pH constantly rising?!? WTF? Advice needed, please!

[astro]

I use GH 3 part in veg. and GH micro and flower in bloom (lucas formula). At the offset with seedlings and clones at a reduced formula is the only time I may need a little ph down. I run about 600 ppm in veg and 1000ppm in bloom and that keeps the ph in the right range.

 

[Boylobster]

Yah, those ppms are pretty much what I do as well, though with different nutes. At the moment, I'm using Canna Aqua Flores (their hydro nutes for flowering), and it's been working out well. The pH remains pretty stable, and it doesn't take nearly as much pH down to reduce it as it has with other nutrient systems.

I'm waiting for my Canna Aqua Vega (for veg... obviously. :)) to arrive, and then I was going to start a grow log using that line exclusively. 'Till then, however, maybe I should try the lucas formula for the vegging buddies; I think I've got some GH 3-part nutes lying around. It'd have to be better than the stuff I'm using currently, which is definitely *not* optimal for hydro - the GH one-part Flora Nova Grow solution. :P

 

[thefabman]

Have had very similar experiences in DWC buckets. The larger the rez the easier to control PH for sure. Also i have had very good results premixing nutes the day before and letting sit with an air stone before feeding as the ph will fluctuate before stabilizing it seems. I am on city water and do not have a filter setup as of yet, but hoping that it will help drastically in the future.

 

[SKUNK420]

how much water do you have in your buckets or tubs? i had the same problem of PH rising everyday. i found out that water temp and the amount of water you have make a difference. have you ever felt how hot your air pump gets? they pump hot air into the water.
anyways i fixed my problem by making a recirculating dwc system and addind a control rez and chiller. it's kinda like too many fish in a small fish tank. remember the plants roots are living in the water, reacting with the water. the air is also reacting with the water and the bursting of the air bubbles helps the water to evaporate a little faster.

 

[yingyangsoup]

correction, when plants drink more water than nutrients, PPM's rise, which causes the mixture to be more acidic, thus lowering the PH. :)

Vice versa. When they drink more nutrients than water, PPM falls, PH rises, thus becoming more alkaline.

 

[greenthumbdanny]

Your PH swings are a huge problem dude.
Heres what you need to do.
Fill your ressy with r.o. water. Adjust the PH of the plain water. Wait 12 hours letting the solution bubble/mix. Then add your nutrients. (You can start feeding this to the plants at this point, if you cant wait). 12 hours after adding the nutrients check PH and adjust one more time if needed. Adjust in small steps. My 40 gallon ressy's only takes about 25ml of ph adjuster each to stabilize it. The key is to allow the ph buffers to do their job before you add in more:)

Now- how to control your PH...
There are a couple factors that cause your PH to drift. The most common is running the nute solution too strong or too weak. If it's too strong, your PH drops. If it's too weak the PH rises. You have to find the balance point. If you find that the formula above is say, a little strong, and say you have a 20 gallon ressy, mix the nutes for 18 gallons. If it's a little weak, mix it for 22 gallons. You follow?
The other common mistake is mixing your nutrient solution and trying to adjust the PH right away. You have to allow time for the ph buffers in the nutrient solution to do their job. Mix the nutes up, and bubble or circulate for 12 hours before even looking at your PH. You will find the PH to be almost right on target.
I use little or no ph adjusters. (Except during flush).Before I got my RO unit I used tap water, with a starting PPM of 300-400 and a starting PH of 7.4-9.0 (Thats crazy you say! The water is too hard, you will never get stable PH and you will have too much Ca, causing a lockout of Mg!) Bollocks I say.
Every week, on Friday I drain the ressy and fill with plain water. I let that run overnight giving the plants a little flush. This also allows the chlorine and ammonia to evap. On Saturday morning, I mix the nutes into the ressy. I DO NOT adjust ph at this time. Let that run as is overnight. On Sunday morning, I check ph and adjust if needed. Usually don't have to.
Doing things this way has saved me from constant PH drifts, and using about 150 ml of ph down every ressy change, and a little here and there throughout the week to keep it in the desired range. Now, the most I ever have to use is about 25 ml.if any at all. (I have a 40 gallon ressy btw) My Ph stays at a constant 5.5-5.8. My nutrient temps maintain between 68-73:)

:passingjoint:


GTD

 

[greenthumbdanny]

Also forgot to mention your ph can flux strongly depending on your system so its important to get that dialed in along with what your strain likes and can handle..
One thing I will say, Its not good to just keep dumping in chemicals to maintain your ph at 5.8 let it drift as low as 5.2 - 6.0 that way your plants can get everything available to it. When I see my shit fluxuate low then high I know my ladies are absorbing nutrients properly:hi:

im ripped tonite :passinjoint:

 

[northern monsta]

i had a problem with ph rising but i started to fiddle with how much nutes went in, just as greenthumbdanny has said, read what he says i think you will find he is right and i am sure u will solve your problem! since i got everything dialed in i hardly even have to adjust the ph now the last 4 feeds ph has been stable with maybe only a minor change needed and my ph from tap starts at 7.3/7.5, since i got a grip on it my plants have been loveing it my girls are drinking the resvoirs dry now after 4 days maybe 5 thats 340 litres every 4 days good info greenthumb 5*

 

[diyJunkie]

Since this thread was bumped, I've heard something about building a controller to adjust the pH for you... [Not to call you out Johhny Ballbag, but I think it was from you]

I'm assuming this is a little advanced, but could someone lend some insight, thanks!

 

[northern monsta]

yeah now that would be a nice bit of kit, if it exists if it can be done i would like to find out how u could do that any1

 

[greenthumbdanny]

hmmm how would a gimmick like that work???
Please enlighten me:)

:passingjoint:

GTD