ppm-soil question

LookMomNoDealers

Can someone please explain how ppms are measured in a soil grow. I'm thinking that the nute solution gets measured before use and then the runoff gets measured and then the difference between the 2 will tell how much nutes your plants are utilizing. meh! what the hell do I know.

tokecrazy

Well you are half way there.The ppm's of your nutr is the ppms'.Now the ppm's of the soil is the ppm's of the soil.Now when you test the run off you are testing the soil and the nutr you added.The ppms will differ as the plant grows and you can not go by that.The main reason to test the run off is to check the PH of the soil.When the PH go's up it means the salts are building up and you need to flush to lower the ph.When you mix the nutr and test the ppm's this what they get.Now how much they up take and how much that stays in the soil would require soil testing in a lab to tell that.Need more just hollar. Peace

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LookMomNoDealers

Thanks toke. Ok so this is what I suspected the whole time.. that it is not practical to monitor ppms in soil grows. I've read some threads where people growing in soil also monitor the ppms of their nute solution and I think to myself why? You cant get an accurate reading of the plants ppm uptake from the runoff. Why are people doing this?I want more control over my garden so I've been doing some serious thinking about getting a R.O unit and going hydro. No offense to my fellow soil growers, I just want to try something new.

4kaan4

Hey LookMom,

Just be aware that with hydro you need to keep a close eye on the brats as things can go wrong very quickly when a problem arises. Hydro is more productive and less forgiving than soil. That's the trade off when getting your feet wet!

Later,
4kaan4

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LookMomNoDealers

Thanks, yeah I'm very aware, that's what's kept me from doing it all along but I've become disabled in the last year so now I'm home 24/7 and there are no more excuses. I've dabbled with bubble buckets before but this time I'm going with an ebb&flo type setup.
Ebb&Flo... sounds like a rap group lol
peace

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jangel

Hey Look. Read up on it first. Good bits on ebb and flow/flood & drain in the overgrow faq and the Green Passion one has a peice on setting up hydro eb/flow. Also, read tokecrazy's threads. He is the resident f/d man here.

Peace.

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Life,
j-angel


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