Fed up with PH meters
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LetsGetCritical
Well-Known Member
this thread is turning into a mass debate
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I'm suggesting that people can't replicate your methods and get consistent results like they could with daily monitoring. Clearly you're doing something that helps keep things stable- but extrapolating that to generalize about everyone's hydro system is a bridge too far.
Rrog
Well-Known Member
Winner
skunkd0c
Well-Known Member
Only people with a poor quality water supply might have problems as i have already said
Daily monitoring is unnecessary, it would indicate to me the system is unstable
Perhaps it would help if you go back and read some of my previous posts
i posted some information from canna
the regulation of the ph is controlled by the nutes many of the micronutes are supplied in chelated form also ph buffers are used within the nutes themselves
canna recommends that the ph of the solution is not adjusted once initially set ... are they wrong ?
maybe you could undo the top button on your lab coat, its too tight round your neck, restricting the supply of oxygen to your brain
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Funny, I just suggested a conservative course of action and you respond like I called you out.Only people with a poor quality water supply might have problems as i have already said
Daily monitoring is unnecessary, it would indicate to me the system is unstable
Perhaps it would help if you go back and read some of my previous posts
i posted some information from canna
the regulation of the ph is controlled by the nutes many of the micronutes are supplied in chelated form also ph buffers are used within the nutes themselves
canna recommends that the ph of the solution is not adjusted once initially set ... are they wrong ?
maybe you could undo the top button on your lab coat, its too tight round your neck, restricting the supply of oxygen to your brain
I got no time for stupid troll shit. Do it however you want.
skunkd0c
Well-Known Member
That is nonsense ^^, you jumped into a thread without previously reading what was posted, you are simply ignorant
there is nothing conservative about taking daily ph measurements imo
why not send those canna guys an email tell them their food does not work, because you say so
post the replay back here
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
my nutes are the same way. i don't adjust after initially setting it. i set it at 5.5 and let it drift up. how would i set it initially at 5.5 without a pH meter?Only people with a poor quality water supply might have problems as i have already said
Daily monitoring is unnecessary, it would indicate to me the system is unstable
Perhaps it would help if you go back and read some of my previous posts
i posted some information from canna
the regulation of the ph is controlled by the nutes many of the micronutes are supplied in chelated form also ph buffers are used within the nutes themselves
canna recommends that the ph of the solution is not adjusted once initially set ... are they wrong ?
maybe you could undo the top button on your lab coat, its too tight round your neck, restricting the supply of oxygen to your brain
skunkd0c
Well-Known Member
measure it once, then put the ph meter away, unless you think the ph of the nutes will change from batch to batch
or the tap water will be 7.2 on Tuesday, but 7.8 on Friday or whatever? if you do not believe this,
what do you think will change that will require you to check the ph each time you start
if 150ml in 20 liter reduces the ph to 6.0 , what will change from crop to crop if your tap water has a stable ph and ec?
you could also use this rather than a meter
i did own a ph meter last century, if that's any consolation
if i moved to a coastal or remote area, i would measure the ph of the tap water the first time i start
i would measure it a few times to make sure it does not fluctuate, if the water is stable i see no reason to measure it again
as i already know how much nutes to add to give the ph that is needed because i measured it last century lol
hope this helps
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
just being devil's advocate. you are the rare exception in hydro that doesn't use a pH meter. now that i know my nute regimen, i know that on day 1 i set my res at 5.5 and when i change it on day 7, the pH will be at 6.0. but it took me many grows to figure that out. now I just randomly check pH just to verify. so i have to argue that you (as in I) need a pH meter for hydro.
blue lab is awesome. it makes ph'ing fun.
skunkd0c
Well-Known Member
it is a little rare but i know quite a few growers that do the same
the systems i am using are over 20 years old, they were originally sold here in the UK partly on the basis that ph adjustments were not necessary
this is because the were then bundled with a ph buffered brand of nutes made by nuticulture
at the same time they gave you one of those liquid ph test kits, to measure the tap water supply when you first start
canna were not the first but have been making aqua flores since i can remember which is designed for re-circulating hydroponics
and to not require ph adjustments
if you remember the amount of nutes and phosphoric acid you add when you set up your system
then repeat this on the next crop, why would you need to measure it again ?
for me, i need to add something like 150-200ml of nutes and 3-5ml of phosphoric acid per res to give me a ph of 6.0 , and an ec of 1.5 upward
i started to relax this even more and just add the nutes when starting as i just cant get my head around the idea that 3-5 ml of something is going to make such a difference
so my starting ph is most likely 6.5 now , each time i top up with water the ph will go up
i will top up with nutes when needed, i would measure the ec every few days to see if its going down if they are eating the food, the ec will drop by .2 to ,3
ill add some more food when i see it drop
i can only estimate what the ph would be, depending on the amount of water and nute top ups and the ec readings
this is enough for me to keep plants healthy from start to finish, i like things to be as simple as possible
peace
resinousflowers420
Well-Known Member
i never check ph growing in soil.dont have any problems.water ph is 8.5 where i live.i use plant magic soil,and thier "organic" nutes.
