Noob here. Running DWC (bubbleponics setup) like in Rosemans thread. Problem is that my ph keeps rising. Rinsed my rockwool cube and rinsed my hydroton clay pellets. I am using a PH lower liquid from Petsmart. Will that work or is that not a good one to use?
If your ph climbs only a couple of points over the course of 24 hours it could be just your plant eating the nutes in your res. Nutes tend to drop the ph of the water and as a plant eats the nutes the ph will climb back up. You should try and adjust as little as possible. . Let the system run from 5.7 - 6.3. Some systems seem to take some time to settle in. Also, try and keep your res. temperatures under 74. Try the General Hydroponics brand. It is strong (it goes a long way) and it is ment for the plants.
I'm not using that pets marts stuff but I am using PH down which I ordered from a Hydroponic shop. My PH creeps up a bit daily too as does my PPM. I am no expert by no means but don't think it is too hard to figure out. As the water evaporates the suspended solids remain hence the rise in PPM. I just top off the reservior to lower my PPM to desired level and add PH down as necessary to maintain limits. I do this daily.
If you mix your nutes a little weaker they will be used more equally and your tank will stay more stable. You can actually custome tailor your mix based on p.h. vs. PPM. An ideal mix will climb in ppm very slightly overtime as the plant absorbs the mix.
if you top up your resevoir with fresh water like you should be, your ph really should not be climbing like it is. also, everything you add to your water will effect the ph unless for example you are using a ph balanced nutrient like Floranova. as well only add a drop or 2 of ph down and wait a day as too much can have undesired effects on ph.
Thanks for oyur responses so far but currently I am using no nutes. The seed was germinated 3 days ago and has sprouted in the rockwool. So I am using no nutes yet, however my ph keeps rising. This evening is rose about .6 to a ph of 6.3, so I lowered it using ph down. Tomorrow moring I expect it to be up again. I am wondering if it is because of the Aquarium ph down solution I am using. Maybe it is not effective for hydro? What are your thoughts?
i wouldn't put seedlings into any system until there are roots. once your seedlings have rooted, place them in your hydro system. seedlings don't need feeding for almost 2 weeks. after that, 1/4 strength nutes. ph to 5.8 for hydro. the number of plants dictates how large your rez should be. rule of thumb is 5 gallons for each plant. this keeps the ph from drifting all over the place...
I just started my bubbleponics system on Sunday. It's built pretty much the same as what Roseman suggested. My PH keeps going up a bit everyday too. Maybe that's one of the drawbacks to the system. I'm excited to see how it does though. My first grow was in an AeroGarden. It came out alright and I never PH tested and used tap water. Hope this is going to work about the same. Seems to be about the same concept.
I have one seedling in a rubbermaid tote containing about 8 gallons of H2O. Maybe I will re-built it tonight and use one 5 gal bucket instead. You think my PH is rising cause I have too much water at this point for such a little seedling? This morning I put the feeder tube on a timer to only water once every 2 hours since it is in Hydroton and on top is the rockwool with the seedling. The seedling I think might also be getting too wet.
I know, it does seem too much but I built this for multiple plants. But I am trying just one seed now to see if I can get it to successfully grow. I have 5 fem seeds but I didn't want to plant them all in case I messed up. I read on another thread that it is common in hydro for the PH to move daily requiring an adjustment. I thought I'd at least have 3 or 4 days before having to adjust it. It doesn't seem to be. For one little tiny seedling I am just trying to figure out why it increases each day.
you'd think that would be the case, but not so. in hydro, it doesn't take much eating or drinking by the plants to have a big effect on the ph/ppm of the rez. a larger rez helps to buffer these changes, keeping things stable. a small rez/amount can't accomplish this.
Oops! - You should have soaked those rockwool cubes in pH 5.0 water for at least 24 hrs. I also soak my Hydroton for 24 hrs in pH 5 water if I have used it for a previous grow. Hope this helps
