hydro Newbie, ppm and Ph question

hey whats up guys, first post here on RIU
I've built a small dwc bucket, Have a 150w HPS, and have 5 white label feminized white widow seeds coming in soon.

at most, i would only want to grow two plants.
Now i Dont have the cash for a PPM meter, but i bought a PH kit
and i was wondering if I can get away without using a PPM meter if i change the water in my buckets every week?

I'll top it with plain water during the week. but once a week, i will empty it out, and replace it with properly dosed water?

will this work until i have the money to invest in a proper PPM meter?

one more thing...
Do i measure the PH AFTER i mix in my nutes? or is it irelevant?

thanks for your time guys

oh yea, i bought the three part GH stuff too

after you mix nutes you measure and adjust, I don't see why if you dump everyweek you would need the ppm meter, just follow the instructions on the bottle (go lighter than they reccomend and watch your plants) make sure you do your 2 in different buckets otherwise they will crowd to much and use up to much of your water nute mix in the week, also buy a meter when you can and life gets sooooo much easier.

if you are using gh look up the lucas formula thread it will help alot!

hermit234 said:

hey whats up guys, first post here on RIU
I've built a small dwc bucket, Have a 150w HPS, and have 5 white label feminized white widow seeds coming in soon.

at most, i would only want to grow two plants.
Now i Dont have the cash for a PPM meter, but i bought a PH kit
and i was wondering if I can get away without using a PPM meter if i change the water in my buckets every week?

I'll top it with plain water during the week. but once a week, i will empty it out, and replace it with properly dosed water?

will this work until i have the money to invest in a proper PPM meter?

one more thing...
Do i measure the PH AFTER i mix in my nutes? or is it irelevant?

thanks for your time guys

Click to expand...

You have to understand what measuring PPM's does for you. Measure today....if the PPM has dropped tomorrow, you can go a little stronger on the next mix. If the PPM's have increased, your plants are using more water than nutrients and you need to back off on the concentration. That being said, I don't know what "properly dosed" really is for your particular situation. Too many factors (type of hydro system, lighting, temp, strain, and on and on and on) for anybody to tell you what the correct dose is. Take the advise of the other person who posted and told you to go light on the nutes until you get a meter. Plants do much better with under-nute than they do when you over-nute. If you're looking for a good combo meter(PH,EC, Temp)in the future, look at the Hanna 9813-6. You can find on e-bay occasionally.

Good Luck


https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/81379-new-papaya-kush-journal-pics-2.html

yeah the hanna meter is what I use and to be honest I don't know how I would of done my first hydro without wasting lots of nutes and water without it. Also if you do this why don't you use ro water, it would also be much easier otherwise you will be chasing ph all the time

Thanks alot guys! I'm looking forward to being an active member here.

if have one of those for a pool mix water and look for different color.it will not work because u need a clear solution. i use dutch master and the grow is blue and bloom is red.i did grow my first dro with no meters and like he said u will waste alot of nutes,my grow was so so ended up nute burnin em welcome to riu

you can buy a PPM meter that goes to 3000 PPM for $15.

You really should invest in a meter...