Any advice please... ph issues

Hey guys... i recently decided to give hydro a go after 3 years of growing in soil.... i built my self a water farm bought nutes but im having serious ph issues... cant keep ph steady.... jumps form 5.5 to 7 + in 6 hours... I live in ireland with hard water.... using general hydro nutes and canna ph down.... any addvice would be greatly appreciated... Chris

reverse osmosis

http://espwaterproducts.com/about-reverse-osmosis.htm

Thanks bro... never heard of that before.... seems a bit pricy tho...

you are going to be there soon anyway, just get it over with and buy something to built a good system with, its a start

What are your PPM levels like? What type of medium are you using? Need more info!

Tap waters 270ppm clay pebbles... Actually just tested some rain water from water but in garden and its 55 ppm and ph 6...

Any thoughts on rain water... unlimetted supply in ireland!!!!!!!!!!!

Rainwater is great! When I asked what your PPM levels are, I was referring to when you have your nutes mixed in. If you are underfeeding in a hydro setup, a lot of times your PPM will drop significantly in a 24 hour period, and your PH will rise significantly. You should be taking a reading at initial fill. Then the next day, take one after you have filled your container back up to the same fill line and then take another PPM reading. This will let you determine how your plants are feeding.

Water temps are a huge concern in hydro as well. What are yours?

I dont know about in ireland but here we have water dispensers where distilled water is like 25 cents a gallon. You should try that if you can. A lot cheaper than a reverse osmosis machine. Also, do you thoroughly wash off your clay pebbles before using them. The dust on them can rise the ph in a reservoir. Also, the smaller your reservior, the more your ph will fluctuate. My res is only 10 gallons because thats the biggest i can fit and my ph will go from 5.5 - 6.3 in a day so I usually put it at 5.3 when I (and the plants) go to sleep and im good for the rest of the day.

Which GH nutes are you using? If it's the flora series use the flora hardwater micro.

It sounds like your tap water is possibly buffering the solution. Try mixing small batches of solution using tap, store bought water, and rainwater and then see which one is stable. If the non tap waters are stable then you know it's your tap water. You can contact your local water company and ask for water analysis reports to see what's in the water.

If your clay pebbles are hydroton or hydrocorn, they are both inert and do not contribute to ph changes. Also, let the ph stabilize for 12 - 24 hours before determining what your final reading is.

Good luck!

Also... Cannabis grown with love and watered with sweet Irish rain from the heavens provided by God himself. I like it!