I Need Your Opinion on Hydro Ph for Flowering

ok, 5 gallon res, 4 plants, casey jones, headband, xj13, 5 gallon buckets, under 1000watts hortilux, all thing optimal,vegged 8 weeks ,LST, 7 weeks of flower...wheeew.

ok so when my plants hit week 6 they kicked into overdrive. ph has been crazy, as low as 5.2 after adding 20mls to 5 gal of water. ppms are at 1800( they munch on 300-400 a day) I have no doubt its them lowering the ph due to insane P, and K uptake. I have never vegged to 8 weeks so my questions is do i let them keep the ph in the low 5's or do i Napalm them with 15-20mls of Ph up EVERY DAY to keep it at 5.8.

NEVER OUTGUNNED said:

ok, 5 gallon res, 4 plants, casey jones, headband, xj13, 5 gallon buckets, under 1000watts hortilux, all thing optimal,vegged 8 weeks ,LST, 7 weeks of flower...wheeew.

ok so when my plants hit week 6 they kicked into overdrive. ph has been crazy, as low as 5.2 after adding 20mls to 5 gal of water. ppms are at 1800( they munch on 300-400 a day) I have no doubt its them lowering the ph due to insane P, and K uptake. I have never vegged to 8 weeks so my questions is do i let them keep the ph in the low 5's or do i Napalm them with 15-20mls of Ph up EVERY DAY to keep it at 5.8.

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Your res is too small and your ppms are too high. Things are far from 'optimal'.

keep the PH at 5.8.

Here is a chart that might help http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/6072/indexcj.jpg

When you say low 5's. How low?

I run a 12 gallon main res and my girls are lowering the ph due to massive nute absorption as well. I'm injecting about 10ml of ph up daily to keep it in the 5.5-5.7 range.

If your ph isn't dropping too far below 5.5, I would limit the ph up bombing. The ph up fluid was designed to not harm plants, but too much of anything always causes problems... and 15-20ml for a 5 gallon res sounds like pushing it a bit.

I agree with homebrewer thats not optimal
Get a larger res if you can but 1800 is high
And target 5.8 for hydro if you can

hellraizer30 said:

I agree with homebrewer thats not optimal
Get a larger res if you can but 1800 is high
And target 5.8 for hydro if you can

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Yeah what he said!

so wait a minute, the chart says above 5.5 cuts off Phosphorus and magnesium, the two most critical nutrients. everyone hear says keep it at 5.8? also the ppms get as low as 5.2, they hit 4.8 for the first time yesterday. 1800 was a first run yesterday, normally i keep them at 1500, but they munch up 200-400 the next day.

i think u guys might be right about the ppm thing, but the recommended dosage from H7G nute calc sy 75mls each a&b, that only brings my nutes up to 800ppm for a 7 weeker? doesnt seem a little low?

NEVER OUTGUNNED said:

i think u guys might be right about the ppm thing, but the recommended dosage from H7G nute calc sy 75mls each a&b, that only brings my nutes up to 800ppm for a 7 weeker? doesnt seem a little low?

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Your pH should be in the high 5's. Your res should hold at least 2 gallons of water for each plant you have. Your res is currently so small that you'd have to add water and nutes every day to maintain proper water levels and food for your plants. Lastly, ppms is not what you should be talking about unless you know what scale you're on. You should be referring to feeding levels in EC as it's universal.

so once again, if phosphorus and magnesium, two critical nutrients for flower are cut off above 5.0, why should i keep my ppms in the high 5's? i have a ppm pen, therefore i measure in ppm. that is all i have ever used, and it works for me, so i see no need to change that.

NEVER OUTGUNNED said:

so once again, if phosphorus and magnesium, two critical nutrients for flower are cut off above 5.0, why should i keep my ppms in the high 5's? i have a ppm pen, therefore i measure in ppm. that is all i have ever used, and it works for me, so i see no need to change that.

