My pH is all over the place-- PLEASE HELP

I refuse to let high alkalinity win here I've already gotten shit from a couple of people because I'm a girl trying to do this. But I'm stumped guys, please help me..

Problem: My pH is perpetually rising. Every few hours it goes back up. I thought it was my cheap PetSmart buffer solution, so I bought Viagrow natural pH down-- it comes in crystals. Didn't work.

Then I tried filtering my tap water with Britta, didn't work.

Then I bought Whole Foods 365 distilled water, didn't work. In fact, this morning the pH was at 8.2-- highest yet.

I just bought a pH meter that was calibrated two weeks ago, so I don't think that my meter is broken. I am using Foxfarm nutes, but I waited a week to put them in and it was doing it before I added them, so it's not the nutes.

What is going on??? How can my pH go from 5.5 to 8.0 in less than a day?? I'm literally adding down every two hours to keep it somewhat normal, and I can't keep doing this. When I wake up in the mornings it has skyrocketed.

HELP. I don't know what else to do!

Add nutes and then let water sit. Then check ph.

What temperature is the water? If its too warm that can be the cause. Also a plant shits itself into the solution so you might try H202 to help regulate pH.

Is your res. completely 100% lightproof?

chronald mcdonald said:

I refuse to let high alkalinity win here I've already gotten shit from a couple of people because I'm a girl trying to do this. But I'm stumped guys, please help me..

Problem: My pH is perpetually rising. Every few hours it goes back up. I thought it was my cheap PetSmart buffer solution, so I bought Viagrow natural pH down-- it comes in crystals. Didn't work.

Then I tried filtering my tap water with Britta, didn't work.

Then I bought Whole Foods 365 distilled water, didn't work. In fact, this morning the pH was at 8.2-- highest yet.

I just bought a pH meter that was calibrated two weeks ago, so I don't think that my meter is broken. I am using Foxfarm nutes, but I waited a week to put them in and it was doing it before I added them, so it's not the nutes.

What is going on??? How can my pH go from 5.5 to 8.0 in less than a day?? I'm literally adding down every two hours to keep it somewhat normal, and I can't keep doing this. When I wake up in the mornings it has skyrocketed.

HELP. I don't know what else to do!

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Who ever is hating on you just because your a girl is very foolish. maybe they are afraid of you outdoing them? don't listen to those fools. Girls are just as capable of doing hydroponics as guys.

The cheap petsmart buffer solution. Are you talking about Seachem Liquid marine buffer? If so it says it maintains a PH of 8.3 So that was possibly your problem. You should only by hydroponic PH up and ph down. Don't adjust ph with buffer solutions. They sell 7.01 and 4.01 buffer solutions for PH pen calibration.

The natural ph down. I have heard that natural ph down(usually citric acid) tends to lower the ph but it doesnt maintain the same ph after a certain amount of time(24 hrs?)

I would suggest buying Hydroponic PH up and PH down. maybe try to get PH down with hydrochloric acid instead of citric acid.

I don't know if fox farms has cal mag in it's nutrients but I know you should be adding cal mag if it doesn't because those minerals stabilize PH if im not mistaken. They also help with nutrient uptake and a host of other things.

If you use tap water you probably shouldn't add cal mag. Tap water can become problematic. Whole foods distilled water is good but probably not cheap. I would suggest getting some type of Reverse osmosis or carbon filter on your tap.

Do you put 7.01 ph buffer in your electrode cap on the ph pen when you don't use it?

justiceman said:

Girls are just as capable of doing hydroponics as guys.

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nuh uh.











j/k

Dirtyboy: this is what I do

wilson: I do not know the temperature of the water, but the temperature of the room my AG is in is 74, with 65 humidity.

grob: I have not altered my AG beyond how it comes. I do have every pod with a peat pellet (or whatever it came with). Do I need to cover this medium and just let the stem come out? Also, what about when I lift open the top to check the pH, or add nutes. Will these exposed few minutes be a problem? I thought that light was bad because of bacteria/algae, but I didn't realize it could affect pH.

justice: Thanks. I'd like to prove these idiots wrong but this pH stuff is very discouraging. I used API ("Aquarium Pharmaceuticals) in the beginning, then I did switch to a citric acid based down solution, so maybe this is the problem!!!! I guess I should try a hydrochloric based down. I thought citric acid was fine because I bought it at a hydro store..

I don't mind using WF distilled water. It runs at about 1.10 a gallon and my AG is just a gallon so for 2.20 I'm fine for a while since I just need to top it off. As long as this is an okay water source I don't mind sticking to it.

I don't use 7.01 in my meter.. the [very brief] instructions it came with said not to store with distilled water, and nothing else, so I've just been using tap water.. is this bad?

Thanks for all of the advice.. does anyone know whether foxfarm has cal-mag?

I'm so jealous of all these AG growers who are getting decent plants with tap water and the AG nutes. I went all out getting all the 'ideal' supplies and am already having major problems in week 1. Bah.

Okay so just did some research.. am buying cal-mag.. and hydrochloric acid based pH down.

Just found out my new 150w SunSystem was "delivered" on the 8th.. it never arrived... so now I have to file a claim. Who knows how long this will take. I think fate is against me. Thankfully I just used bag seed with this grow, my store-bought seeds will have to wait.

