Help ph on constant rise.

reothegreat

reothegreat

Member
Hey helpers... and advice givers. this is not my first attempt in hydroponic gardening. but im one to make and create my own systems... like now im currently... (soon Again) running a 5 plant aeroponic system grown from a large storage tote. my last grow was more of an areo/dwc hybrid. all in one tote. by this i mean my manafold, pump, also my air stone all in the same tote also res. i only grew 1 full plant royal queens citical... fantasitc if i may add. not many issues except sprayers clogging and res temp being high due to having pump with it.. now im starting 5 new plants and i have them all in pre treated as always rockwool cubes inside propaganda dome. a.. i fill bottom of tray with about 1/2 inch of tap water ph lower to 6.2 with lemon juice.. i have a ait stone in it as well just to add humidity.. but every day my ph jums from 6 to 8 from 6 to 7 within 1 hour after lowering with lemon juice... if pictures will help please let me know and i will add them.... thanks please help
 
R.Raider

R.Raider

Well-Known Member
I had been dealing with rising ph issues for many years but just bought an r/o system recently and all has been well every since. Wish I would of bought one years ago.
 
warble

warble

Well-Known Member
Have you tried to ph down to 5.8? It might help, it might kill your plants. Try a small experimental batch at 5.8. It might take longer to go back up.
 
O

oill

Well-Known Member
reothegreat said:
Hey helpers... and advice givers. this is not my first attempt in hydroponic gardening. but im one to make and create my own systems... like now im currently... (soon Again) running a 5 plant aeroponic system grown from a large storage tote. my last grow was more of an areo/dwc hybrid. all in one tote. by this i mean my manafold, pump, also my air stone all in the same tote also res. i only grew 1 full plant royal queens citical... fantasitc if i may add. not many issues except sprayers clogging and res temp being high due to having pump with it.. now im starting 5 new plants and i have them all in pre treated as always rockwool cubes inside propaganda dome. a.. i fill bottom of tray with about 1/2 inch of tap water ph lower to 6.2 with lemon juice.. i have a ait stone in it as well just to add humidity.. but every day my ph jums from 6 to 8 from 6 to 7 within 1 hour after lowering with lemon juice... if pictures will help please let me know and i will add them.... thanks please help
Click to expand...
I was having the same problem, but not as quick. You should use proper ph down for a start. Also, are you using any specific nutes or microbes? These might be the problem!?
 
Veek da Freak

Veek da Freak

Well-Known Member
I think it depends on what line of nutrients you're using. I had problems with PH rising also in a Stinkbud system. I took out my air stone, and cut back on the liquid seaweed component by 2/3's. The inherent aeration of an aeroponic/nft system is plenty for healthy roots. It was the liquid seaweed that actually did the most to stabilize my ph though.
 
lushgreen

lushgreen

Active Member
Lemon juice breaks down far too quickly. Phosphoric acid is the best for pH down as it will offer some P to the plants as a bonus. Nitric acid is second best if you can't find phosphoric acid.
 
O

oill

Well-Known Member
DRCHRON25 said:
I have a lot of air in my res 4 airstones and pump also adding air .
Click to expand...
Not sure you need that for aeroponic. Don't the jets add enough air???

I would try turning the air stones off amd see if that resolves the issue.

Also... When I had the issue I mixed the nutes and then tested and retested 12 hours later before using the nutes. I found out that it was the seaweed and macrobiotics that caused the rise. I have herd that o2 does the same but I could be wrong.
 
Sativied

Sativied

Well-Known Member
Ph 6.2 is fine. 5.8-6.2 would be a little better but no reason for the rapid increase in ph.

As pointed out te problem is te lemon juice... just get some nitric acid aka ph down.
 
immr

immr

Member
High OP and everyone else,
I suggest using some Alaska Fish Fertilizer to lower your pH. It covers a lot of bases of most people's requests such as organic, inexpensive, controllable.
It can be a bit pungent as it is fish shit... but, it works wonders and the moms absolutely love it.
Also, the 5-1-1 wont throw off any of your calculated feedings just give a boost of nitrogen and lower that pH to wherever you want it.
Peace,
immr
 
C

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
I like to have both. The nitric acid is a strong acid and provides N. I use 40mL of a nitric acid based pH down to 4 gallons of hard tap water before mixing anything else. (I just happen to know for my setup that's the exact amount it needs after the nutrients are added). After adding the nutrients, it usually reads around 5.8. I don't bother measuring pH until after the nutrients are added.

Nitric acid is great for 400-500ppm water because it will bring insoluble calcium into the solution and expel the carbonates as CO2 gas. It basically turns cloudy water clear.

Lemon juice SUCKS. Save them for lemonade.

lushgreen said:
Lemon juice breaks down far too quickly. Phosphoric acid is the best for pH down as it will offer some P to the plants as a bonus. Nitric acid is second best if you can't find phosphoric acid.
Click to expand...
 
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