H&g Ph Osmosis Stabilizer

[RoeBuck]

Has anyone tried this yet? I know from discussions with H&G tech support that they had RDWC systems in mind while developing it and were testing in a UC system. Their intent with it was to lessen the pH swings and make the pH more stable. I hadn't seen a bottle yet to see what's in it. Just wondering if it's just a glorified cal/mag supplement or something more.

 

[outwest]

Has anyone tried this yet? I know from discussions with H&G tech support that they had RDWC systems in mind while developing it and were testing in a UC system. Their intent with it was to lessen the pH swings and make the pH more stable. I hadn't seen a bottle yet to see what's in it. Just wondering if it's just a glorified cal/mag supplement or something more.

Reading the description it's to counteract the acidity of water filtered by reverse osmosis. This would make it a pH up.

outwest

 

[thunderfudge]

I know I use alot less cal mag when using a half ml a g

 

[slimjimham]

Hydrologic told me recently that the ph reads high in ro, not necessarily because it is high but because there is nothing for the meter to read. So it seems it easily takes on the ph of whatever it's mixed with. That's my understanding. So if you're nutrients are stable not sure why you'd need anything else. I loved h&g in soil and was using it for years before I switched to hydro, but I feel like those were the days when I was a slave to the over priced nutrient game.

Not to say I'm not still giving grips to the man, but much more selectively. One of the biggest things I've learned over my years, is that less is more

 

[RoeBuck]

H&G has served me well so far but I've yet to try anything else. Will probably give the UC nutes a go at some point. I keep it pretty basic, A&B, Drip Clean, Zen, Bud XL and Top Shooter. I've also been using Drip Clean in my soil less auto grows and find it works as advertised, keeping salt buildup to a minimum.

 

[CWorthington]

My water has a ton of salt deposits, so I must use RO. I've been using H&G pH + Osmosis Stabilizer for a few months now, just ordered another bottle. Let's say my RO water starts at a pH of 7. The Stabilizer bumps it up above 8. Then I add CalMag and it drops to around 6.5. Without the Stabilizer, pH drops as low as 3.3 after cal mag and base nutes. So I wouldn't go without it now. It's compatible with all the chem and organic nutes I've tried so far... PBP, SBA/B, aerated compost teas, molasses based, etc...

So first you add this, then cal mag, then whatever else you're using. The recommended dosage is 1ml/l, so I use 4ml/gal. Growing in soil.

 

[ken dog]

Snake oil.

Essentially, it says to add a buffer, and then add their buffer.

It says to add Cal Mag first, which is a buffer.
Then it says to add their product...which is a buffer...and which only raises the EC.

 

[CWorthington]

Snake oil.

Essentially, it says to add a buffer, and then add their buffer.

It says to add Cal Mag first, which is a buffer.
Then it says to add their product...which is a buffer...and which only raises the EC.

It only raises the EC about .05 per ml/gal. So, starting at 0 EC, 4ml/gal brings it up to about 0.2. The directions say to add it first, not after cal mag. And no, cal mag is not much of a buffer. I can guarantee you this does a lot more buffering than any cal mag.

 

[ken dog]

I can guarantee you anything you want.

 

[ken dog]

Here. ..https://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=332364
Fair use excerpt:


the osmosis pH stabiliser didn't stabilise the pH at all. It just pushed up the EC and locked the nutes.



Instead, in the end I used Cal-mag as a buffer to my RO water as you described, but at EC 0.2, and it worked great! I wasted 2-3 weeks of my grow before discovering the need to ditch the pH osmosis stabiliser.

 

[CWorthington]

You're quoting someone from their first ever hydro grow. And the person giving them advice qualifies their statement with "apparently". I've mixed hydro/soil/coco nutes thousands of times. If you'd like I will do a pH/EC comparison between this product and cal mag and post the results.

 

[CWorthington]

However, I'm still not 100% sure it's not locking out something.

