pH Up/Down adjusting Question

When pHing your water is there a limit as to how far you can raise/lower pH from innitial pH? I read somewhere that you should do something like .5 pH up/down a day? Is this madness or truth?

Here is what I do right now, tell me if I'm doing it wrong lol

I have a nutrient solution that is 6.02 pH. I want to adjust it to around 6.8. So I add a few drops of pH up, test. Add more, test ...rinse repeat maybe 4-5 times until I'm at desired level. Sometimes I go too high and want to bring it down. Is it ok to do that? Also, what is actually happening to raise/lower the pH? Does adjusting pH affect the nutrient levels in the solution?

You should check your PH after you ad your nutrients. They'll usually bring it down a few tenths. After that, Ad your up or down. It's usually pretty strong. If you're in soil 6.5 is good. If you're using hydro you may want it to be around 5.8. As long as you feed properly you shouldn't have too many issues growing in soil.

doitinthewoods said:

You should check your PH after you ad your nutrients. They'll usually bring it down a few tenths. After that, Ad your up or down. It's usually pretty strong. If you're in soil 6.5 is good. If you're using hydro you may want it to be around 5.8. As long as you feed properly you shouldn't have too many issues growing in soil.

Click to expand...

My flowering plants consistently have minor phosphorus deficiencies. I am not sure if its from under feeding or too acidic pH. I was not pHing my water up from the 6.0 and i was watering with 7.0 ph. I do not feed them too heavily, 1 feeding for every 2 plain water flushes. I use technaflora nutrients, they say it can be used in soil/soiless mediums.

Water it with something around 5.5 a couple times

doitinthewoods said:

Water it with something around 5.5 a couple times

Click to expand...

Why so low?

You're in soil right? If your run off PH is high or low, check it multiple times and make a change based on an average reading you get. You want it to be around 6.5. If your pH is too high, water with low ph water (5.5) to regulate and maybe bring you back closer to where you want to be. If it's too low, use distilled water to bring it back up because it's always right at 7.0. Aquafina works too, it's around 6.8

doitinthewoods said:

You should check your PH after you ad your nutrients. They'll usually bring it down a few tenths. After that, Ad your up or down. It's usually pretty strong. If you're in soil 6.5 is good. If you're using hydro you may want it to be around 5.8. As long as you feed properly you shouldn't have too many issues growing in soil.

Click to expand...

good advice!!

doitinthewoods said:

You're in soil right? If your run off PH is high or low, check it multiple times and make a change based on an average reading you get. You want it to be around 6.5. If your pH is too high, water with low ph water (5.5) to regulate and maybe bring you back closer to where you want to be. If it's too low, use distilled water to bring it back up because it's always right at 7.0. Aquafina works too, it's around 6.8

Click to expand...

bad advice. it's never a good idea to chase ph. your runoff will not give you a true ph reading. what you are actually seeing is the ph of the built-up nutes in the soil draining out. just make sure you ph "everything" you put in/on your plants, and ph should never be an issue.

Silky Shagsalot said:

good advice!!


bad advice. it's never a good idea to chase ph. your runoff will not give you a true ph reading. what you are actually seeing is the ph of the built-up nutes in the soil draining out. just make sure you ph "everything" you put in/on your plants, and ph should never be an issue.

Click to expand...

That's why I told him to do it multiple times and then make a change based on an average. People "over pH" their plants constantly. IF you feed properly, and check it periodically it won't be an issue. You don't have to Ph everything you put on your plants. That's 100% not true. Maybe CHECK the Ph for peace of mind, but that doesn't mean it needs to be adjusted.

So, it's actually good advice

doitinthewoods said:

You're in soil right? If your run off PH is high or low, check it multiple times and make a change based on an average reading you get. You want it to be around 6.5. If your pH is too high, water with low ph water (5.5) to regulate and maybe bring you back closer to where you want to be. If it's too low, use distilled water to bring it back up because it's always right at 7.0. Aquafina works too, it's around 6.8

Click to expand...

Yeah I tested the runoff at around 5.5 or so. I am not sure if I did the runoff test right, I read the other night to slowly water until the first drops of runoff come out, then test those - they are the most accurate. That isnt what I did to get the 5.0 reading, I tested after running a few liter's of 7.0 water through the soil. I figured there was a big salt buildup and it was all comming out in the runoff. I kept running a few more litres of water through and saw no change.

So then I got curious and wanted to know the runoff value of fresh and dry out-of-the-bag soil. But even with that soil the runoff was like 5.0-5.3. So then I guessed that when I was watering with 6.0 pH nutes it was too low and locking out phosphorus. To make matters worse, everytime I watered I made sure I saw some water running out of the bottom, but it was not draining completely so that means the bottom roots were SITTING in 5.5ish water? I guess I should use better pots, ones with a build-in runoff tray so the water collects down there away from the roots? I'm baked sorry I rambled lol could someone sort through all that and help me out lol

doitinthewoods said:

You're in soil right? If your run off PH is high or low, check it multiple times and make a change based on an average reading you get. You want it to be around 6.5. If your pH is too high, water with low ph water (5.5) to regulate and maybe bring you back closer to where you want to be. If it's too low, use distilled water to bring it back up because it's always right at 7.0. Aquafina works too, it's around 6.8

Click to expand...

I bought distilled water it tested 4

oregon024 said:

I bought distilled water it tested 4

Click to expand...

Your tester is fucked up. It's 7 or really close. You may need to recalibrate your meter. Distilled water is almost always 7. 4 is not distilled water. It could be that low because it's been sitting around for a while. I've never seen it get below 6 even after sitting around.