Ph Madness

poorelijah

poorelijah

Active Member
So I posted this previously in Hydroponics/Aeroponics but I think it may actually belong here. Sorry for posting in two areas.
I figured someone must have seen this before but only got one reply. Somebody out there must have some insight to this problem.

Hey there I'm new to rollitup. For the last week i have been having crazy PH issues, maybe someone here will catch what i seem to be missing.

I am running drip to waste through an Easy Feed Systems Doser.
I have jar tested my mix 24 hours later and ph remained at 5.5
I am running GH 3 part at 500 ppms equal parts of each.
I am using 6" Grodan Hugo Blocks.
PH Down is Earth Juice Granular. I mix 5 gallons at a time with 1 quart per gallon.

Soooo, I presoaked all 160 cubes overnight in 5.5 water. The next Morning cubes were placed into 4x4 low tide drip trays (20 cubes per tray). Next I installed all my drippers and set up the doser to deliver 500 ppms of GH 3 part @ ph 5.5. I then ran the drippers for 3 minutes giving me a couple hundred gallons of runoff that was 5.5-5.6. Everything seemed groovy so i installed all of my clones, which were heavily rooted in 1" rock wool in ph 5.5 and 300ppms of food. I did not water anything for 3 days and then ran the second cycle or first feeding. Ph and ppms were exactly the same coming from the doser but to my dismay the runoff from the cubes was 7.7-7.8. So i hooked up a hose to my easy feed system and top watered about two gallons per block at a ph of 5.5 and it started to come down to the low 6's in ph. Next day I checked the runoff it was back into the mid 7's. SO this time i flooded all the trays at ph 5 for about an hour and the next day the cubes are running off at ph 7.7 again.

What am i missing???? i feel like I'm starting to crazy here. The plants are starting to show signs of ph stress and what may be a bit of calcium and phos lockout, and I'm about one day away from pulling the clones from the cubes and buying a pallet of soil or hydroton.

Any help or ideas will be greatly appreciated
 
Merlin34

Merlin34

Well-Known Member
Easiest thing to check, check first. Is your Ph pen reading right? Get or borrow another pen or test kit and test side by side. I've had a problem like this before and it's process of elimination. I'll keep an eye on this thread and keep throwing questions at you. It would be very strange for the blocks to effect Ph that way. But I've run into contaminated media before
 
poorelijah

poorelijah

Active Member
Hey Merlin, brand new everything. Ive got an inline ph meter, i bought a new probe and installed it in the line that solution comes into room. I also have two hanna ph pens and a Milwaukee, which are all calibrated daily. And don't usually stray too far from each other. I just bought the Milwaukee today to make sure the others weren't off.
 
Merlin34

Merlin34

Well-Known Member
Two ideas. Run your 5.5 feed water through an empty tray and check run off. Do it just like there was plants in it. But empty, no cubes. Next run your 5.5 feed through a block without using the system. Make sure you do exactly what you did to prep the block like before, soaking etc. This will tell you whether it's something in your lines or something in the grow blocks. That make sense? Process of elimination... Trying to figure out where the change in Ph is occurring.
 
E

Eurohigh

Active Member

  • I am running GH 3 part at 500 ppms equal parts of each​





Shite.. Then its 1500 ppm ? That seemes like crazy high ppm or is it just me?
 
S

spek9

Well-Known Member
What are your environmental temps, humidity and airflow like?

Do you have decent air movement?

Have you tested your water? Put some in a glass and note the pH right away, then put saran wrap over it and test it again in 24 hrs. It may just be that your water is unstable for one reason or another.

Pics would help people figure whether this is an actual issue or not. You may be in a panic for nothing, but without pics, the hydro guys won't have a reference to advise against.

-spek
 
Merlin34

Merlin34

Well-Known Member
Pretty sure he mental 500 ppms total. Divided equally between the three parts. Cause 1500 ppms would fry the crap out of clones.
 
poorelijah

poorelijah

Active Member
i pulled a clone and am soaking a block overnight in 5.5 and will flush by hand and then water by hand to see what happens. And yes 500 divided equally. My well is 150 and i am at aprrox. 3ml/gal grow 5ml bloom 5ml micro coming in at 500ppms total. I just pumped a gallon into a jar through my lines at 5.5 and will let it sit for the night and test it again.m tomorrow night.
btw Im new to the forums altogether and am stoked on the willingness of everyone to help one another
 
poorelijah

poorelijah

Active Member
10x20 room
10" recirculating max fan ceiling mounted
8 wall mounted oscillating fans
room is sealed
1000 ppms co2 via burner
3ton mini split that moves quite a bit of air.
my humidity is 60% at night and 45% during the day
 
acellular

acellular

Member
Sounds like you have a pretty nice system. Are you skimping on your water? Buy an ro-100, especially for hydro.
 
TMG Genetics

TMG Genetics

New Member
I used to use the useless formula which use gh 3 part. Now I use the lucas formula and my ph issues have all but disappeared.

This is from the useless formula which uses gh 3 part nutes...

There are a couple factors that cause your PH to drift. The most common is running the nute solution too strong or too weak. If it's too strong, your PH drops. If it's too weak the PH rises. You have to find the balance point. If you find that the formula above is say, a little strong, and say you have a 20 gallon ressy, mix the nutes for 18 gallons. If it's a little weak, mix it for 22 gallons. You follow?
The other common mistake is mixing your nutrient solution and trying to adjust the PH right away. You have to allow time for the ph buffers in the nutrient solution to do their job. Mix the nutes up, and bubble or circulate for 12 hours before even looking at your PH. You will find the PH to be almost right on target.
I use little or no ph adjusters. (Except during flush). I use tap water, with a starting PPM of 300-400 and a starting PH of 7.4-9.0 (Thats crazy you say! The water is too hard, you will never get stable PH and you will have too much Ca, causing a lockout of Mg!) Bollocks I say.
Every week, on Friday I drain the ressy and fill with plain water. I let that run overnight giving the plants a little flush. This also allows the chlorine and ammonia to evap. On Saturday morning, I mix the nutes into the ressy. I DO NOT adjust ph at this time. Let that run as is overnight. On Sunday morning, I check ph and adjust if needed. Usually don't have to.
Doing things this way has saved me from constant PH drifts, and using about 150 ml of ph down every ressy change, and a little here and there throughout the week to keep it in the desired range. Now, the most I ever have to use is about 30 ml.if any at all. (I have a 35 gallon ressy btw) My Ph stays at a constant 5.5-5.8.

If you are still having PH issues using the above method, an alternative is to PH adjust the plain water to 5.5 BEFORE you add nutes.
 
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