Jimdamick
Well-Known Member
Well, to each their own. I think hydrated lime is fine to use on pot (why does it make a difference using it on pot plants?) considering the soil is only used for approximately 90 days and Dolomite lime takes much longer than that to stabilize the soil, as do the shells you mention. You have to be careful in the amount of hydrated lime used so you don't burn the roots, but it really is not that hard.
I commend you on your years of growing herb Pops, but did you ever think of the possibility that if you did care about the PH of your soil, you might grow a better plant? If it doesn't matter, why bother PH'ing the nute solution. It just doesn't make any sense to me that you discount the PH of soil, whereas every plant has their preferred PH zone, and by using chemicals to feed your plants you are definitely fucking with the PH of the soil, and it will never be optimum for uptake of nutes without adjustment. Organic is a different ball of wax, but if you are not growing that way, I believe the soil's PH does matter. That is just my opinion though, and my opinion has been proven wrong before, an example being that it was my opinion that my wife was a human being.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
You should still calibrate regularly. The instructions with the meter will give the suggested interval.
@skunkd0c Daily monitoring of a given system is itself a conservative activity because just monitoring by itself won't change anything.
I agree in principle that once a grower has a particular system under control and isn't making any changes, that one might be able to get away with ignoring pH. But that's a special case. The norm is to monitor daily. Many well respected people in hydroponics say that merely doing it once a day is still insufficient, as it doesn't catch intraday fluctuations.
RDWC is known to be unstable, but it's also known to be very high performing. The two concepts are not incompatible. I monitor and adjust pH in mine daily and my results speak for themselves.
skunkd0c
Well-Known Member
the nutrient requirements of cannabis are minimal imo when compared to their requirement for water and light
i have always found that it is the environment (temps/air/humidity) that matters most in my situation as long as that's fine plenty of fresh air
the hydroponics is bullet proof it is the part that doesn't change i really do not have to worry about that just the environment
the amount of fussing some folk get into over the nute npk ratios etc is beyond me along with the correcting ph if it is .1 or 2 off the theoretical perfect
its quite common for people to say things like "this pheno/plant needs so much nitrogen" or this plant is so greedy for cal mag etc
i have never needed to add single elements or additives to keep plants healthy, i really cant imagine that cannabis is any harder to grow than any other plant
in fact its most likely one of the easier ones to grow because of its vigour and resilience and low food requirements
pretty much all the weed plants i have grown can be feed with the same nutes and ec
with a very rare exception of some sativa showing some nute burn at ec 1.1
if i can do less and keep the results the same that is my goal
peace
i have always found that it is the environment (temps/air/humidity) that matters most in my situation as long as that's fine plenty of fresh air
the hydroponics is bullet proof it is the part that doesn't change i really do not have to worry about that just the environment
the amount of fussing some folk get into over the nute npk ratios etc is beyond me along with the correcting ph if it is .1 or 2 off the theoretical perfect
its quite common for people to say things like "this pheno/plant needs so much nitrogen" or this plant is so greedy for cal mag etc
i have never needed to add single elements or additives to keep plants healthy, i really cant imagine that cannabis is any harder to grow than any other plant
in fact its most likely one of the easier ones to grow because of its vigour and resilience and low food requirements
pretty much all the weed plants i have grown can be feed with the same nutes and ec
with a very rare exception of some sativa showing some nute burn at ec 1.1
if i can do less and keep the results the same that is my goal
peace
skunkd0c
Well-Known Member
This is not normal,. its obsessive imo
its creating the illusion that hydroponics is more difficult than it needs to be
Alexander Supertramp
Well-Known Member
Too many growers spend far too much time reading meters and charts. And not near enough time reading their plants and books on general botany.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
It is at every facility I've ever seen, cannabis oriented or not.
While this may be true for some, it's just as true that getting these numbers every day gives the grower the opportunity he needs to look at his plants every day.