My ph jumped really quick! Why?

texashustle

texashustle

Active Member
I just changed the water on both of my reservoirs yesterday morning and tonight I check ph and its at 7.3 on one and 7.2 on the other. Its never been that high before.

I also had to add more ph down than usual. I read to add more nutes to get the ph down but my big res is at 1050 ppm and my small one with my 18 day girls is at 750.

Only thing I changed was adding Hydroguard for my algae problem and some Dark Energy as an additive.

Im using GH nutes with the Lucas forumla and try to keep ph at 5.8. Oh also these are all DWC now.
 
Dystopia

Dystopia

Active Member
I would ease up on the pH down. I discuss reservoir changes and pH in my grow thread (link in sig), posts # 18 and 55 in response to a question by polishfalcon420.

I believe when you did your reservoir water change you upset the balance of the system. The pH rise you see is common when you first set up the system and when you do reservoir changes.

I believe your plants will be fine at 7.2 pH while you GRADUALLY lower the pH. As your system burns in you will find a spot where the pH stabilizes...don't worry if it's not 5.8. So long as it stabilizes somewhere between 5.6 and 6.4 you're fine in my opinion.

I believe that you will do more harm to your plant by drastically lowering the pH then you will by having a high pH for a few days.

Just my opinion...
 
texashustle

texashustle

Active Member
Dystopia said:
I would ease up on the pH down. I discuss reservoir changes and pH in my grow thread (link in sig), posts # 18 and 55 in response to a question by polishfalcon420.

I believe when you did your reservoir water change you upset the balance of the system. The pH rise you see is common when you first set up the system and when you do reservoir changes.

I believe your plants will be fine at 7.2 pH while you GRADUALLY lower the pH. As your system burns in you will find a spot where the pH stabilizes...don't worry if it's not 5.8. So long as it stabilizes somewhere between 5.6 and 6.4 you're fine in my opinion.

I believe that you will do more harm to your plant by drastically lowering the pH then you will by having a high pH for a few days.

Just my opinion...
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Wow bro that was probably the best reply I have ever had to a thread I made. You totally answered my question in the 1st reply I got. Most the time the 1st or 2nd posters post some dumb shit and you gotta read down the 1st several to get an answer. Anyhow thanks, Im :eyesmoke:and rambling + rep. bongsmilie
 
polishfalcon420

polishfalcon420

Well-Known Member
Dystopia always responds with great responses from what I have read from him here, always great info. I always use to see ph rise like that with my city tap water but I think I figured that out in my specific situation. if you checkout Dystopias grow thread and read my post and his responses it may help you out. I also see that you are using the lucas formula which I have seen a few guys around here do really well with but it just does not make any sense to me. maybe Dystopia can shed some light on this. when I first heard of the idea I ran it buy an oldschool grower I know he said that he had one of his guys that use it but he will not because he feels the lack of enough nitrogen in the nutes can cause an inproper balance in things interfereing with ph stability and nute uptake. I have never used it so I cant say that this is for sure by any means so dont take my word on it.
 
Dystopia

Dystopia

Active Member
polishfalcon420 said:
Dystopia always responds with great responses from what I have read from him here, always great info. I always use to see ph rise like that with my city tap water but I think I figured that out in my specific situation. if you checkout Dystopias grow thread and read my post and his responses it may help you out. I also see that you are using the lucas formula which I have seen a few guys around here do really well with but it just does not make any sense to me. maybe Dystopia can shed some light on this. when I first heard of the idea I ran it buy an oldschool grower I know he said that he had one of his guys that use it but he will not because he feels the lack of enough nitrogen in the nutes can cause an inproper balance in things interfereing with ph stability and nute uptake. I have never used it so I cant say that this is for sure by any means so dont take my word on it.
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Yes, I have used the Lucas Formula with success in the past but I stopped using it, mainly because the pH would rise too much when it was in vegetation, which tells me the plants were using Nitrogen faster than it was being supplied. I like to minimize reservoir changes and control my pH with nutrient add-back as much as possible instead of using pH up/down excessively, but I'm a control-freak. There have been thousands of successful grows using the Lucas Formula, though.
 
