HELP!!! 1st Hydro Grow, PH keeps rising ALOT

Hey all, I'm doing my 1st hydro grow in a superlocker 2.0 with all the bells and whistles... Everything seems to be going great EXCEPT my PH keeps rising! I'm using TechnaFlora's recipe for success to the letter, PH'ing my water AFTER I add all my nutes and using General Hydroponics PH Down to get to 5.9/5.8... After running my combo DWC/ top feed system for a while I re-test my PH and I'm back up to 6.3/6.4
What could be causing this???
What can I do??? Or do I have to keep PH'ing down multiple times a day??? I don't want to have to do that, but I will if thats what my ladies need!

You don't want to PH down that often, but if you got to you got to. Try doing swings like 5.5-6.0

It's probably your medium raising it if this is a new batch of nutes and new medium. New pots always go crazy like that for a few days for me so I run them without plants for a few days so the plants don't see all that crazy PH swings and adjustments. I put them in when it only raises .1 or .2 a day.

I use a waterfarm converted into a DWC and I find until the roots hit the res and the airstone is switched on that the ph will rise steadily. During this period I ph every 3-4 days to 5.5 and change the res every 8-10. Once the roots start developing in the water culture you may find the ph to be much more stable however I do often find that it drops a little during flowering. Not enough to warrant ph'ing every few days but enough to ph my flowering solution a little higher, say 5.8-5.9 instead of 5.5. This is what works for me, but all systems will differ I guess. Hope this helps.

Peace.

firsttimeARE said:

You don't want to PH down that often, but if you got to you got to.

It's probably your medium raising it if this is a new batch of nutes and new medium. New pots always go crazy like that for a few days for me so I run them without plants for a few days so the plants don't see all that crazy PH swings and adjustments. I put them in when it only raises .1 or .2 a day.

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Really good point. Rockwool (if your using it) has a naturally high ph, this will disipate in the early weeks. Soaking the cubes in neutral water before planting out helps too.

firsttimeARE said:

You don't want to PH down that often, but if you got to you got to.

It's probably your medium raising it if this is a new batch of nutes and new medium. New pots always go crazy like that for a few days for me so I run them without plants for a few days so the plants don't see all that crazy PH swings and adjustments. I put them in when it only raises .1 or .2 a day.

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Agreed, probably the medium. I always soak hydroton, root cubes, etc., etc. in target PH water for about 3 days prior to pulling the trigger. If I were you, I'd get it down to 5.6ish for the next few days and then you'll see it start to level out. Many years ago, I went from a grow about the size of those lockers, then to a 3 x 3 tent, then a 12 bucket RDWC....each time PH and nutes got easier and easier. The more water volume, the more stable and balanced things become....just like reef keeping. In my first small grow (8 gallon volume), PH was a daily, if not twice daily, endeavor....in the 12 bucket (75 gallon volume), I would go days w/o checking and it rarely fluctuated.

Waiting for my superlocker too, keep us posted... By the way, how many plants are you growing in the bottom flowing chamber and what seeds did you use ??

What are your ppm's at? I agree that it may be your medium but when that settles down, if your ph is climbing really fast then they plants want more food. You want a nice gentle rise in ph.

Meast21 said:

Waiting for my superlocker too, keep us posted... By the way, how many plants are you growing in the bottom flowing chamber and what seeds did you use ??

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You're getting a SuperLocker made by the SuperCloset company of San Francisco??? Thats awesome! I got mine about a 9 months ago and it was the best 2 grand I've ever put into anything. I went all the way: I got Co2, the 250watt upgrade, and don't forget to ask for you're free gift- It's a mini ozonator! I can't begin to tell you how well the plants are doing, they are absolutely THRIVING! As far as for numbers, I filled up the upper chamber with 11 seedlings and now I've got the 8 best in the bottom. 5 are doing un-freakin-believable, and 3 are doing well. Because this was my first (kinda) run in the superlocker, I used some seeds I had lying around from some random bags of top-shelf, strain-unknown. They appear to be mainly indica. If you're looking for a quality place to get seeds, try Attitude in the UK. They're awesome and ship to the US, although they can be pricey. Sorry to ramble on... Enjoy your SuperLocker, I love mine. Let me know how it goes, friend me.

Large ph swings in the up are tell tale signs of bactiria activity! Whats the temp of your water?

If ur medium was prepared properly. Do u use H202. This is normal process but thsts big jumps as hellrasier said bactira this is a normal process as ur have ur nutes slightly too high. If u find the balance point that the plant needs eating watseing same rates this is what balances ph plant eats rises ph plants waste lower ph Also how big is ur res as small res go out wack faster then large ones.

Yeah... I took a little bit from everyones posts and I think I got it under control... I now have a nice slow rise of about 0.1 every 16-18 hours.
Thank You all!!!

this use to happen to me and drive me crazy. then i moved and ph will stay the same for dayz. could it be something to do with the water used?

spaceprop215 said:

this use to happen to me and drive me crazy. then i moved and ph will stay the same for dayz. could it be something to do with the water used?

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In a word...yes.

jcommerce said:

In a word...yes

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That would refer to being overall satisfied, correct? lol.

heading2cali said:

Yeah... I took a little bit from everyones posts and I think I got it under control... I now have a nice slow rise of about 0.1 every 16-18 hours.
Thank You all!!!

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May i ask what exactly you think the problem was in the end? I am using an AutoPot system and am having the same problem, its driving me nuts!

Hey bro, i JUST literally had this SAME issue! Since then, i havent had to adjust my ph at all! RINSE THE ROCKWOOL AND MEDIUM WITH PHD FILTERED WATER! It literally fixed my problem immediately! Hope it works out!

Oh and sink water is a no-no. Out front of most grocery stores there is a glacier water dispenser or something similiar that you can fill 5 gal jugs for $1.25. Reverse osmosis filtered distilled water. Works like a charm.

heading2cali said:

Hey all, I'm doing my 1st hydro grow in a superlocker 2.0 with all the bells and whistles... Everything seems to be going great EXCEPT my PH keeps rising! I'm using TechnaFlora's recipe for success to the letter, PH'ing my water AFTER I add all my nutes and using General Hydroponics PH Down to get to 5.9/5.8... After running my combo DWC/ top feed system for a while I re-test my PH and I'm back up to 6.3/6.4
What could be causing this???
What can I do??? Or do I have to keep PH'ing down multiple times a day??? I don't want to have to do that, but I will if thats what my ladies need!

Click to expand...

BRILLIANT.. I dont know if I would have thought of that. Have been thinkin on it all day.
My first surviving seedling.. Yes.. I am a 3 time killer. THANKS 4the help.

Just a heads up, he hasn't been here since 2015