Bubble bucket RO Water / CalMag PH question

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Lockem

Active Member
Hey,

I just switched over to RO water because my tap water is 600 PPM. The RO brings me down to 0 PPM...

I have two very new seedlings that just sprouted, I'm running RO water with a bit of CalMag as a PH buffer (1/4 tsp per gallon), but my PH seems to climb from 5.5 up to 6 - 6.5 in just over 24 hours.

I have a couple of theories:
  • not enough of a PH buffer? Is it safe to add more CalMag for very new seedlings? If so, how much per gallon?
  • I'm running two 5 gallon bubble buckets with two large air stones each, can the aeration in the water cause PH to rise?
  • water temps slowly rising closer to room temp? (69F)
Any other ideas why this might happen?
 
L

Lockem

Active Member
Airwalker16 said:
Too small a volume of water. I get small ph swings as well, but I've got a 30-50gal system.
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Can I do anything to minimize this?

Also, does anyone have any experience with the Advanced Nutrients PH Perfect trio? I think I read that it's meant for RO water and helps stabilize PH?.
 
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Logan Burke

Logan Burke

Well-Known Member
I'm running standalone 5 gallon buckets and, unfortunetly, it does come along with less PH stability. In veggy I tend to see PH rises very similar to yours, and in flower it's basically the reverse in that the PH begins dropping. If it's only, say, .1-.3 that it drops/raises, and there are no signs on the plant itself that anything is wrong, and no symptoms on the leaves then I readjust and don't change anything. Basically, don't freak if the plant looks healthy and there are no new signs of problems. Generally speaking, a rising PH and dropping PPM = the plant needs a higher PPM. The opposite, a falling PH with rising ppm's, normally means they want less. There can be an adverse affect due to osmotic pressure in the roots that cause PH to fall and PPM's to rise because the PPM's are too low in your nute solution, so if lowering your nutes doesn't solve the problem and makes the PH drop worse, try raising them. :)
Lockem said:
Can I do anything to minimize this?

Also, does anyone have any experience with the Advanced Nutrients PH Perfect trio? I think I read that it's meant for RO water and helps stabilize PH?.
Click to expand...
PH perfect did not work for me, but it does for some. You'll still want to monitor PH and PPM if you use it. Silicate products can help water stabalize, but as seedlings you'll want to be careful as silicate products usually contain potassium and seedlings can burn quite easily. PH swings are going to be much more severe when your ppm's are this low, PH has a tough time holding it's value with so little ppm's in the water. But once your plant begins to demand higher ppm's, the water will become more stable and have less severe swings. Beneficial microbes also really helped my PH stabalize in that it helps keep the root zone healthy and free of dead leaf material, roots that have broken off, etc. Sorry for the rambling buddy, just wanted to cover all bases! :)
 
A

Aqua Man

Well-Known Member
Add a half TSP of baking soda to 5gal R/O to start with that will help it stabilize then ph it down after nutes. Or purchase calimagic which uses calcium bicarbonate and add as per directions. The latter being preferable
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Lockem said:
Can I do anything to minimize this?

Also, does anyone have any experience with the Advanced Nutrients PH Perfect trio? I think I read that it's meant for RO water and helps stabilize PH?.
Click to expand...
I've been running AN in DWC and soilless for almost 20 years and it works great in RO with about 1/2 the max dose of CalMag. Don't mess with the pH or you'll screw it up.

A little Rhino Skin is good then a half dose of Big Bud a week before flipping and your good to go. Give the other half at the flip.

Keep the ppm down if your RH is low. Do NOT follow the nutrient charts!

:peace:
 
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