hey guyz i was wondering why do i need a tds meter

DrOgkush

DrOgkush

Well-Known Member
Hey. Power to you. If you got it nailed. Right on. I never had issues personally till just recently. Iv always wanted to up my nutes but I never would because I was to scared to burn.
 
lusidghost

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
waterproof808 said:
I did it that way for over a year until I saw the light. I'll never go back to weighing out salts every 3 days. I measure out salts once every few months. now its just pour, stir, and do better things with my time.
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I'm not against doing it, but my time management isn't that critical. Especially since I started using Blumats. I actually enjoy doing it though. I used to use liquid nutrients and that was annoying.

And really, I could mark my little beakers and do it visually. I could also pre-fill a bunch of dime bags with the appropriate amounts and just dump them in if I really wanted to make it easy.
 
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waterproof808

Well-Known Member
lusidghost said:
And really, I could mark my little beakers and do it visually. I could also pre-fill a bunch of dime bags with the appropriate amounts and just dump them in if I really wanted to make it easy.
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You could also just mix two 1-gallon jugs of concentrate and be set for months or make two 5 gallon buckets with spigots and be set for a long ass time. I dont have much time outside of work to spend in the garden, so I'm always hunting for ways to increase efficiency.
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
waterproof808 said:
You could also just mix two 1-gallon jugs of concentrate and be set for months or make two 5 gallon buckets with spigots and be set for a long ass time. I dont have much time outside of work to spend in the garden, so I'm always hunting for ways to increase efficiency.
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I'm definitely going to have to look into making concentrated solutions. Mixing up 10 gallons every other day, and sometimes daily when I had just my two outdoor plants going, is a PITA.
 
lusidghost

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
waterproof808 said:
You could also just mix two 1-gallon jugs of concentrate and be set for months or make two 5 gallon buckets with spigots and be set for a long ass time. I dont have much time outside of work to spend in the garden, so I'm always hunting for ways to increase efficiency.
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Where are you really saving time, on waiting for the salts to dissolve? I run my water from a hose with a wave maker and a hand mixer thing as I add the salts. It's weigh / dump, weigh / dump, weigh / dump. I feel like if you were only using a 5 gallon bucket you could mix it entirely with the force of the water. Again, I'm not knocking it. I just don't see how it's a huge time saver at the end of the day.
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
lusidghost said:
Where are you really saving time, on waiting for the salts to dissolve? I run my water from a hose with a wave maker and a hand mixer thing as I add the salts. It's weigh / dump, weigh / dump, weigh / dump. I feel like if you were only using a 5 gallon bucket you could mix it entirely with the force of the water. Again, I'm not knocking it. I just don't see how it's a huge time saver at the end of the day.
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You're saving time for each weigh and each mix. It's really not much but it is extra work.
 
lusidghost

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
twentyeight.threefive said:
You're saving time for each weigh and each mix. It's really not much but it is extra work.
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But you're having to pour and measure it still. It's pouring liquid vs pouring salt. I watch my scale instead of trying to get eye level with the line. If I went back to liquid nutrients I would probably weigh them just to save neck a little trouble. But whatever. I do think it's cool that you're making your own bottled nutrients instead of buying them.
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
lusidghost said:
But you're having to pour and measure it still. It's pouring liquid vs pouring salt. I watch my scale instead of trying to get eye level with the line. If I went back to liquid nutrients I would probably weigh them just to save neck a little trouble. But whatever. I do think it's cool that you're making your own bottled nutrients instead of buying them.
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A syringe would make quick work of measuring a liquid concentrate. Way quicker then measuring salts on a scale. A liquid concentrate would disperse quicker than salts dissolving also.
 
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waterproof808

Well-Known Member
lusidghost said:
Where are you really saving time, on waiting for the salts to dissolve? I run my water from a hose with a wave maker and a hand mixer thing as I add the salts. It's weigh / dump, weigh / dump, weigh / dump. I feel like if you were only using a 5 gallon bucket you could mix it entirely with the force of the water. Again, I'm not knocking it. I just don't see how it's a huge time saver at the end of the day.
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I mix about 30 gallons of feed a week.
Its quicker to just pour out what I need from two jugs and give a quick stir than weighing out 3 different dry nutrients(PArt A, Epsom, and CalNit) and waiting for part A to dissolve before adding part B. I keep my 25lb bags of Jacks in 5 gallon buckets with screw top lids, so even the act of pulling those out and unscrewing them takes more time than just quickly pouring out of a 1 gallon jug of concentrate that doesnt need to be dissolved.
 
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waterproof808

Well-Known Member
Eventually I plan on adding dosers so I wont even have to pour out liquids at all, which will save even more time. Just stick a hose right in my bottle of stock solutions and dosers do all the work mixing.
 
Hollatchaboy

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
twentyeight.threefive said:
A syringe would make quick work of measuring a liquid concentrate. Way quicker then measuring salts on a scale. A liquid concentrate would disperse quicker than salts dissolving also.
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I use oral syringes for my nutes. They work great, and always accurate. I don't measure ec really anymore, as long as I use the syringes. I've used jacks 321, good shit. Right now I'm using gh flora micro and flora bloom. Once those bottles are empty, it's back to flora nova bloom. Imo the 1 part flora nova bloom, is the easiest I've worked with.
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
Hollatchaboy said:
I use oral syringes for my nutes. They work great, and always accurate. I don't measure ec really anymore, as long as I use the syringes. I've used jacks 321, good shit. Right now I'm using gh flora micro and flora bloom. Once those bottles are empty, it's back to flora nova bloom. Imo the 1 part flora nova bloom, is the easiest I've worked with.
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To each their own. I don't like paying for water.
 
Lenin1917

Lenin1917

Well-Known Member
Useful piece of kit if you’re running Synthetic fertilizers. Less needed if you’re an organic soil grower but still good to keep around, inputs are one of the first things you should check when encountering a problem in the grow. Haven’t used my tds or ph meter in months but I feel better knowing I have them just in case.
 
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