E9noxis
- 1,221
- 263
It's generally common practice to take the instructions included with nutrients with a grain of salt. I remember the first time I mixed Emerald Harvest nutrients as per instructions. Almost killed my plants. Unfortunately most nutrient companies want you to use more nutrients than required so they can sell you more. Not always the case but most of the time.The directions in the TPS kit says a few of the nutrients are buffers. It also said to add the ph up and then the ph down and mix thoroughly before adding nutrients if I'm using RO.
I always thought RO water dropped in ph after sitting as it absorbs co2 from the air because it's pure water and the minerals are gone , it did for me when i tried it,the PH settled to about 5.5 after a few hours exposure.The directions in the TPS kit says a few of the nutrients are buffers. It also said to add the ph up and then the ph down and mix thoroughly before adding nutrients if I'm using RO.
PURE water (distilled) will have a neutral pH of 7.0. However, RO water isn't pure, it may/will have a few molecules of something in it that will affect pH. My tap water (Phoenix) is horrendously hard, with a pH of about 8. That alkalinity comes from calcium carbonate, mostly, and it is intentional in a city water supply. You need to buffer the water with something alkaline to prevent the water from getting acidic and dissolving pipes.For my next grow I will be using an R/O filter. I hear everyone say they use it and the water where I'm at is not great. So I got one. I haven't installed it yet, but that's OK. It's for the next grow.
I also picked up the TPS nutrient line. I'll be following their instructions.
In the instructions, it says that R/O water needs a ph buffer. I dont really know what that means. A brief explanation would be nice.
What is it meant to do? Is using calmag like normal enough of a buffer? Should I use ph up and down to create a buffer before adding nutrients like it the instructions say to do?
If anyone is familiar (yeah, you) please say what you know about the R/O water or TPS nutrients.
Thanks
Softeners removes calcium and magnesium and replaces with sodium ,so don't use softened water for growsWe have well water that is treated with a salt based softener. I read its bad to use that for plants. So I've been buying Poland Springs water for the entire grow. Now I have my second grow started before my first is done and the plants for the greenhouse are germinating and soon enough I'll start another in the big tent.
Long story short, this is cheaper in the long run. And everyone is doing it, I just wanted to be popular
and thats something you never see mentioned in 99% of the educational materials that are out there. It should be because Im sure a ton of people are trying to grow in softened water.Softeners removes calcium and magnesium and replaces with sodium ,so don't use softened water for grows
PH of RO water is nothing. It's not zero- its just nothing. One spec of anything - acid of base will make extreme moves. So If I add my nutes to ro, the ph will go to 5, because it has no alkalinity. I add potasium silicate first, that the base and the ph goes to 9. Then I mix the nutes in and the ph is 6.2-6.4. It's now buffered. One spec of anything won't move it a lot.I always thought RO water dropped in ph after sitting as it absorbs co2 from the air because it's pure water and the minerals are gone , it did for me when i tried it,the PH settled to about 5.5 after a few hours exposure.
Pure R.O. water is not pH neutral. Often times its around 6 to 6.5, which is basically considered neutral for our purposes.Pure filtered RO water will be a neutral ph of 7. Depending on if you're doing hydro or soil, you're going to want pH anywhere in a range from 5.8-6.3 for hydro and 6.3-6.8 for soil (usually).
That being said, a ph buffer is something that maintains a constant ph value across applications. For instance if you add a teaspoon of salt to a gallon of pure RO water it's going to show very high (alkaline) ph. I know absolutely nothing about the nutrient line you mentioned, but I know most of the decent nutrient lines have ph buffers built-in. Emerald Harvest nutrients and Advanced Nutrients "ph perfect" lines are good examples of this.
I could spend hours explaining all of this but I'll just say this - always pH your water/nutrients AFTER you mixed them, not before. And don't stick a ph tester into pure RO water, you'll ruin it (at least the BlueLab ones I use, for sure, don't do this). Pure RO 0ppm water will always test at 7.0 ph. So generally what you're going to do is add your nutrients until you reach the PPM you're looking for, then test ph and adjust accordingly.
But yeah, basically a ph buffer is something that helps maintain a constant ph. As plants uptake nutrients as they need them, your pH levels will fluctuate as well. There's an entire science to this and there are charts on it in this thread - https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/t...r-making-nutrient-deficiency-diagnoses.60485/
Yes, this ^^ i posted without reading all posts in theead, i apologizePH of RO water is nothing. It's not zero- its just nothing. One spec of anything - acid of base will make extreme moves. So If I add my nutes to ro, the ph will go to 5, because it has no alkalinity. I add potasium silicate first, that the base and the ph goes to 9. Then I mix the nutes in and the ph is 6.2-6.4. It's now buffered. One spec of anything won't move it a lot.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?