PICTURE incl. Ph. FLUCTUATIONS start @5.8 end in 6.5 end day. KEEP adjusting or leave alone ?

I've been adjusting my Ph. At the end of my day . Tonight being my 9th day adjusting Ph. I would like to know if I should keep doing so. I know Ph. Rising is normal. But is having to keep adjusting a normality as well ? I don't believe I should be adjusting as much as I have but I would like to know the FACTS. Is 6.5 okay to leave at? If I adjust should I do it everyday as I am now ? If not how often ? I set my Ph @5.8 exact via Digital Ph meter. LMK 1st time DWC Day 9 transfer

You're good bro. Any plants running yet?

rickyrozayyy said:

You're good bro. Any plants running yet?

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So should I drop the Ph. Or leave it 6.5 ? Yo I've been dropping this shit everyday for the past 9 days.

That's crazy. I've never had pH issues... 6.5 is good. Obviously don't want it any higher

I never run higher than 6 and that is high IMO. I PH to 5.6,7 and over a period of a week it stays or rises a bit. There are to many unknowns re your grow, water temp high? What's happening with your roots, got pics of them? What's your EC? What nutrients are u using? In the past I was running around 6 but plants seem to do better at the lower end.

rickyrozayyy said:

That's crazy. I've never had pH issues... 6.5 is good. Obviously don't want it any higher

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Yea it rises up to 7.0 at times. Not too worried considering the plants are doing well. I'm changing the res today. I won't find myself with the water temperature. The pH is still going to Slight fluctuate I'm assuming based on information given to me.

unless you're using nutrients with self buffering ph checking twice daily is just how it is. Ph adjustments may be necessary at least once a day, maybe two. Keep it in the sweet spot as much as possible

Budley Doright said:

I never run higher than 6 and that is high IMO. I PH to 5.6,7 and over a period of a week it stays or rises a bit. There are to many unknowns re your grow, water temp high? What's happening with your roots, got pics of them? What's your EC? What nutrients are u using? In the past I was running around 6 but plants seem to do better at the lower end.

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I was told by a master grower keep it @5.8 exact. I've been doing so. However everyday I'm finding myself adjusting the pH. It use to rise up to pH 7.1. With a few additives it rises but only to 6.4 now. I've been adjusting everyday and I don't think that's really safe at this point. Unfortunately, you have not been keeping up with my forums. I will be happy to give that information but it is all along my other forums, I apologize
. Water Temp is high due to Res transfer @85.6F which was an amateur mistake. I will be doing a res change today. Have been adding bennies since also topping off with low temperatures at a balanced rate, to avoid stunting. Roots are growing and my journal shows great change and growth. They're sleeping I will have a root photo at your request when woke. I don't have an EC meter man. I didn't even know I needed one, sad to say but the truth is how you learn. I have a PPM & pH meter. I am using "tarantula" as a beneficial, Technaflora -Grow, Bloom, Cal-Mag, sugarDADDY, Heavy16 - "Root-Stimulator", PPM @122 and with a small additional portion of these exact ingredient during a 10 day span PPM=245 I've been using a using foliar spray for leaves 2mL for 32oz. Drenching in pH adjusted @5.8 faucet & Poland spring water. Running 6

dirtWeevil said:

unless you're using nutrients with self buffering ph checking twice daily is just how it is. Ph adjustments may be necessary at least once a day, maybe two. Keep it in the sweet spot as much as possible

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Do you mind going in depth a bit as to what your referring to when said, "self buffering" ? Thanks

I had daily pH drift until I changed my pH down to sulfuric acid based down . And now it stays were i put it.

MaloMAL said:

Do you mind going in depth a bit as to what your referring to when said, "self buffering" ? Thanks

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Advanced Nutrients Ph perfect and Canna brand don't require ph adjusting. There may be other brands as well, but I only know of those two. I've been using AN for almost 4 years now, I haven't checked or adjusted ph since.
just keep drivin on man before long itll be second nature

natures nectar is another one you don't have to ph

Sounds like you have water issues. Too much high pH crap in your water so when you adjust the pH down it seems fine but the carbonates overwhelm the acid and the pH goes back up where the water is. That's the only explanation that makes any sense to me.

