fartoblue
Well-Known Member
Was that 1200ppm on the Hanna scale?
Ph dropping, EC rising, water level dropping conflicting advice
- Thread starter Cinejeff
- Start date
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
still too high. add more water.
Busternutt
Well-Known Member
24 hours later and the EC has risen substantially and the pH has dropped quite a bit and the res was down nearly a litre. I added more water and brought the EC to lower than I did yesterday and took pH up to the same as it was yesterday.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
What was the outcome busternutt? Did you bring her to a good harvest?
Busternutt
Well-Known Member
Yes, ultimately. I got a bit over 4 ounces dried/cured which I was happy with as I nearly killed the plant several times. I grew the same strain again straight after and corrected the mistakes I'd made the first time around and ended up with a larger healthier plant and over 8 ounces once dried/cured. I mainlined the plant so had 8 of these...
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Very nice and congratulations! Are you able to give any insight into the mistakes you corrected... as I seem to be going thru that same problem.
Busternutt
Well-Known Member
Mainly learning to read the plant. The strain I'm using needed a "weaker" version of nutrients than the chart I was using, mainly in flower
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
So that helped with ph drop right? Lowering the concentration to where it's level between the plant and the res keeps the ph stable... is that correct?
Busternutt
Well-Known Member
Sorry, I don't know what you mean. Basically, my plant was drinking more than it was eating because I was overfeeding it. The pH was falling with the water level and the EC rose because the water was dropping but leaving the nutrients behind. I dropped the nutrient amounts then slowly brought it back up to a point where the water level dropped but the pH and EC stayed the same. The nutrient amounts I ended up using were a little under the low end on my chart and pH at 4.5. It wouldn't matter what I set the pH to, within a day or so it would drop to 4.5 then stabilize. So now when I make up a new res, I set the EC to just under the minimum value on my chart and the pH between 4.5 and 5.0 (Lol, I can't bothered trying to get it exact, one drop at a time) then I just need to top up the water during the week. I check the EC and pH but I don't need to adjust anything and the plant looks very healthy.
There's a chart on the first page of this thread that is very helpful
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Ok... that's where my confusion comes in.... I've been using the Lucas formula and for the most part it seems to have worked.... but my ppms always end up being in the 1300s on the 7 scale... couldn't understand why everybody says they have their ppm at about 600 - 700. My plant seemed to be eating at the 1300 tho... and my ph would always rise... but when I did plain water add back my ph would always drop.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
You answered my question tho. Thank you.
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
some can't get up to full strength on Lucas like myself. i could only get up to about 1.2EC (600 ppm ) but if your plants can handle it, good.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
I have my plant in a 5 gal. Bucket... when I run Lucas I'm having to change nutes every 1 - 2 days.... otherwise ph starts dropping and I'm afraid of acid rain problem.
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
that's the main problem with such a small container: pH instability. and when the plants get big, they drink almost the whole thing in 1 or 2 days anyway.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Yes... I'm starting to see that... this is my first grow in dwc. I didn't want to start big and complicated but I'm seeing that may not have been the best choice. Problem is for me that with the Lucas formula, she may have been growing good at the 1300 ppm, but would she have done better at lower ppm? I guess I'll have to experiment and learn.
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
every grow is different. take good notes. . there are a lot of people in dwc that don't go above 1.2EC ever . and there are some that start their cuttings off at 1.2EC.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
For sure.... so if I can find a ppm, where it and the ph stays stable, and the water level drops, then am i to believe that there should be no deficiencies? And thanks for the help you've given me rkymtnman. I've gotten my plant to flower with some of your advice!
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
And also.... even with a small res, shouldn't it be possible to find the correct ec so that it and the ph stayed stable with water being consumed?
Busternutt
Well-Known Member
Yes, through trial and error. My reservoir is only 15 litres and I've got it pretty much sussed for growing this particular strain after two previous grows. The third grow is already looking bigger and better than the previous grow and IT had looked better than the first, lol. Use that chart on the first page