{"id":1097,"date":"2021-10-20T22:53:20","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T02:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lighthousehydroponics.com\/?page_id=1097"},"modified":"2022-06-28T08:57:20","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T12:57:20","slug":"ec-hydroponics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lighthousehydroponics.com\/maintaining-hydro-system\/ec-hydroponics\/","title":{"rendered":"What is EC Hydroponics and how to measure and optimize it"},"content":{"rendered":"

EC in hydroponics is one of the most important factors that determine whether your plants live and thrive, or wither and wilt. So before we go into how to measure and optimize EC Hydroponics, let’s first talk about the meaning of this term.<\/p>\n

What Does EC Stand For In Hydroponics?<\/h2>\n

EC stands for Electrical Conductivity. It is a measure of the total concentration of all the positively charged ions in a solution.<\/p>\n

EC is measured in units of MilliSiemens. The alternative measurement is PPM (Parts Per Million) where the actual value can vary depending on which country you’re in and what equipment is used to measure it.<\/p>\n

That is why measuring EC and using EC meters is easier for most hydroponic gardeners and growers, since it is a standard unit and you can then get information from anywhere that deals with conductivity without having to translate and convert the units.<\/p>\n

What Is EC Hydroponics Measurement?<\/h2>\n

In hydroponics, we measure EC to determine how strong our nutrient solutions are. In simple terms: The higher the EC value, the more concentrated your solution is.<\/p>\n

Since the nutrients are salts and minerals in nature (very specific ones. Don’t try to add salt to your plants – that will kill them), adding more nutrients to the water, increases the conductivity, whereas adding more water, decreases it.<\/p>\n

Different plants require different EC levels in hydroponics because of the level of sensitivity they have for salts. If you get just the right concentration of nutrient solution, your plants will grow faster and produce bigger and healthier crops for you.<\/p>\n

What Should The EC Be For Hydroponics?<\/h2>\n

The ideal EC range for most plants is between 1.8 and 2.2. This varies depending on what you are growing, how old your plants are, etc.<\/p>\n

Luckily for us, there are general usage nutrient solutions<\/a>, with specific instructions on each product which tell you how much nutrient to put in the water.<\/p>\n

There are also powder nutrients for more advanced and for commercial growers, which are specifically adjusted for certain crops, so you’ll have strawberry nutrients for strawberries, and tomato nutrients for tomatoes. The only thing for you to do is to measure the EC daily.<\/p>\n

If it rises from one day to the next, it means that the plants are taking in more water than nutrients, and you need to add water, while on the other hand if the EC decreases, it means your plants are “eating” more nutrients than water and you need to add more nutrients to the solution.<\/p>\n

It may take some trial and error to find the optimal EC + pH for your plants, but your plants will tell you if they need more or less nutrients by their symptoms (such as drooping leaves) and their health and thriving produce.<\/p>\n

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Here’s a short video to get a quick bearing on EC:<\/p>\n