House & Garden pH question

Hey, i use House & Garden , the complete line , i am currently doing hydro with rock wool, and i am experiencing some daily fluctuations with the pH levels which I want to know are normal.

I use Reverse Osmosis, i add Cal Mag [150 ppms] back into the water, then i add Aqua Flakes A & B and then pH the water. Usually its about 4.1 so i pH up to 5.5 - 5.8. I then add the supplements which take the pH up to 6.1 - 6.6. Finally, i pH down to 5.5 - 5.8 and im done.

The next day the pH goes up to about 6.2 , should i bring it down everyday or just let be? And are the fluctuations normal
?


Thanks Everyone :]
 

WSRidahs

Well-Known Member
Don't add pH after adding the supplements only after adding A and B. I ran the whole line too. Aqua Flakes and all the additives. pH will fluctuate depending on the size of your res. It moved around for me a lot too but it was dependant on how much the plant was drinking. I had to counter it by adjusting how much the plants feeds. If you pH is giong up that's a good thing cause that means it's eating the nutrients and you can feed a little more. This is the only thing I didn't like about these nutes so I switched to the whole Supernatural line and pH is completly stable. My yield is way better too. I think House & Garden is designed for large reservoirs and using a large res would keep pH stable. I used 5 gallon buckets with 10 inch net pots so I could only put 2 gallons of water in it and my plants drank a lot so the pH moved a lot. With Supernatural the buffers really keep the pH stable and works better for me since I use small 5 gallon buckets.
 
I use a fairly large res, 40-45 gals... and im using drip lines , water - to - waste... i do not reuse the run-off water so the plants feeding couldn't fluctuate it.
 
also , if i dont pH down after i add the supplements the levels will be too high... 6.5 will lock out a good amount of nutrients
 

overclocker

Active Member
He is saying that there is no need to ph up the water first if your nuts are going to up it anyway. Mix up the whole batch and then ph up or down accordingly.
 

Mike42Zero

Well-Known Member
also , if i dont pH down after i add the supplements the levels will be too high... 6.5 will lock out a good amount of nutrients

Im using a 40gal rez and when im mixing up my nutes I just add each of the base give a good stir, then add in my supplements also giving a good stir after each one. Then I let the rez sit for about 15 mins to make sure all is mixed well. Take a reading with your PH meter adjust the rez to 5.8 then I go sit back infront of the TV and play Black Ops because my work is done!
 
i was told by a House & Garden representative to pH the water to 5.5 - 5.8 before i add the additives because if the pH is too low or too high the additives can be damaged when you mix them in.
 
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