Nomoyo
Active Member
is it ok to adjust your ph evry day? it goes up from 5.6 to 6.4 overnight. Falling, Static, Rising. air temp 70-80 F, water temp 69 F
How often is it ok to adjust pH
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The group would have to know what you are trying to adjust the pH on. IOW, is it the pH of the water that will be used to water a soil grow? Or, to water the plants in a hydroponic style of set-up?
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Nomoyo
Active Member
its for hydroponic deep water culture. IM using R.O. water 30ppm 11 days old & no nutrients yet
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Nomoyo
Active Member
im not trying to start a thread. Just an idea how often it is ok to adjust your ph. I guess never mind
Morning @Nomoyo. The answer to you question is yes. I run a hydro system holding 5gallons of solution. Usually when in veg I will have to adjust two or three times a week. But when in full on flower then it is the same as what you are experiencing, a sharp rise over a 12 hour period. At this point I adjust twice a day, lights out and lights on. Never add ph down directly to your res., but mix separately and slowly add to your solution. Hope this helps.
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Nomoyo
Active Member
Thanks man. Can I ask 1 more question? If your ec rises only by .006 would you consider that still STATIC or would you still consider that small of an amount RISING? Sorry I have alot of questions.Morning @Nomoyo. The answer to you question is yes. I run a hydro system holding 5gallons of solution. Usually when in veg I will have to adjust two or three times a week. But when in full on flower then it is the same as what you are experiencing, a sharp rise over a 12 hour period. At this point I adjust twice a day, lights out and lights on. Never add ph down directly to your res., but mix separately and slowly add to your solution. Hope this helps.
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Why do you specify 0.006 EC? I use a Bluelab Guardian monitor and it's only accurate to 0.1 EC. If you've got readings that are 0.006 different, your EC hasn't changed.
When reading EC and pH of a res, one goal is to keep pH in a range, the other is to note changes so as to determine if there's a trend. A change up or down a bit is expected. However, rapidly rising or falling could be indicative of an issue.
"Falling, Static, Rising" is that Falling water, Static PPM, and Rising pH? I ask that because there's a chart floating around (I call it the "Wonder Chart") where those parameters are used to diagnose the state of a hydro res and the descriptors are falling, static, rising. It's an excellent guide and FSR is a handy way to record your grow in a journal.
Going from 5.8 to 6.4 overnight is a rapid rise. At 11 days, you should be giving nutes to your plants. A seedling gets nutrients from the cotyledons. Once the first set leaves grow out, it requires nutrients.
When reading EC and pH of a res, one goal is to keep pH in a range, the other is to note changes so as to determine if there's a trend. A change up or down a bit is expected. However, rapidly rising or falling could be indicative of an issue.
"Falling, Static, Rising" is that Falling water, Static PPM, and Rising pH? I ask that because there's a chart floating around (I call it the "Wonder Chart") where those parameters are used to diagnose the state of a hydro res and the descriptors are falling, static, rising. It's an excellent guide and FSR is a handy way to record your grow in a journal.
Going from 5.8 to 6.4 overnight is a rapid rise. At 11 days, you should be giving nutes to your plants. A seedling gets nutrients from the cotyledons. Once the first set leaves grow out, it requires nutrients.
.006 is static, .6 is a rapid rise. I might point out that the larger the res., the slower the ph will rise. My daughter runs a 45 gal. res. and it only rises about.1 in a couple of days.
Here is a link to the chart that @Delps8 mentioned. I follow it religiously. https://www.420magazine.com/community/gallery/hydro-chart.1490853/full?d=1518557723
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Nomoyo
Active Member
THANK YOU!!!!! im aware i need a larger res but im working with what i have and its 5 gallon bucket.
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Nomoyo
Active Member
thats the same chart i use
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Nomoyo
Active Member
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Nomoyo
Active Member
I had an EC before i started nutes of 102 and it went up to 108. Bluenoserjoe answered my question. Thank you for helping me. Ill keep the questions coming if thats ok?
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Nomoyo
Active Member
The strain is "Ice Cream Cake" im using a 6 inch net pot. Im keeping my ph @ 5.8 as best I can. I check it twice a day and I change the res and switch the bucket for a clean one every 3 to 4 days. I also clean the air hose and air stone. My tent is 5ft 3inches by 3 ft by 1ft 7inches. Im using a 1000 wat and a 300 wat Led grow light. I have a couple fans and an exhaust fan for circulation and ventalation.
