New PPM/EC meter really Confused

Whats up guys so I just got a Milwaukee EC59 and I have never used a ppm meter before. I am a little confused on how the math works (being a pot head I am kind of dense sometimes) The water from the tap reads 385 PPM, and for what ever reason seems really high to me. I am using House and Garden Aqua Flakes and the rest of their line minus the shooting powder. My DWC set up is a 4 site 20 Gallon and the PPM reading after I added all my nutrients was almost 1600. What am I doing wrong? And how does one lower the PPM? I kind of figured that you would add a less amount of Nutrient Solution? I really wish I could get a RO water system but have a ton of questions about that too!

So any help on PPM would be awesome I have googled the shit out of it and tried to do the search thing on here but came up with nothing!

Thanks guys!

All you have to do is take out 1 gallon of water from your reservoir at a time and refill with Proper PH water .. If you are using tap that comes out at 385 PPM then you need to change to reverse osmosis or distilled water .. Take into consideration the PPM of your nutes and your water so if your plants reguire say 450 PPM of nutrients plus the 385 PPM from tap water than you will have a super high PPM. Get yourself some R/O water or distilled.

You dont need to buy a R/O system ( even though its the way to go). Its a pain in the ass but locate your local Water and Ice store and fill up some 5 gallon jugs. If you live in the boonies then I suggest you hit the nearest Wal Fart up , they have R/O dispensers inside their stores.

How old are your plants ?
You're gonna have to remove about 1/2 - 3/4 of that solution and replace it with very low ppm water ( R/O ) to get them back to where you need them.

They range from cuttings to 10 weeks. RO watter is not an option for me right now, It would cost me an arm and a leg to fill up the res's (I Have 8 20 Gallon Res's). I am looking for a solution to using tap water until I can get a RO system at my Grow.

Ok so I have been looking at RO water systems not as expensive as i thought. But I need alot of water like twice a week, do they make larger storage tanks to use? Or if it is say a 100GPL how quick can I get that 100 Gallons, on demand, or is it like a fill up a 5Gal storage tank 20 times a day?

luckily, my tap water is spot on...0 ppm and 7.0 ph...tastes better than bottled water...unless its new plumbing

anyway yea R/O is a must...im not in the US n not sure if u are but wat BeaverHuntr said is best...i assume your referring to WalMart...we dont have those shops here in the country im in but i hear all too much about them on here

in this industry we're all in, its always best we get wateva free (or extremely cheap) supplies we can get our hands on

I got a great RO system off e-bay for about $100. Makes me wonder what the f**k I needed to spend $1,500 for the fancy one in my house. Anyway, it works great. You can hook it up to any size rez with a float and it will automatically fill to that level. They sell the floats from the same company (about $5.00) It has been great for me. I use some tap water because the RO strips the water of everything and is harder to ph. My plants showed a Cal./Mag definciency with only RO. A good level to bring your water is 200ppm of a little less. Then it has some minerals in it. Good luck

the man said he cant get ro water so stop recommend it..

countless number of people have grown with tap water just fine. try to use a nute solution made for tap water like GH hardwater series, and keep a watchful eye on your ph.

and yes, add less nutes to get a lower ppm rating. it would help if you calibrated your ppm meter too to get the most accurate reading but its not vital..

endofwed said:

the man said he cant get ro water so stop recommend it..

countless number of people have grown with tap water just fine. try to use a nute solution made for tap water like GH hardwater series, and keep a watchful eye on your ph.

and yes, add less nutes to get a lower ppm rating. it would help if you calibrated your ppm meter too to get the most accurate reading but its not vital..

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In 2010???

Dude I yes its 2010 and I can go to walmart and spend a small fortune on water. I would have to buy 160 gallons every week. Just not something I am willing to do. its not logical

danish420 said:

Dude I yes its 2010 and I can go to walmart and spend a small fortune on water. I would have to buy 160 gallons every week. Just not something I am willing to do. its not logical

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Just let your water sit out then let that chlorine and other chemicals evaporate. I know your struggle I spend about 10 bucks every week filling up six 5 gallon jugs for my reservoirs.

danish420 said:

Dude I yes its 2010 and I can go to walmart and spend a small fortune on water. I would have to buy 160 gallons every week. Just not something I am willing to do. its not logical

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I'm using GH Hardwater my tap is 225. So adding nutes I have burning on the tips b/c of trial & error... I'm going R/O after this grow but I have no complaints on the Hardwater Micro that GH offers. I like it. I use some rhizitone & Dark Energy as foliar spray and dilute my nutes to the proper PPM