EC meter what are the right levels?

[Eccentric]

I have just managed to get finally be able to set up a hydro grow and relied on the shop people to provide all the relevant stuff. I have an EC meter thing that apparently is really useful to monitor water temp, PH, and nutrient levels (EC so I'm told) however the device doesn't come with any info just instructions on cleaning it and calibrating the ph.  Apparently I have to set the meter with my desired water temp.Ph and EC levels and it will then tell me when they deviate.... butI cant seem to find any info on what the desired levels for EC are, I haven't checked on Ph or water temp yet but if anyone knows it please advise as it would save me hunting for that later on.

 

Any help and advise would be appreciated.

 

 

(PS- any one know how to quieten a noisy fan?) 

[Ozzy420]

Do u have a pic of the said meter?

 

Each plant will be able to handle diff strengths of nutes, you EC is how strong you mix up the more of the nutes you use the stronger it will be and the higher the EC will be.

 

Nutes should have a ratio they should be mixed at and will on the bottle some where, it will tell how many mls to mix per lt of water for a full strength mix them use ya EC meter and see what it is at.

 

In saying all that IMO ya ph meter is more important than ya EC, reading your plants will tell you if ya nutes are to strong or need more, and mixing up at recommended ratios u should b fine, start on the weaker side and work up reading ya plants as u do.

[merl1n]

Hey Eccentric,

Here's a bit of the theory. EC stands for Electrical Conductivity. Electricity doesn't pass thru pure water, its the salts (nutrient) in the water that allows electricity to pass thru it. The more salts the higher the EC reading. My nutes recommend a high EC, but my plants don't like the high EC. I have mine at about 1300ppm (parts per million).

As Ozzy states your pH is real important. Nutes are only available to the plant to use at certain pH levels, too high or too low and you get whats called nute lockout. In Cannaversity (tab at the top of this page) there is a chart which demonstrates the optimum pH and available nutes. Go have a look.

As for your fan, some people use an old blanket to wrap the fan with to reduce noise. You can also use a polystyrene fruit box with a blanket stuffed inside to make a noise reduction box. I have airconditioning ducting on my fan, this too reduces noise.

 

Hope it helps

Merl1n

[Eccentric]

Hi this is  pic of the meter as requested

[Ozzy420]

Ok i was wondering if that is what u had, nice unit.

 

Best way to get to know how to use it is to play with see how it works.

 

Bluelab are one of the better brands...

[billygoat]

Hell yeah, good gear, would like an automated dosing system..

[FullCircle]

Hey, I found some info on their site for you. Seems a lot of stuff doesn't come with the full instructions anymore... Cost cutting! Haha...

 

Here's some video guides:

https://www.bluelab.com/support-center/video-library.aspx

 

And here are the various product manuals. It will download as a pdf.

https://www.bluelab.com/support-center/product-manuals

 

I've attached the pdf here too

 

Hope these help

Bluelab-Guardian-Manual-ENG-JUL13.pdf

Edited May 30, 2016 by FullCircle