hairylemonberry
Member
what should i do if my tap water is at 7 ph? should i add open sesame, it says its a ph balanced blend. will that lower or higher
ph problems
- Thread starter hairylemonberry
- Start date
VansStoner1748
Well-Known Member
Its good at 7
hairylemonberry
Member
well its a hydro, so ive been told it needs to be at 5.9 i just donno what to do cause my taps at 7 and i need to give her some nutes eventually
VansStoner1748
Well-Known Member
Okay never mind then. Haven't done hydro yet.
Ive seen some PH up and PH down that im pretty sure for a hydro garden. Go check out OSH or a plant nursery.
Ive seen some PH up and PH down that im pretty sure for a hydro garden. Go check out OSH or a plant nursery.
Little Tommy
Well-Known Member
What I do is mix the nutrients and then add the correct amount of PH down in order to get the PH where I want it. There is almost no point to PH the water unless you are going to use just water. The nutrients will affect the ph in most cases so PH after nutrients are mixed and adjust Up or Down as needed to reach the desired PH using PH UP or Down..
hairylemonberry
Member
ya ive seen those too i just thought there has to be another way, but fuck me right. i guess ill go buy some purified water, then flush for the second time today
Snow Crash
Well-Known Member
lol...
What you do... You test your solution with a pH meter goofy.
Take your pH 7 water, add your nutrients, and then test the pH. If it isn't 5.5ish then you need to add small amounts of pH up or pH down products to get it there. Work slowly, don't overcompensate, adding both up and down to a reservoir is a bad idea (bicarbonates and phosphoric acids don't mix well in a high salt solution).
Then you take this solution and allow it to rest for at least 6 hours, IMO, 12 hours is about right. You should run a small water pump (Petco, like $3) to circulate the water. Air stones will skew the solution pH. Check the solution every few hours and adjust as you need to. Usually the pH of the solution will rise over time, so don't be hasty with the pH up. You can also just add plain 7 pH water to get the pH up a little bit instead of bicarbonates.
That's basically it. Mix, test, balance, rest, test, balance, rest, test, balance, and apply.
I really recommend TechnaFlora pH down as your controller. They use Nitric Acid which is more stable in an aerated hydroponics setup. You'll want to test the pH of the reservoir every few hours after adding it. If you need to alter the pH in the rez create a small amount of a water/pH down solution at a pH of 4.0. Add this solution slowly to the reservoir to bring the pH down.
Keep the reservoir pH between 5.4 and 5.8 and you'll be in good shape. Running closer to 5.8 during flowering will help make magnesium available when using high potassium blooming supplements.
What you do... You test your solution with a pH meter goofy.
Take your pH 7 water, add your nutrients, and then test the pH. If it isn't 5.5ish then you need to add small amounts of pH up or pH down products to get it there. Work slowly, don't overcompensate, adding both up and down to a reservoir is a bad idea (bicarbonates and phosphoric acids don't mix well in a high salt solution).
Then you take this solution and allow it to rest for at least 6 hours, IMO, 12 hours is about right. You should run a small water pump (Petco, like $3) to circulate the water. Air stones will skew the solution pH. Check the solution every few hours and adjust as you need to. Usually the pH of the solution will rise over time, so don't be hasty with the pH up. You can also just add plain 7 pH water to get the pH up a little bit instead of bicarbonates.
That's basically it. Mix, test, balance, rest, test, balance, rest, test, balance, and apply.
I really recommend TechnaFlora pH down as your controller. They use Nitric Acid which is more stable in an aerated hydroponics setup. You'll want to test the pH of the reservoir every few hours after adding it. If you need to alter the pH in the rez create a small amount of a water/pH down solution at a pH of 4.0. Add this solution slowly to the reservoir to bring the pH down.
Keep the reservoir pH between 5.4 and 5.8 and you'll be in good shape. Running closer to 5.8 during flowering will help make magnesium available when using high potassium blooming supplements.
hairylemonberry
Member
i went and got the ph up and down at a hydro store out of town, so i should be good now