PH Question

[Ripples]

When checking the PH I have noticed I can change the reading by agitating the water. Only moves 1 or 2 points but that is plenty. So the question is: Should the water be still and let it settle for a moment or should I be checking with the water moving and mixing? Related question: How much does the temp have to do with the reading? My water temps are normally 65-67 F... When calibrating it is checked at 25C or 77F which is way to warm for watering in my opinion and what I have read... Any thoughts on these would be great. Happy Growing!!

 

[Auggie]

I have noticed that too; but I think that what it does is change it quicker, it reads it faster when the water is moving. The way I figure it is, there isn't that much difference between 6.0 and 6.1

Are you watering out of a reservoir? If you are, and if that res is in the same environment as your plant - it should be ok. That would be "ambient temp" or the natural temp that the water should be in for watering.

~ Auggie ~

 

[Weaselcracker]

I usually stir my water while testing so I can get a faster reading (and hope I don't bash my ph probe while I'm doing it). Some meters, such as the bluelab one I have now, have 'automatic temperature compensation' which tells me that some compensation is needed. It's one more confusing thing to deal with I suppose. Probably the best way to find out the state of things with your meter is to test the solution at different temps. I know with my old ph pen I didn't use it in cold water much because it was so damn slow to react.

 

[Ripples]

"WC"---- Funny, I never would have thought about checking the 7.0 at my water temp! That's a fucking great idea! Thanks for that, boy do I feel stupid.... Sometimes you don't see the tree's through the forest!


"Auggie"---- I grow in a soilless mixture. 70% peat 30% perl. Would like to try a true Hydro some day? Maybe soon...

 

[Auggie]

Ripples:

Check out and search the term "Hempy Bucket". It is a simple, low tech completely hydro method that is reported to achieve EXCELLENT results.
I'm going to do it on my next indoor flower run in August.

~Auggie~

 

[Emilya Green]

I always check my pH while the water is moving. What you are seeing is pockets of water that are reacting faster than the others to the particulates and/or nutes in the water, but if you keep vigorously mixing, not just around and around, but also up and down, they all will eventually merge together and give you a stable reading. I keep stiring until I see the pH meter begin to settle in on a number, and then I go on from there.

Another way to look at why this is happening is realizing just what the difference between 6.1 and 6.2 (or any other two numbers). That difference of .1 is actually quite a bit... 6.1 is 10x (!) more acidic than 6.2. It really does make a huge difference to be accurate with these numbers.

Also, regarding temperature... the higher temps actually cause the reactions to take place faster, nutes to dissolve easier, and your acid/base reactions to get over with a bit sooner.

 

[Ripples]

Good advice friends... Still kinda new to growing but have done well i think? I have 4 grows under my belt now. Always have 8 ladies. Each grow has increased in yield. First grow was about 28 oz and last grow was just over 44 oz. so i have improved! This last one has not gone as well? Harvest in a couple weeks. Not sure what went wrong? Think I may have overfed with Cal/Mag and caused a nute lock of some sort. Appeared to be a Potassium def. brown edges throughout leaves and tips. Looked just like the picture! Been fighting off Thrips on mothers and trying to correct my girls. Wish I were more educated on this stuff! Many of the pics i see about possible def. all look the same? Not sure what one i really have. This has been a tough grow and looking forward to harvest. At a crossroad. Thinking about flipping my mothers and letting them finish. Bug Bombing the grow room and starting fresh from seed again. Frustrated with these thrips and deficiencies..... Am i the only one that has these problems? How do you deal with figuring out this shit?

 

[Auggie]

Good advice friends... Am i the only one that has these problems? How do you deal with figuring out this shit?

No. You are NOT the only one that has problems farming. Not at all. And, you will never know everything there is to know about it either. You have a amazing advantage over many of us old timers. We didn't have the internet ... Vice President Gore just invented that a couple of decades ago ... We used to have to meet in secret around an old pot belly stove and whisper and trade seeds ... ok, bullshit, but ... that wasn't far off. We'd go to a nursery and find a hippy that worked there and talk about ferts and insecticides for **wink** tomatoes. Yea, right, tomatoes.

Anyway, you have found an immense source for information here. Right here. Learn to search this site, and if you can't find an answer by doing that ... post a question. You'll get a lot of opinions, and ways to do things. Read, study, read some more, participate here.

And ... welcome.

