Trouble Stablizing PH

[Impulse718]

my day to day ph fluctuates almost +.8 - +1 in a 5 gallon bubble bucket

i readjust to 5.6 everyday because of this.


what can i do to keep it stable? is there anything i'm doing wrong?
i understand that because my plants are eating up the nutes my ph fluctuates alot. i never add more nutes but i do add more ph corrected water if needed

 

[DragonPhoenix]

my day to day ph fluctuates almost +.8 - +1 in a 5 gallon bubble bucket

i readjust to 5.6 everyday because of this.


what can i do to keep it stable? is there anything i'm doing wrong?
i understand that because my plants are eating up the nutes my ph fluctuates alot. i never add more nutes but i do add more ph corrected water if needed

I'm thinking that your pH fluctuates this much due in part to the small res. No too much you can do about it if you have to be using a 5 gal bucket.

Have you noticed any effect on the plants?

 

[JohnnyPotSeed1969]

This fluctuation is due to your small reservoir. This is one of the reasons why I abandoned DWC for ebb n flow.

 

[GreenFire]

What kind of water and nutrients are you using?

 

[topekoms]

how many actual gallons of water are you running?

 

[chronic vegan]

5.6?? 6.0 is what i run

 

[Impulse718]

This fluctuation is due to your small reservoir. This is one of the reasons why I abandoned DWC for ebb n flow.

i see, i thought one plant per 5 gallon bucket would be enough for a 4week old plant.

I'm thinking that your pH fluctuates this much due in part to the small res. No too much you can do about it if you have to be using a 5 gal bucket.

Have you noticed any effect on the plants?

nope my plants are still healthy and green, growing fast

What kind of water and nutrients are you using?

ph'ed tap water that is bubbled and sitting out for 24 hours, and i use fox farm grow big @ 4tablespoons for 3.5gallons of water

how many actual gallons of water are you running?

3.5 gallons

5.6?? 6.0 is what i run

i readjust to 5.6 because of the huge fluctuation in ph. and i've read pretty much everywhere that 5.8 is the 'best' ph to have



i don't know if its alright to post this but this is what i built for my plants

Lets Build a Bubble Bucket *Step by Step* - Grasscity.com Forums

 

[GreenFire]

Tap water ph is always all over the place no matter what you do.....bring it down and it jumps right back up within hours or sometimes seconds.

If you are worried about it, RO or distilled water WILL solve the crazy ph fluctuations. But if the plants are looking good, I say don't worry and continue using the tap and forget about ph for now unless the plants get unhappy.

Are you going to be using Tiger Bloom? That stuff will bring the ph down and keep it alot more stable than it is now....might even completly solve your problem.

 

[LonghornFan]

I agree 100% with GreenFire here...if the plants are growing fine, healthy root base, and the leaves are all in good shape, keep going. If your PH is high, and your plants are growing well, then dont change the water source throughout the entire grow...your plants will go in to shock by changing the PH too much...let them grow, feed them well, and you will be fine...I checked my PH twice during my last grow and they did great!!

 

[LonghornFan]

by the way, all my plants are in 5 gallon buckets with 3 gallons of water and are kicking ass and taking names...However, they are being heavily saturated with 4 foot flexible airstones and major air being pushed through those...

 

[JonnyBtreed]

Great idea longhorn...

 

[Impulse718]

Tap water ph is always all over the place no matter what you do.....bring it down and it jumps right back up within hours or sometimes seconds.

If you are worried about it, RO or distilled water WILL solve the crazy ph fluctuations. But if the plants are looking good, I say don't worry and continue using the tap and forget about ph for now unless the plants get unhappy.

Are you going to be using Tiger Bloom? That stuff will bring the ph down and keep it alot more stable than it is now....might even completly solve your problem.

i have big bloom and grow big right now...is tiger bloom better than big bloom?

I agree 100% with GreenFire here...if the plants are growing fine, healthy root base, and the leaves are all in good shape, keep going. If your PH is high, and your plants are growing well, then dont change the water source throughout the entire grow...your plants will go in to shock by changing the PH too much...let them grow, feed them well, and you will be fine...I checked my PH twice during my last grow and they did great!!

man i've been changing the ph every day!...wasting a lot of ph down on this. i'm just going to leave it alone for now

by the way, all my plants are in 5 gallon buckets with 3 gallons of water and are kicking ass and taking names...However, they are being heavily saturated with 4 foot flexible airstones and major air being pushed through those...

in one bucket i have a 10'' air bar and the other i have a flexible air bar i don't remeber the length. with a dual output 100gph pump (is this enough air?)

 

[LonghornFan]

Impulse,

That is great for air, thats the key and I think what you have going is perfect. There is never enough air in those buckets. At the end of my flexible air tube is an opening that pushes enough air that I get the top of the water to roll a bit, the plants love it...

 

[Slik2015]

lol teach me how to make this air bar you speak of....

 

[GreenFire]

Yea, Tiger Bloom is alot stronger than Big Bloom and also very acidic so it will stabilize your ph alot better.

I HIGHLY recomend you add it to the two you are already using. But if you do, go half strength of what is recomended for a week or two because it will drop ph like a stone, and like Longhornfan pointed out, you don't want to shock em with too much of a ph change all at once.

 

[Impulse718]

Impulse,

That is great for air, thats the key and I think what you have going is perfect. There is never enough air in those buckets. At the end of my flexible air tube is an opening that pushes enough air that I get the top of the water to roll a bit, the plants love it...

thanks appreciate it

lol teach me how to make this air bar you speak of....

you just buy them...

Yea, Tiger Bloom is alot stronger than Big Bloom and also very acidic so it will stabilize your ph alot better.

I HIGHLY recomend you add it to the two you are already using. But if you do, go half strength of what is recomended for a week or two because it will drop ph like a stone, and like Longhornfan pointed out, you don't want to shock em with too much of a ph change all at once.

awesome thanks

 

[Slik2015]

switching nutes will not stabilize that ph, try changing your ph up and ph down.

 

[Bullethead21]

Hi guys! How strong a air pump would you need to run one of those 4ft fexable airstone tubes?

I have several of the little air pumps that run at 3w I think, they come standard with most kits. I was thinking of using a couple of "T" fittings and using 2 air pumps to pump the 4ft flex airstone??

Or will the standard air pumps be enough fo rthis thing?

Thanks!

 

[LonghornFan]

I am not sure Bullet. I bought only one and it powers 4 foot flexible stones in 8 buckets..and makes the water roll! real good one.