texashustle

texashustle

Active Member
Well you guys think I should switch back to the 3 part way? The only thing I see wrong with my plants is that on the bottom leaves there are rust colored edges and a few rust spots. All of the new growth at the tops are fine though and the bottoms are not getting any worse. I assume this means that this was a problem and is NOT a problem anymore right? Id rep you both if I could. Ha.
 
Dystopia

Dystopia

Active Member
texashustle said:
Well you guys think I should switch back to the 3 part way? The only thing I see wrong with my plants is that on the bottom leaves there are rust colored edges and a few rust spots. All of the new growth at the tops are fine though and the bottoms are not getting any worse. I assume this means that this was a problem and is NOT a problem anymore right? Id rep you both if I could. Ha.
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Nah, sounds like you're doing fine. Let your plants tell you what to do, if they're growing good then there's no reason to change.

Without seeing your plant, I'd say the rust spots were due to some pH-fluxuations. I used to get that all the time when I changed my pH a lot all at once using pH up/down; if you let the pH drift and make smaller changes when you do adjust it you should see that problem go away, IMO...
 
texashustle

texashustle

Active Member
Dystopia said:
Nah, sounds like you're doing fine. Let your plants tell you what to do, if they're growing good then there's no reason to change.

Without seeing your plant, I'd say the rust spots were due to some pH-fluxuations. I used to get that all the time when I changed my pH a lot all at once using pH up/down; if you let the pH drift and make smaller changes when you do adjust it you should see that problem go away, IMO...
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Would you like to see some pics when they wake up? I'll pm ya if so. Appreciate the help man.
 
Dystopia

Dystopia

Active Member
texashustle said:
Would you like to see some pics when they wake up? I'll pm ya if so. Appreciate the help man.
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Sure, you can do that. Take a look at this thread for an example of what I'm talking about; IllegalSmile's got it right here, in my opinion:

https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/258396-advanced-nutrients-ph-levels.html

Instead of continuously trying to drop the pH to 5.6 when it wants to be at 6.2, they should let it stabilize at 6.2 and leave it there. Any deviations from there will be minor and easily adjusted either with nutrient add-back or a small amount of pH up/down.

If they keep trying to adjust the pH by adding large amounts of pH down they will eventually overwhelm the buffer and the pH will drop like a rock. Weekly water changes may prevent this by "recharging" the buffer, but if the system wants to be at a pH of 6.2 then let it, don't try to artificially hold it at some "ideal" level I say...
 
polishfalcon420

polishfalcon420

Well-Known Member
thanks for the response on the lucas thing Dystopia. thats a bummer about your NL plant texas, as long as the plant is not completely broken and its not real stressed out it should be fine but it makes me wonder why the plant stem is so weak in the first place. I broke the main top on my nl when I was tryng to bend it but only half the stem was creased and it continued to thrive. if it were me I may steup some sort of support stake if it cant stand on its own or something but other than that I would probably just keep watching it and see what happens I guess cause I dont know of any kind of cure for that. hope it works out for ya.
 
LonghornFan

LonghornFan

Well-Known Member
Like Dys said, don't get all hung up on PH right now. The plant will let you know how it feels by what it shows you. I continually use the same water source for my water changes, additions, and even per-soaking my rockwool. I have the handle marked so the temperature is always the same and I have never had to worry about PH. Some people will say what they want, but my plants, as many here can attest to, have always done well. Real nice buds and even better smoke. When plants are outdoors, the rain and water that they intake is NEVER ph'd the same. However, kind of funny how they grow like WEEDS!!! Yes, providing the "perfect" conditions would be great, but as long as the plant is healthy and growing, you are good to go!!
 
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