the more growth you get, the higher the amount the shorter the internodes etc.

 

You dont just throw 20mls in to a litre and then feed it to you plants. Its not that easy. the nutreints alter from brand to brand, peoples water change from town to town etc.

 

indeed, but it works both ways, a truncheon only shows total dissolved solids, it cant show what nutrients are in the water, differing brands and differing situations will give different results even if everyones truncheon reads exactly the same.. It is up to you to figure what "number" your plants will eat for optimal growth in your conditions, and this is something only the eye can see.. once youve figured it for yourself you will also know to read the ladies...

 

A truncheon is a good help to the newb in sum ways, but a analogy for what i think of them is this...

 

sum virgin dude could buy a vibrator and use it on sum chick and shes pretty well guarenteed to get off, but if he tries to do it himself, he might fail at first, but in the end he will end up making her much happier...

 

A truncheon can help you feed your plant the Exact amounts, yeah...

 

but you gotta learn what the "exact" amounts are for yourself because whats exact for the person you got the info from, is more than likely not exact for you...

 

commercial hydroponic lettuce farmers have usually done quite a bit of experimenting with nutrient levels and wilting points of their plants before they commence full scale cultivation...

 

If truncheon was free, by all means go get one, but at over $100, you could buy a killer pack of seeds, and that simple purchase could increase yield and final quality alot more than buying a truncheon would...

 

the person who grows Dutch Flowers seeds under a 400w in pots of cheap soil ends up with better stash than the person who grows Nirvana seeds in a $5000 aero setup with a truncheon under 10000w+...

 

as for topping up res with plain water only, do a search on add-back method, this is where I see the usefullness of a truncheon does come in, in maintaining a longer life for the resevoir.. all it tells me when i look at my fresh nutes i just mixed is what i already know, I just put nutrients in there... but testing old nutes can help you guage what your plants have been eating....

 

I just re-read this whole post and realised wassily said it all pretty much... it wont tell you how much to feed your plants, it will tell you how much they've eaten... which imo is no use to in a handwatered setup....

 

Oh and plants dont eat by fucking numbers ferengi... they cant even fucking count... they eat by the same way everything does.. hunger...

 

anyhoo, long post, I think if you buy a truncheon you should also buy the fuckin best pack of beans you can find (or 2)... always think genetics first....

[F420]

indeed, but it works both ways, a truncheon only shows total dissolved solids, it cant show what nutrients are in the water,

Yes this is the point that im trying to make in relation to adding nutes to the res.

You dont know what the total disolved nutrient contains.

The plant may have eaten all of the nitrogen for example which would lower the readings, but it may not have eaten any of another thing like calcium as an eg.

then you go off the total disolved salts and boost it back up to the correct figures.

You have just overfertilised your plants with eg the calcium which in turn locks out the other nutrients anyway.

but you gotta learn what the "exact" amounts are for yourself because whats exact for the person you got the info from, is more than likely not exact for you...

yup, alot of different factors come in to play with EC strengths. People can only tell you what THEY use and have success with. But it doesnt mean that its the right levels in YOUR system.

 

sum virgin dude could buy a vibrator and use it on sum chick and shes pretty well guarenteed to get off, but if he tries to do it himself, he might fail at first, but in the end he will end up making her much happier...

Why fail at the beginning, the dude could have brought the vibrator and had his bitch happy from the first time. he then learns how to do it without the vibrator and they both enjoy it without having to fail to learn how.

 

the person who grows Dutch Flowers seeds under a 400w in pots of cheap soil ends up with better stash than the person who grows Nirvana seeds in a $5000 aero setup with a truncheon under 10000w+...

 

Totally agree with the sentiment here, You can only grow the plant to ITS best genetic, no amount of testing equipement will turn shit strains into good strains.

however The same person might not get anything off the dutch plants if he kills them.

 

Oh and plants dont eat by fucking numbers ferengi... they cant even fucking count... they eat by the same way everything does.. hunger...

yea they do eat when they need it, however theres a little thing called osmosis.

meaning that if the nutrient is made up too strong it will burn the plants.

The weaker the nutrient the more it eats, the stronger the nutrient the less it CAN eat.. and unless you have a truncheon your guessing.

Unless your experianced enough like yourself to visually see the signs. But most of us are learners and it takes a bloody long time to learn the tricks and signs that you can see in your plants mate.

 

 

 

always think genetics first....

 

words of wisdom mate, you can have ALL the most expensive testers, growing cabinet and all the bells and whilteles but they wont mean shit. if you have crap genetics.