~ Auggie ~

 

[Weaselcracker]

Hey Ripples. I don't know anything about thrips, must be one of the few problems I haven't had yet. I get the sense that they're quite a solvable problem.
To me, deficiencies are usually such a complex mess that it's better to try and guesstimate the source of the problem, and experiment accordingly, than it is to try and unravel the symptoms and say ' this is a deficiency of such and such, along with this, that, and the other thing, and I should try and tweak the levels of this and that'. Any decent soil, and decent nutrient regimen is going to provide what you need.
For the most part, it seems to me, the deficiencies are the result of 'issues' getting in the way of nutrient uptake.
One exception might be calcium/magnesium, which, depending on your growing medium, nutes, and water source, may require some intervention.
There are a few people here who are fairly educated about this subject, and can deduce some of the symptoms, but after a year of hanging out in the FAQ section of this site, I see a lot of great growers, but I really don't see a lot of deficiency experts. It seems to me that, with exceptions, the best way to go is to try and identify the source of the issues, not try to deconstruct the symptoms.
The most common, #1 cause of deficiencies for me, and #1 cause of most of my growing problems, has been ph issues. I grow in the same medium you do. There's a little wiggle room for your ph range, but not much.
I've had deficiencies in the early days from overwatering.
I've had issues from overfeeding.
I've also had deficiencies from just plain underfeeding.

Starting a journal helped me a lot. It wasn't so much that my habits changed much, or I got answers to all my questions, or learned anything extremely new. More that being able to bounce ideas off people helped to confirm, or shoot down, the ideas I already had and generally get more confident that I was kind of in the ballpark.
Yes I think most people have the same issues. With the resource of the internet you at least have the option of not having to reinvent the wheel every day and that's an incredible shortcut. I got internet in my area a year ago and that's when I joined 420. Before that I had almost no info and just did everything the hard way.
If you don't want to be bothered doing a journal just keep threads like this one going, and people will come and blather stuff at ya. Some of it may be helpful.

 

[Auggie]

Weasel brought up some great issues and ideas. I'd like to expand, agree and disagree with a few.

First, thrips. They are a solvable problem, depending on how you define solvable. If you mean kill the little bastids, yea, you can do that. Problem is that by the time you even know you have them, they've done massive damage to your crop. The trick with predators (bug, animal or human) is prevention. If Weasel lives in an area that doesn't have thrips and spider mites I envy him. They are a MAJOR problem in Northern California.

As to deficiencies ... I have found, again, that prevention is the key. When I'm getting ready to put a crop in I go to my favorite truck-stop restaurant and ask the waitress if she'd be so kind as to ask the cook if I can have all the eggshells he has in the trash (I will dig them out myself) for my spring tomato garden. Once I had a busboy save them for a week in a big garbage bag ... I had enough for two or three crops. That's your calcium. When you water throw a handful of Epsom Salts in your fert bucket once every couple of weeks - that's your magnesium. Why spend $30 on a gal of CalMag that, used as directed lasts six weeks when I can get a lb of Epsom Salts for pennies and egg shells for a tip.

Ph pen is probably the smartest piece of equipment I ever invested in. The water out of my tap (depending on season) runs from 7.8 to 8.2 - that is way off from where it should be. Since I've been Ph ing my plants have been overall healthier. Ph and nutes are linked. If the Ph is off the plant can't take up nutes - even if they're present in the medium.

The three biggest mistakes that newbies make, in my opinion is too much water, too little water and too much fertilizers. In other words; too much love.

Pick hearty genetics, easy to grow. I don't allow prima donna's in my life. Not human, animal or plant. I give my girls EVERY opportunity to not only survive, but thrive. If that's not good enough, I set em out on the curb and go huntin' for another girl. I will work hard for them - up to a point.

You'll do fine. You're asking the right questions and that's half the battle right there.
Rock on.

~ Auggie ~

 

[Weaselcracker]

Ha ha. We don't have thrips here, thankfully. In fact I barely know what a thrip is, and plan to keep it that way. As for mites, we don't have a 'wild' population and they don't live outdoors here, though they are capable of overwintering in a greenhouse, as they did in mine for a couple years before I eradicated them. Indoors they are their usual unlovable selves of course. A couple years of fun and games with those bastards and I am very careful about having anything to do with nurseries or 'gifts' of plants and clones from friends.
I totally agree with Auggie - an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Wisdom that applies to deficiencies, ph, soil quality, bugs, and prima donnas as well.