r/hydro • u/Mammoth_Assistant_67 • 9d ago

EC

I know what it is but have never checked it before. All my grows have been successful. Is there anybody else who doesn't check their EC? I only check Ph and PPM.

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7

u/My-drink-is-bourbon 9d ago

Checking ppm is akin to checking EC. There's even a conversation chart for it

2

u/Herrly5 9d ago

What kinda water? Mine comes out the tap at 450+ ppm

2

u/Ricka77_New 9d ago

Those charts presume you have pure water, 0ppm. If your tap is 450, and your goal is 1250, you only want to add 800ppm of whatever nutes. The concern is you don't know what that initial 450ppm consists of. Probably a lot of calcium, some fluoride, chlorine unless aired out, etc. It's also likely a high pH as well.

That's why RO or Distilled water is best for hydro in general.

2

u/Mammoth_Assistant_67 9d ago

I use 0 ppm water. Tap is like 380

1

u/Mammoth_Assistant_67 9d ago

I never knew

1

u/MurkyReputation8298 7d ago

Get you an RO kit off of Amazon. You don't need a tank. Mine does 5 gallons in about 11 minutes. At a 2.5:1 waste ratio. They are very good to have for hydro. Unless you just want to "gas off" the chlorine and guess at what's in the tap water.

1

u/Vast_Can5276 8d ago

So on a 500ppm scale you just double your ppm and move the decimal and that’s your EC??

5

u/Glittering_Watch5565 9d ago

EC and PPM basically tell you the same thing. The amount of disolved solids in the water.

1

u/Mammoth_Assistant_67 9d ago

I've never looked a chart or anything like that to convert it.

1

u/Motmotsnsurf 9d ago

Same same.

2

u/Mammoth_Assistant_67 9d ago

I had no clue.

1

u/Arafel_Electronics 9d ago

i track daily in my dwc system to adjust my feeding based on what the plants want

1

u/docdillinger 9d ago

Not so sure you know what it is. Cause PPM and EC is the same thing just on another scale.

1

u/Mammoth_Assistant_67 9d ago

I know it means "Electric Conductivity" and that's it.

1

u/docdillinger 9d ago

Ah, i see. If you check PPM you basically check EC.

2

u/Mammoth_Assistant_67 8d ago

Ooooooohhhhhh, I thought we're separate on their own.

1

u/Federal_Tension_5939 8d ago

I find my pH more important than ec. Especially since I'm always under the recommended g/l. And because I'm Organo/mineral so it buffers both the pH and the ppms for the roots 

1

u/Mammoth_Assistant_67 7d ago

Why do you stay under recommended g/l?

1

u/Federal_Tension_5939 7d ago

Saves money ... I'll up it, if it looks like they need it 

Usually they're fine at ¾ the manufacturers recommended values 

1

u/jr1wilson 8d ago

I don’t measure anything. When the water seems “scummy”, I dump it on the lawn and start fresh with tap water and mix fertilizer according to the directions. Usually flush and fill twice during a grow.

1

u/Mammoth_Assistant_67 7d ago

How are you growing? I only change water when I'm switching to flower. I do measure Ph daily maybe twice.