Chemicals, add after ph or before?

[LeonJer]

Hi all,

I'm now into my second week of my second grow (my first one sucked). I have a couple of questions:

1: I can only get my ph down to 6.5, is that really bad? I can't really get it any lower because of circumstances out of my control.

2: I have the CYCO pro kit, it has a chart helping me, but I'm not sure if I add all the chemicals it says to add in one big vat, or one small mixture for each?

3: Do I add ph down before or after chemicals have been added?


Thank you for you're time, much appreciated.

Leon.

 

[massah]

not knowing if you are growing in soil, hydro, coco, or some other medium we can't tell you the proper PH you should be at...

But if you know the proper PH, you always mix up your nutes, let it sit for at least 15-20 mins, then use PH down on it

 

[doc111]

Hi all,

I'm now into my second week of my second grow (my first one sucked). I have a couple of questions:

1: I can only get my ph down to 6.5, is that really bad? I can't really get it any lower because of circumstances out of my control.

2: I have the CYCO pro kit, it has a chart helping me, but I'm not sure if I add all the chemicals it says to add in one big vat, or one small mixture for each?

3: Do I add ph down before or after chemicals have been added?


Thank you for you're time, much appreciated.

Leon.

6.5 is about perfect for soil, but it's a bit high for hydro. Always pH your solutions after adding nutes, because the nutes will alter your pH. Also, it's not a good idea to "chase" your pH, meaning if you overshoot your pH by adding too much pH down, you shouldn't then add pH up to get it back into range. This will cause unwanted chemical reactions and may harm your plant. It's best to just re-mix your nutes if this happens and add less pH up/down the next time around. lol! I usually let my solutions sit for about 5 minutes after pH'ing them because the pH will creep up or down for a few minutes after adding pH up/down. Hope this helps.

 

[LeonJer]

Thanks guys..

I'm using soil BTW.

All help comes with a big thanks........

 

[LeonJer]

Sorry to labour the point, but do I mix in one big vat or lots of small mixtures for each chemical?

I grow in soil.

Thank you.

Leon.

 

[chickengutz]

My friend, get yourself a 5 gallon bucket. Mix up your nutrient solution in 5 gallon batches and then ph that bucket. This will save you time, trouble, and you will have access to check the ph and ppms of your solution any time you want. I use silica additive as a ph up. Doc111 is right on the money. Do not get caught up in the, "chasing the ph phantom" using ph up and ph down,

 

[jondamon]

Get a big container with water.

1 at a time add your chemicals and stir them in

Once you've added everything you need stir it up again and wait for 20 mins to 1 hour.

Then test the pH.

Then correct the pH if needed.



J

 

[massah]

You don't need to PH your water/nutrients in soil if you are using properly limed soil...

 

[chickengutz]

Hey massah, I gotta admit that I'm totally ignorant on the subject of "limed soil". I do understand that basic NPK elements, and micro nutrients, will uptake at different ph levels, ie, pH and its affect on nutrient availability. As an example, you could have a ph of 7.0, and keep pouring the iron to your plant and still suffer from a iron [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, sans-serif]deficiency, and with each point of lowering your ph, the plant will make a percentage ratio improvement of iron uptake. Ill google search for more about limed soil info for myself, but if you have a link handy, I'd appreciate it. Sorry for the hijack my brothers.[/FONT]

 

[massah]

Hey massah, I gotta admit that I'm totally ignorant on the subject of "limed soil". I do understand that basic NPK elements, and micro nutrients, will uptake at different ph levels, ie, pH and its affect on nutrient availability. As an example, you could have a ph of 7.0, and keep pouring the iron to your plant and still suffer from a iron [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, sans-serif]deficiency, and with each point of lowering your ph, the plant will make a percentage ratio improvement of iron uptake. Ill google search for more about limed soil info for myself, but if you have a link handy, I'd appreciate it. Sorry for the hijack my brothers.[/FONT]

Basically a soil that is limed prevents the soil PH from swinging locking out nutrients. It holds the PH up closer to 7.0 and counteracts the effects of acidic materials in the soil.