Have you checked the ppm of the water you use? You need to know that so once you mix in your nutes you can subtract the ppm of your water from the total to know what ppm of nutes you are actually feeding your plants.

Sounds like shitty water causing all your problems and high nute temps aren't helping. Something like pH Perfect nutes would probably help but using better water like RO would fix most everything you're dealing with. What's the mineral content of that spring water? Probably lots of minerals in there that added to your tap water just make it worse.

OldMedUser said:

Sounds like you have water issues. Too much high pH crap in your water so when you adjust the pH down it seems fine but the carbonates overwhelm the acid and the pH goes back up where the water is. That's the only explanation that makes any sense to me.

Have you checked the ppm of the water you use? You need to know that so once you mix in your nutes you can subtract the ppm of your water from the total to know what ppm of nutes you are actually feeding your plants.

Sounds like shitty water causing all your problems and high nute temps aren't helping. Something like pH Perfect nutes would probably help but using better water like RO would fix most everything you're dealing with. What's the mineral content of that spring water? Probably lots of minerals in there that added to your tap water just make it worse.

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6 Plants, Germ Date 12/10/16, DWC transfer 12/26/16. 3gallon ~2.75 faucet water filled. pH adjusted
@5.8. AFTER Nutrients - "Technaflora" Grow 1.5mL, Boost .75mL , B1 RED .25mL, MagiCAL .25mL, SugarDADDY 1.0mL. PPM START 85ppm after NUTES @122ppm. Water Temp was 85.6 (BIG mistake). 6 days later I dripped off all plants reusing NUTES and adding - "Technaflora" Grow 1.0mL, Boost 1.5mL ,"Heavy16" Root Stim. 1.0mL, MagiCAL .60mL, SugarDADDY 1.75mL. Increase of ppm was @ 145 water tempered to DRIP was 85.6 (BIG MISTAKE). 2 DAYS later added following NUTES.
Boost> .75mL
-Grow> .50mL
-Sugardaddy> 1.0mL
-MagiCAL> 0.25mL
-Root Stim.Heavy16> 1.0mL
Water Temp @65.8F , PPM @99 OF 2 gallon Ph.8.4 after
Nutes. Ph. Adjusted Ph. 5.7...
I then began to add Tarantula into each reservoir. First day 4 droplets. Next day 2mL of tarantula into 2 gallons tempered @65.6 and topped off each plant.
2x150 HPS lights. 8 in Net pots. Water submerged 2.5 inches within NET. Hydroton expanded clay pebbles. Germinated via Rapid ROOTER. Current @195ppm , WATER temp. @75.6. pH @6.6. NEXT RES change due today will be doing Sunday. Next Recipe - 1.5mL of tarantula along with .75mL of B.C boost & .50mL B.C grow .50mL for 3/4 faucet water that will be tempered @65.6 &a pH adjusted @5.8
Image 1/4/17

dirtWeevil said:

Advanced Nutrients Ph perfect and Canna brand don't require ph adjusting. There may be other brands as well, but I only know of those two. I've been using AN for almost 4 years now, I haven't checked or adjusted ph since.
just keep drivin on man before long itll be second nature

natures nectar is another one you don't have to ph

Click to expand...

