led1k
Well-Known Member
Not hydroponics but in either case there is an optimum range of pH and EC for the environment the roots are in and the phase of growth right?this is NOT hydroponics...runoff is pretty much useless information...your plant would be seriously fucked up looking if the ph of your medium is off significantly....if it grew at all.
the ph of medium changes through the day, as the plant both absorbs nutrients and makes exudates that coat the roots...
do you know how to account for that? do you expect the ph of the root zone to be 5.8? or 6.5? or w/e you feed at? cause it's not, and never will be. the nutes you put in temporarily change the ph, the plants absorbing those nutes change it further, the time of day changes it, as the plants don't absorb as many nutes at night, and produce more exudate......
so, unless you have a complete and total understanding of all of those processes, the information you get from soil ph is meaningless to you...
I don’t know how to account for the time of day variations you mentioned but it if I see pH rising/falling over a series of waterings ( same time of day) wouldn’t it make sense to adjust input in order to keep soil pH at about 6.5? Same thing for EC if I see it rising or falling it tells me if the plant is taking up nutrients and water at the same rate or otherwise and adjust EC of input accordingly?