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Yup, it's really handy and useful as a guide. I learned that the hard way, changing EC like a madman trying to get pH to play nice. It was like shadow boxing and about as useful. :-(
I've been writing software for forever so, when I started growing, I expected that a change meant something. Completely wrong approach. I've recalibrated my thinking and I've come to realize that what's important is the trend and not just an event.
HTH.
My res. holds five gal. as well. I am constantly fighting ph. so am working on an external res. to up the volume. When in full on flower they can transpire five to six gal. a week, so around fifteen gal. would be nice. Will sure be a time saver mixing one large batch of solution. I have a few ideas kicking around, we shall see what I can come up with over the summer. This last week ph. and ec. have remained static., finally, this is my first indicator that the girls are almost finished. Maybe two weeks to go. One less choir in the garden and time to prep for harvest. 
Delps8
Well-Known Member
pH doesn't have to be kept at exactly 5.8. pH should be kept in a range which, for hydro is 5.5 to 6.3, IIRC. Different nutes are taken up to a greater or lesser extent as pH changes. Check out a pH chart. Unfortunately, pH charts show different levels of uptake but a pH chart will give some idea of how pH impacts uptake. In veg, it's normal for pH to slowly rise into the low 6's. Once it hits that number, drop it to 5.8, and allow it to rise again. That's the called "swinging pH".
Re cleaning - unless you've got algae or some other malady, I can't see a reason to clean like that. I use HydroGuard as part of my nute mix and run my water chiller at 68°. Cleaning - before I start a grow and then after harvest. After they're rinsed off, they sit in my garage, waiting for the next grow. If you're using a product like HydroGuard, it takes it a while to supplement the good bacteria that grow in the res. By changing it out every few days, that system may not be able to do as good a job as it could if you were to not change so frequently. Don't take that as gospel, though. I don't have a lot of knowledge in that area, it's something I've picked up from comments of others. Perhaps someone with expertise in that area will chime in.
Your plant is looking really good. She's got shape and color, and she doesn't appear to be tall/leggy so you've done a good job with lighting, too. Keep up the good work!
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Nomoyo
Active Member
Wow ok thats a huge help. I had no idea. I was tring to keep my ph at 5.8. Im always learning more. I can se why can you would want it to be at differen t ph levels as it grows. It is so it can absrob each nutrient right? Do you guys want me to start a new thread to ask a different question?pH doesn't have to be kept at exactly 5.8. pH should be kept in a range which, for hydro is 5.5 to 6.3, IIRC. Different nutes are taken up to a greater or lesser extent as pH changes. Check out a pH chart. Unfortunately, pH charts show different levels of uptake but a pH chart will give some idea of how pH impacts uptake. In veg, it's normal for pH to slowly rise into the low 6's. Once it hits that number, drop it to 5.8, and allow it to rise again. That's the called "swinging pH".
Re cleaning - unless you've got algae or some other malady, I can't see a reason to clean like that. I use HydroGuard as part of my nute mix and run my water chiller at 68°. Cleaning - before I start a grow and then after harvest. After they're rinsed off, they sit in my garage, waiting for the next grow. If you're using a product like HydroGuard, it takes it a while to supplement the good bacteria that grow in the res. By changing it out every few days, that system may not be able to do as good a job as it could if you were to not change so frequently. Don't take that as gospel, though. I don't have a lot of knowledge in that area, it's something I've picked up from comments of others. Perhaps someone with expertise in that area will chime in.
Your plant is looking really good. She's got shape and color, and she doesn't appear to be tall/leggy so you've done a good job with lighting, too. Keep up the good work!
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- #18
Nomoyo
Active Member
what if my ph goes from 5.8 to 6.4 over night?
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Right, as pH changes, the different nutes will have the opportunity to be taken up. In veg, pH should rise as nutrients are taken up. Once they hit 6.1 or so, add some pH Down to bring it to 5.8 or so. In flower, pH will tend to drop. I don't know that to be an unassailable truth but I've had pH drop for the last two grows and it's been explained to me as something very natural - different nutes are taken up in flower that cause the drop.
It's much less likely that a smaller res will be pH stable because, as the plant grows, the volume of nutes drops. That will tend to make it more susceptible to influence of the plant.
"start a new thread" - creating a grow journal can be helpful for everyone. You'll get exposure to a broader audience so you'll get better answers to your questions and journals can be a good source of info for other growers because it deals with a larger set of issues.
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Is that a conceptual question or did that actually happen?
That's a very large swing. What else changed?