6 Plants, Germ Date 12/10/16, DWC transfer 12/26/16. 3gallon ~2.75 faucet water filled. pH adjusted
@5.8. AFTER Nutrients - "Technaflora" Grow 1.5mL, Boost .75mL , B1 RED .25mL, MagiCAL .25mL, SugarDADDY 1.0mL. PPM START 85ppm after NUTES @122ppm. Water Temp was 85.6 (BIG mistake). 6 days later I dripped off all plants reusing NUTES and adding - "Technaflora" Grow 1.0mL, Boost 1.5mL ,"Heavy16" Root Stim. 1.0mL, MagiCAL .60mL, SugarDADDY 1.75mL. Increase of ppm was @ 145 water tempered to DRIP was 85.6 (BIG MISTAKE). 2 DAYS later added following NUTES.
Boost> .75mL
-Grow> .50mL
-Sugardaddy> 1.0mL
-MagiCAL> 0.25mL
-Root Stim.Heavy16> 1.0mL
Water Temp @65.8F , PPM @99 OF 2 gallon Ph.8.4 after
Nutes. Ph. Adjusted Ph. 5.7...
I then began to add Tarantula into each reservoir. First day 4 droplets. Next day 2mL of tarantula into 2 gallons tempered @65.6 and topped off each plant.
2x150 HPS lights. 8 in Net pots. Water submerged 2.5 inches within NET. Hydroton expanded clay pebbles. Germinated via Rapid ROOTER. Current @195ppm , WATER temp. @75.6. pH @6.6. NEXT RES change due today will be doing Sunday. Next Recipe - 1.5mL of tarantula along with .50mL of B.C boost & .50mL B.C .50mL for 3/4 faucet water that will be tempered @65.6 &a pH adjusted @5.8

Kind of hard to figure out exactly what's going on but am I right that your ppm is only 195 - the 85 your water is starting at for a grand total of 110? Actual nute levels should be around 300 - 400 for those plants.

MaloMAL said:

Next Recipe - 1.5mL of tarantula along with .50mL of B.C boost & .50mL B.C .50mL

Click to expand...

Does that mean mls per Liter, gallon?

Any particular reason you are going to change nutes so soon? I would just boost up the levels you have in there and keep going. You don't have to change every week especially when the plants are so young as they don't eat hardly any of the nutes and you're just tossing away good nutes and money for no reason I can see.

Are roots growing out of the net pots yet? The nute level should be an inch below the net pots if they are and maybe an inch above the bottom if not.

Now to your lights. Are you keeping them as high up as they are in the picture? With 150w HPS they should be about a foot above the tops of your plants at most. I run my 400s a foot above.

One 12 or 14" oscillating fan would work better than all those little ones but they will do. I bought 3 of those exact ones a couple months ago for under $2 each. Mine are USB but I'll wire them with 5v wall warts so I don't need to use my USB/110v converter like I am now to run one to blow into my light reflector hood that holds 2 - 400w HPS. Are yours USB and if so how are you powering them?

I don't know why they use such huge net pots in those pails. 5" ones would do fine and are higher up to make more space in the pails for nutes tho with a recirculating system I guess it doesn't really matter.

Lots to think about.

Adjust down everyday at lights on. Hydro prime range - 5.8 - 6.2

Unless you drop your water to ph 4.2 its 'ionization constant' it will always buffer upwards due to carbonates and stuff. Ro water and ph buffered ferts may negate this by acting as a pre set buffer.

Altering ph daily seems to suggest your water is the wrong type and there are easier ways to a stable ph...

Calculate that every time you lower ph with some acid (nitric, phosphoric or sulfuric) you are adding that element to you solution... so as an example if you start with 80 ppm of P, and you add some phosphoric acid it will be around 100, if you add more, it will be 120-150 who knows... and high feed for P is 100. (these numbers are approximation i don't know what you have in nutrient solution or what are you adding)

But remember, every acid I spoke of is FOOD as well and it WILL change you "NPK" ratio....

OldMedUser said:

Kind of hard to figure out exactly what's going on but am I right that your ppm is only 195 - the 85 your water is starting at for a grand total of 110? Actual nute levels should be around 300 - 400 for those plants.



Does that mean mls per Liter, gallon?

Any particular reason you are going to change nutes so soon? I would just boost up the levels you have in there and keep going. You don't have to change every week especially when the plants are so young as they don't eat hardly any of the nutes and you're just tossing away good nutes and money for no reason I can see.

Are roots growing out of the net pots yet? The nute level should be an inch below the net pots if they are and maybe an inch above the bottom if not.

Now to your lights. Are you keeping them as high up as they are in the picture? With 150w HPS they should be about a foot above the tops of your plants at most. I run my 400s a foot above.

