cues
Well-Known Member
O.K. Peeps. So here's the story. I've grown in a few different environments/places in hydro and have never really thought about how I make my res fluids up. It just tends to go with whichever way is convenient at the time.
As an example, I currently have a 250w mini-grow going with a 40L res. I tend to fill res with 10L buckets in the following order.
Bucket 1. Water and part A of nutes (2-part canna Aqua)
Bucket 2 Water and part B
Bucket 3 pH down as required by experience (heck, I even throw it in by eye now and get pretty close)
Bucket 4, plain water.
I check the pH on day two, correct and it tends to stay stable for a week/2 weeks depending upon growth stage.
I am no expert in hydro (soil is my speciality, long story but basically a degree in soil science through my career, but I prefer hydro indoors, only got half a dozen hydro grows under my belt). It has left me with a lot of holes in my knowledge and a lot of unanswered questions (compost teas and mollasses etc effect in hydro) It really is a whole new world.
So, my question is, in what order do you add 2-part nutes and pH down (Phosphoric acid) when changing the res? I am thinking that the solubility of some nutes are variable at different pH levels so it's better to allow the pH to fluctuate during the mix hence it could be better to mix the nutes before adjusting pH to allow them to dissolve. Or will they just fall out of the solution once the pH is adjusted?
Opinions please?
As an example, I currently have a 250w mini-grow going with a 40L res. I tend to fill res with 10L buckets in the following order.
Bucket 1. Water and part A of nutes (2-part canna Aqua)
Bucket 2 Water and part B
Bucket 3 pH down as required by experience (heck, I even throw it in by eye now and get pretty close)
Bucket 4, plain water.
I check the pH on day two, correct and it tends to stay stable for a week/2 weeks depending upon growth stage.
I am no expert in hydro (soil is my speciality, long story but basically a degree in soil science through my career, but I prefer hydro indoors, only got half a dozen hydro grows under my belt). It has left me with a lot of holes in my knowledge and a lot of unanswered questions (compost teas and mollasses etc effect in hydro) It really is a whole new world.
So, my question is, in what order do you add 2-part nutes and pH down (Phosphoric acid) when changing the res? I am thinking that the solubility of some nutes are variable at different pH levels so it's better to allow the pH to fluctuate during the mix hence it could be better to mix the nutes before adjusting pH to allow them to dissolve. Or will they just fall out of the solution once the pH is adjusted?
Opinions please?