Why do I need a nutrient meter?
Using a nutrient meter is the best way to accurately feed your plants the nutrients that they need. By accurately providing your plants with what they need, you'll notice faster and healther growth - you also will reduce the risk of your crop failiing due to having the wrong nutrient mix - which is the most common reason for failure in hydroponics!
You'll find that as you test the EC (electrical conductivity) of your nutrient solution, over time you will learn a lot about how your plant consumes water and nutrients. For example in hot and dry conditions, plants typically consumer more water than nutrients (as a percentage), which means the nutrient concentration will go up, as there's less water but a similar amount of nutrients! The is an issue because when the nutrient concentration is too high, it will actually suck water out through the roots of the plant (through osmosis) in order to balance out salinity levels. On the other hand, in cool conditions a plant may rapidly consume nutrients, but not water - resulting in a lower nutrient concentration in the water. Of course this is an issue as the plants won't have enough nutrients to grow!
Measuring EC is really easy once you're all set up, all you need to do to get an accurate reading is:
- Rinse the electrode on the EC meter
- Turn the meter on
- Immerse the meter electrode in the solution you want to test
- Stir gently and wait 30 seconds for the reading to stabilise.
- After reading, clear the electrode and turn off the meter. Always replace the protective cap after use.
Included in this package are:
- EC meter
- Instructions
- Batteries (LR44 1.5V) included
Specifications
- Measurement range: 0-2000 ppm
- Accuracy: +/- 2%
- Power supply: LR44 1.5V
- Operating Temperature: 0-80 Degrees C
Hydroponic nutrients can sound complicated at first, but once you learn a few basic principles you can grow like a pro in your own home. Hydroponics is easy to learn, hard to master and super rewarding.
We've put together some really simple educational material to ease you into your hydroponic growing journey:
- To get started in your hydroponic learning journey, read our blog post on what nutrients plants need to grow. If you follow the blog series that it's a part of then you should get a really good idea of how everything works.
- When you buy a smart garden from gathera, it comes with instructions on how to use the nutrients, with rule of thumb guidelines on how much nutrients your plant needs. If you want to get the most out of your nutrients, we recommend getting a nutrient meter which can tell you exactly how much nutrient there is in the water - optimising your plant's growth.
- To figure out how much nutrient your plant needs, you can check out our plant nutrient requirement page which can tell you the pH, and nutrient concentraton required by most plants.
- Finally - when you start getting good, you'll want to use a pH meter and pH adjusters to optimise the pH of the nutrient solution. Having the right pH will let you access ALL of the minerals in the nutrients properly, optimising growth.
It's hard to fail with the combination of nutrients, rockwool and grow lights that we offer, but you'll notice that with each additional bit of knowledge you can get higher and higher yields - helping you get the most out of your smart garden!
We offer change of mind returns on all products, and a 1 year warranty on all electrical goods. We're also so confident in your success, that we have a 60 day seed guarantee, and will replace any seeds that don't grow free of charge!
Buying with Gathera gives you access to our community and all our range of special resources to help you grow:
- Access to our community page.
- Horticulture experts on hand to help you out.
- You're buying into an ecosystem – need to replace a pump, light, netcup or other component? We have replacements available so that you don't have to ditch your whole system when one small thing breaks..
- We sell the stuff you need to feed your gardens - nutrients, seeds, growth mediums.
- Comprehensive FAQs.
We have a range of great FAQs that you can read to learn most of what you need to know to grow like a pro. If the FAQ's don't do it for you, then our supportive team is always happy to help! We've put together some common queries that we get about the grow lights to help you select the one that's right for you!
Should I feed plants differently in summer and winter?
Yes. Plant growth varies in line with seasonal changes. Summer represents a period of active growth for the overwhelming majority of plants due to the warmer weather and as a result feeding is required. Winter represents a period of dormancy and very little or no feeding is required.
What to do if your plants start looking unhealthy
If your plants are showing signs of poor health such as crisping leaves, wilting, or browning, we recommend you dump the water solution you are using, wash out the water basin, and start again with fresh water and nutrients.
Note on algae
When nitrogen rich nutrients come in contact with light, naturally occuring bacteria called algae, feed off the nutrients and grow. Algae isn't toxic and won't really kill your plants directly. However, they prevent oxygen from reaching the roots of your plants that are in contact with the algae - which hampers growth, and because they are wet, they can also damage plant stems if they are in constant contact with the stems that are normally meant to be dry.
How do I prevent Algae from growing on my growing medium?
To avoid this, there are a few things you can do:
- Reduce nutrient concentration - Algae feed off nutrients, you can reduce the concentration of nutrients to your smart gardens until the seeds have begun germinating (usually they don't need nutrients until this point anyway). Once it has germinated (and the plants start to shade the nutrient rich rockwool cube), you can start to increase your plant's nutrient concentration.
- Shade your growing medium - light causes the naturally occuring bacteria (algae) to photosynthesize and grow. You can cover the growing medium (rockwool or smart soil) with something like foil to keep the light off them until they are ready to sprout.
- Dry out the growing medium - this might cause damage to your plants, so only do it if you know what you're up to.
What can I do to get rid of Algae on my growing medium?
Once algae is there, it can be tough to completely eradicate. The simplest way to get rid of it is by spraying water directly at the algae from 1cm away from the growing medium surface. The force of the water physically dislodges the algae and cleans the cube! Easy as!
