Perfect pH?

[desertsquirrel]

Im gonna have to say that I got better results with a 5.5 to 6.2 swing throughout the whole grow... Ill never go below 5.5 again that black and white chart fails to mention you will have a water uptake problem at low ph levels.

I have seen 1-2 gallons transpired per plant site in 24 hours at 5.0 pH. Below 4.8 however i do see a drastic reduction.

 

[QuarterbackMo]

I have seen 1-2 gallons transpired per plant site in 24 hours at 5.0 pH. Below 4.8 however i do see a drastic reduction.

I can almost bet money that if you put a 5.0 next to a 5.6 or 5.7 the higher ph plants would look better if all conditions were the same. I just did it in my uc the last grow based off the black and white chart... they didn't look happy or feel happy till the ph was in the 5.5-6.2 range I even talked to Rob from HG about it that's how I learned about low ph having an effect on water uptake. Sure enough too when I ran it like normal they felt wet almost and were some happy campers. Idk if its just HG thats like that or what but my plants didn't like it at all. I been running the 5.5-6.2 swing with great results.

 

[GreenThumbBill]

With reference to PH, would you guys consider straight Sunshine #4 to be soil or soilless media? I've always mixed it 50/50 with either ffof or roots and adjusted ph to 6.3-6.5. This next run I'm planning on running it uncut. Should my PH target be in the hydro range (5.5-5.9) or soil range (6.3-6.5)?

 

[QuarterbackMo]

With reference to PH, would you guys consider straight Sunshine #4 to be soil or soilless media? I've always mixed it 50/50 with either ffof or roots and adjusted ph to 6.3-6.5. This next run I'm planning on running it uncut. Should my PH target be in the hydro range (5.5-5.9) or soil range (6.3-6.5)?

I consider sunshine a soilless... I been having good results using a 5.8-6.0 on my waterings/feedings.

 

[desertsquirrel]

With reference to PH, would you guys consider straight Sunshine #4 to be soil or soilless media? I've always mixed it 50/50 with either ffof or roots and adjusted ph to 6.3-6.5. This next run I'm planning on running it uncut. Should my PH target be in the hydro range (5.5-5.9) or soil range (6.3-6.5)?

Soil is a combination of sand, silt and clay. None of the products at hydro stores are "soils".

 

[GreenThumbBill]

I consider sunshine a soilless... I been having good results using a 5.8-6.0 on my waterings/feedings.

Yeah that's pretty much what I thought too.

 

[GreenThumbBill]

Soil is a combination of sand, silt and clay. None of the products at hydro stores are "soils".

Interesting perspective but for my question isn't that just semantics? Do the ph charts consider products like ffof/roots organic "soil" and/or SS#4 soil or soilless?

 

[desertsquirrel]

Interesting perspective but for my question isn't that just semantics? Do the ph charts consider products like ffof/roots organic "soil" and/or SS#4 soil or soilless?

Yes. 100% organic material (as most of the products we are talking about are) acts totally different then soil does.

 

[ttystikk]

As ever, I'm appreciative of the information you've shared on this and many other threads, DS!

I run a homebuilt UC style RDWC system. Recently, I figured out that drowning the buckets was bad juju, lol. I'm still learning a lot about the system and the dos and don'ts.

For a nutrient package, I use Jacks Professional Hydroponic 5-12-26 and 'generic' lab grade Calcium Nitrate, with a little bump of epsom salts, aka magnesium sulfate. As an aside, I'd love it if you could work your nutrient analysis magic with a bit of Jacks, so I can make more informed decisions about usage rates!

This stuff apparently doesn't have much buffering agent in it, as it likes to shoot up (even as far as 7.5!) when I first put it into the system. I end up adding several doses of GH pH down powder over the course of several days until it stabilizes. This represents the upper part of my 'swing'. When I get the pH under control, it generally ends up in the 5.5 to 5.8 range, where it slowly drifts up again over the course of a couple of weeks. Then I change water, and start all over again.

So far, so good. Between this and chilling my water to 64-66, my pathogen problems are at an end, my girls look vibrantly healthy and they're growing like crazy, far better than with anything I ever got from a 'hydro store'. Nevermind the fact that I'm saving a bloomin' fortune on nutrients.

 

[desertsquirrel]

bump

 

[tipper619sd]

I swing from 5.5 to 6.3 usually during veg and flower i go from 5.8 to 6.5 but im still a newb so cant help out much

 

[PrefersHam]

pH perfect AN makes it. Its great.

PEace,


Ham

 

[desertsquirrel]

haha

 

[PrefersHam]

haha

Thought you would like that. rez clear...

Peace,


Ham

 

[RollinEndough]

What do you think of UCMENOW having a pH doser on every UC to keep pH very tightly controlled?

 

[StonerB]

The day I threw away my meters and pens and removed PH from my grow vocabulary was the best day ever for my plants. Perfect PH to me is the PH desired of your plants rhizosphere at THAT MOMENT. Plants have been growing for a LONG time with nobody checking their PH or adjusting a damn thing. As soon as people realize what Mr bong is explaning they will see that a healthy plant will adjust its OWN PH depending on the ion exchanges that occur during feeding. Your plant knows what it wants and how to get it. If you start organic and keep it organic PH is almost never an issue. Even in hydro, if you maintain a healthy population of micro-beasties THEY will adjust your PH up and down as the fungal vs. bacteria ratios differ from day to day. I fully agree that when swings stop happening its because ion exchange has stopped happening therefore your plant is not eating and youve got a sick plant. The bigger the swing to me means the more ions going in and out so its a good sign that your plant is healthy and processing a lot of food. The "perfect PH" is a myth spread by hydro biz CEOs to get you to buy more shit. Next time you go to a hydro store bring a pen and check their tanks. I bet they will almost ALL be way off "perfect" but the displays will look just fine. Ask for an explanation and see what they say? If they cant explain.............shop at another store.

 

[RollinEndough]

Don't listen to this guy. pH is definitely something to keep track of.

 

[desertsquirrel]

What do you think of UCMENOW having a pH doser on every UC to keep pH very tightly controlled?

Id say the same thing i told him at dinner with the rest of the CCH20 and Quantum 9 teams after the denver expo - its a mistake. pH and n/cal usage are pretty much the only points we disagree on, and we have enough mutual respect for each other to realize there is more then one way to skin a cat, even if we both think one way is better then another.

 

[RollinEndough]

Just got done eating brunch with my good pal Bill Gates after a round of golf at the country club - burp. Thanks for the reply, glad we can all agree that there's more than a single and definitive way to go about growing a simple weed.

 

[desertsquirrel]

Of course there are. Im extremely careful to always word my posts: "we do this," "this works for us," "data shows that," etc as opposed to making it sound like there is only one way to grow plants.

That being said, there are defiantly ways to achieve goals in your grow that are better and worse then others. The success or failure of the methodology is determined by the extent to which those goals are achieved (generally flavor, smell, smoothness, thc content, yield, and medicinal property.)