What deficiency does this look like
- Thread starter SDK420
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NanoGadget
Well-Known Member
6.1 is high for hydro. I try to always stay between 5.5 and 5.9. At 6.1 in hydro you are probably startin to lock out nurients. I'll let someone better at plant diagnosis guess at what the particular def is (my semi educated guess is excess N), but I'd start by getting your pH down immediately.
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
What water are u using, well? I would try lowering PH to make calcium available to plant. I had issues with blotching (well water) and had someone tell me to try an amino product, blotching went away.
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
I think I would try upping the calmag but I have a hell of a time figuring out plant issues
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
85% phosphoric acid. And occasionally 35% sulphuric
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
^^^^^Oh sorry OP lol. High again, putting phone down lol.
SDK420
Well-Known Member
Im just using the regular gh phdown the 'orange' stuff. Isnt it phosphoric acid?
Bareback
Well-Known Member
Yeah I believe it is. I had problems with pH and pH related problems, until I changed to a sulfuric acid based down. I didn't want to use it at first but after a lot of research I decided to give it a try and I have never went back.
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
I use sulfuric when I can but it's getting hard to buy here, I tell them it's for my salt water tank and controller lol. it's also cheap as chips at the battery store
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Dr. Who
Well-Known Member
Cpl of things.
#1: You say you use Ca/Mg "sometimes".....You use RO. When you use RO you MUST use a Ca/Mg! RO has been stripped of any ability to "buffer" it's self.......You must "add" a buffer back. That is in the form of a Ca/Mg product as in soil, the soil not just acts as it's own buffer, it contains Ca and Mg the plant can use. Your sitting in water that has none of either and I don't care how much your nutrient line says it has. It's not enough...(The Botanicare KIND line does have sufficient Ca/Mg for many applications).
Some Ca/Mg's are better for buffering RO then others (in my book). Higher N Ca source's are Calcium Nitrate. Lower one's, tend to be a mix of Cal Nitrate and Cal carbonate. The lowest N ones are Calcium Carbonate based. While Ca Nitrate is more plant oriented, and Ca Carbonate works for the plant well also. It (Ca Carbonate) is rather a better "buffer" in hydro applications of all kinds.
So, you need to add 5 ml of a good Calcium Carbonate based Ca/Mg to every gallon of RO water you use - PERIOD! That is your first "problem"...
#2: 5.5-5.9 pH range suggestion! While I see a lot of folks liking lower running pH in hydro systems.....I got far better results by keeping mine between 5.8 and 6.2 (5.7 - 6.3 is no biggie at times).....
I wonder if many of these guys who do that know that in nature. Soil pH swings like a whole point when a watering happens and then swings back as the soil dries back out. The purpose of this "swing" is to allow a balanced up take of nutrients available at differing pH levels!
In hydro, at lights on, I would set my pH at 5.8 and if I missed to 5.7 I let it slide. I would then monitor my pH the next day, at the same time....I would let the pH rise (as it should be doing naturally) to 6.2 - 6.3 and then lower it back down to the 5.8/5.7 and repeat. This allows a more balanced up-take on nutrients! Sitting at 6.0 or below is limiting that Ca, P and Mn uptake too much in my experience.
I got better quality and yields with allowing that swing, over "holding" low! You are most certainly not getting any "locking" out over a pH of 6.0. That 6.0 is basically the middle of the field for hydro pH and your getting it all but, not at the best available rates for either side of the scale.....
USE THAT SWING of pH in hydro and have better plants!
NOTE: Mad Farmers "GET DOWN" is the most stable down I've used in hydro....You use 50% less to get the same results as others and it really is stable.....Even with high solution using mid to later bloomers.
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budman111
Well-Known Member
Done a Google and it is very strong calmag at 5 mL per gallon, that's about 1ml/L, take care not to give too much.
Smootherpete
Well-Known Member
I grow in Coco And I use Cal mag only during stretch at 2 mL per gallon. When I use cal mag I reduce my canna Coco A&B formulas to 3 ml of each per gallon instead of 4ml/gal of each, i do this to compensate for the extra nitrogen in the Cal mag. I use to get dark green leaves with the "claw" when combining the two nitrogen rich formulas. I'm pretty sure flowering plants don't like too much nitrogen .
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
I started out letting it swing but noticed the leaf tips would start to bend down and the leaves would stop pointing upwards when it got to around 6, not a happy girl. I also started to use amino acid products which stopped the blotching, which I had real bad. Any reason why this happens with my setup Doc? Pretty sure it's the makeup of the water but now that plants are happy and green till the end I haven't given it much thought. I also chill the water (well) to 66-67. I do agree that with RO the OP needs to up his CM.