Thegreywizard
- 99
- 18
It really depends on what’s actually in your tap water. I also have tap water with very high EC most of which is calcium but I also have a high level of chlorides which my plants do not like. I settled on a mix of RO and tap water. I’ll mix up Jack’s in plain RO to my desired EC and top up with my tap water to bring my pH up to where it needs to be. The alkalinity in my tap water helps stabilize my pH. You should check with your municipality and see if they can give you a water report or have one done yourself. It’d take a lot of the guessing out of things.I was always confused by that and how it actually works when you're using tap water with a higher PPM.
Im assuming you are running co2. I had a similar issue once and found out it was because i wasnt purging out the co2 in the dark cycle. Co2 is miscable with water and coverts to carbonic acid on contact. Plants need 02 in the dark cycle anyway and if you are running a sealed room its best to cycle off the c02 awhile before lights outSo a constant struggle I seem to be having is my PH dropping down into the low 4's within 3-4 days of doing a reservoir change in my DWC.
I can't tend to my garden every day, I'm only able to go there twice a week.
I PH to 5.8-6.0, usually closer to 6.0 knowing it's going to drop rather quick over the next couple of days.
So what could be causing this in DWC?
I've read PH swing is common in DWC, but it's usually UP isn't it?
Having your PH consistently go down in DWC has to be caused from something else going on.
I plan on adding the Bluelab dosing pumps as an upgrade in late 2022. But until then I have to figure out the problem causing this now and correct it.
My nutrients:
Jacks A & B
Epsom Salt
Fulvic Acid Powder
Amino Acids Powder
Great White
Grow Genius
Enzymes
Sugaree/Sour Dee
Mammoth P (now that I'm in flower)
Budswel (now that I'm in flower)
I've been having this PH drop issue before I was adding Mammoth P Budswel, so I know it's not them. But I still wanted to list my full weekly regiment.
I'm really loving DWC and getting great results. If I can dial in exactly what's going on, I'm going to crush it!
Wanted to share my take on this based on personal experience, even though your post is now 8+ months old and I know you have long ago worked out your question with the extraordinary depth of knowledge and assistance on this site.thanks for the props!
That is a nice chart, I'm trying to digest it now.
I really don't think my PPMs are too high. I even cut back on the Jacks just a little bit. 150-200ppms is from the Sugaree alone.
I'm going to do a water change tonight and track exactly how many PPMs each additive increases it.
I really want to upgrade to RO in the future, but as I mentioned for this run, not my place and not my choice, so I just have to do deal with it.
But just because my tap water is 300ppms, that doesn't mean I should reduce any of my additives does it?
Like basically starting at 300 is like starting at 0 right? That 300 doesn't actually count towards my real PPMs?
I was always confused by that and how it actually works when you're using tap water with a higher PPM.
Wanted to share my take on this based on personal experience, even though your post is now 8+ months old and I know you have long ago worked out your question with the extraordinary depth of knowledge and assistance on this site. Starting from zero I scoured the site looking for this when it was my issue too and didn't easily find an answer.thanks for the props!
That is a nice chart, I'm trying to digest it now.
I really don't think my PPMs are too high. I even cut back on the Jacks just a little bit. 150-200ppms is from the Sugaree alone.
I'm going to do a water change tonight and track exactly how many PPMs each additive increases it.
I really want to upgrade to RO in the future, but as I mentioned for this run, not my place and not my choice, so I just have to do deal with it.
But just because my tap water is 300ppms, that doesn't mean I should reduce any of my additives does it?
Like basically starting at 300 is like starting at 0 right? That 300 doesn't actually count towards my real PPMs?
I was always confused by that and how it actually works when you're using tap water with a higher PPM.
I wanted to share a chart that was shared on THCFarmer but I do not know who shared it. I has saved my grow more times than I can count and taught me a lot at the same time. Hope its helpful.thanks for the props!
That is a nice chart, I'm trying to digest it now.
I really don't think my PPMs are too high. I even cut back on the Jacks just a little bit. 150-200ppms is from the Sugaree alone.
I'm going to do a water change tonight and track exactly how many PPMs each additive increases it.
I really want to upgrade to RO in the future, but as I mentioned for this run, not my place and not my choice, so I just have to do deal with it.
But just because my tap water is 300ppms, that doesn't mean I should reduce any of my additives does it?
Like basically starting at 300 is like starting at 0 right? That 300 doesn't actually count towards my real PPMs?
I was always confused by that and how it actually works when you're using tap water with a higher PPM.
just a friendly advise. This chart is missing two more pages and it's not fully accurate.Wanted to share my take on this based on personal experience, even though your post is now 8+ months old and I know you have long ago worked out your question with the extraordinary depth of knowledge and assistance on this site. Starting from zero I scoured the site looking for this when it was my issue too and didn't easily find an answer.
I had recently took over a hydroponics greenhouse raising lettuce. Had used Aquaponics in the past but had to learn hydroponics on the run to try to save a friends greenhouse which had not been successful at bringing in a crop reliably and was about to be shut down. They had not been checking the EC of the system at all- EVER (Nor pH). System was using well water- which here in eastern NM has an EC of 350+. Previous grower ( also with experience only in aquaponics) complained that he had to cut the basic Miracle Grow recipe down to at least 1/2 and better 1/4 or all the plants turned yellow and had burned leaves and even then did not thrive and leaves were tough and bitter.
SO my first hard learned lesson was that there is only so much that can be dissolved in water. There is a saturation point after which nothing further dissolves. Obviously The safety margin for plants to thrive is within a very small window of this saturation window. If you are already starting with an EC of 300- then that is 300 less of other nutrients that you can additionally add and still stay within the window of plant tolerance. My understanding of EC is that it loosely represents the concentration of dissolved minerals, as does PPM in a different but similar way.
This is important because of how plants take up nutrients. If the concentration is higher in the water outside the plant than in the root system then fluids and nutrients will flow OUT of the plant rather than into the plant and I have seen this also drop the pH and it causes signs of nutrient deficiencies on the leaves and poor growth.
I wanted to share a chart that was shared on THCFarmer but I do not know who shared it. I has saved my grow more times than I can count and taught me a lot at the same time. Hope its helpful.View attachment 1278117
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