The first thing i did when I decided to grow was to buy quality

[Guest]

Thanks,I know it comes down to genetics but if you have a good strain you should try getting the max out of them by adding Canna Vega +Floers Rhizotonic Cannazym PK 13-14 but abit hard then to estimate EC/PPM if you were the veg A+B flower A+B i would say it would be ok if you just checked your PH as last time i used Manutec :: But was still happy with the result but would like to see the difference if used PK13-14 and the Canna products

[pipeman]

big smoker,

 

Say you mix 50mils of nutes to 10L of water whic gave you an ec of say 2.0. (these numbers are just hypothetical I'm only guessing). OK so you feed your plants with this mix, they go well, so in your next feed you mix 75mm of nutes to 10L for an ec of 2.5. They get a bit of burn, you flush em out and back your nutes down to 60ml per 10L for the next watering for an ec of 2.2 and find your plants grow quite well on that.

 

Now, how has your $130 truncheon helped you here? It hasn't. You have used your truncheon to determine that your particular plants in your setup grow well on an ec of 2.2. However you also know that they grow well mixing 60ml of nutes per 10 litres. Both bits of information are of exactly the same value to you, only difference is one you can work out for free and the other you got to pay for

 

For the water you are using a given nutrient concentration will always give a given ec. It doesn't matter how you measure and therefore adjust the strength of your nute solution, whether it be by volume of nutes in the mix or by measuring the ec. It makes no difference.

 

Truncheons are useful in recirculating or topped up systems, and can be used to detect nute lockout by testing waste waster. But basically, for your system of just handwatering pots, it won't do you a lot of good, if any.

 

So buy one is you want another gadget to play with, but unless you got money to burn you'd be better off investing it in better genetics as banned again has already said.

[marty]

I mix 100Ml of Sensi A and 100Ml of Sensi B 250ml of Big Bud and 50ml of Carbo load to a 50ltr reservoir the truncheon reads 24

 

I can up or down the figure by adding more Sensi bloom or water. I like the truncheon it makes life easier. Waiting to find burnt tips in a day or 2 then trying to neutralize the nutes is an inconvenience.

Edited April 27, 2008 by marty

[Radic]

marty

check the complete annalisis on the lables for each element NPK ect

add the figers of each of the same elements together to get the correct ballance of nutez

against the % of different products in the mix you used

a guestamate is ok here

but

if you have acidently doubbled up on some elements than you may run into trouble

 

for me the best way to get the perfict nutrient solutition

is to make it myself from a worm farm

or if you like fisk you could do it from a fish tank

when you buy you nutez is just a continual running cost

once you make your own you will never have to deal with dat again

 

here is a link bout fishtanks and what the latest studdies are saying

Aquaponics

 

worm farms are easy

mama nature happly does all the hard work for yah

u put strictly cannabis waste and pure water in the worm farm and u get the perfict ballanced nutez for cannabis

for hydro mix it @ 100lt water to 1lt worm juce

ok

dont forget to extract all the thc from the cannabis waste first

hash oil rulez

[Radic]

big s

i love my ecc meter

but it is rather limited

however it will certainly let know when you nutrient solutition is too strong or too week

as long as u get the element ballance right

your kool

ok

it wont warn of toxic build ups

or of nutrient defience

seen

it may give you some vauge clues if you have a sound overstanding of chemestry

u c

you cant mix some elemental salts together without a reaction

thats why you have an a and b solution to mix in the last process before the plants eat it

and it only last so long before it is delpeted

as the ballance of the elements deplete at different ratios complex chemical reactions happen

ok

it is verry complex stuff

i studdied it at college year ago

for that very reason

but now i am content to let nature deal wtih dat for me via me worm farm

ok

so i still use me trusty ecc meter

for monitoring my nutrient solutition

yes yes yes

is it essincial

no no no

but it is fun

back to the garden

rootsmon

back to the garden

rootswomon

[BentBuddha]

Is there somewhere or someone that can tell me what the EC should be from start to finish(From clone to harvest)?What do i keep the EC between?

Hey.

 

You could try the Advanced Nutrients Calculator.

 

http://www.advancednutrients.com/nutcalc3p...calculator.html

 

I only use some of their products but the calculator is an excellent guide for weekly ec levels. I ignore their levels for A + B because they're going by reverse osmisis starting with an ec of zero and my tap water has a high ec level.

 

Hope this helps

 

bb

Edited April 27, 2008 by BentBuddha

[Radic]

somewhere pon the lable of the product is the recomended ecc for a few different set ups and plant spicies

is not easy to overstand

and its all guestamations really

some of the links posed will give more detailed info

try a goolge search for your spercific needs