Iceman8700
Active Member
Hi,
As the title says, my ro water is pretty acidic and I'm using maxibloom as a stand alone nute. I've done quite a few successful grows using only maxibloom (lucas 7g/gal) and the water (tap) ph was above 7 but not more than 7.5. Never faced any issues.
Now because I've moved to another country, the tap water is bad so I'm using ro water that is delivered in 20l cans. The ppm is 40 and ph is 6 and below. Sometimes even 5.8ish.
So I germinate and start off with small rockwool and transplant into 3" cubes. Growth is normal and when the roots break out of the 3" cube, I place them into 20l buckets..usually grows about 3 nodes well and when the roots just begin to come out of the net pot, I start facing issues. No root rot. Nice white roots and I use h202 twice a week. A mild dose. 5ml 6% in 13lts.
It's the leaves. Usually the lower ones. I've gone through extensively around leaf diagnosis for deficiency and excess and cannot match with mine. The lower leaves begin to soften from the tips and curl upwards giving a greenish Grey colour and eventually turning rusty. And it spreads to the next node and goes on. Above growthis slow with small leaves and short nodes.
Now I'm wondering if the ro water could be the issue because of its ph. I've read that ro water is usually ph7 and when stored for a while it reacts with the air thereby becoming acidic...hence the low ph. I've mixed maxibloom before with ph 7 and had no problems. Another friend too is using ro water phd at 7 and not facing any issues.
Could the maxibloom nutrients get locked out if mixing with water below ph 7? There is no chelation as such..mixes well and gives the usual pinkish orange color. Ppms read fine too after mixing.
I'm not facing any ph drifts and is usually around 5.8 - 6.2. Ppm are around 450 considering it's only grown 3-4 nodes.
As the title says, my ro water is pretty acidic and I'm using maxibloom as a stand alone nute. I've done quite a few successful grows using only maxibloom (lucas 7g/gal) and the water (tap) ph was above 7 but not more than 7.5. Never faced any issues.
Now because I've moved to another country, the tap water is bad so I'm using ro water that is delivered in 20l cans. The ppm is 40 and ph is 6 and below. Sometimes even 5.8ish.
So I germinate and start off with small rockwool and transplant into 3" cubes. Growth is normal and when the roots break out of the 3" cube, I place them into 20l buckets..usually grows about 3 nodes well and when the roots just begin to come out of the net pot, I start facing issues. No root rot. Nice white roots and I use h202 twice a week. A mild dose. 5ml 6% in 13lts.
It's the leaves. Usually the lower ones. I've gone through extensively around leaf diagnosis for deficiency and excess and cannot match with mine. The lower leaves begin to soften from the tips and curl upwards giving a greenish Grey colour and eventually turning rusty. And it spreads to the next node and goes on. Above growthis slow with small leaves and short nodes.
Now I'm wondering if the ro water could be the issue because of its ph. I've read that ro water is usually ph7 and when stored for a while it reacts with the air thereby becoming acidic...hence the low ph. I've mixed maxibloom before with ph 7 and had no problems. Another friend too is using ro water phd at 7 and not facing any issues.
Could the maxibloom nutrients get locked out if mixing with water below ph 7? There is no chelation as such..mixes well and gives the usual pinkish orange color. Ppms read fine too after mixing.
I'm not facing any ph drifts and is usually around 5.8 - 6.2. Ppm are around 450 considering it's only grown 3-4 nodes.
