Ph problems in the undercurrent

[skankymonkey23]

Hello everybody,

I am having some serious ph problems with my undercurrent and was wondering if i can get some help/guidance.

My ph has been swinging wildly and i can't get it under control. I was using aqua vega a and b but every time i put b in my ph would drop from 6.0 to 3.7. After buying new bottles I had the same results. I have been adjusting my ph to 5.8 with ph up but 36 hours in the undercurrent drops my ph to 4.5. After repeatedly dumping ph up in the system i decided to try a new nutrient.

This is what I have now.

I have a resevior that i fill with 45 g of RO h2o. I put 60 ml of cal mag, 30 ml of roots excel, and 225 ml cannazyme. I then put 80 - 100 ml (can't remember) of aqua flakes a and b to bring my ppm up to 630. At this point my ph is at 4.1. I was told by Daniel leave it alone and dont add ph up but how should I raise it up to 5.8 without destabilizing it?

A friend said use silica by bloom?
Any thoughs on what my next steps should be?

Thank you in advance

 

[motherlode]

how do your roots look?

 

[skankymonkey23]

White with a little brown

 

[motherlode]

root rot can cause your ph to drop

what are your water temps?

first thing I would do is ditch the cannazyme

 

[skankymonkey23]

No root rot here. It's as brown as my last batches which came out real nice with no major ph problems. Water is at 67-69.

 

[RMCG]

Silica will raise pH, but UCMENOW recommends using it as foliar only.

Calibrated your meter lately?

How do the plants look?

I thought with H&G, they recommend ph'ing the nute water, then putting in additives and NOT doing a final adjustment?

 

[mcpuffin]

Think he's using Canna, Aqua Vega.

 

[RMCG]

Think he's using Canna, Aqua Vega.

Sorry. You're right. I read quick and 'saw' Aqua Flakes. Doh!


EDIT: Nope. He ~was~ using Canna, then switch to H&G aqua flakes.

 

[f1ydave]

Re-calibrate your meter. Base nutes should be what you add first. See where the ph lands then you can add additives a few hours later if its stable.

When you are having problems simplify it. KISS method, Keep it simple stupid.

 

[mcpuffin]

re-read...my bad

 

[skankymonkey23]

Meter is calibrated weekly and has always been on target.

So what you suggest is to just do base nutes first. When that come out reading 4.1 what should I do?

 

[skankymonkey23]

5 of my 6 plants look really bad. One is doing fantastic. They are all Massachusetts super skunk from progressive options. I'll post some picks soon.

 

[f1ydave]

If you are straight RO water let it flush the system for a day, balanced to 6.3 (I would slowly adjust it slightly higher every 15 minutes or so.) Then add 50% of base nutes, should bring it to 5.8 when you are done adding a and b. Then add roots excelerator and see where you are at.

H&G has a new updated feeding chart on there UK website. (Remember 50% of recommended nutes)

 

[Farmer Jon]

Try using tap water to bring the ph back up. 50-50 tap and r/o and reduce cal mag by 50% I have had the same issue more than once and I find water from the tap is a safer bet than ph up and the chances of creating a toxic solution are reduced.
Perhaps switching from cannazyme (which is full of living enzymes) to Hygrozyme (enzymatic action without the living enzymes) would help as well, and may even be the culprit behind the ph drop.
FJ

 

[UCMENOW]

Hygrozyme reacts poorly in the UC.....drop the zymes all together and pick up the zone.

 

[motherlode]

^^^ +1

listen to UCMENOW

Im a UC newb but this was my first instict when I read your post

 

[yourmomsfav]

just out of curiosity what brand is the meter? i have a tri-meter and only have been using it for under 2 months and the ph probe or something must be screwed up cause no matter what i do i wont calibrate properly. so for now i measure my ph with a vial and a few drops of solution.

 

[RMCG]

just out of curiosity what brand is the meter? i have a tri-meter and only have been using it for under 2 months and the ph probe or something must be screwed up cause no matter what i do i wont calibrate properly. so for now i measure my ph with a vial and a few drops of solution.

Did you let the probe dry out at anytime? They need to be stored in storage solution if they are not submerged for any length of time.

 

[yourmomsfav]

its been submerged in the uc as soon as i filled it up

 

[Horse]

Hygrozyme reacts poorly in the UC.....drop the zymes all together and pick up the zone.

Best Advise in this thread!!

Worked like magic for me

I have the same situation with vega formula it drops the PH, I switched to all tap water (fortunately mine is semi clean @ 170ppm) And my mix comes out much closer and I don't have to use much calmag.
I haven't seen any PH ussues with Flores so far. Love canna so far.