# ph, ppm, is it really important!



## ytrew (Oct 19, 2007)

now that i got my setup running i am curious about the ppm, and ph thing. i use tap water for the res. what should the ph be. what is ppm and is it important. Please help.  also could someone give me a list of the settings to grow best. PH, PPM, Temps, how much c02 etc.


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## sweetnug (Oct 19, 2007)

70-80 degrees, 40% humidity.  ph 6, ppm depends on size, mid 60s in the res water


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## ytrew (Oct 19, 2007)

what is ppm, and what does it do and how do i fix it


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## sweetnug (Oct 19, 2007)

It is the amount of dissolved solids in the water. When plants eat they also give off a sort of waste.  Too much solids won't let the plant uptake nutes, you must monitor it for a successful harvest.  You need a digital meter you can get a your local grow shop, they are like 50 bucks or look around the net


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## ytrew (Oct 19, 2007)

so which would be the most important thing to get in order. Electronic ph meter, ppm meter, ro water system?
what should the ppm be and ph?


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## ytrew (Oct 19, 2007)

dude my temp is 69 now! Wow!!!


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## sweetnug (Oct 19, 2007)

You can get a meter for 129.95 that will measure ppm and ph.  69 in air or water temp?


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## ytrew (Oct 19, 2007)

now 68 air and 67 water.
so what is first on my list
the meter or ro water system.
also, i have 2 4 gallon res and 2 5 gal res.
how often or do i change the water, or do i just keep adding to it.


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## ytrew (Oct 19, 2007)

i dont understand what i am trying to achieve with the ppm thing.
also i see they have a multible meter. 
ec/ppm/ph
what is the ec?


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## sweetnug (Oct 19, 2007)

Ph always 5.8-6.  The ppm is low (400-500) for new babies, and they can go up to 2000+ ppm but the second to last week b4 harvest.  Each strain takes different to ppm amount.  Start low and work a little at a time dont exceed about 1400-1600 ppm, too risky if you are a newbie.  Change the res. once every 10 days during veg and I change it to every week in flower.  You dont have to understand ppm just measure it and maintain it.


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## ytrew (Oct 19, 2007)

so how do you adjust the ppm, is it a chemical like ph up/down?. also instead of moving all my buckets and cleaning them can i just siphon the res's and put new water in every 10 days?
what is ec?


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## sweetnug (Oct 19, 2007)

Adding most nutes will raise the ppm.  Watering it down with distilled or tap water will lower the ppm.  Tap water has some kind of ppm value dependng where you live.  Electrical Conductivity, its a better more accurate way of measuring amount of nutes, or ppm.  Just another method of measuring Total Dissolved Solids or TDS


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## ytrew (Oct 19, 2007)

so if my tap is 800 coming out, add my nutes then check the ppm. dilute with water or add additional nutes (which ones) along the way maybe increase by 100 each week? 
how do you do it?
do you use tap or r/o, what do you recomend?


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## ytrew (Oct 19, 2007)

this is what my water co says is in it!
hardness of City water is approximately 86 parts per million (ppm), which is considered moderately hard and suitable for all purposes


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## sweetnug (Oct 19, 2007)

If its 800 you got a prob.  It won't be much over 300 if that.  Use a 3 part nutrient mixture and follow the guidelines on the bottle, its a good reference point and yes add or dilute as needed there is no chart it is all individual with each plant.  R/O is good it has very low ppm but not necessary, I use half tap and half distilled distilled has 0 ppm.  I would go with tap its easier for a beginner


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## ytrew (Oct 19, 2007)

this is what my water co says is in it!
hardness of City water is approximately 86 parts per million (ppm), which is considered moderately hard and suitable for all purposes.
if i use this will it hurt my harvest?
also instead of moving all my buckets and cleaning them can i just siphon the res's and put new water in every 10 days?


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## sweetnug (Oct 19, 2007)

That water will work great.  You can siphon but the larger the plants and higher the ppm the more residue will be left in the bottom of the res. You will need to scrub them every other change if you siphon.  Remember keep the water in the res. as close to 65 as you can.  Have to go GL  keep me informed


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## allgrownup (Oct 20, 2007)

any PPM over 500 is not safe for human consupmtion!  i hope your tap is not 800 lol.

your stressin man, smoke a bowl.......your doin fine.  You do what sweetnug says and your gunna have some sweetnugz

get some ferts for your plants, keep a close watch on the PH, don't overdue the nutes, good luck on the girls.

peace


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## shuggy4105 (Oct 21, 2007)

my local PPM in water is 850...


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## Puffin Afatty (Oct 23, 2007)

I use a meter daily and adjust ppm to 800 and ph= 5.5...this is for a flood and drain sys, gh flora series nutes and rod water...called the Lucas formula,


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## shuggy4105 (Oct 24, 2007)

"ph" is the most important thing "IMHO", if you aint got that down man-nothing else will follow, and you`ll be fighting lock-outs and other problems all over the place dude.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Nov 1, 2007)

There is a wealth of info here and in the old Overgrow Faq on these topics.  You should do some reading up.  Ph and PPM are really important.

The plants are unable to take up nutrients if the ph of the water is off.  There are excellent charts that show the uptake of nutes at different ph levels.  The PPM is important because you can kill your plants in a matter of hours if the nutes (PPM) is too high.  If they are too low, they will probably survive, but will not thrive or produce to their full potential.  

It will be worth your time and trouble to learn a little more about the ideal growing conditions and how to achieve them.


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## kiefsmokin' (Nov 1, 2007)

4 gallons of distilled water, 1/2 strength nutrients, the p.h. started out at 5, i raised it to 7 after some of my leafs started to turn yellow, and curl up, they seem fine now


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## gardenandcats (Nov 2, 2007)

Ok - i'll start out with a sample chart but know that every grower fine tunes and watches the plants and adjusts accordingly. Some growers double these recommendations, others may halve them or use no nutes at all.

That said - here are some guidelines to get you started:
Week 1 - PPM: 0
Week 2 - PPM: 0-300
Week 3 - PPM: 3-500
Week 4 - PPM: 5-700
Week 5 - PPM: 7-900
Week 6 - PPM: 9-1000
SWITCH TO 12/12 LIGHTING AND BLOOM NUTES (this is just an example you don't have to switch to 12/12 now)
Week 7 - PPM: 3-400 (note the drop after switching nutrients)
Week 8 - PPM: 4-500
Week 9 - PPM: 5-600
Week 10 - PPM: 6-700
Week 11 - PPM: 7-800
Week 12 - PPM: 8-900
Week 13 - PPM: 9-1000
Week 14 - PPM: 10-1100
etc...

You will definitely need a PPM meter and pH meter - both are very important. A little bit of nutes goes a long way (a teaspoon or two of nutes to a gallon of water could easily be 300 PPM). 

If the water is not the right pH, the plant will not be able to utilize all the available nutes and become deficient even if the PPM is high!


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## buzzcat (Nov 2, 2007)

i run organic nutes. i was told you cant check the ppm?


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## stunzeed (Nov 2, 2007)

This is a forum where people help each other and dont talk that kind of crap. Watch it!


(Thank you stunzeed. I've removed the quote and the origional comments. - Stoney)


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## gardenandcats (Nov 3, 2007)

buzzcat said:
			
		

> i run organic nutes. i was told you cant check the ppm?


 
I have never grew organic only. I really am not sure ...


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