TDS measured soil water says x10

So I decided I wanted to check my reused ammended soil water ppm. I had waited 24 hours for soil and water to soak in together. When I had checked it it had said 178 ppm but on the right of screen it said x10 does anyone know why it does this? When I checked tap water ppm it didn’t say x10 on screen. I am beyond confused.

Tap water is going to be under 1000 ppm (if not, don’t drink it!). Once you hit 1000 ppm your x10 shows up indicating 1780 ppm

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Okay so that reading is really good since my plants are in flower? The reading I got for just tap water when I checked yesterday was 210ppm, 245ppm and 347ppm. That’s good right?

Yeah, my tap is around 250.

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Okay sweet! I had forgot to mention that I had pH balanced to 6.4-6.5 then checked it and gave me those readouts. But the one test with no pH balance was around 200ppm. Since I’ve pH balanced and got that ppm readouts my plants should love it and thrive correct? What’s too much ppm for plants I’m curious to know that.

The 1780 ppm in the soil depends on if you’re going organic or using liquid nutes.

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I use all organic living soil no liquid ferts

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Then you’re fine. All those ppms aren’t available, it gets broken down over time. If it’s liquid nutes, all those ppms are immediately available and that’s where the burns and lockouts happen

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Does liquid ferts do a better job for plants than just using living organic soil? So with that readout it gave that means I reammended soil correctly? I don’t know if anyone had done this before but before I watered I did put some of that soil on top of the plant soil like top dressing then watered will that do anything? I’m very curious now to see what ppm soil is brand new not reammended. Sorry for all these questions this is my first time doing this kind of stuff lol

Stuff like ocean forest is around 3000ppm out of the bag. Big rootz soil is 5000ppm out of the bag. Roots organic is around 2000ppm out of the bag. I’m using roots organic now and just trying to keep it at that 2000 ppm by top dressing with dry terp tea grow and bloom

Oh and for the liquid vs the organic nutes, I’ve gotten larger plants with liquid nutes but the quality you get from organic makes up for it.

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So it’s kinda better to use oraganic than liquid ferts? I am using roots organic but for potting soil and use living soil for hot soil basically. Since you grow with roots organic does it have everything living soil has kind of? Cause if it is will it work the same as living soil like benefits? I mean if it has basically same benefits I can use just roots organic seed to harvest and save money instead of buying both?

This is my first attempt with roots. I switched from ocean forest because the last few bags I got were really acidic and caused problems. So far the plants love it, just switched to flower on 6/20 so I’m excited to see how the flower cycle goes with this stuff but so far the ph is perfect. As for living soil, I’m not sure. I add mycorrhizae and tribus to it and then the dry terp tea and some Epsom salts but that’s about it.

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Like Epsom salt you get at Walmart the stuff you use for a bath to relieve pain? So let me get this correct your just using roots organic for soil not mixed with anything? If so let me know how they do from start to finish would love to see outcome and may start just using roots organic.

Yep. Just unscented epsom salt. Only ingredient is magnesium sulfate.

Great source of magnesium and sulphur. This is the journal going for the roots organic grow

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So I use this with pH water then water plants? I need to try this!

I looked more into roots organic and thinking about just using that instead of buying happy frog and ffof. The only thing is do you feed the soil to feed plant or use liquid ferts from roots organic, use tea and liquid kelp/seaweed extract with it? Never used liquid ferts before or teas and liquid seaweed/kelp extract.

Yeah, I use 1tbsp/gallon with epsom salt. Always ph after everything is added. The terp teas are dry nutes. You can brew them in a tea and this makes the nutrients available to the plants faster. I just sprinkle it on the soil dry and water it in. You have to plan ahead this way because it takes time to break down.

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About when should I start? Beginning of flower stage before buds show? This tea is like compost tea you brew for 24 hours with bubbler device in water correct? Also can I use both teas or which one is better to use? I have seen on their site there liquid ferts for their soil but I would rather try feeding soil since roots organic is super soil. Top dressing kit does that do anything?

I wouldn’t say it’s super soil. Super soil is more of a water only soil. I sprinkled about a tablespoon of grow on the soil in veg and watered it in when the ppms got down to 1000. Then after light flip I sprinkled a tablespoon of bloom on the soil when Ppms again reached 1000. Then I add mycorrhizae and tribus on alternating weeks. Epsom salt once a week. Molasses every other week.

I brewed the grow and bloom in teas a few grows ago but it’s messy and the stuff stains anything it touches so now I just top dress with the stuff.

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Okay. I was thinking about just top dressing instead of agitating it in air bubbler. Is super soil and living soil have a big difference in them besides living soil having living organisms? With brewing it vs top dress which method would work the best?