Ph Dropping From 5.8 To 3.9 Overnight! What Is Causing This?

[RFT]

@Aqua Man

How long should it take for this Hydroguard to do it's magic?

 

[Aqua Man]

@Aqua Man

How long should it take for this Hydroguard to do it's magic?

Usually within 3 days you should see an improvement. But you wanna top feed it also to ensure all roots come into contact with it.

 

[Aqua Man]

Did you get the temps fixed also? Stress/sick plants will not recover well in those temps imo

 

[RFT]

Did you get the temps fixed also? Stress/sick plants will not recover well in those temps imo

Nothing I can do about the ambient temps. Greenhouses have very little insulation value at night.

The roots are getting plenty of contact with the Hydroguard. Top feed would not improve things in my setup. Nor would it be possible. 2000 sq ft of NFT channels & trellis is no-mans land.

2ml per gallon the rate you use?

 

[Aqua Man]

Nothing I can do about the ambient temps. Greenhouses have very little insulation value at night.

The roots are getting plenty of contact with the Hydroguard. Top feed would not improve things in my setup. Nor would it be possible. 2000 sq ft of NFT channels & trellis is no-mans land.

2ml per gallon the rate you use?

You can't over dose them but yea I use 2ml a gal when using. I kinda feel that temp stress is gonna make for a difficult recovery... So no promises on the fix but if it's root rot it will kill it. The temps are another story, healthy plants may do ok but weak stressed ones I feel are going to have issues

 

[RFT]

You can't over dose them but yea I use 2ml a gal when using. I kinda feel that temp stress is gonna make for a difficult recovery... So no promises on the fix but if it's root rot it will kill it. The temps are another story, healthy plants may do ok but weak stressed ones I feel are going to have issues

It’s not root rot.

It’s a pathogen of some sort. Seemingly the result of that molding LKB.

 

[RFT]

50 degree night temps arent so stressful. It’s out of the “ideal” range. But not detrimental (if they were healthy).

I have 8 day old babies getting the exact same environment. Different resi but same temps. They’re handling the cold no problem. But then again, they’re not sick.

 

[Aqua Man]

Well let's hope they take well to it and perk back up

 

[RFT]

Well let's hope they take well to it and perk back up

Yeah. And moving fwd I’ll be putting dates on all nute bottles. And buying small ones I have to change out more frequently. So they’re always fresh.

Live & Learn.

 

[MidwestToker]

Yeah. And moving fwd I’ll be putting dates on all nute bottles. And buying small ones I have to change out more frequently. So they’re always fresh.

Live & Learn.

With that many plants I'd be using dry nutrients mixes.

 

[SymbioticMan]

I'm assuming you're running hydro
And synthetics?

 

[RFT]

I'm assuming you're running hydro
And synthetics?

Yes. Yes.

 

[RFT]

With that many plants I'd be using dry nutrients mixes.

Dry nutes create a whole other list of variables & issues in my particular situation.

I have to stick to liquid & auto dosing.

 

[SymbioticMan]

Well there you go. Lol Often when people go to route a hydro they go that route for the benefits but neglect the negatives.

One of the negatives using hydro is how fast the pH can adjust., Unlike soil that has a buffer zone.
So you have to be careful about what you're mixing in. Chemicalreactions is very important when it comes to hydro.

Now I don't grow hydro but I'm pretty sure you have to watch what you using and if it's acidic or alkaline.
But but a ph up should fix that problem.

Just try making a premix of the nutrients you using, wait 24hours and test the pH before adding. Some nukes chained to others can create a different type of nutrient this reaction especially prevalent in hydro.

 

[MidwestToker]

Dry nutes create a whole other list of variables & issues in my particular situation.

I have to stick to liquid & auto dosing.

My experience with automated dosing comes from the pool industry and it wasn't the best method of pool maintenance, are you using parastolic pumps

 

[RFT]

My experience with automated dosing comes from the pool industry and it wasn't the best method of pool maintenance, are you using parastolic pumps

Yes. Been doing so for many years.

Much more reliable than humans.

 

[RFT]

Well there you go. Lol Often when people go to route a hydro they go that route for the benefits but neglect the negatives.

One of the negatives using hydro is how fast the pH can adjust., Unlike soil that has a buffer zone.
So you have to be careful about what you're mixing in. Chemicalreactions is very important when it comes to hydro.

