can someone explain ppm to me thanks ??

simpsonsampson420

Well-Known Member
ppm = part per million.... its the total number of dissolved salts for every million parts of water.. its got to do with overall water concentration... ideally you want between 800-1200 ppm strength solution.. check the water you use to see what the ppm of it is before you add anything... you ideally want water that has no ppm at all before you add your nutes
 

simpsonsampson420

Well-Known Member
you cant really change the PPM of water.. i would suggest using reverse osmosis drinking water.. you can buy it at the grociery store in gallon jugs.. its cheap... or you can buy your own RO system for about 150-200 dollars.. RO water should have a PPM of 0 to start... as you add nutes to water the PPM rises... you ideally want a total PPM of between 800-1200... its depends on the plant and strain so it takes a lil getting used to... more nutes doesnt always mean better... you can easily kill your plant with over feeding...

heres an example...

if johnny has tap water he uses that carrys a PPM of 600 and he doesnt know it, then uses the guide on the nute bottle (good nutes tell you their PH, EC, AND PPM per amount of concentration.. if yours doesnt tell you i cant tell you that) to mix what he thinks is a 1000 PPM solution he ends up with a 1600 ppm solution.. 1000 ppm of nutes and 600 ppm of unknown salts... that will throw of PH... cant cause salt build up and nute lock out in the soil... resulting in smaller yields... more overall growth problems... and maybe johnnys girls even die

the idea is if you water has NO EC or PPM then you can accuratley know the actual concentraion of nutes your using, the actual ph of said nutes... well overall you have a much better control over the situation...

the PPM changes as you add nutes to the water... the more nutes the higher the PPM
 

delerious

Well-Known Member
You have to take into account how your meter reads PPM. My Hanna reads 500ppm when it's 1.0 EC. If I used 1200ppm, I'd be giving my plants 2.4 EC (breeder recommends .8 EC).
 

simpsonsampson420

Well-Known Member
thats why i use EC instead of PPM... EC is the most accurate... PPM is just a (close) rough guess... if you truley want an accurate reading of PPM get a good EC meter and use the EC instead of ppm...
 

wombatt

Member
thanks so what ppm should i use for seedling as i am not ready for nutes yet, and my dad is a chemist so i can get it perfect thanks again......
 

simpsonsampson420

Well-Known Member
you dont need to feed them any nutes until they are a few weeks into their vegetative growth... like delerious said, different meters read PPM differently... so i would recommend getting a good EC meter... EC is constant across the board... where PPM can change from country to country.. i know this sounds confusing and makes no sense... and it really doesnt... its just different countries use different methods to find PPM so it varies... but if you get a GOOD EC meter you can easily get a VERY accurate reading of PPM... AN EC of between .8 and 1.2 is good...
 

simpsonsampson420

Well-Known Member
the biggest thing is this... its doesnt matter what PPM or EC people tell you to use... different strains act differently.. some want more nutes.. some want less... some want more water.. some want less... the PPM and EC is a guide line for you to use so you know the exact amount of soilds in your water... whether its to know how much dissolved salts your water has in it before adding your nutes, how much your nute concentration is after you add it to your water, or how much the combined total is... the reality is you have to watch your plants and see how they react to nutes and different concentrations and react to them... its like starting a relationship.. you have to spend time getting to know your strain and plants... everyones set up is different.. what works with one person wont work with another...
 
Top