PPM...PH...TDS...abc..lol????? HELP!!!!

cooley150

cooley150

Well-Known Member
Could some one PLEASE explain to me in VERY SIMPLE terms.... WHAT is PPM ? I know it stands for parts per million, but What exactly is it and how does it work. The same question for TDS.... I know how to set my PH, but what I don't understand is how you do the whole PPM measuring thing with the water and the nutes. Would Plain tap water have a PPM of 0? Does 5 gallons of water have more PPM then 40 gallons? Does PH change PPM? Could some one PLEASE break this whole measuring thing down for me. I know it's important when using the Lucas Formula and that is what I am using in a 24 pot Ebb & Gro. 1000 watt MH. Thank you for you time. :weed:
 
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SickSadLittleWorld

Well-Known Member
Give this a read: https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=article&id=76

TDS: total dissolved solids (displayed as ppm)
EC: electrical conductivity (displayed as micro or millisiemens/cm)

PPM is derived from EC using a conversion factor (usually .5 to .7). EC measures the amount of electrically active salts within the solution. The meter can't actually measure ppm, it just uses EC to make a linear approximation. EC is a much more accurate and universal measurement but most growers use ppm for some reason.

Tap water will not have a ppm of zero since there are dissolved minerals in it. The ppm will vary by region but my tap water is very clean at [email protected]. I've seen others as bad at 400-500ppm. I wouldn't even want to drink that, let alone try to grow plants with it.

pH has no effect on ppm/ec. They are unrelated characteristics of the solution.
 
cooley150

cooley150

Well-Known Member
SickSadLittleWorld said:
Give this a read: https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=article&id=76

TDS: total dissolved solids (displayed as ppm)
EC: electrical conductivity (displayed as micro or millisiemens/cm)

PPM is derived directly from EC using a conversion factor (usually .5 to .7). EC measures the amount of electrically active salts within the solution.

Tap water will not have a ppm of zero since there are dissolved minerals in it.

pH has no effect on ppm/ec. They are unrelated characteristics of the solution.
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Thank you... I do understand all of that, but can you explain to me how all that works with my nutues? I have 40 gallon rez with 1/4 strength nutes.. As my plants drink and eat, I know I have to replace my lost water and nutes in my rez. I believe that is were the PPM comes in play correct? Can you explain to me how that part works?
 
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SickSadLittleWorld

Well-Known Member
cooley150 said:
Thank you... I do understand all of that, but can you explain to me how all that works with my nutues? I have 40 gallon rez with 1/4 strength nutes.. As my plants drink and eat, I know I have to replace my lost water and nutes in my rez. I believe that is were the PPM comes in play correct? Can you explain to me how that part works?
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Since the plants roots use osmosis to uptake nutrients and water, the change in nutrients as the water level drops will tell you to adjust the ppm.

If ppms drop, add more nutrients.
If ppms rise, decrease your ppm.
If ppms stay steady, bingo!

It gets iffy because ppm only tells you the concentration of the entire solution. You don't have any idea what the ppm of N or P or K is, so you have to also take into account what the plant is telling you and possibly adjust nutrient proportions to get the plant what it needs.
 
cooley150

cooley150

Well-Known Member
SickSadLittleWorld said:
Since the plants roots use osmosis to uptake nutrients and water, the change in nutrients as the water level drops will tell you to adjust the ppm.

If ppms drop, add more nutrients.
If ppms rise, decrease your ppm.
If ppms stay steady, bingo!

It gets iffy because ppm only tells you the concentration of the entire solution. You don't have any idea what the ppm of N or P or K is, so you have to also take into account what the plant is telling you and possibly adjust nutrient proportions to get the plant what it needs.
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That makes A LOT more sense to me now.

So if your using Floramicro and Florabloom how do you know which one to add? or is that what you mean when you said not knowing the N..P...or K?
 
kyle2562

kyle2562

Member
TDS: Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) are the total amount of mobile charged ions, including minerals, salts or metals dissolved in a given volume of water, expressed in units of mg per unit volume of water (mg/L), also referred to as parts per million (ppm). TDS is directly related to the purity and quality of water and water purification systems and affects everything that consumes, lives in, or uses water, whether organic or inorganic.

PPM:Parts per million (PPM) is a way of expressing percent (%) in small amounts. In hydroponics, it is used to express the quantity of one amount of material dissolved into another (salts into a volume of water). Most plants do well between 1000 and 2000 PPM (0.1% to 0.2 % of dissolved salts). 1 tsp. of Ecogrow is approximately 600 PPM. 2 tsp. is 1200 PPM and 3 is 1800 PPM. The PPM is therefore controlled by the amount of dissolved salts used. PPM is measured electronically on meters. In Europe, the Siemen or E.C. is used I E.C. or 1 Siemen = 1 mho/cm of conductivity. To convert E.C. or Siemen to PPM, multiply them by 650. The Mho is the reciprocal of the Ohm of electrical resistance.
Technical data (PPM, pH and element concentrations) are listed on the technical data sheets for all Eco products.

No, plain tap water will have a ppm of about 250.

If the 40 gallon and 5 gallon are all the same water, they will both have the same ppm.

:leaf:Hope this Helps:leaf:​
 
cooley150

cooley150

Well-Known Member
kyle2562 said:
TDS: Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) are the total amount of mobile charged ions, including minerals, salts or metals dissolved in a given volume of water, expressed in units of mg per unit volume of water (mg/L), also referred to as parts per million (ppm). TDS is directly related to the purity and quality of water and water purification systems and affects everything that consumes, lives in, or uses water, whether organic or inorganic.

PPM:Parts per million (PPM) is a way of expressing percent (%) in small amounts. In hydroponics, it is used to express the quantity of one amount of material dissolved into another (salts into a volume of water). Most plants do well between 1000 and 2000 PPM (0.1% to 0.2 % of dissolved salts). 1 tsp. of Ecogrow is approximately 600 PPM. 2 tsp. is 1200 PPM and 3 is 1800 PPM. The PPM is therefore controlled by the amount of dissolved salts used. PPM is measured electronically on meters. In Europe, the Siemen or E.C. is used I E.C. or 1 Siemen = 1 mho/cm of conductivity. To convert E.C. or Siemen to PPM, multiply them by 650. The Mho is the reciprocal of the Ohm of electrical resistance.
Technical data (PPM, pH and element concentrations) are listed on the technical data sheets for all Eco products.

No, plain tap water will have a ppm of about 250.

If the 40 gallon and 5 gallon are all the same water, they will both have the same ppm.

:leaf:Hope this Helps:leaf:​
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Thank you Kyle.
 
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SickSadLittleWorld

Well-Known Member
cooley150 said:
That makes A LOT more sense to me now.

So if your using Floramicro and Florabloom how do you know which one to add? or is that what you mean when you said not knowing the N..P...or K?
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That is where feeding charts come in handy.

Since you mentioned you were using the Lucas formula, isn't there a thread about it that can tell you the proper proportions for each week of growth? I'm not too familiar with those nutes, so I can't be of much help.
 
cooley150

cooley150

Well-Known Member
SickSadLittleWorld said:
That is where feeding charts come in handy.

Since you mentioned you were using the Lucas formula, isn't there a thread about it that can tell you the proper proportions for each week of growth? I'm not too familiar with those nutes, so I can't be of much help.
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Yes there is, I just found it. Thank you for your help.
 
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