Adjusting pH directly in reservoir

Hello everyone,

I'm having a bit of trouble getting the pH to stay down in my Waterfarm this time around. I used jiffy starter pellets this time around because I ran out of rock-wool cubes and I'm not sure but I think that has something to do with the fact my pH can't seem to stay down. I'm also using new hydroton and I know how stubborn it can be the first time around as well but by now they usually would have leveled off and yet they haven't. Today is day 16 from seed. A week before I placed the germinated seed with the jiffy pellet in the Waterfarm I started it with R/O water pH'ed to 5.5 for that week and before that I rinsed the hell out of the hydroton for a few hours. I usually empty the whole system turning the ring off, use 2 gallons to flush the whole system and drain out again, then pour in the 2 gal nutrient rich solution which has a pH of 5.5 then turn the ring on again. For the first hour it stays around 5.6 then starts to rise half a point every hour until it reaches about 7.5-7.6 and it stays there. Right now I'm using the GH line of Flora products; CaliMagic, Micro, Grow, Bloom, Floralicious+, Diamond Nectar, KoolBloom(for flower),and Flora Nectar(for flowering). Last reservoir change was yesterday at around 500 ppm and 5.5 pH and today it reads 408 ppm and 7.3 pH; as it's good news because it means she's drinking plenty of water and nutrients, in fact could take up some more if I added more, but it's also bad news because in just 24 hours the pH went up by 2 and it'll probably keep rising if I don't empty out a gallon and pour in a brand new solution which is what I've been doing. Soooo.....hence the title o the thread; instead of emptying out a gallon or two and pouring in a new solution every time, can I try to just pour out a gallon, adjust the pH and pour that same gallon back in? Would the elements be in some way broken because I added pH down to an already mixed solution? I read somewhere that it may break the chain of the compounds of the elements but I lost that link and can't seem to find any information on that now. If anyone has any insight OI would appreciate it guys. Thank for your time.

Regards,

AWnox

I just adjust mine where it is, be it Aero Res or 5gal dwc.

I adjust right in the res

Adjust in your res and if you don't run a res, adjust in your controller.

Thanks guys, just did that. Lowered it down to 6.7, at least good for now. I don't want to use too much pH down so fast you know. She seems healthy otherwise so I'm not too concerned. I also used some Flora Blend which naturally lowers the pH; so instead of using more synthetic pH down I took advantage of this organic nutrient to help, added about 5 ml, raised total ppm's by only 50 but lowered pH by a point. Any thoughts though if the jiffy pellet has anything to do with it or is it just probably the hydroton?

6.7? Um you mean 5.7

hellraizer30 said:

6.7? Um you mean 5.7

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No sadly it's 6.7. I'll try more in a bit I didn't want to use too much pH down that fast. She's been growing fine though, healthy color, tips are green and smooth, stem is shedding becoming stronger; all the while with a high pH in the reservoir. Would love to have it at 5.6, just this stubborn farm is not working with me this time.

Better to get it in the safe zone sooner, constant ph adjusting is worse than just geting it done!

hellraizer30 said:

Better to get it in the safe zone sooner, constant ph adjusting is worse than just geting it done!

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True. I'll try that right now to get it to 5.5-5.8 the most, if it doesn't hold for too long i'll just do another flush and a new solution.

Whats your water temp? And how do your roots look?
ph shouldnt rise that fast! Something isout of wack

hellraizer30 said:

Whats your water temp? And how do your roots look?
ph shouldnt rise that fast! Something isout of wack

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Temps are fine, about 70-75, roots are white and healthy spreading everywhere, it's just the damn pH doesn't want to stay down. I'm not sure if it's the jiffy pellet I used which by the way I soaked in pH'ed water to 5.5. Or the hydroton but after this long and still and that strong? I don't know. There's sediment from the pellet loose , maybe that is contributing you think?

Put some hydroton in a jar fill with water take ph reading wait a couple hours shake and take ph reading. Do the same with peat cubes.

AWnox said:

Temps are fine, about 70-75, roots are white and healthy spreading everywhere, it's just the damn pH doesn't want to stay down. I'm not sure if it's the jiffy pellet I used which by the way I soaked in pH'ed water to 5.5. Or the hydroton but after this long and still and that strong? I don't know. There's sediment from the pellet loose , maybe that is contributing you think?

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Temps should be 66f anything higher bacteria can spread! And that would cause your ph to rise
like that. 70-75 is to high if i were you i would start running orca or brew some tea to combat
the bacteria

Sounds a lot like what mine was doing,then someone told me temp change would change PH.I got to looking at that and got that leveled out & then the PH would stay where it was supposed to be.The plants are about caught up now.Peace

If your plants are drinking/eating that much in a 24 hour period, you also need to feed more! Adding more nutes, should help buffer your PH as well.

I am using hydroton and I rinsed them before hand to get all dust off. I add my nutes and adjust ph and my ph never really fluctuates very much. Maybe you have a batch of unstable nutrients. Or using too much nutrients and you will see precipitation in rez.