Fertilizer Questions (moved from vesta curing questions)

[jekylnz]

Is a TDS meter same as a parts per million meter? Cause I have one that I used for hydroponics
With a ph meter as well to keep an eye on solution levels,when I was having a go a growing (other stuff )under lights
A few years ago.also I heard tobbaco plants prefer poorer sandy soil? Is this true,and so what sort of fertilizer is .best???
A suppose nitrogen when initially growing up???

 

[Knucklehead]

TDS is Total Dissolved Solids and is expressed in ppm.

I will get a soil sample sent off for analysis. I will write on the package that the sample area will be used for tobacco. They will tell me how much fertilizer and lime to add to my soil. I get this as a free service from my local Farmer's Co-op.

 

[Chicken]

what good would that meter do you now,

or are you planning on growing your bacca hydrophonically,?

we havent to my knowledge seen that type of grow done before,

 

[Knucklehead]

BigBonner uses it to regulate the fertilizer in his float trays instead of guessing. You check the TDS of the plain water under your trays, say it shows 2 ppm. You would add fertilizer until you got a reading of 9. On Virginia I think you want a reading of 7.5 ppm. He explains it better in the float tray thread. Some of the guys have said that if they fertilized by the instructions on the fertilizer, it would have been way too much. The meter helps you keep the right amount of fertilizer. BigBonner said he cuts the fertilizer and then even the water a few days before transplanting to harden off. I got a meter off ebay after I bought my float trays from BigBonner. It was the same brand as Big's but a cheaper model.

 

[Chicken]

i didnt think of float tray systems, but yes i can see where, that would be benificial.

 

[jekylnz]

i didnt think of float tray systems, but yes i can see where, that would be benificial.

Yeah even I wasn't doing hydro and just growing in soil,the TDS meters come in handy just to make sure ur levels are right
(not to strong)saves u burning your plants with to much,especially wen they're young,
P.S sorry if put post in wrong subject,still getting use to how things work on here

 

[Chicken]

does that thin g operate sort of like a P.H.meter,????

if so i got one of them you stick in the soil, to get the p.h. level.

i guess im old school. i fertilize according to what the leaf on the plant tells me,examing a leaf, will tell you a lot,

 

[Knucklehead]

It operates similar to a ph meter but the two meters are searching for two different things. The ph meter can tell you if you need lime. The tds tells you where you are on fertilizer. It's best use is for float trays when the plants are too small to tell anything by eyeballing the leaves, and to maintain the proper amount of fertilizer during the seed start and grow out. As other members have stated, the directions on the fert. bag would have put them over the recommended dosage by as much as two times the recommended amount. Using the meter prevented either killing their plants or having tall leggy plants that would be weak and have thin stems.

Also, if your soil is already fertilized, you don't add any to the water for a couple weeks or you could end up double fertilizing at the start.