 

[Cilantrillo]

Hydrologic told me recently that the ph reads high in ro, not necessarily because it is high but because there is nothing for the meter to read. So it seems it easily takes on the ph of whatever it's mixed with. That's my understanding. So if you're nutrients are stable not sure why you'd need anything else. I loved h&g in soil and was using it for years before I switched to hydro, but I feel like those were the days when I was a slave to the over priced nutrient game.

Not to say I'm not still giving grips to the man, but much more selectively. One of the biggest things I've learned over my years, is that less is more

Well, there's H in H2O. ..
By definition, "In chemistry, pH (/piːˈeɪtʃ/) is a numeric scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. It is approximately the negative of the logarithm to base 10 of the molar concentration, measured in units of moles per liter, of hydrogen ions. More precisely it is the negative of the logarithm to base 10 of the activity of the hydrogen ion."
Deionized or R/O water is acidic in nature. There's indeed something in R/O water...and the meter picking up a low-pH reading is spot-on.

 

[Cilantrillo]

H&G has served me well so far but I've yet to try anything else. Will probably give the UC nutes a go at some point. I keep it pretty basic, A&B, Drip Clean, Zen, Bud XL and Top Shooter. I've also been using Drip Clean in my soil less auto grows and find it works as advertised, keeping salt buildup to a minimum.

That's really all ypu need in UC. I wouldn't add Algen or Amino. As far as Roots...the UC system's mechanism of action takes care of an abundant rooting by default. Cleanliness and water temperature control are everything in UC.

 

[Cilantrillo]

Has anyone tried this yet? I know from discussions with H&G tech support that they had RDWC systems in mind while developing it and were testing in a UC system. Their intent with it was to lessen the pH swings and make the pH more stable. I hadn't seen a bottle yet to see what's in it. Just wondering if it's just a glorified cal/mag supplement or something more.

It also has trace minerals. Yeah, I would hold the cal-mag when using pH osmosis stabilizer.

 

[MedicalMG]

H&G has served me well so far but I've yet to try anything else. Will probably give the UC nutes a go at some point. I keep it pretty basic, A&B, Drip Clean, Zen, Bud XL and Top Shooter. I've also been using Drip Clean in my soil less auto grows and find it works as advertised, keeping salt buildup to a minimum.

Is there a reason you don't use drip clean in UC? Just don't feel its needed when your not running drippers or even have medium?

 

[Cilantrillo]

Is there a reason you don't use drip clean in UC? Just don't feel its needed when your not running drippers or even have medium?

Drip Clean helps prevent salt buildup at rootzone and medium level. Incorporated in any type of grow, the need to flush for a week or two gets cut back to 4 days of flush only. In a 60-day run, that means being able to run a full feeding schedule up to week 8 and flush with plain water from days 57-60. Longer feed, better yield.

 

[RoeBuck]

Is there a reason you don't use drip clean in UC? Just don't feel its needed when your not running drippers or even have medium?

Sorry for the confusion, I meant to say I use it in both my RDWC system and in my soil less auto grows.

 

[RoeBuck]

After researching this more I've come up with an effective and cheap alternative, baking soda. I've been adding it with every system change at the rate of 1 gram per every 5 gallons of water, or 10 grams for my UC8XL systems. After adding all my nutes I've been setting the pH to 5.7. Over the course of the normal 18-21 days I run between system changes the pH has remained very stable. I'm getting a slow increase as the plants feed and the ppm decreases. I've had absolution no pH drops, only the slow, steady rise we look for. I just did a system change in one system yesterday at 20 days. The pH had risen from 5.7 to 6.11 over that time.

 

[MedicalMG]

Just to throw this out to you but baking soda is not buffered. They do basically add baking soda to the osmosis buffer but they also add acids to create a buffer (you add acids and bases to create a buffer, this would be the difference between ph down and just straight muriatic acid).

http://chemistry.about.com/od/acidsbase1/a/buffers.htm