One 12 or 14" oscillating fan would work better than all those little ones but they will do. I bought 3 of those exact ones a couple months ago for under $2 each. Mine are USB but I'll wire them with 5v wall warts so I don't need to use my USB/110v converter like I am now to run one to blow into my light reflector hood that holds 2 - 400w HPS. Are yours USB and if so how are you powering them?

I don't know why they use such huge net pots in those pails. 5" ones would do fine and are higher up to make more space in the pails for nutes tho with a recirculating system I guess it doesn't really matter.

Lots to think about.

Click to expand...

" Milliliter " . The symbol is mL under unit of measurement.

I was still debating that because my reservoir is still very clear. I was going with topping off with nutes until I reach a 300ppm or so. So I'm glad your giving me advice I was destine on making. This confirms that where I'm going with things are the right path. BTW man I'm poor I don't oss money I don't have that luxury. I've never changed my reservoir and I use my NUTES very wisely. That is also another reason I was debating on whether I should change my reservoir. I don't see how you see I'm wasting money if I hadn't done anything to lose out. I appreciate your concerns though. We all want to save and we all should suggest using our resources more scarcely.. thanks.

I've heard this before regarding my lights, THEYRE FINE lol, I'm open to ALL help but I'm telling you my lights are fine, I've lowered them before following advice from my forum and burned micro growth. The person blamed so I ran a light test and I was only able to lower them 4 inches below until things got too hot. Ultimately I TESTED and discovered my lights can only beset a max 4 inches below befor they burn shit. Not worth it. I also concluded that by adding my 3rd and 4th 150watt hps light that I can increpar light intensity while reducing the risk of burning micro growth. So that is what I will be doing.

Lol you gotta think why does this guy have all these fans ? I've tried that. They only produce more heat. I ran multiple grow room test to accommodate the needs of my environment and what I'm able to do.I can assure you the fans I'm using are great. The top are designed to combat the heat produced by the light. As you move your arm lower you feel a warmer air. As you arm goes towards the plants you feel a much cooler breeze because of the smaller fans blowing below. I do have 2 large oscillating METAL rudder fans coming in via amazon. I will be using these to eliminate the smaller ones. So i ironically I'm agreeing with you lol..., your great help man, !!!

Idk man I figured "bigger net ~ more space ~ large roots/more roots ~ happy yield lol" I wasn't sure if I should have gotten the baby ones or the jumbo ones. I said wth I'll grab 8in but I want to change them out, now that I'm familiar with the different sizes I'm able to use. I wasn't sure before I am now, nets have shit to do with growth. It just provides more space for medium and expansion. Yield depends solely on effort nutes and maintenance. Thanks for all your input please keep giving

Excuse

OldMedUser said:

Kind of hard to figure out exactly what's going on but am I right that your ppm is only 195 - the 85 your water is starting at for a grand total of 110? Actual nute levels should be around 300 - 400 for those plants.



Does that mean mls per Liter, gallon?

Any particular reason you are going to change nutes so soon? I would just boost up the levels you have in there and keep going. You don't have to change every week especially when the plants are so young as they don't eat hardly any of the nutes and you're just tossing away good nutes and money for no reason I can see.

Are roots growing out of the net pots yet? The nute level should be an inch below the net pots if they are and maybe an inch above the bottom if not.

Now to your lights. Are you keeping them as high up as they are in the picture? With 150w HPS they should be about a foot above the tops of your plants at most. I run my 400s a foot above.

One 12 or 14" oscillating fan would work better than all those little ones but they will do. I bought 3 of those exact ones a couple months ago for under $2 each. Mine are USB but I'll wire them with 5v wall warts so I don't need to use my USB/110v converter like I am now to run one to blow into my light reflector hood that holds 2 - 400w HPS. Are yours USB and if so how are you powering them?

I don't know why they use such huge net pots in those pails. 5" ones would do fine and are higher up to make more space in the pails for nutes tho with a recirculating system I guess it doesn't really matter.

Lots to think about.

Click to expand...

excuse the typos I'm sure you can decipher what I meant