Any other ideas for what could be the problem??

Could someone please clear up whether I need to cover the pellets with duct tape and just leave room for the stem?

Ok last question, really.. can someone recommend me a brand of quality hydrochloric acid based ph down to purchase? I've found technaflora and general hydroponics ph downs but I don't think these are hydro-acid based.. I do not want to mess up this purchase.

theres a cupple thins i learned whell useing the areo garden .
#1, useing distilled water= bad idea.. it doesnt supply basic nutes that come in tap water.. the cal mag will work for the moment, but after you get the calcium and magnesium up.. switch back to good ol tap water *witch has cal,mag.ect already in it*
#2 .. the areo garden has a small resivor. witch means your plants will absorbe your nutes faster, and the waterlevel will go down faster due to the plants and evaporation witch will cause your ppm and p.h to rise.

i sugest going back to tap water in the garden, changing the nutes as often as possible *every 2 or 3 days* and keeping a fresh bottle of nute water with a slightly lower ph so you can top up the res as oftin as needed.

i am no expert but thoease would be my sugestions.. do a little more reasarch on useing distilled water because that was our main problem when useing the areo garden.. and we thought it was a good idea.

good luck and happy growing

chronald mcdonald said:

grob: I have not altered my AG beyond how it comes. I do have every pod with a peat pellet (or whatever it came with). Do I need to cover this medium and just let the stem come out? Also, what about when I lift open the top to check the pH, or add nutes. Will these exposed few minutes be a problem? I thought that light was bad because of bacteria/algae, but I didn't realize it could affect pH.

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A few minutes for upkeep shouldn't hurt anything. Algae will drive the pH up like crazy though. It could just be due to a small volume of solution. But yours wouldn't be a problem while joe schmoe's was fine. I'm gonna say some GH pH down is your next best bet.

Tap water = better than distilled??

so much conflicting info... !!

D.J.D.W said:

theres a cupple thins i learned whell useing the areo garden .
#1, useing distilled water= bad idea.. it doesnt supply basic nutes that come in tap water.. the cal mag will work for the moment, but after you get the calcium and magnesium up.. switch back to good ol tap water *witch has cal,mag.ect already in it*
#2 .. the areo garden has a small resivor. witch means your plants will absorbe your nutes faster, and the waterlevel will go down faster due to the plants and evaporation witch will cause your ppm and p.h to rise.

i sugest going back to tap water in the garden, changing the nutes as often as possible *every 2 or 3 days* and keeping a fresh bottle of nute water with a slightly lower ph so you can top up the res as oftin as needed.

i am no expert but thoease would be my sugestions.. do a little more reasarch on useing distilled water because that was our main problem when useing the areo garden.. and we thought it was a good idea.

good luck and happy growing

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You have to buy calibration solution to reset your meter.The meter is no good without calibration solution.I dont think everybody knows this.When you get solution check and see how much its wrong until recalibrated it wil blow your mind

I wish my meter instructions had told me to store in calibration solution... would've made life a lot more simple.

Thanks and buying some online now, along with General Hydro ph down.. can anyone confirm that this is hydrochloric acid based? The website says.. "The Acid formulation uses food grade Phosphoric acid to lower the pH to the proper level." Is phosphoric acid the same, or similar enough?

Sorry for all the questions..

Mr.Therapy Man said:

You have to buy calibration solution to reset your meter.The meter is no good without calibration solution.I dont think everybody knows this.When you get solution check and see how much its wrong until recalibrated it wil blow your mind

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GH pH down is just as good as any other in my opinion.

chronald mcdonald said:

Ok last question, really.. can someone recommend me a brand of quality hydrochloric acid based ph down to purchase? I've found technaflora and general hydroponics ph downs but I don't think these are hydro-acid based.. I do not want to mess up this purchase.

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Buy the General Hydroponics PH down. I don't remember what it has in it, but I know it keeps your PH where it needs to be. It won't allow it to rise like citric acid. General Hydro is known for there reliability. The Technaflora is good too, but just to be safe go with the GH. Don't worry about it being hydrochloric acid, there are many things that drop PH and I know that General Hydro contains the right type of acid to drop it and keep it stable.

Tap water is not better then distilled water. Yes tap water contains cal mag, but it also contains a whole host of other things you and I are unaware of. Chlorine? flouride? pharmaceuticals? all kinds of crap you don't want. Plus Tap water offsets your PPM levels and forces you to give a lower dose of nutes then intended. Yes you have to supplement the distilled water with cal mag, and some other micronutrients. a good micronutrient source is earth juice microblast, or GH micro.

Don't worry about asking questions. Thats what this whole forum is about in a sense. If you feel bad about posting more you can feel free to send me PM's and I can help you out to the best of my knowledge. By no means am I a master of hydro, but I know a few theory's and basics.

Since you're trying to grow hydroponically, buy your stuff from the appropriate places. That's rule number 1. Secondly, your pH down should be phosphoric acid, as it's not just a pH adjuster, but a nutrient as well. You'll want to use as little of it as possible though so you do not create a nutrient imbalance. DIY type solutions to hydroponic applications are sometimes very creative and useful, but for the most part, especially starting out as a beginner, you should stick to proven HYDROPONIC products first. Petsmart products= bad idea.......obviously.

what nutes you using?