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hydro ph issues, help me sleep tonight!

scratchzilla

scratchzilla

I have ph up and down coming in the mail, should be here by Wednesday at the latest. The problem is that my resivoir is currently at 5.0ph, which is too low for my comfort. Also, ppm is only 250ish, but when I get my adjusters I'll be able to bump it up a bit. My question is will my plant make it until Wednesday with the ph so low, or should I add some baking soda to raise it temporarily, and start fresh when my package arrives?
 
I am sure it will be. But personally i would rather have it too high than low. Is your tap water that low? I would just dump a little res water out and add some tap to off set it as long as your water is not thst acidic.
 
My tap is at about 6.7-7.0 depending on the level of my well. The nuts I use lowers it drastically. Neptunes harves fish emulsion 3-4-1.

I have the general organics line coming with the ph adjusters. Grow, bloom, roots accelerator, seaweed emulsion, squid emulsion, humid acid, cal/mag, and one other I can't remember off the top of my head. Anyone ever use this program? Aside from the squid emulsion, it's all vegan.

Edit: oh just remembered the last bottle, salt rinse.
 
Just add water to raise the ph. I have never used organic wth hydro. I hear its way to finicky. I have mine set up where i test the ph every 5 days. And depending on ppm ill go 10-15 days between res changes
 
Your nutrient solution going "funky" isn't the only problem in growing hydroponically with organic fertilizer. The other problem is keeping the pH constant. - There's special fertilizers on the market for recirculating systems (systems that reuse the nutrient solution - like ebb/flow or DWC), that will prevent wild pH-swings. The way they do that is by having a balance between NH[sub]4[/sub][sup]+[/sup] and NO[sub]3[/sub][sup]-[/sup] in the fertilizer. If you offer nitrogen as NO[sub]3[/sub][sup]-[/sup] only, the pH in your solution will rise, as the plant replaces every anion it takes from the solution with an OH[sup]-[/sup] anion.
 
Quick note: The presence of both ammonium (NH[sub]4[/sub]) and nitrate (NO[sub]3[/sub]) may dampen wild pH swings, but all the ammonium that isn't taken up by the plant will eventually be broken down into nitrate through nitrification.

Quick caution: Be sure not to tip the scale too far towards ammonium (if the NH [sub]4[/sub] and NO[sub]3[/sub] are in separate parts), because it is highly competitive and can lead to decreased uptake of calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus.

As in life generally, too much of a good thing can turn ugly in a hurry...
 
My point was: if you use fertilizer that wasn't intended intended for recirculating systems in a recirculating system, don't be surprised if your pH is unstable.
 
Yeah, I'm seeing the ph bounce, but what perplexes me is the ppm shift. I check both daily and the ppm has been higher the day after adding nutes than the day before more times than not. Thoughts?

Does this mean my water is evaporating faster then my play takes in nutrients, or is my ppm screwed up? Perhaps resivoir temps are affecting readings?
 
you want the res temps to be below 70F, and your PPM going up because your plants are using more water than nutes so the water is going but the nutes are staying in so in return PPM goes up. there is something causing your plant to not take up the nutes. my brain strain i have had it down to 3" water in the res and no issues my PPM was still 400. my personal opinion is grow in soil=organic, Hydo=non organic. here is a pic of my brain strain
this was taken 5/14/12
DSC_0036.jpg
 
spongey600 said:
...and your PPM going up because your plants are using more water than nutes so the water is going but the nutes are staying in so in return PPM goes up
Click to expand...
Yes, you have to replace the used up water.


spongey600 said:
there is something causing your plant to not take up the nutes.
Click to expand...

No, it's not quite that simple. Yes - if you want to compare your ppm-values, you have to replace the used up or evaporated water (with distilled water, otherwise you'll bring new salts into your solution) But that still won't give you a precise measurment,:
You have to keep in mind you're not really measuring ppm, but electric conductivity, the ppm meter then calculates a ppm-value out of EC values. EC correlates with the concentration of ions in your solution. Since H[sup]+[/sup] and OH[sup]-[/sup] are ions as well, this will temper with your results.

EC (or ppm) can tell you how many nutrients your plant used ONLY if the volume of your solution stayed constant AND the pH stayed constant (because then you know your plant has taken up the same number of cations and anions).
 
Scratch - it is true you need to top-off your reservoir with fresh water from time to time, but that may not be the ultimate culprit for your ppm swings. Since you are growing bioponically, your plants have to break down the organic molecules into usable ions - this process will constantly keep your ppm in flux, regardless of how much additional water or nutrients you add to your system. .Just keep in mind that ppm is tougher to interpret in bioponics than straight up hydro b/c of these swings - I wouldn't attempt to reach a set EC threshold that is commonly used in hydro.

My 2 cents: I wouldn't sweat the ppm swings - easy to say since I was paranoid about the same issue when I first started experimenting with organic hydro years ago. Focus more on keeping the pH (which will still oscillate) within an acceptable range than and worry less about getting the ppm to a specific target. Watch the plant for any troubling signs and you'll be fine...
 
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