Ppm?

I just bought a PH pen to measure water setting me back 80 bucks. now wahts the deal with parts per million or whatever? what kinda instrument do i need and how much? is it also incredibly stupid to ignore ppm when using a feed schedule like fox farm?

that alot of money to spend on a ph tester. look at the 15 $ ppm meter from Merit-line. google it

YOu get what you pay for.... Spend $80, and it will last for a while....

As for measuring PPM's/EC.... Buy yourself a Bluelab Truncheon... Its the best ppm/ec meter out there... Like $130... but believe me, you will be glad you did... Buy a cheap one, and those ppms will be off... and your plants will suffer... PH and PPM/EC are VERY important, and people who disregard them will pay the ultimate price...

$80 for a Ph meter is actually a pretty good price. I paid $225 for a Hanna Growcheck about five years ago. Some of the best money I ever spent. If your growing in hydroponics, a PPM meter is essential and should be used every couple days on the rez and every time you mix new nutes. If your growing in soil or soil less, not so much. I bought one when I first started indoors about ten years ago. I even used it a few times. Couldn't tell you what happened to it. I feed about 75% of manufacturers recommendation and plain water every other watering. Never needed the meter again. Never have any salt build up/lockout either.
As with everything, your results may vary.
Fred

Hanna makes a combo meter that measures both PH and PPM (HI 98129)...you can save money buying this plus its waterproof! i bought mine for about $150 but ebay you can find them for $130.