5 Gal DWC pH Problem

the more i fussed with the pH of my tap water, the more wacky it got. same thing as you: seemed to get progressively worse over time. now using RO + tap water mix around 100ppm and that seems to be much less hassle as far as pH.

have some tap water aerating now for 48hours. we'll see how this next res change goes...

for $20, you can get a wetvac that fits on the top of a standard 5gallon bucket. works great for getting that last bit that won't drain from the res. 50 degress might be a little cold. slows down nutrient absorption but probably won't kill 'em at 50F. aquarium heater might speed up warming up water, or just boil a few gallons and add it a quart at a time until you get the temp you want.

danneede said:

I really like my meter. I got the water proof hannah and it was kind of expensive. However, it is accurate and gives me fast readings. i calibrate it regulary(most of the time i dont even think its nescesary) and keep it in 7.0 storage solution. Can you reusue the strips or do you have to buy more?

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had a cheap one from china i got off of ebay with pH, ppm/EC, temp for $80, but the probes needed to be jiggled to work properly and the readings were way off if the rechargeable battery got low. three different probes were kind of annoying. it died in less than 3 months. total waste of money.

the hanna has only one probe while still doing pH, ppm/EC, temp and seems to be maintain it's accuracy over the few months i've had it. $270 list, got it for $240 out the door. 5 year warranty is what sold me. hopefully it will be the last meter i'll have to buy!

ph for hydroponics systems is supposed to be around 4.9 - 5.5 i think. That's what I keep mine at and no probs.

I'll just stick to the test drops and a few drops of ph up to make the test come out pee colored. Easy peasy lemon squeezy so much cheaper.

Uncultivated said:

I'll just stick to the test drops and a few drops of ph up to make the test come out pee colored. Easy peasy lemon squeezy so much cheaper.

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youd be surprised how many long time growers still use drops. mine has to come out light green for 6.0 piss yellow and im at 4 lol

I changed out the water in the buckets. I'll post wether or not that was the problem in a few days. The old water was still crystal clear, so i kind of think the change might have been unnecessary. The water out of the tap was 42.6 degrees, but should warm up fairly quickly. Hopefully that won't cause any problems. Thanks to everyone that posted with info and advice.

Not me, I use a meter. Pin Point pH constant meter with a probe.
Had it a couple years very accurate until I drop the probe on the cement, not good had to replace that but still for $100 it was a great deal.

Someone here told me once not to mix nutes below 50° I forgot why now.

cruzer101 said:

Not me, I use a meter. Pin Point pH constant meter with a probe.
Had it a couple years very accurate until I drop the probe on the cement, not good had to replace that but still for $100 it was a great deal.

Someone here told me once not to mix nutes below 50° I forgot why now.

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Hmm, i wander why. Let me know if you can remember or dig up the thread. You got me worried, haha.

I did a few searches can't find anything on the matter.

something about the nutrients break down at lower temps.
Earl told me about a year and a half ago when I was building a chiller out of a refer. I just heat my water now before I add the nutes.

Beansly said:

ph for hydroponics systems is supposed to be around 4.9 - 5.5 i think. That's what I keep mine at and no probs.
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I'm sorry but that's horrible advice. A 4.9 pH is laughable if being accepted as a valid hydroponic pH. You may keep your plants at that low pH and you may not see any problems, that sure doesn't make your strategy optimal for growing marijuana. Do some research before you post advice...and then when you do, provide your resources so you don't just end up giving shotty advice.

Ok...so here's my resources. First, I'll use your own picture...if you look at it, it says anything below 5.0 causes toxicity problems.

Second, I'll use professional grower's quotes from the likes of Ed Rosenthal and Jorge Cervantes...
-Ed has wrote numerous books, this is an exerpt from one of them....
-From Jorge Cervantes' website: Hydroponic solutions perform best in a pH range a little lower than for soil. The ideal pH range for hydroponics is from 5.8 – 6.8. Some growers run the pH at lower levels and report no problems with nutrient uptake.

