Magic PH rising

Earlyriser76

Earlyriser76

Well-Known Member
Tap is PH 7.5 + Maxigrow nutes + epsom salt and ended up at ph 5.6 when I first made it up.

I let the mixture sit with some aeration and within less than 24 hours it's up to 6.2.

How do I deal with this?
 
he I'm wondering now if it has anything to do with the epsom salt. I may not even need it but was told to add it for safe measure. Maybe I'm getting too much Magnesium and that's causing the issues?

I've been reading more on it and some people claim adding air changes PH. If it wasn't for this leave color issue, I would have a near perfect grow.

Nothing is dead or dying anywhere and I have been running like this for years. Something is not optimal and may be PH or Epsom related.

I now know that my Ph has been running from 5.0 to 7.5 and everything still clones, vegges and flowers but I have been unable to find the cause of the varigated leaves. My leaves don't look uniformly green and healthy.

Is it my PH that's causing this? First, I'll do 4.5 1 gallon Maxigrow without Epsom and check PH over a 24 hour period. I won't add the pump and see if PH shifts on it's own. I'll report back here.

My Tap is PH 7.5.

4.5 grams per gallon of Maxigrow took my PH from 7.5 to 5.2 immediately. We'll see if it rises over time.
 
Tap water is generrally a carbonate buffer with an ionization constant. It is rarely somthing that has a ph value rather somthing that will shift the reaction to the left (or right i forget now).

I mean its all alkalinity, you cant read the carbonates ability to reduce acidity with just a ph meter and therefore it shifts.

Just my two cents :-)
 
coreywebster said:
Mix your water/nutrients , bubble for a period , rest for 24 hours and then adjust PH.
Click to expand...

Thanks I'll try that. I normally don't wait. I just make it up and feed. My PH has been off all along and it's likely been in the 5.2 range since I started to grow. Now that I have a PH pen I can fix that part.

I was also underfeeding and didn't know it until I got a TDS meter. Once I corrected my nutes I grew bigger tighter buds.

This whole time I had been thinking my PH didn't need adjustment and even if it did, I would need PH down. As it's turning out, I did need a PH adjustment and was PH up all this time.

Easy fix now that i know, I think...
 
Earlyriser,
When Hempy first presented the bucket idea, it was meant to be super simple. No ppm or ph checks...just feed it and forget. Clearly you are caught in a cycle where you are chasing ph and you will drive yourself crazy. Check it once a day maximum. You put in the ES and MB and get a good ph. Cool...just stick it in the bucket and be done with it. And yes...I have done Hempys that way with no problem.

Since it is the MaxiBloom that is lowering your ph...as it is used up ph will drift upward. This is good for nute absorption...the drift.

Ph up is a waste of money and should not be used. (in a Hempy)
JD
 
Earlyriser76 said:
Tap is PH 7.5
Click to expand...
have you had it analysed? does it have chlorine or chloramine?
Earlyriser76 said:
I let the mixture sit with some aeration
Click to expand...
pick up a very small submersible pump and some tubing and an elbow and make a waterfall. ditch the airpump/airstones. get like a 20 gal trashcan and mix up your nutes in there and then scoop out some water to feed the hempy once a day with some run-off.

your tap could be the problem at the moment until we know more. is buying RO an option temporarily? or a cheap RO system?
 
After running 2 gallons of water only at a PH of 5.9 my runoff out of the hempy hole is still PH 6.7.

I have 12 x 3 gallon pots I'm trying to deal with and this is no fun.

I'm waisting a lot of nutes, no two pots are the same PH or PPM.

After another 6 plant, 8 gallon battle of nutes this morning I'm right about where I was.

Ph of my maxigrow and tap is 5.2 and after 24 hours of it being out in a 5 gallon without any air bubbler, it's 5.3. Maxigrow I don't think is causing my high PH swing.

That only leaves the Epsom salt and air as the culprit.

Evidently I have a buildup of Epson salt in my perlite that is effecting my run off.

I wouldn't care about the runoff except in a hempy bucket the tap roots eat from that rez. That runoff (rez) should be in the 5.8-6.0 range not 6.9 range.
 
Last edited:
Joint Monster said:
Is it tap water by any chance?

To my understanding, as the Chlorine evaporates it changes the pH. (That, in addition to the air pumped into the water with air-stones).

@coreywebster has it on point! :hump:
Click to expand...

I think were mainly on the non evaporating chloromine thesedays... worth a check what your water companies doing since most have or are upgrading :-)
 
OldMedUser said:
I avoid a lot of troubles like this by using RO water but then I love my plants. ;)
Click to expand...

Hey OMU...hope you are well. My water here has ppm of 80. Not really bad enough to warrant an RO unit. But I had my old RO unit from my last location and took the RO filter off. So now I just run my water through the sediment and activated charcoal filters which removes all chloramines and chloride. No water waste like with RO. Plants like it.
JD
 
Actually doing not bad JD. U?

Waited almost 6 months to get an MRI of the prostate and got an all clear! Enlarged a bit but zero sign of cancer. At my age, 64.5, that means it's very unlikely I'll die of prostate cancer. Most likely to be shot by a jealous husband as foretold by a psychic many years ago. ;)

My dugout water is 400ppm and pH 8+ so not suitable for plants or us. lol
 
Kingrow1 said:
I think were mainly on the non evaporating chloromine thesedays... worth a check what your water companies doing since most have or are upgrading :-)
Click to expand...

You're right, chloramine does not evaporate. Chlorine does.


OP, Your pH will continue to change as long as you keep aerating the water. All you want to do is mix your nutrients, pH the water, then pour it into your watering can. You can water with that water in the can. .... when it's time to refill your watering can, you should check the pH of the aerated water before refilling it.
 
Earlyriser76 said:
Tap is PH 7.5 + Maxigrow nutes + epsom salt and ended up at ph 5.6 when I first made it up.

I let the mixture sit with some aeration and within less than 24 hours it's up to 6.2.

How do I deal with this?
Click to expand...

It's not magic, it's just the carbonates in your water. They do not react quickly so when you add nutes or pH down it quickly reacts with the free OH+ ions and shows a lower pH. As more carbonates release their ions into the water the pH climbs so you need a little more pH down. Can take a couple days for it to stabilize but with a bit of practice you can figure out how much pH down to add so it's too low at first but then steadies, with bubbling, in a few hours.

Minerals in tap water gradually build up in pots until it's near impossible to keep the pH down without regular flushing or lots of runoff each watering. A good dose of low pH water around 5 will help even tho it seems scary. RO or distilled water is like a blank slate and takes on the pH of whatever is added to it. Don't even bother testing the pH of either until you've added something to them as it's meaningless otherwise. Both can be used as-is to water plants without affecting the pH of the root zone either way.
 
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