FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

How does a TDS meter work compared to lets say PPM or PH? Im just confused as to what it is measuring as "Total dissolved solids"

Every digital TDS meter in the world is actually an electrical conductivity meter. It reads TDS but is actually only measures the ionized solids, because they are the only ones that increase conductivity. Something like sucrose is a dissolved solid but is not ionized and does not increase conductivity. The only way to measure all dissolved solids in solution is to evaporate all the water and weigh the residue.

Brad

Oh thanks guys. That clears it up. but isnt anything that would really be absorbed by the plants as nutrients going to be ionized? So that would actually be a better measurement for nutrient levels? Or is TDS good because we dont want our CPs absorbing anything but h2o