Now I don't grow hydro but I'm pretty sure you have to watch what you using and if it's acidic or alkaline.
But but a ph up should fix that problem.

Just try making a premix of the nutrients you using, wait 24hours and test the pH before adding. Some nukes chained to others can create a different type of nutrient this reaction especially prevalent in hydro.

I may add a pH up to one of the unused dosers.

But I’d rather solve the WHY. As in, why the wild pH drop. Simply adding pH up is a bandaid to the symptom. Not addressing the core issue.

Maybe the core issue has been that this is just a natural reaction to the plants feeding heavy. Be it acidic leaching by the roots or the quick removal of nutes that were buffering the solution.

The thing is, I have many years of hydro experience and have never encountered this. So this isnt “normal”.

In the short term Im going to simply raise the pH by way of adding fresh water.

Im not convinced the problem is too high EC. I have a zone in week 8. EC at 1.0 (and dropping) and the plants were drinking/eating a lot by mid day. 17 gallons in 6 hrs is pretty strong for this system. And the pH started to plummet.

I cant get the EC much lower. And I cant assume the plants in this zone are unhappy considering they’re eating/drinking a lot and look great.

I shouldn’t need the pH dosers constantly going to war as the system tries to stay on balance. But I have been told by some that is exactly what is needed. Seems odd to me. But I might give it a go at some point.

 

[TheBioMaster]

House and Garden makes a PH stabilizer that is for RO water......you add it first then add your regular nutrient regiment. I posted this already but not sure you saw my post

I bet it would help you but just wanted to make sure you knew about this option. It might even help you rule some things out maybe......but it will at least hold your PH where ya want it.

 

[RFT]

House and Garden makes a PH stabilizer that is for RO water......you add it first then add your regular nutrient regiment. I posted this already but not sure you saw my post.

I bet it would help you but just wanted to make sure you knew about this option. It might even help you rule some things out maybe.

Im not sure how it helps me get to the core issue tho. I have no doubt it would mask the problem, if I was on RO water, of which Im not.

In a lotta ways simply adding pH up would accomplish the same thing.

Im inclined to think it has something to do with the heavy eating.

Resi is flushed weekly
New nutes are auto added very slowly over a couple hrs

Then pH auto adjusts 10ml at a time. It takes about 12 hrs (and a 1/2 gallon of pH down) to go from 7+ down to 5.6 ... the nutes themselves are helping to buffer down as they are designed to do.

Then over the course of the next 2-3 days the pH will slowly climb while the EC drops. Then BOOM there will be heavy eating and a severe drop in pH.

Im sorta thinking that once the buffering properties of some of the nutes are gone, all that is left is that 1/2 gallon of pH down. Thus the sharp dive in pH.

Im increasingly taking more & more detailed notes every day until Im tracking enough variables that a patrern emerges. Then when I can create & remedy the symptoms on command, we’ll know I got it figured out.

But so far, no certain pattern has emerged. Just a lotta correlates.

 

[bigdaddyg8]

I may add a pH up to one of the unused dosers.

But I’d rather solve the WHY. As in, why the wild pH drop. Simply adding pH up is a bandaid to the symptom. Not addressing the core issue.

Maybe the core issue has been that this is just a natural reaction to the plants feeding heavy. Be it acidic leaching by the roots or the quick removal of nutes that were buffering the solution.

The thing is, I have many years of hydro experience and have never encountered this. So this isnt “normal”.

In the short term Im going to simply raise the pH by way of adding fresh water.

Im not convinced the problem is too high EC. I have a zone in week 8. EC at 1.0 (and dropping) and the plants were drinking/eating a lot by mid day. 17 gallons in 6 hrs is pretty strong for this system. And the pH started to plummet.

I cant get the EC much lower. And I cant assume the plants in this zone are unhappy considering they’re eating/drinking a lot and look great.

I shouldn’t need the pH dosers constantly going to war as the system tries to stay on balance. But I have been told by some that is exactly what is needed. Seems odd to me. But I might give it a go at some point.

(The thing is, I have many years of hydro experience and have never encountered this. So this isnt “normal”.)? i seem to have heard this through out this post? in my experience with hydro when you can't control ph your banging your head against the wall. try to finish what you have started. then totally break down the system top to bottom and clean it like a new system. in my opinion once you start using all these additives your fighting an uphill battle and probably going to make things worst before they get better.