Whats Going On In My Waterfarms?

[captiankush]

Hey folks,

I am having some wild ph and ppm shifts in my waterfarms and need somr help to figure things out.

My ph wont stabilize and within 24 hours goes from 5.5 to 6.5 and stays . My ppm will fluctuate as well with 30 to 100 ppm more usually. I have a ton of data, I've been trying to figure this out for the last 2 weeks and record data daily.

The plants look good, but the numbers say things are jacked.

Like I said, I have all the data, if something specific would be of use, just ask, temps, rh, ph, ppm, etc

Thanks in advance

 

[DetGrnThumb]

How are the roots looking? Bright white and thick or are they having any "tint" to them. Typically those types of spikes in a system like that are indicating uptake issues and many times it's due to a bacterial infection (ie pythium). Bumps in pH without any rooting issues tend to indicate too much Potassium in the mix (phosphorus for pH down, potassium for pH up). If you're not running any live beneficial additives (mycorrhizae, bacteria, nematodes, etc) I'd recommend running a flush with pretty much any product with hypochlorous acid (UC Roots from Cultured Solutions, Watermax from Clean Grow, if you're confident in your measuring and mixing you can even use pool shock.) If you are running bennies, Hydroguard is safe for your good beneficials while helping eliminate the bad growth that is keeping the plant from being able to fully uptake the nutrients in the system.

 

[WestbyGod]

Have you calibrated your meter lately? That could cause ph swings.

 

[cemchris]

RO or Tap? Your air pump in the room? Running Co2?

 

[captiankush]

Have you calibrated your meter lately? That could cause ph swings.

Yep, I have two and recab every 3 or so tests. I also double check if shit seems abnormal.

RO or Tap? Your air pump in the room? Running Co2?

I was running water from the well, starting ppm of 250, ph of 7.8 but am switching to ro this weekend once the filter arrives. All air pumps are outside of the room, and no co2.

I also ordered watermax and will flush this weekend. My weekend is pretty much devoted to this problem, Im replacing the air lines with light proof silicone lines, airstones will be replaced and I'll be insulating the reservoirs. I figure if I can knock the hell out of bacteria and fix the res environment then I can solve the problem, long term.

CK

 

[captiankush]

How are the roots looking? Bright white and thick or are they having any "tint" to them. Typically those types of spikes in a system like that are indicating uptake issues and many times it's due to a bacterial infection (ie pythium). Bumps in pH without any rooting issues tend to indicate too much Potassium in the mix (phosphorus for pH down, potassium for pH up). If you're not running any live beneficial additives (mycorrhizae, bacteria, nematodes, etc) I'd recommend running a flush with pretty much any product with hypochlorous acid (UC Roots from Cultured Solutions, Watermax from Clean Grow, if you're confident in your measuring and mixing you can even use pool shock.) If you are running bennies, Hydroguard is safe for your good beneficials while helping eliminate the bad growth that is keeping the plant from being able to fully uptake the nutrients in the system.

Excellent response, man.

I'm running sterile or trying to, all chem, gh 3 part lineup plus calmagic and armor si. The roots have a bit of a tan to them and are not as thick as I would expect at veg week 3. I think your pythium diagnosis to be correct.

I appreciate the advice on watermax and ordered some.

CK

 

[DetGrnThumb]

Excellent response, man.

I'm running sterile or trying to, all chem, gh 3 part lineup plus calmagic and armor si. The roots have a bit of a tan to them and are not as thick as I would expect at veg week 3. I think your pythium diagnosis to be correct.

I appreciate the advice on watermax and ordered some.

CK

5 ml per gallon and refresh every 3-4 days because it degrades over time

 

[scubascrog]

hmmm. temperature temperature bro. warm water breeds pythium. pythium leads to ph shifts! running any hydro without a chiller is a bad idea!

 

[scubascrog]

run hydroguard or any bacillius to eat that bad bacteria.

 

[cemchris]

The well water is what is swinging your PH

 

[Jack og]

Once ro system is up and going, revisit the issue but Pythium is a indication. Of “warm” solution system. Maybe run your epi through sand filter and or biochar to keep the sterile system sterile. I’ve used a in line filter with uv when running sterile. But have transitioned to bennies and been happy. The bennies help maintain a health system and always run a chiller.$200-$300 investment into a a chiller is worth it brother.

 

[captiankush]

Okay, so ro system is in place and I also light proofed my buckets, replaced my air lines and stones. 3 out of 4 responded with vigorous growth but 1 is showing some issues.

I also noticed that the plants that responded well seem to be droopy, not wilted but droopy.

Pic below is from yesterday

CK