What is PH supposed to do if plants are growing? my PH is staying steady not going up or down
- Thread starter ryn5669
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Bucsfan80
Well-Known Member
Ph should rise gradually and ec drop with water level
Bucsfan80
Well-Known Member
OK then ppm drop ph rise water drop is what I wat to see
When I posted the WonderChart, I used these words - "These provide guidance, not gospel. I followed this religiously and ended up dropping EC into the .4 range before I figured that dropping pH could be a valid condition."
Note the italics. The reason for that is that I spent many days "chasing pH" which means dropping EC/PPM to try to get pH to stop dropping. The reason I did that is that I am, by nature, a person who will "execute a plan". If the chart says to drop EC/PPM, I will do so. And I did. And it was folly.
Another, very experienced, grower read my grow journal and stated, very simply, that it's quite natural for pH to drop. Yes, It can be a sign that there's an issue with the grow and, if that's the case, you will likely see other symptoms. Barring an issue, all that it indicates is that the plants are taking up certain nutes that will result in pH dropping. That's it.
Throughout the balance of that particular grow and throughout the duration of my last grow, I dealt with pH dropping. There were no symptoms of a problem. The only behavior was that pH dropped. In the first grow, it exhibited the behavior for the duration of the grow. In my most recent grow, the pattern that I saw was that pH would drop for three or four days and would then rise very, very slowly to the tune of about 0.1 points per day. And both of these grows were Gorilla Glue.
Another issue - "the ph is dropping again". How much does it drop over what period of time? How long have you noticed this behavior. Did it drop 0.1 units over the course of a couple of days or did you see a drop 0.1 units in 90 minutes? We don't know much besides the fact that pH dropped.
Per above, I will "execute a plan" and another part of that mindset is that I monitor changes. I used BlueLab pH/EC/temperature monitor and I catalog changes in pH throughout the day (that's part of my "a little OCD(" behavior). The mindset change that I needed to make with growing cannabis is to react to the trend, not the event.
Another factor - why is the pH value important? It can indicate an underlying issue and, lacking that, it indicates the result of the ionic exchange of nutrients in the res. The pH value it allows us to understand what nutrients are being taken up because we know that different nutrients are taken up at different value of pH.
There is nothing, in and of itself, bad about pH dropping or rising. It's just an indicator. The reason we keep pH "in range" is only because, if it goes out of range, nutrients will not be taken up. In contrast, the plant is not directly impacted by a pH of 5.5 any more than it is directly impacted by a pH of 6.5. The big issue for pH is how it impacts nutrient uptake.
In this case, there's no indication that the plants aren't receiving sufficient nutrients ("sufficient" is what we aim for). The plants are taking up water/nutrient solution and "They are growing like crazy overnight." The fall in pH is simply indicative of the uptake of certain nutrients which create change in the electrical balance in the res. Lacking any symptoms of a problem, I would add pH Up and let them keep "growing like crazy".
You can't measure PPM.
PPM is calculated based on the measured electrical conductivity ("EC") of the solution. That value changes according to the amount of nutrients in the solution (water).
Total dissolved solids ("TDS") is expressed in parts per million and it is expressed either on the 500 scale or the 700 scale. The 500 scale indicates how many parts per million of sodium chloride are needed in solution to have the same level of conductivity and it is expressed as "PPM". The 700 scale is the same concept but it is based on a solution of potassium chloride.
More info here.
EC vs PPM
"You should measure in EC since there's no confusion."
No question that EC is the universal unit of measure. I measure PPM because it provides the information that's most useful to me. When I write about nute levels, I'll often write 680/500 to make it clear that I'm describing PPM.
My Bluelab displays EC, PPM, and the 700 scale. Despite the fact that EC is universal, I journal and think in terms of PPM. I started doing that because it's more granular and I'm a little OCD so I want to know the details. I've learned/am learning about reacting to the trend, not the event but I still like to see PPM.
Part of the reason that I use PPM is that autos tend not to have very high EC levels. They generally top out around EC 1.8. Another issue is the inaccuracy of measuring EC. An EC of 1.0 means that my res has between 475 PPM and 524 PPM because EC is expressed to only one decimal place. Add in the fact that even a Bluelab is only accurate to 0.1± EC and that means that the actual value for the res could be somewhere on a range of almost 100 PPM. With that potential variance, I keep an eye on PPM rather than EC.
If you've been using Hydroguard at the recommended levels, that shouldn't be root rot. Root rot has a strong odor and is slimy to the touch.
Stained roots will normally be darker at the bottom of the roots and get lighter as you move to the top of the roots. The older the roots are, the longer they've been exposed to the stain but the root ball hasn't had a chance to grow much so that general rule might be moot.
What's the temp in the res?
yes, some of the nutes are dark brown. res water is semi dark brown. should i rinse it off with tap water? or leave it alone. they smell like medicine nothing gross. is it part of the rapid rooters stuck to the roots? I had a lot of rapid rooter debris in the first week in my res. tried to get better pic. all the roots are bright white. but looks like dark dirt in some roots.
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its 77
"all the roots are bright white." - bright white and "smell like clean dirt"? That's the winning combo.
@Bucsfan80 and I, if I may speak for him, were reacting to the brownish color that appeared in the middle of the roots. That's why I described that older roots should be darker than new roots. If it's just chunks of RR, that's nothing to be concerned about.
It's much easier to see in this set of pictures.
That's pretty high but "you gotta run what you brung".
Some growers use frozen bottles of water. I did that at first and then went with a water chiller. At 96° outside, you're working in pretty tough conditions.
If you don't want to do frozen bottles or water chiller, all you can do it keep up the HydroGuard and be vigilant.
I did my first grow in the summer in an unheated garage in Southern California and it was…adventurous.
still having problems. roots look great now. but now my ppms don't move 416 or something. PH rises from 5.5 to 5.8 over 10 hrs.
Plants seem to have stopped growing. 1 on left had some curled up leaves the right one dropping. my left spider light is stronger than my right 1. i think the left got to much light maybe. I have no idea. This grow has me baffled. once I think I got it something new comes up.
Plants seem to have stopped growing. 1 on left had some curled up leaves the right one dropping. my left spider light is stronger than my right 1. i think the left got to much light maybe. I have no idea. This grow has me baffled. once I think I got it something new comes up.
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Stopped growing? It's been less than 24 hours since your last update...
If the EC is staying steady, the water is going down, and there are no clear deficiencies, then just let the plants do their thing. Don't love your plants to literal death.
As for light, what is the light you're using, hanging height and dimmed setting?
If the EC is staying steady, the water is going down, and there are no clear deficiencies, then just let the plants do their thing. Don't love your plants to literal death.
As for light, what is the light you're using, hanging height and dimmed setting?