Im getting sick of this crap Ph!!!!

[Nastydroaste]

Ok.. Every since the beginning of my latest grow ive been having the worst ph fluctuation ever. I use RO water from the mill at 25 ppm and 6.5 ph. I am currently using 600ppm 321 GH nutes. My ph goes from 5.5 to 6.3 in less than 12 hours!! I can only adjust once a day so thats a problem. I am wondering if it is the water. I am adding ph down every day. This sucks ass, my plants are looking good except they are a bit light and have raised edges which I think is because the Ph. Any ideas, suggestions, apreciated.

 

[maps84]

I'm kinda new on this and I'm on my first grow but I've done a ton of research and found that when PH rises is usually because of stuff like algae growing in your res. Light leaks are the main cause of this so you need to make sure everything is light tight especially when doing DWC. Furthermore, a lot of growers reported PH issues that were related to "unbuffered" Hydroton. You need to prep it at least 24 hours before you use it.

I don't know if this helps but it might be a start point.

Good luck, btw nice looking plant

 

[laserbrn]

I'm kinda new on this and I'm on my first grow but I've done a ton of research and found that when PH rises is usually because of stuff like algae growing in your res. Light leaks are the main cause of this so you need to make sure everything is light tight especially when doing DWC. Furthermore, a lot of growers reported PH issues that were related to "unbuffered" Hydroton. You need to prep it at least 24 hours before you use it.

I don't know if this helps but it might be a start point.

Good luck, btw nice looking plant

Hydroton could be causing it, but you shouldn't have THAT much hydroton. I have 200L of hydroton on my table so if mine isn't soaked for 24 hours in ph 5.5 water, it'll cause me problems for WEEKS with rising ph, but in DWC it shouldn't effect it that much.

What happens if you leave the ph @ 6.2 or 6.3? Does it continue to drift up to 7.0? If it's just sticking around at 6.2 or 6.3 then your reservoir is pretty stable, you just need to stay in that range. The plants will be just fine in ph 6.2 water (at least most strains). When I try to keep it at 5.5 I drive myself nuts with the ph down. Leave it at 6.2 and it stays a lot more stable (at least in my past experience).

 

[Nastydroaste]

Hydroton could be causing it, but you shouldn't have THAT much hydroton. I have 200L of hydroton on my table so if mine isn't soaked for 24 hours in ph 5.5 water, it'll cause me problems for WEEKS with rising ph, but in DWC it shouldn't effect it that much.

What happens if you leave the ph @ 6.2 or 6.3? Does it continue to drift up to 7.0? If it's just sticking around at 6.2 or 6.3 then your reservoir is pretty stable, you just need to stay in that range. The plants will be just fine in ph 6.2 water (at least most strains). When I try to keep it at 5.5 I drive myself nuts with the ph down. Leave it at 6.2 and it stays a lot more stable (at least in my past experience).

Yea it does seem to stay stable at around 6.3, but its just a tad high of what I consider acceptable. I did soak the hydroton for more than a day also. It just does not want to stabilize for shit. I am wondering if these slight edge curls are from all the ph down im using or the high ph, I don't know. Well these are mother plants anyway, I just want to get clones off of them, White widow and cheese. I just hope they do ok for the remainder of the time.

 

[Kreyonic]

The edges turning up are a way for the plant to get rid of excess moisture it has taken in. As for the PH, what the person said about the algae is a good start. And to be honest from the looks of your lower leave you are overwatered at the moment.

 

[Nastydroaste]

The edges turning up are a way for the plant to get rid of excess moisture it has taken in. As for the PH, what the person said about the algae is a good start. And to be honest from the looks of your lower leave you are overwatered at the moment.

No algae, humidity is at 63 though. Should I put more airflow on em? I have a small desk fan blowing them very lightly off of a wall. Temps and exhaust are perfect

 

[piratezepplin]

That sounds like a pain in the ass. I don't like the sound of having to adjust more than once a day.
pH varies more widely in RO water than tap water, typically. Dissolved minerals in high-TDS water slow the flow of hydrogen in and out of the solution, so pH generally changes faster in chemically pure water.

 

[Nastydroaste]

Yea I was thinking of adding some of my tap hardwater to the mix. On my last grow, I used hard ass tap water with 500 plus ppm in it in veg along with flora hardwater nutes, and the plants loved the hell out of it!! Lush and green as hell. Not as bad fluctuation. Now they seem like they are spotting with light yellow and leaves just don't look 100%. I think they are nitrogen efficient or lacking some kinda micro nutes. Im gonna add two cups of tap tomorrow and up the nitrogen, and put more airflow on them tomorrow, lets hope for the best.

 

[aerodoit]

what is your water temp?

 

[Nastydroaste]

In the high 60s

 

[Consciousness420]

hmm, yea PH problems can be a bastard .. by now, its been so long that any initial PH shift due to the hydroton or any other media would be gone (ph adjusts eventually).. so I'm thinking it could be that the transpiration rate is higher than you think maybe because of heat stress (yet another possible reason why edges can curl upward) which means more water is leaving the system every day than it should which would cause the ph to drift even if you put ph down in every day... you need to figure out what your exact nute ppm is with a fresh res, THEN a day or two later, measure it again AND measure exactly how much water has evaporated.. if you put replace the water that is lost every day or so and you dont ph adjust it first that will slowly raise the ph, if you do not replace the evaporated water the ppm will go through the roof which can also cause a drift in ph... good luck I hate PH problems..

 

[Nastydroaste]

You know what, my ppms are raising, I initially put 600 ppm, then it drifted to about 750 in a week. I thought it was from all the ph down I was using though.

 

[laserbrn]

You know what, my ppms are raising, I initially put 600 ppm, then it drifted to about 750 in a week. I thought it was from all the ph down I was using though.

Nope, ph down isn't helping your cause, but if your ppm is rising you need to add water and lower them. I would get it down to about 500ppm and see what happens.

 

[Nastydroaste]

Fixed it, added tap water to the mix, and am using hardwater micro... WAY BETTER... Ph hardly drifting at all, and now lush green new growth. RELIEVED FOR NOW

 

[Mcgician]

Good news, but shouldn't your desired pH range for DWC method be more in the range of 5.8-6.3? Only if you're growing in rockwool does it need to be between 5.5-5.8. At least that's what's worked for me. I have no experience in DWC though.

 

[Nastydroaste]

Good news, but shouldn't your desired pH range for DWC method be more in the range of 5.8-6.3? Only if you're growing in rockwool does it need to be between 5.5-5.8. At least that's what's worked for me. I have no experience in DWC though.

Yea ideally that is what most people try to get... But I was having problems with the ph raising .7 to 1.0 in less than 12 hours, and only one time access so I had to lower it a bit. I am not having a ph issue anymore, or yellowish tinted growth anymore.

 

[StreetRider]

Does your water seen ti get more stabile as it ages? Right be for a change out? If so, try changing out only half your water and see what happens.

 

[Nastydroaste]

No, I was having the problem with RO water, and Regular GH Nutes. It was not evaporation, not algae, or anything, but for some reason my ph just was not stablising at all. I did change the rez, and the problem continued. Not until after I used Ro mixed with tap, and Hardwater nutes, has everything been A-OK