What should my ppm be?

runoff is imprecise.. could be any number of reasons why a reading can be drastically different than what is actually in the soil. don't overhtink the soil so much. 2 different layers means 2 different contexts as far as controlling pH and nutrient concentration. Mix it all together, next time or just use one or the other. The more important thing to adjust with any medium is the proper amount of perlite or similar for drainage and aeration characteristics... a higher water capacity soil should have 50% and something like coco coir needs 33% of volume perlite or similar, because it holds less water per volume compared to typical soil components.... soil is a broad term and it can be made of different thigns causing different charactersitics. The ffof and typical potting soils you see need 50% perlite. htey often come with some but not enough, and you simply do a little algrebra to figure out how much to add to get it to 50%. I would always take into consideration the health of the plant as you take these runoff readings. Until yo know what is normal for the products you are using while a plant is mostyl healthy long-term, then you can start reacting to those readings when they deviate from that range... but you need to form a baseline first. with some fertilizer and amendments, a portion of what is dissolved can't even enter the plant. Microbes and whatever else need to break it down. What can enter the plant is what matters in regard to EC/PPM readings. So, some soils and fertilizers can give you a 3000ppm reading and it's totally fine. This is where understanding what is normal helps. Keep taking readings, but don't react too much unless th eplant is also taking a nosedive... This stuff will help more in the future than now. anytime you change products or methods, it might require a new learning period to re-familiarize yourself with what the runoff readings should say... If you go soilless/hydro, vast majority of that trial and error goes out the window... so much easier in that regard with far fewer unknowns to learn. tip - it doesn't matter if you treat them the same. never let that impact how you perceive or react. it's a good thing to do... consistency, but when 2 plants diverge, it simlpy doesn't fucking matter, right? One plant is throwing a fit. That is what you should focus on when something happens. Better methods work on a greater variety of plants. I always see people blaming the plants for being picky... i don't believe that's the case and in my experience definitely is not. It's esoteric formulas and other bro-science nonsense that causes inconsistent results. Some can't even admit that what they did was wrong when their canopy is burnt to shit -- "oh, its a good fade.. senescence" LOL... some damage is inevitable, but if it's ever a dumpster fire, look in the mirror to avoid it in future.