pH & TDS Meters / DIY Hydroponics

pH & TDS Meters / DIY Hydroponics

This is not a how to use pH or TDS meters, I can't, here's why.

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[Ambroise]

Thank you Mike, I have here 2 ph meters and the readings are not the same. Your experiences convinced me not to worry about ph and nutrient levels just keep on growing and your are absolutely right.

[PSPSMITH]

Fantastic! Thanks for proving through showing instead of just telling! Too many YouTube content creators out there just telling people a hypothetical growing concept, while not truly demonstrating that it even works the way they say it does. These downspouts are practically no work at all: No pH testing, adjusting, or buffering; No TDS/EC testing; No air pumps; No water pumps; No monitoring/adjusting water levels; No changing out nutrient solutions mid-grow; No need to add nutrients after initial fill; No fiddling with drip irrigation, hoses, or timers; No weeding; No digging; No mulching; etc. The most complicated issue I'm finding with these downspouts is what to do with all the plants once they're ready to harvest. You can only give your neighbors so much lettuce before it starts getting weird... Thankfully, we found a soup kitchen in the city that is happy to take everything we can spare. Keep on teaching and uploading!

[farmerkev]

Man, I just started getting to hydroponics within the last couple months. I sure was relieved when I started watching your videos and you mentioned not testing your levels after I started some of my own stuff! Thx for the info and ideas!

[valenzuela]

I think what I appreciate the most about this video is the integrity of the system that he has developed for himself and others. The only time I use meters is when something is going wrong with my plants. However, it is easy to figure out what is wrong and what you can do to correct it without measuring any levels within your system. For instance, nutrient burn is very easy to identify and I don't need meters to tell me that. So I love this method he has going on here. It's really helpful because I think this industry has been avoided by so many for so long because of all the complicated aspects. This is the perfect way to start, and in fact I believe everybody should start In this exact same manner. You learn a whole lot more about your plants and nutrients without needing a chart or a table to tell you what to do.

[gardeningtipswithvicky]

You are first 🥇 gardener who I support u ..It's so complicated to check PH and to change it every single day ...

[imawaken]

I bought those meters when I first started but you’re absolutely right....too time consuming to continue to use. Bottom line, if you’re plants are thriving and you’re eating your veggies no matter the path to get there. Plus no batteries needed for those of us who wants to be off grid. I’d be totally impress if you can do off grid aquaponics. 😃

[melsibley]

Mike I just started catching up on your channel after recently getting into hydroponics, .
Just my two pennoths worth, KISS, keep it simple stupid . Wish I had been following 100 videos ago videos coming please .
Your approach is absolutely spot on . That said one of my first purchases was a PH meter .
I suppose I’ll get round to calibrating it one day .
I’m assuming you live in an area where your water is perfect for hydroponics.
Love your channel Mike, already subscribed. Keep the good work spreading .
Much respect from uk 🇬🇧

[martysgarden]

Good morning Mike! I love how you break it down so simply!
People can learn a lot from your vids, , , keep it simple guys is the key!
All the best from Australia
Marty

[iyarigodwin]

Thank you for the video, but how can I know when the ph and ec is high or low? Thank you

[victorb]

Good on you! When my grandma was teaching me to Garden 30 + years ago no electronics were involved I don't think PH meters TDS meters were invented yet. Probably but we knew nothing about them and grew perfectly good food!

[dawnt]

Thank you for this! Color me relieved that I don't need to deal with more equipment and all the testing. I plan to set up MULTIPLE containers, and the idea of having to constantly test and adjust pH is daunting. I don't even do that with my aquariums!

[CBsGreenhouseandGarden]

And proof is in your videos my friend. Kratky is the most simple and easy way to grow! Many don't understand it is a set it and forget it! Good lord it would take you hours to check all those! Very well said buddy! Keep on keeping on brother! Thanks for the shout! Hope you folks have an awesome weekend!

[KJJHN]

Hey Mike, I haven't the funds currently, however, ... Could you make for us an oak wine barrell hydropinics tower how to?

[xelradcliffe]

Hi do u use cover when it rains? Wont the rain water go inside the pool noodle? Thanks

[daveborchard]

To maximize your hydroponic growth you need to start with reverse osmosis water thats less than 20 ppm, ideally less than 10 ppm. Then you set your nutrient concentration level and pH. However, you can grow hydroponically without doing those things. I don’t know how much growth rate would be lost.

The same goes for using deep water culture without adding air to the nutrient. When you add air to the nutrient, the growth rate is noticeably improved.

Deep water culture is a lot of work to optimize your nutrient. I grow with deep water culture. I used reverse osmosis clean water, and I’ve measured the nutrient concentration and pH on new batches of nutrient. So, I know how much pH up to add for each 5 gallon batch. I use the 3 part Masterblend, Calcium Nitrate, and Epsome salt nutrient components measured with a gram scale for consistent nutrient concentration.

However, over many weeks or months, the pH and nutrient concentration levels change, and I don’t bother to try to adjust the pH or nutrient levels. After several months, I replace the nutrient with fresh nutrient which has close to the correct pH and nutrient level.

I think if you want to try to maintain you pH and nutrient levels, you need to have a larger reservoir tank. Then buy pH and TDS meters that are connected to a controller and systolic pumps. That would lock the pH and nutrient levels in the reservoir tank.

Then you’d need to use NFT, or fill and drain. Deep water culture isn’t practical to automate the pH and nutrient levels, unless the nutrient tank is your grow area, like in a large greenhouse operation.

There’s a lot of other things that could be optimized, like the type and quantity of light, humidity and temperature, and the CO2 level.

But it’s amazing what kind of results you can obtain without optimizing anything!

[misatoshimohammed]

Straight up my brother. Thats some real talk right there bro. All these wannabes scientist farmers from the U.S trying so hard to be so smart and makes it difficult for all of us foreigners lol. Watching so many Indians and Phillipino hydroponic gardeners. They are pretty straightforward. Plant + water mixed with seeweed = a big fat produce. My humble advice for anyone trying to do this. Do not let ph, ec, tds or whatever the heck they called it etc stop you. Whatever works, stay that way and keep on repeating the same process. Happy gardening from New Zealand 👍🇳🇿

[Plasmafox]

I bought one of those cheap PH meters on amazon(the one every brand white-labels from the same factory, ) spent like half an hour calibrating it, and after all that fiddling, it didn't even measure the calibration solutions correctly. I threw it away and just use litmus paper to get a "good enough" reading.

[vinivv]

I grow mostly indoors and use meters for lighting and nutrients totally gotta bring the outside in but i agree i have to test every pot every bucket of water measure nutrients yep lots of work for a real small operation lol

[cekiert]

Glad it works for you, my pH is 10+ and is way too high to grow a number of items without correcting pH, But I know it's not typical.

[terraint]

I get why you cant do it. Good on you. Im impressed. Im lucky i tested my stuff from the git go and found out my well water was terrible. Super high EC from mostly lime. Had to get a reverse osmosis system to have the proper water to start with. Love your simplicity and testing like the poodle noodles.