It was written by DR. WHO, a Southern California expert in plant cultivation. PH and TDS balance is VITAL to hydroponic success, so pay attention:
One of the most misunderstood tools for hydroponic gardening are the pH and TDS meters. The meters come in a multitude of varieties and styles, ranging in price from about $30 for a cheap “pen” to more than $250 for a combo meter which can measure in many different scales.
pH is short for “Potential Hydrogen.” This is a scale from 0-14 that measures the acidity or alkalinity of your nutrient solution. Most hydroponic nutrients perform best at 5.5-6.0 pH. If the pH is too low (acidic) or too high (alkaline), your plants won’t be able to take up nutrients, especially micronutrients. This leads to nutrient deficiencies, even though the correct micronutrients are in the solution.
TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) is also synonymous with PPM (Parts Per Million). This is a measurement of the quantity of nutrients in your solution. The number can be represented in many different ways. Sometimes it is represented in EC, or Electrical Conductivity. No matter what scale you are using, it is easy to get the results that you are looking for. Normally, plants require a nutrient strength of about 1,500-2,000 TDS (or PPM). If you have an EC meter, you are shooting for about 1.8 on that scale (1 EC equals approximately 900 PPM). The more expensive meters can read EC or PPM (TDS).
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