PH WATER and NUTES....please help! if you use ph drops please help!

[solarguy]

For 2 months my plants are growing fine, but it is indeed my first grow. I am using FFOF with the FF line up, Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom and Grow Big. I am also using Humboldnt Honey ES carbs. This is a soil grow and to control PH i am using the cheap drops...

I thought i had the right idea since my plants are growing and not dead yet...

my, question is how do i check ph?

with ph drops i have been getting the water to about 6.5 than just adding my nutes and watering the plants. i didn't think the ph is changing when i add nutes. I tried this morning to add nutes and than check the ph level BUT with all the color added to the water from the nutes i cant tell what color is what....

So how do i use the drops with nutes? am i doing it right by getting the water to 6.5 and than adding nutes and watering the plants?

I have heard people testing the runoff water, WHAT GOOD DOES THIS DO SINCE YOU WATERED THE PLANTS ALREADY? how to you maintain the ph with this method? do you keep pouring more solution/water on top until the runoff ph balances? i feel like you risk over-watering....

PLEASE HELP! i want to maximize my potential here!

 

[DrFever]

well not sure on how ph drops work but jus go out and buy a good ph tester and some 7.0 solution 120.00 its well worth it

ph is a funny thing i have tested my water and found out that ph off my tap water is very high 7.7 i nearly shit then i added my nutes to my water i make 139 litres of water nute mix once all mixed up i got a ph of 6.2 which i find perfect for my soil grow

now why ppl check ph levels off run off of there pots is to determine how much salts an other carbons have built up in your soil doin this will give u valuable information on how your soil is doing, then you can play with ur ph how much ph you need to even it out for your desired ph levels u want your plant

 

[Serapis]

Do not adjust PH before adding nutes to the water. The FF line has a good method of taking care of PH in most waters. My tap water is a PH 7.5 and by time I add Tiger Bloom, and Big Bloom, my PH is 6.5 If I was to adjust it again, with no meter, I'd be at 5.5 or lower and that is not good.

 

[solarguy]

yeah but how do you re-ph the soil? is the only way to pour more water with the ph solution in it? you obviously wouldnt pout the ph solution directly onto the soil....

i feel like if i am getting my water to a ph of 6.5 then adding nutes.....my ph must be too low by the end when i add all the nutes....how do i check? do the drops work with nutes in the water?

 

[solarguy]

Do not adjust PH before adding nutes to the water. The FF line has a good method of taking care of PH in most waters. My tap water is a PH 7.5 and by time I add Tiger Bloom, and Big Bloom, my PH is 6.5 If I was to adjust it again, with no meter, I'd be at 5.5 or lower and that is not good.

what do you mean if you were to adjust it again? is it safe to say the Fox farm line brings the ph down 1 full point?

 

[Serapis]

You only add the drops when your PH meter indicates that your PH is too low. Otherwise, you run the risk of locking out important nutrients.

 

[DrFever]

Do not adjust PH before adding nutes to the water. The FF line has a good method of taking care of PH in most waters. My tap water is a PH 7.5 and by time I add Tiger Bloom, and Big Bloom, my PH is 6.5 If I was to adjust it again, with no meter, I'd be at 5.5 or lower and that is not good.

hahaha i did that my first time and got 5.3 learned my lesson 1st time

 

[solarguy]

i am talking about the drops to test the ph, if i have water with nutes in it the color is no longer clear....so DO the drops still work since they reflect a color which then tells me what ph...

all of you are confusing the hell out of me

 

[DrFever]

here read this
http://www.ph-meter.info/

 

[solarguy]

ideally that is what i have been doing...getting water to a ph of 6.5....adding nutes. NOT testing again because i figured the drops will not work since the water has changed colors....

with that being said my ph would be much lower than 6.5? my plants are growing still but i want the best....

 

[solarguy]

that link sucks, thanks though for trying....

here read this
http://www.ph-meter.info/

i simply want to know how can you use the drops and ph up/down to maintain ph when using nutes and water since the water changes color therefore changing the color of the test results that determine PH...

i dont understand how people test and then maintain the ph after they have dumped the water into the plants....what are you supposed to do keep watering it over and over until the soil balances out? it seems like the plant will end up over watered....

Also when people check the ph every day what is their method of maintaining it? Your obviously not going to water every day so how do you maintain the PH without watering?

 

[DrFever]

yea dont do that just add ur water and nutes then check ph once all stirred up well

 

[jondamon]

I used to use drops this is what i used to do.

1. MIx nutes then test pH.
2. If you need to adjust the pH then put 1 teaspoon of pH up or pH down into a measuring jug and add 1/2 litre of water.
3. Use the above mixture to gradually lower pH in your nute water. Adding small amounts at a time.

The nutes i used would make the water a little darker than pure water but i could still tell the colour once i add 2 drops of pH indicator it would then either look orange for 6 yellow for 6.5 or almost clear for 5.5

Other than that it is a little hard to tell for sure without going digital.


J

 

[fusion13]

I know exatcly what your talking about solarguy! i tried to ask this same question not to long ago and i couldnt get a reply.. when i add certain mixes to my water the color would change drasticly and i couldnt tell what my ph level was because the color of my water was a dark brown color so i couldnt test it.

another thing is that i tested my ph level of my water b4 adding nutes and i didnt know that. now that i just tested my run-off is says its about 5.5, and im into a couple weeks of veging and i dont know exactly what to do. im in a 5 gallon bucket and i dont wanna drown my girls, and i just added nutrience

 

[solarguy]

word fusion, im not to confident luckily the plants are growing.

 

[solarguy]

so i just did it the RIGHT way for the first time, added nutes than checked ph....since my water comes out about 7 by the time i add nutes it looks like im right where i need to be. I am still having trouble understanding how acurrate this can be since the water itself was dark brown prior to adding test drops, and the result was a nice greenish yellowing 6.2 color. I just hope this color is accurrate given that tghe water was no longer clear.

I then tested my runoff for the first time, ouuuch it is orangish which means the ph is really low in the 5's but i gt say my plants both veg and flower were watered for weeks with lower ph'ed water since i was only checking the ph of the water and than just adding nutes. i didnt realize adding nutes after lowered the ph. BUT this goes to show you that a WEED is a WEED. for weeks i gave my plant the wrong balance of ph water and nutes and they are still doing just fine! my gals in flower are killing it under the new HSS LED lights too...