Being able to monitor acidity scale and electrical conductivity using basic sampling procedures gives you an excellent baseline. If you do not have your own pH and EC meter, you will have to send PourThru test samples out for testing. This is much more expensive than investing in your own meter!

If your substrate (growing medium) pH is too low (acidic), nutrient uptake may increase to toxic levels. If your substrate pH is too high, chemical interactions make nutrients less available and plants go hungry. Growers commonly keep their substrate pH at between 6.0-6.5 although a range as wide as 5-7 can produce positive results.

Much like in our own bodies salt influences electrical conductivity. If levels are too high it means you are fertilizing too much. If levels are too low it means you’re not fertilizing enough and your plant needs more available nutrients. Your plant’s nutrient needs typically grow over development stages.

To give you a general idea, in early vegetation they need some, in late vegetation they need more, during peak flowering they need the most, and at pre-harvest, they go back to needing some. Investing in pH/EC gives you invaluable hard data on your plant’s nutrient status and provide helpful data points to help you develop a “feel” for what’s going on at each stage.

There are many pH and EC meters that are available for as cheap as $20-30, or more expensive models that can cost hundreds. Since these meters are so useful, it is a good piece of equipment to invest a little more in. With regular care and calibration, they can last for years (even decades)!