Ph Problems with Mother Earth Hydropebbles

[rick ratlin]

I was running low on hydroton, so I added in a bag of mother earth hydropebbles. Basically the same as normal round hydroton, but darker. Washed as usual with 8.0 pH tap water. Then soaked and sterilized with a strong h2o2 tap water solution. About 40 days in, and the pH is still diving. Upping pH with everything from Dyna Gro Protekt to pH up.

I've never had this problem with hydroton (4 years I've used it) Also, there is no root rot/other root issues. I've read various storing/cat ion issues with hydroton, but this problem seems to be brand related. Just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced pH diving with this brand.

 

[Seamaiden]

I can't help you, I'm serving up some bumpage.

 

[sedate]

I was running low on hydroton, so I added in a bag of mother earth hydropebbles. Basically the same as normal round hydroton, but darker. Washed as usual with 8.0 pH tap water. Then soaked and sterilized with a strong h2o2 tap water solution. About 40 days in, and the pH is still diving. Upping pH with everything from Dyna Gro Protekt to pH up.

I've never had this problem with hydroton (4 years I've used it) Also, there is no root rot/other root issues. I've read various storing/cat ion issues with hydroton, but this problem seems to be brand related. Just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced pH diving with this brand.

That's the brand I've been using for awhile - no particular reason it's just what my usual grow shop carries for hydroton - and I've never had any issues like that with it.

I've prolly gone through 200l of the stuff over the last year.

pH swings around same as always.

 

[ken dog]

two far out possible causes...

it's possible that you have temperature fluctuations...

it's possible that during your last cleaning, you lost most or all of your beneficial bacteria and you are starting over

 

[rick ratlin]

Water Temps are steady 68 F, and this is the first run with this brand.

 

[ken dog]

did you have any used hydroton in the pot as well?... if not, it is possible that you did not have any beneficial bacteria alive in your system.

the pH will fluctuate until you have some beneficial bacteria established in your pots or reservoir... which is why I never use bleach.

anyway, perhaps this will help get to the root of your issues:)

 

[Jalisco Kid]

Funny for me its bacteria that is usually the culprit in my tanks.What reading are you getting? As one mans diving might be a slight dip to another. JK

 

[ttystikk]

Water Temps are steady 68 F, and this is the first run with this brand.

I am mystified by the habit of throwing away perfectly good INERT MEDIA after one or a couple of runs. What could be wrong with the old stuff? Rinse it and run it! It's inert, you already know what's in it because you put it there- and then rinsed it back out.

I've been using the same coco/hydroton chowmix for YEARS, no problems with build-up or anything else. I certainly don't have break-in problems with new materials.

68 is too high for RDWC and related hydroponics. Needs to be an absolute maximum of 66, otherwise you'll get the snot, and a lot of anaerobic bacteria like to drive pH down. The caveat here is that as long as your RDWC gets below 66 at least once every 24 hours and is well oxygenated at that temp, it can creep back up over the course of a day cycle with no ill effects.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I run at 68*,this warmth has never been a problem for me in a bunch of years. JK

 

[rick ratlin]

Thanks for the input everyone!


I agree with JK, 68 F is just fine. I've been reusing my hydroton for about 4 years. I only used this particular brand because I started a bunch of new seeds, and was running low on media.

This batch is run without bennies. I can't see how they can establish a stable pH anyways.

I run Dyna-Gro nutes. Have been for a while. pH is always stable in my set-up. It's a top drip recirculating set up. Reservoirs get changed every 10 days, and the tanks are always nice and clean. It's a 4 tray perpetual grow, and all the other trays are operating smoothly.

I usually keep my tanks at 5.8 pH, as the nutes keep it like that for me. With this new media I raise the pH to 6.2, and 24 hours later the pH goes down to 5.3. After 48 hours the pH can fall into the low/mid 4 range.

This batch is about halfway, and the plants look good so far since I've been adjusting pH daily. This post was mainly to see if anyone has had a batch react like mine has. Trust me everyone, this run is no different than any other, except the fact I'm experiencing pH diving.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

Grab 3 small containers of your medium, hit one up with some h2o2 at 17% , one put just pH water, and one with some bs3. If your pH normalizes compared to your just water sample I would look at bacteria. I use bs3 and it works well when I know its not a chem problem. JK