DWC Grow Closet (New Grower)

Greetings all!

This is my first grow and first post =]
I have a Superbox [http://www.dealzer.com/servlet/the-7...abinet/Detail]

12/1/11 (day 1)
- I germinated 12 White Widow seeds

12/3/11 (day 3)
- I went ahead and planted 10 seeds in rock wool, which had been presoaked in pH corrected water for 24 hours.

Notes*
-For now I will be using plain tap water until vegging, at which point I will begin to use distilled water.
-pH-6.0

12/4/11 (day 4)
- Nothing special.

12/5/11 (day 5)
- pH = 6.8
- PPM = 165
- Water temp = 72 degrees

Notes*
- Went ahead and changed water. There were some floaties in the water which came from the water pump.
- No sprouts yet

12/6/11 (day 6)
-pH = 7.0
-PPM = 185

Notes*

-pH was a little high, I brought it down to 6.5. I've been having a hard time keeping the pH consistant. Maybe the growing medium?

-I do regular checks 2-3 times a day (before and after bed). Every time I have checked the pH so far I have had to add some pH down. I also believe my pH down has gone bad. The color is a diluted orange and I have had to use up to 10 ml to bring the pH down just 1.0. I did some reasearch and figured out apple vinegar may be a good temporary substitute for pH down. After trying the apple vinegar I still had a hard time adjusting the pH :*(
I believe it could either be the pH test (green drops), or the pipet I may be using to measure our the solutions.

-On a positive note 8 of the 10 seeds look like they are close to sprouting. I will post pictures very soon!

Reefer: First I have to admit I'm not familiar with Super Box and I couldn't get through to their link. In any form of hydro pH can be critical. There are a lot of ways to change it but most don't stabilize it for any length of time. If you suspect your correction chemicals it might be time to replace them. You can get a General Hydroponics test starter kit from most hydro stores for around $20 to $30.

Isn't 6.5 is a little high for pH? Most sources I've read recommend 5.5 to 6.0 and 5.8 as being optimum for our favorite herb. You might want to have a look at Cervantes's or Rosenthal's books before you go much further. HSA

Holy shit!!! I cant believe you paid that much money for a grow box.

if the water youre having an issue with needs to be severely adjusted with ph down... i suspect the ph meter or the water its self needs to be changed. go the easy route flush with water and adjust the ph to 5.8. but i'll let the plants get that for a day or 2 and then add nutes at 1/4. check the calibration on the ph meter, clean it if you have to, and re calibrate it. a few times thats been my issues... faulty ph meters... i have a bluelab now works good. last time i blindly kept adding ph down cause the meter said it wasnt low enough yet but in the back of my mind i knew it was too much...

1 tea spoon is good enough to lower the ph 6.5 to 5.7 in my ro system. i added at least double this... if you added that amount of ph down you will have issues. ended up burning the roots...

get some fresh ph water and start from there...

cant see the superbox link... but hope that its a worthwhile investment.