Reddit reviews HM Digital TDS-3 Handheld TDS Meter With Carrying Case, 0 - 9990 ppm TDS Measurement Range, 1 ppm Resolution, +/- 2% Readout Accuracy

WA state medical patient with RA and wanting to do a real grow for almost a decade. Helped a few friends with their grows and trim sessions over the years and also attempted a few outdoor hidden grows with little success (bad weather, theft, pests/animals). Finally decided to save up and do it properly now that I have space indoors. I have been lurking /r/microgrowery for over a year now and have learned a lot and want to thank you all for everything you do. I also want to thank the YouTubers Growing With Mr.Tight, JustinTime2Grow, and medgrower1 for also being excellent resources. Now onto the details:

 

    Equipment

Gorilla Grow Tent 4x4

2x 600w MH / HPS lights for a total of 1200w. 75w per sq. ft.

400 CPM 6in In-Line Fan

Phresh Filter 400 CFM

Hygrometer

TDS Meter

Infrared Thermometer

Grow Room Glasses

 

    Plants

Blue Dream - DJ Short x Santa Cruz Haze. 80% Sativa / 20% Indica. 7-8 week flower cycle

Boy Scout Cookies - Girl Scout Cookies Thin Mint x Pre-98 Bubba Kush. 60% Indica / 40% Sativa. 8 week flower cycle.

Darth Vader Haze - 4-way Black Haze Black Cross. 100% Sativa. 9-10 week flower cycle.

Grand Daddy Purple - Big Bud x Purple Urkle. Indicia Dominant. 8-9 week flower cycle.

 

    Grow Medium and Feed

5 gal Smart Pots

Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil

Fox Farm Trio

18-6 Lighting cycle for veg. full 1200w of MH.

Using tap water and PH Down (is around 8.0 right out of the tap). I let the water sit for at least a few hours to let any chemicals leech out into the air and bring it closer to room temp.

 

The GDP went in almost a full day later. It was a younger clone and I was worried about the transplanting shocking it, but turned out fine. One of my MH bulbs had bits of broken glass in the outer part and didn't work so I had to wait on a replacement arrived on day 6. Also I ordered the wrong size Phresh filter and am waiting for the refund to process so I can get the right size. Temps have been hovering around 80F ambient with the lights on and 40% RH.
Temp minimum during dark cycle is 68-70F and humidity maxed out around 85% RH.

First watering with nutrients will be as soon as the soil dries a bit more (still damp at knuckle deep). Will be doing a half strength of the Big Bloom for the first feed likely tomorrow morning an hour or so after the lights kick on.

I eventually want to get an 8x4 to use as a flower tent and have the 4x4 as a veg tent to set up a perpetual grow. I am also seriously looking at the GrowBlu lights for veg when I do this, the results I am seeing from the guys on YouTube using them just looks amazing. I also want to switch over to en Ebb and Flow type system instead of soil when I do that, but that is something I need to look into much more.

[TDS-3] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VTQM70/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_6_w)

I use this. It works very well, and it's at the very least a name brand. You can add in a DI can if you need to for not very much money, if you don't get 0 ppm. I get 0 ppm every time, and we have 400 ppm source water from the tap. If you want to test, this is only $20, and it's great. Best shit you can get, without regard to the price. For home use, it's awesome.

The 50 gallon version makes it fast enough.

I used to have an under-sink charcoal filter system (basically like a brita, but it comes out of a faucet) that cost around $50-90 to replace every 6 months to 1 year...one time I was looking on amazon to replace my filter and I discovered that an RO filter system was not that expensive...

For $190 (around the cost of 2-3 replacement charcoal filters) I got an RO system that makes very tasty water...much better than the charcoal filter... and I haven't had to replace any of the filters in the system yet after about 3.5 years.

I'm using a TDS tester, still getting around 10 ppm...comparable to most bottled water that I've tested (my normal tap water is about 180 ppm).

Also, the replacement filters are much cheaper than the charcoal system.