(by the way, all I did was google "Hydroponic PH Ed Rosenthal Jorge Cervantes"...so backing up your claims with valid resources is actually possible for other people)

And my last bit of valid evidence comes from what I would recommend a person doing first with such questions....Google. http://tinyurl.com/4pfsfvm

You're going to have a hard time finding anywhere that 4.9pH is acceptable for ganja growing, let alone optimal. Some people can get away with it, but they shouldn't be spreading advice as in its optimal....that's why you get away with it, because its not optimal and most people can't do it, thus you shouldn't spread that advice.

I don't mean to be disrespectful but I believe leaving uneducated advice for a person needing help is disrespectful in and of itself.

cruzer101 said:

something about the nutrients break down at lower temps.
Earl told me about a year and a half ago when I was building a chiller out of a refer. I just heat my water now before I add the nutes.

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I didnt add full strength when the water was cold. I mixed up a weak solution of only 300 PPM. (1tsp each of Pro Tekt Mag Pro and Dyna Gro) Today i am going to add a couple more tsp of Dyna Gro and bring the ppms up around 500-600, now that the water has warmed up.

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I have heard this helps with PH issues to stabilize it. My PH usually rises 12hrs after adjusting it.

My Bad, the temp thing. I looked back and found it.
We were talking about nutrient mix then we were talking about storage of nutrients in there containers. I got mixed up.
Long term storage of nutrient, you dont want temps in the 50's but a mixed res is fine. Actually holds more dissolved oxygen.

cruzer101 said:

My Bad, the temp thing. I looked back and found it.
We were talking about nutrient mix then we were talking about storage of nutrients in there containers. I got mixed up.
Long term storage of nutrient, you dont want temps in the 50's but a mixed res is fine. Actually holds more dissolved oxygen.

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Haha, good thats what i wanted to hear.

sm0ker420 said:

View attachment 1493412

I have heard this helps with PH issues to stabilize it. My PH usually rises 12hrs after adjusting it.

http://www.petco.com/product/105872/TetraAqua-AquaSafe-Water-Conditioner.aspx?CoreCat=certona-_-ProductList_Fish_4-_-TetraAqua%20AquaSafe%20Water%20Conditioner-105872

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Is it safe for plants? I dont really feel like guennae pigging it.

Ya know, the last time I was having trouble stabilizing pH I was told there were microbes or something that was lowering it. I got dutchmasters zone and the problem went away. LINK

I would use something like that before using something for an aquarium.

In my current RDWC system my pH rises as PPM's go down. I thought this was odd at first since I read somewhere pH should go down instead of up. But this sorta made sense to me. After I mix my nutrients/calmag in pure RO water (5~10ppm) the pH is around 4.6, so I add pH Up till about 6.0. Within a day, I'll loose around 50~100ppms and pH will have gone down to around 5.4~5.5.

From what I can gather if after you mix your nutrients with 100% pure RO water and you have to add pH Up. The pH will drive back down when nutrients are used. I had the completely opposite effect when using 100% tap water where I had to add pH Down almost everyday after ppm were eaten by the plants.

baconpopcorn said:

In my current RDWC system my pH rises as PPM's go down. I thought this was odd at first since I read somewhere pH should go down instead of up. But this sorta made sense to me. After I mix my nutrients/calmag in pure RO water (5~10ppm) the pH is around 4.6, so I add pH Up till about 6.0. Within a day, I'll loose around 50~100ppms and pH will have gone down to around 5.4~5.5.

From what I can gather if after you mix your nutrients with 100% pure RO water and you have to add pH Up. The pH will drive back down when nutrients are used. I had the completely opposite effect when using 100% tap water where I had to add pH Down almost everyday after ppm were eaten by the plants.

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i had a similar issue, but i don't think it's about the plants using up the nutes. it has more to do with dissolved CO2 in pressurized tap water. CO2 lowers the pH. as it slowly gases off, the pH of the water will rise. i've been tinkering with aquaponics and came across many discussions about this in forums for aquariums.

after ever res change, i fill up a spare bin with 20 or so gallons of tap water and stick an air stone in there for a week or two, until i need to do another res change.

i get my RO water from wolly world, which filters municipal tap water. i wonder if the same levels of CO2 are dissolved in that too...