water ph advice

[dustypropcrop]

Hey guys,how are we all tonight? Hope all is well. Right here goes,I got myself a new piece of kit today for my grow.its a ph meter(tds-3) and I'm not sure how to read it? My tap water is 048 ppm and my rain water(which I'm using) is 021 ppm. Do I take the first zero away and put the point in the middle,thus making it 2.1? And is this suitable for my young plants?
Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[OnlyOrganic]

From Wikipedia:

A TDS Meter indicates the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of a solution, i.e. the concentration of dissolved solids in it. Since dissolved ionized solids such as salts and minerals increase the conductivity of a solution, a TDS meter measures the conductivity of the solution and estimates the TDS from that.

A TDS meter typically displays the TDS in parts per million (ppm). For example, a TDS reading of 1 ppm would indicate there is 1 milligram of dissolved solids in each kilogram of water

From what I've read on a few sites about your specific kit, there's unfortunately no way for you to figure out the PH.

Here's a YouTube video showing how to use the TDS-3:
[video=youtube;sdGnq-pi8DI]

[/video]

 

[dustypropcrop]

After searching page after page and absorbing what I could.......yeah,your right. I'm a bit of a dumbass,thought it was a ph meter I had purchased.lol. I'm sure it will still get used but probably £5 wasted. Gona order from amazon,got my eye on one.I think a ph meter is a Just and as I'm growing in soil,I've tracked down a ph soil testing kit from my local B & Q for £10,not to bad for 15 tests.
Anyways buddy,thanks for your input,appreciated

 

[dustypropcrop]

Done n dusted,1 ph meter ordered.should be here by the end of the week. The reviews were pretty good so went ahead with it.

 

[OnlyOrganic]

Glad to hear.

Please give an update when you've got it in hand and had a chance to use it. Good luck!

 

[dustypropcrop]

That's the ph meter here and tested. My tap water,after bolied n cooled over night is reading 7.2 and the tds meter reads 338 ppm. What is your veiws on the ph please?

 

[dustypropcrop]

Ph of water going into the soil is 7.6.the run off is reading 6.9. Pleased to be going into week 4 and so fae so good

 

[OnlyOrganic]

I was hoping someone would've responded to you by now. I have no personal experience, but I've just done some research. From what I've read, the plants are happiest with a slightly acidic ph (6.5), though honestly the numbers people recommend anywhere online are all over the place (ranging anywhere from 5.5-7). In my opinion, unless you get some wacky number that's really far off, you'll be fine. I say stick with what you've got unless, at some point, it stops working for you.

Glad to hear it's going well so far!

 

[Tead]

Most folks shot for the 6.5 range. This range provides for the most favorable uptake of nutrients. There are several different nutrient uptake charts on the site and a sticky link about PH at the top of this forum that does a much better job of describing it than I.
Don't forget to test your PH AFTER you have added whatever nutrients or other additions.

 

[dustypropcrop]

Not added any nutes get as the soil contained enough food for 4-5 weeks. They are only 3 wks old today,I'm thinking another week before I give them some nutes,bio-grow,at half strengh.

 

[dustypropcrop]