BadlyDrawnBoy
Active Member
EDIT: See questions below...
Last edited:
How Is This Possible?
- Thread starter BadlyDrawnBoy
- Start date
chemphlegm
Well-Known Member
If those Advanced Nutrients PH perfect told you to mix with Botanicare lines I'd call and bitch !First grow, seedlings have started and I've prepared my 5gal hydro buckets. I went to check the PH today, and began by going through the process of calibrating the new ph meter. As it turns out, my tap (well) water is 6.0 ph. This tap water is what I used to fill my buckets. I thought...great...ph is right where it needs to be and the water needs no adjusting.
But...I've used advanced nutrients ph perfect and hydroguard. Somehow, in so doing, it has changed the ph of my buckets to 8.4. How is this possible? Does hydroguard have that high of a ph? I thought ph perfect advanced nutrients was supposed to keep the ph around 6? My tap water is 6, and these two ingredients changed it to 8.4. I'm just not understanding how that happened.
So I've ordered some ph down. No biggie, but I am curious why this is the case.
Also...My seedlings are only on day 7, so they really don't need to be getting any nutes yet. The roots may be reaching into the resevoir, although I cannot see them coming through the hydroton yet. But even if they are drinking from the nutrient water, the ph doesn't matter unless you are attempting to feed nutrients through that water, right? Ph is basically irrelevant if it's just straight water and not nutrient water? Because the seedlings don't need the nutes, the higher ph should be fine until friday when the ph down comes in the mail, correct?
I've used hydroguard with the botanicare line, have well water, and saw no ph fluxuation, go figure.....
seedlings will die if ph is out of healthy range
BadlyDrawnBoy
Active Member
I'm an idiot. I was using distilled water to calibrate the ph meter, not tap water (which I used for the buckets).
Nevertheless, the ph is 8.4, not around 6.0, like I was hoping the ph perfect would do. I'll have to use some apple cider vinegar until friday when the ph down gets here.
Nevertheless, the ph is 8.4, not around 6.0, like I was hoping the ph perfect would do. I'll have to use some apple cider vinegar until friday when the ph down gets here.
BadlyDrawnBoy
Active Member
But if it's just straight water, the ph doesn't matter right? It's only when feeding nutrients that the ph matters? I have nutrients in the water, but the seedlings are so young they really don't need to be eating yet. I'd rather not use vinegar and just wait until friday to lower it when the ph down gets here in the mail.
BadlyDrawnBoy
Active Member
Still, confused. Just measured my tap water ph and it's 7.8. So the ph perfect Adv. N and the hydroguard made it jump to 8.4. I don't get it.
BadlyDrawnBoy
Active Member
Does advnced nutrients ph perfect work if you're using seedling ratios? 1/4 quarter strength
chemphlegm
Well-Known Member
imagine the other spectrum, plants sitting in wetted acidic material....isnt good I'm thinking. but who knows...maybe you're meter is off and you be fine
chemphlegm
Well-Known Member
can you think of any other additive made by other companies that might not work when mixed with advanced nutrients ph perfect?
c'mon now...aint that tough to get right?
BadlyDrawnBoy
Active Member
I'm wondering why my ph meter read 6.0 in normal distilled water when normal distilled water is supposed to be 7. I used the buffer solutions like they suggested, in distilled water, and the meter read perfect on both of them. I don't get it, I don't know why my reservoir is 8.4. Now I'm just wondering how to know for sure if my meter is actually reading right.