PH constantly raising in Rockwool "croutons" - Very frustrating

[frettfreak]

So i have my girls in 5 gal buckets and battle this problem every time. I am hoping someone can give me a solution cause its really annoying.

Here is the deal, EVERY TIME i transplant into the 5 gal buckets with the croutons, i get leaf curl up (starts at the tops / new'ish growth and works its way down). my water going in is 5.7 (has been calibrated weekly and have double checked with another meter). If i pull a bucket and have it drain into another bucket and check the runoff, it will be 6.5+ (have seen it as high as 6.9). If i dont catch it soon enough i start to see lockouts (obviously).

I can manage it and everything always ends up ok, but it is a constant battle to keep the ph down so that my girls can uptake the nutes they need. If i do a really good flush, i will be ok for a week or so, but then the problem presents again and i am back to square 1 with the flushing.

I run a drain to waste system and hand water. and i am using GH flora 3 part nutes.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MrGhettoGrower]

I tried that Hillbilly Hydro it's call
Did you pretreat the rock wool with a 5.5 soaking'em good?
How often you watering? The longer between watering
the more it will up.

 

[frettfreak]

i did not pretreat the rockwool croutons, as far as letting them soak, mainly cause i couldnt figure out how to efficiently do it without a HUGE mess and a lot of time. What i did do though was run a CRAP LOAD (technical term ) through them right after transplant. It was about 6.5 gal per plant PH'd to 5.5 with .25 strength nutes.

and i followed that up with making sure they stayed wet for a few days watering just a little bit every 4-6 hours. I usually water every other day though.

If you have a good way to soak and rinse a large amount of the the rockwool croutons though i am all ears!

 

[skeeterdude]

i did not pretreat the rockwool croutons, as far as letting them soak, mainly cause i couldnt figure out how to efficiently do it without a HUGE mess and a lot of time. What i did do though was run a CRAP LOAD (technical term ) through them right after transplant. It was about 6.5 gal per plant PH'd to 5.5 with .25 strength nutes.

and i followed that up with making sure they stayed wet for a few days watering just a little bit every 4-6 hours. I usually water every other day though.

If you have a good way to soak and rinse a large amount of the the rockwool croutons though i am all ears!

Its very easy just fill your spare tube with your RO water with the correct PH (5.2) for me and soak them for a few days. Drain and dry in 5 gallon buckets. To dry in the bucket just drill some holes in a second bucket and put some screen door wire mesh in the bottom and this will allow them to drain. I get two 6 cubic feet box's at a time and cure them in a few days and they are ready to use. I put the buckets in the grow room to help dry faster this way they are easy to fill your buckets with them. Love not having to deal with dirt. You can use 1/2 inch Extra Flexible Swing Pipe (100 ft. Roll) for cheap (HomeDepot or Lowes) and install 360 sprayers any were you like and just install a large flow pump and a 13 gallon trash can from Walmart for about $15 bucks and you are set. I just added a timer to the setup and you are rocking. Just mix you chem's and set it to water when the lights come on and this will control the run away ph problem. I hope this helps with your rockwool problem.

 

[PersonalJesus]

PRE-TREAT!!! I use a 5.5 pH and add some b-vitamins, like superthrive, or thrive-alive B1

 

[echlectica]

unless your going to grow a ten foot tall plant why would you use such a large amount of RW and big container? One of the great things about RW is your can grow a big plant it a small amount of it since its drain to waste.I have grown twleve foot tall tomoato vines that produced 25 pounds of tomatos each in rockwool slabs with three plants to a slab.