Why is my pH going down .3 overnight?

[funny]

i have a bucket in bucket top feed system. it's on continuous feed from top feed omitters. the ph meter has been calibrated uevery other day. i ph my system to 5.8 and in the morning the ph is at 5.5. my experience has always seen the ph go up when the water is sitting and bubbling. i want to know whats going on and if i should be phing my rez to 6.1-6.2 and reset ph when it goes to 5.8.

 

[homebrew420]

bacteria and fungus will often affect pH in this way. Pythium, root rot, is notorious for this. How does the root zone look? plants still look ok? if you are only using 5 gal I would change the nutes out if it happens again. rinse/flush that media as best you can
this should help. H2o2 rinse as well. hope this helps

Peace

 

[ttystikk]

plants will cause a mild upswing of pH, as they use up the nutes and deposit their stuff in the water. If the pH is swinging wildly and you haven't just changed the nutes, then you have a problem, and that's true whether the pH is going up, or down.

Definitely change the nutes, pH to 5.5, and add H2O2.

 

[cemchris]

check your temps

 

[QuarterbackMo]

I agree with these guys that its probably a fungus / disease problem but if its not then the answer is stop feeding them so hard lol

 

[So_CaL_Sativa]

I had the same thing happen in my dwc system, it was dead root material. Some roots will die and regenerate even in a healthy system, soil or hydro. I took a sharp razor blade and cut out all the dead roots I found and it had no negative effects on the plants. Also adding some beneficial bacteria will help keep your ph stabilized even with some dead material in the water.

 

[sedate]

i have a bucket in bucket top feed system. it's on continuous feed from top feed omitters. the ph meter has been calibrated uevery other day. i ph my system to 5.8 and in the morning the ph is at 5.5. my experience has always seen the ph go up when the water is sitting and bubbling. i want to know whats going on and if i should be phing my rez to 6.1-6.2 and reset ph when it goes to 5.8.

Um. That is a perfectly acceptable pH range.

A .3 swing is actually very mild - I'd be thrilled if I could keep all my buckets behaving so well.

Re-adjust to 5.8 once-per-day and don't worry about it.

If you want more guess-timations as to what is causing the swing - post back with your complete nutrient recipe and we might have some ideas.

H2o2 rinse as well. hope this helps

Definitely change the nutes, pH to 5.5, and add H2O2.

What?

Why are we telling the OP to change nutes and add hydrogen peroxide over a .3 pH swing in DWC? Unless he's got specific root problems, this isn't his solution.

 

[ttystikk]

Sedate, you're right about this one. I re-read the thread and he's running smaller res. size than I'm used to. If a big RDWC swings like that, it's time for emergency measures, but in single bucket probably not.

 

[sedate]

Sedate, you're right about this one. I re-read the thread and he's running smaller res. size than I'm used to. If a big RDWC swings like that, it's time for emergency measures, but in single bucket probably not.

Agreed.

 

[QuarterbackMo]

I think you just need to stop feeding them so hard my guess is the plants are drinking more then they are eating.

 

[smokestack23]

I was gonna say what QbM just said.
Should be pretty easy to troubleshoot. Always try the easiest thing first. Look at your roots. Smell them. Are they slimey? brown? stinky?
Check your ppm. If your PPMs or EC is rising that's why your pH is dropping and like QbM said....you're feeding too strong.

.3 of a drop isnt much but could get out of control if it IS a root problem. again..EASY to tell if it's a root problem. No rocket science there.

I'd use a weaker mix ...but you COULD just start em at like 6.3 and after 3 days adjust. That's a faster swing than I'd like but I do like a bit of swing. To me it means a balanced diet. Ahhh...that's probably bullshit...no swing is perfect too.

Anyway..look at your roots and get a PPM pen. They're like ten bucks on eBay or $25 at a Home Depot.
Oh and why are you re-callibrating your pH tester so often? I don't even check mine unless it stops making sense.

Like if I check expecting to see 5.8 and it says 4.9 or 6.9 or something I'll either recal or compare with a chemical pH tester. Depends hoe lazy I am. If I'm real lazy I'll check with a chem test...which usually shows I need to recalibrate which...wasn't very lazy cause now I have to do TWO things...IDIOT I am sometimes!