Massive PH Drop Problem

[King_Kush86]

Good afternoon fellow cultivators,

I'm having an issue with a couple of plants in my DWC system. The plants are both close to 8 weeks and the last two days the ph in their reservoirs are making huge drops in 24 hours. Yesterday I checked them and the ph was down in the 4's! I adjusted them back up to my preferred range of 5.5 to 5.8. I come back today and check again and the ph is back down in the 4's again on both plants. The ppm is staying basically the same a slight change up or down but nothing major. Any idea what could be the cause of this?

Also, I have a plant the is in week 8 and I'm flushing it with GH's flush product and the ph is going from my 5.5 to 5.8 range up to 7 in a 24 hour span.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tim1987]

What nutes are you using?
Where's your water come from? RO, tap etc.
Whats the ph of your water before nutes?
Are you adding anything like ebsom salts as well?
You've ruled out rot?

 

[King_Kush86]

What nutes are you using?
Where's your water come from? RO, tap etc.
Whats the ph of your water before nutes?
Are you adding anything like ebsom salts as well?
You've ruled out rot?

I’m using GH flora series. I use R/O water and the ph is 6.9 or 7 before nutrients. Not adding any salts. My roots are golden brownish but not glossy nor do they smell so I don’t think it’s rot but I’m not an expert in the root rot field.

 

[Cold$moke]

Snap a pic of roots and well let you know

If you ec or ppm (same thing) is too high it can cause ph drops over time .

Hope it helps

 

[Tim1987]

Its a big drop.
Have you sat some out overnight, once mixed, to see what happens? Before giving it to the plant.

 

[Cold$moke]

Imo 5.5 is a lil low

I like to hover anywhere from 5.8 to 6.3

 

[King_Kush86]

Snap a pic of roots and well let you know

If you ec or ppm (same thing) is too high it can cause ph drops over time .

Hope it helps

I’m running 1,100 to 1,200 ppm

 

[King_Kush86]

I

Its a big drop.
Have you sat some out overnight, once mixed, to see what happens? Before giving it to the plant.

I haven’t done that before as this has never been something that’s happened to me. It’s my first time doing DWC. I’ve done soil and Aeroponics before.

 

[Tim1987]

I


I haven’t done that before as this has never been something that’s happened to me. It’s my first time doing DWC. I’ve done soil and Aeroponics before.

Id give it a go. See what the readings are in the morning.
If its still stable, in the morning, somethings going on with your roots. In that case i'd be cutting the ppm, looking really carefully for rot, and looking for an improvement.
Good luck mate.

 

[King_Kush86]

Id give it a go. See what the readings are in the morning.
If its still stable, in the morning, somethings going on with your roots. In that case i'd be cutting the ppm, looking really carefully for rot, and looking for an improvement.
Good luck mate.

I’ll give it a go and see what happens. Also when I get time I’ll take some pictures of my roots and see what you guys think. Thanks for the advice.

 

[HydroEnthused]

Start with pH adjusted to 6.3 with 10% potassium hydroxide. It can’t not work. Case closed. I went through this 10 years ago with the exact same nute line that you mentioned.
It will drift down slowly. You’ll get about 7 days of a pH range between 5.5-6.3.

 

[70's natureboy]

Too much nutes with not enough buffers. I would lower the EC or add in some tap water.

 

[Cold$moke]

Actually if your nutrients go down over time....

Then ph high and let it swing DOWN.

I was having some issues with my new nutes
And its cause i didnt READ. The feed chart lol

I thought it was weird they said set the ph at 6.4

Well thats cause it goes down lol.

Now im all good .

It is definitely weird to me as most the nutes you set low and it ranges up.

But now i know there are some that you set high and they go low.

Which is almost easier cause when the res lvl drops you add water and the ph goes back up

 

[Tim1987]

Actually if your nutrients go down over time....

Then ph high and let it swing DOWN.

I was having some issues with my new nutes
And its cause i didnt READ. The feed chart lol

I thought it was weird they said set the ph at 6.4

Well thats cause it goes down lol.

Now im all good .

It is definitely weird to me as most the nutes you set low and it ranges up.

But now i know there are some that you set high and they go low.

Which is almost easier cause when the res lvl drops you add water and the ph goes back up

Great post @Cold$moke!!!!