Do any of you guys experience these PH issues where it’s hard to get it set at a good PH or it simply just won’t go down? My EC has never risen, so I have been feeding great. I just purchased this and it should be here tonight.
I understand I am 2 weeks into flower and she takes up a lot of water at this time, but I just cannot get her to go below 6.4-7.0. I’ll add a good ass amount of PH down and it’ll stay the same or go up slightly. Not sure what to do or what I am doing wrong. Banging my head against a wall, but want to get to the bottom of it
I am of course using RO water, so I understand there is barely any buffering. I also use masterblend nutrients which has cal mag in it.
Will adding a bit of some more cal mag hopefully solve my PH issues? Just looking for some advice! Thanks, yall 🤙🏽
by benji23_
15 Comments
Growing hydroponically btw!! 4 gallons of RO water in my Rez.
CalMag won’t do what you want.
It may seem counterintuitive but if you buffer your solution with silicate and then use pH down to get to where you want it, it could stabilize your solution’s pH.
FWIW, I’m running DWC as well and using tap water that sets out for a few days with no issues. I’ve tried distilled water and there was no improvement whatsoever. I’ve been growing hydroponically for many years.
Do you use an air stone? Or 2? This will cause it to drift. I switched to a small pond pump that just breaks the surface of the solution. Now my pH hardly moves and it’s probably the best way to keep the solution mixed and oxygenated. I use a timer to mix it for a few minutes several times a day. That’s really all you need. If it runs continuously, it will add heat to the solution. This may not be your issue, but it will still help the pH stay steady.
If pH won’t go down, use more pH down.
What ph meter u using? I was having ph issues and it happened to be a bad ph meter now I use apera ph pen
What nutrients so you use?
If your pH wont go down you’re using some bunk pH down my friend. Get a good strong version that uses Phosphoric Acid.
You are phing after nutrients right?
Yea I agree you are using some bad ph down if you can’t get it to go down. I’ve used RO water for years finally started using 60/40 RO tap now. Ph rises until about 4-5 weeks of flower using ph down daily to keep it in check. Then the ph should go down or stay neutral using ph up to keep it in check.
I’m impressed your ec never goes up.
Recirculating I assume? pH drift is very common on recirculated systems like ebb and flood or rdwc
When plants get hungry for certain nutes they will send out either a positive ion of hydrogen or negative one depending on the nutrients.
pH is literally the difference between positive and negative ion charge on a log scale. It could literally be that your plants are eating the nutrients they want and they want more.
I would suggest adding that to the fact your ec is dropping then I think your plants want more food.
This normally happens badly when your plants are ready for a pk boost, I’ve heard it called pH crash
Buy a bottle of phosphoric acid food grade 85 percent. Learn to mix safely before using. Its better than any ph down. I have to go this route because I mix up 53 gallons of water at a time and that 10% stuff you are using would never work for me.
Step 1, get yourself a reliable PH meter (bluelab makes a great ph meter, Step2,
https://preview.redd.it/btdqwz099lwg1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95b14a83819fd51d7a5554c84b6a65cd5ac3362a
This is the stuff used to lower or raise your PH.
are you sure your ph meter is working? has it been cleaned and calibrated?
as hob posted, air will seperate shitty nutrient
also masterblend is not hydroponic grade and will never be stable, its drain to waste tomato fertilizer
Could be your municipality adding bicarbonates to the water driving your pH up so even if you pH down it’ll drift back up. To determine if this is the case you can take a sample of your water to a pool store and get it analyzed or you can skip all that and get an RO system.
Does the plant look stunt/ show any sign of deficiency?
What about root ball?