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Your PH should be in the high 5's not your PPM... Your PH should always be 5.5-6.0. 5.8 PH is perfect for hydro growing.

sorry, typo. thats what i meant

PH 5.8 PPM varies strain to strain. Bigger res (at least ten to twelve gallons with air stones) and I also suggest keeping the res temps in the low sixties to keep roots healthy.

too big, i have 5 different res for perpetual grow.

Check out Bauks420 on this forum. He has been running a perpetual grow for well over a year now. He averages an ounce a week in a 2x4 tent. He has some vids that might help you out if you have questions he will respond to them. From what I remember he only tops off mid week with PH water and changes buckets out every week. I am using a tote with 12 gal of water for 3 plants. On my weekly change out I PH at 5.6 let it raise to 6.0 and about mid week feed enough for a few days til next change. In a few weeks when these are done I will be going to buckets just because it's easier on the change outs. Good luck on your grow.

EarlyKuyler said:

Check out Bauks420 on this forum. He has been running a perpetual grow for well over a year now. He averages an ounce a week in a 2x4 tent. He has some vids that might help you out if you have questions he will respond to them. From what I remember he only tops off mid week with PH water and changes buckets out every week. I am using a tote with 12 gal of water for 3 plants. On my weekly change out I PH at 5.6 let it raise to 6.0 and about mid week feed enough for a few days til next change. In a few weeks when these are done I will be going to buckets just because it's easier on the change outs. Good luck on your grow.

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Same thing I do. I run 5 gallon sport coolers. I top off once before another res change. I change my buckets out every 7 days and rinse them out and wipe down. I PH then if I have to. Usualy in bloom after my nutes are added i get a PH reading of 5.9 ... Setting your PH at 5.6 and letting it gradually go up to 6.0 is perfect and what most novice growers would recommend.

ive got 16 girls, in sets of two, each set being at different grow stages, that's how come im stuck with all those reservoirs. veg 8/flower 8-9 weeks. i think their size and age might play a part in all of this. the first set to suffer this issue was in the six week, now the second set is also experiencing this in the same time frame.it doesn't harm them, but i think it stunts growth slightly from the ph fluctuations. i also change the res out every week, but i top of every day because when they are happy they go through a gallon or two a day.

NEVER OUTGUNNED said:

ive got 16 girls, in sets of two, each set being at different grow stages, that's how come im stuck with all those reservoirs. veg 8/flower 8-9 weeks. i think their size and age might play a part in all of this. the first set to suffer this issue was in the six week, now the second set is also experiencing this in the same time frame.it doesn't harm them, but i think it stunts growth slightly from the ph fluctuations. i also change the res out every week, but i top of every day because when they are happy they go through a gallon or two a day.

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I ph at 6.0 in early stages due to my medium and let it rise to 6.5 ish before i lower it if i have to before weekly rez change. It should be rising until you hit about week 4 of flowering then it should start to drop off and lower from then on. Yea I would have to say you need a bigger rez for sure and instead of just adding water like stated which just makes it almost impossible to get a good nute mix going. It would be better to just change the water every day with new nutes then to just add more. What you really need is a rez that will last you about 1 week where all you have to do is check PH levels after your initial PPM check when filling. Make sure to clean the rez also every week as nutes can get a little slimy build up on the walls of the rez. Adding water every day is not going to help you at all unless it is fully changed. Just adding makes your levels continuously bounce all over the place and you wont be able to get a true mix because as you add water you dilute the mix and lower your PPM and possibly raise the PH depending on what type of water you are using ( tap water reverse osmosis etc )

NEVER OUTGUNNED said:

so once again, if phosphorus and magnesium, two critical nutrients for flower are cut off above 5.0, why should i keep my ppms in the high 5's? i have a ppm pen, therefore i measure in ppm. that is all i have ever used, and it works for me, so i see no need to change that.

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I think that you might be referencing the wrong chart. For a soil based grow (left colum of chart you posted) K and Mg get close to the end of their ideal absorbtion ranges (but not cut off). In hydro the pH range is different, and ideal ranges diminish much higher. That's why folks are saying 5.8. That's the right column of that same chart.