PH Problems Can't Keep Levels Low

mmurtagh2

Member
So I’m having a Problem with my ph. I run at 5.8 But for some reason after I adjust my ph it goes from 5.8 to 6.8 or I have seen it go higher I have tried letting my water sit out for two days to let the chlorine evaporate out and then bring the Ph level to 5.8 but it still rises after a day or two. I’m running in hydroton in a hydro system I use ionic nutrients. I just don’t get why the ph goes up will I have to check it every day to keep it at proper levels. Can anyone tell me why this is happening and how to fix it.
 

tea tree

Well-Known Member
Yu are using tapwater I bet. Tapwater contains magic things that make it stay about 7-8. Your nutes are not right for tapwater. If you try ro water and cal mag then you can find some balance. A lot of people like to work with various ph levels. A day or two is not bad. Try more nutes till you have a combo that works for you. Resarch your waters makeup. See what the calcium and the magnesium level is. The calcium level is what matters.
 

homebrewer

Well-Known Member
I use GH and I see your same pH swings 3 days out of the week. I'm also testing DynaGro with the same tap water of course and my pH rests between 5.6 and 5.8 after it's mixed in the res and doesn't move at all throughout the week. It's not your water, it's your nutes.
 

tea tree

Well-Known Member
well i think it is both. you have to match your water to your nutes. i use gh and i adjust ph once and i never need to adjust it again. for real.
 

homebrewer

Well-Known Member
well i think it is both. you have to match your water to your nutes. i use gh and i adjust ph once and i never need to adjust it again. for real.
Do you happen to use floralicious bloom or Florablend? While I love these additives and the plants do too, I have a feeling they're contributing to the fluctuations.
 

mmurtagh2

Member
Yu are using tapwater I bet. Tapwater contains magic things that make it stay about 7-8. Your nutes are not right for tapwater. If you try ro water and cal mag then you can find some balance. A lot of people like to work with various ph levels. A day or two is not bad. Try more nutes till you have a combo that works for you. Resarch your waters makeup. See what the calcium and the magnesium level is. The calcium level is what matters.
Yes i use tap water it kinda sucks to bring 80 galons every two weeks home. but i do let it sit out over night i will check into what the make up of my water is. I use all Ionic nutes from veg to flower i have not had a problem of it riseing with thes nutes before but i guess that water could have changed.
 

Fatrider

Member
How often do you check your Ph? Nutes are acidic and as you plants feed they take up nutes your Ph should rise. You should be checking Ph at least once a day.
 

mmurtagh2

Member
and what ro syestem would you use i was looking at some and they are like $1,000 for one that would produce the amount of water that i would need at a time kinda out of my price range for now. Do you thing cal mag would help without the ro system.
 

mmurtagh2

Member
Yes I check daily I have just noticed that they raise a lot quicker than they have from 5.8 to 6.8 in a day.
 

mmurtagh2

Member
I think i will also switch to ionic hard water. i Get great results with ionic and would hate to change because of ph problems.
 

mmurtagh2

Member
How often do you check your Ph? Nutes are acidic and as you plants feed they take up nutes your Ph should rise. You should be checking Ph at least once a day.
I check daily the problem has just started The nute levels are the same but th ph rise all the time i have my veg at 1.1 EC and after a week the EC is still at 1.1 But the ph has jumed from 5.8 to 6.3 daily and i bring it back down but it gose back up.
 

tea tree

Well-Known Member
your lucky it is 6.3. I was using gh three part with the hardwater micro and tapwater but the ph would rise to 7! everyday. I switched to regular micro because I saw the calcium level of my city water supply was not technically "hard". Now I never have any ph probs at all. I use the lucas formula. It is amazing to always have 5.8 ph. I adjust once.
 

snocat

Active Member
I also use the GH 3 part nutes and never had ph issues until a week or 2 ago,Im also useing tap water and also water from my dehumidifyer,My problem turned out to be my tap waters ph has drpped from 7.8 to 6.3. last night I couldnt get the ph to rise no matter how much ph up I put in it(nutes drop the ph) I think the water company is putting in so much ph buffers that it cant be adjusted,its been a very dry and hot summer and our water supply is down drasticly and I think thats what my problem is,Im going to use water from my dehumidifyer from now on and see how that goes I hate luging water.any way keep an eye on your water supplys ph.
 

henery

Active Member
I use gh 3 part also and mix my nutes it sets it to 6.0 and it never wanders so I never use ph up or down lucky I guess I think it is all about the water!
 

mmurtagh2

Member
My water comes from a river and I was just reading about my water supply and it will vary in hardness throughout the year I’m guessing it is pretty high right now because the river is really low. I have been looking into a reveres osmoses system to maybe help
 

mmurtagh2

Member
I was told that the PH does not matter as much ass people think that as long as it does not go past 7.5 and under 5.5 it should be ok it should only be bad if it goes past those points but I’m not sure whether that is true I would think that it would not be too bad because a 7 ph is neutral and I do know that plants like it a bit more acidic but not much. But again this is from hear say so it could be wrong.
 

moash

New Member
did u rinse ur hydroton?
thatll make it rise
also if u let it dry out too much between feedings it will get dusty
 

sm0ker420

Member
Do you flush weekly? Dumb question but if you dont flush and give them roots an air bath and rinse out your bucket/tub whatever your growing in could add to the PH swing issue. Also do you have a ppm meter to check the ppm of ur water coming out of tap and its ph? You have done multiple grows using the same method, water and nutes and have not had this issue before?
 

mmurtagh2

Member
I try to clean every week sometimes I can’t but at least every two weeks. I have been making sure to when I saw the PH go up. I want to get some h2O2 to see if it is because of pathogens and other problems
 
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