Help a brother out with a ph mystery

Mashoe

Member
K so lately I've been trying to really science up my grow skills and I'm running into a ph problem in my res and I'm not even doing true hydro! I've got raised soil beds that I'm hand watering with a pump and wand and I've been noticing something I'll mix my res (proper order to minimize covalant bonding)
Then ph I'll make sure my ph is holding for a few minutes before I start watering. When I'm done watering I'll check my ph in the res again and it's always wayyyy out of whack I phed to 6.5 today's and when I was done it was 7.3!!!
The worst is when i do fulvic, humic, b vitamin and calmag
conditions:
Using tap water ppm around 150 ph close to 7

Res size 1000 litres

Using a bubbler to recirculate and air-rate the water

Any help is appreciated I know I'm probably missing something big here
 

radrolley

Well-Known Member
is the bubbler strong enough to keep the water recirculating in a res that big?

I'm suspecting there is something in your soil medium is making the PH rise. What are you using? Coco has a high PH. I don't have experience growing in straight coco so I might not be the best help but this looks useful. https://www.rollitup.org/t/for-those-thinking-coco.401052/ make sure your nutrients are compatible with coco. i would try phing at 5.8. also cheap meters are usually junk. get a reputable expensive one. the cheap milwaukees are junk but the expensive ones are great. customer service is also awesome.
 

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
That's an awful big res.....How long does it last?
How old or how long has this nutrient been mixed?
What do you use for up and down?
I don't really understand pre charging so much unless, (I hate to ask but,) how many plants?
 

Orphan Crippler

Well-Known Member
Do you bubble out your water and wait an hour or so before balancing or do you do it immediately after adding chems.
I ask because if you bubble your water for an hour or so it gets rid of the chlorine from the tap and as a result your ph will rise.
If you bubble out your water before hand or just re calibrate after a few hours then the solution should stay rock solid at the ph selected.
This was also a mystery for me and after some searching I found this answer, hope it assists.
 

Mashoe

Member
Ok I'm just gonna review this I think there's a Miscommunication. Im hand water with no run off yes it's a big res and it only last one water. I'm checking the ph of the extra water that has never seen soil.
My bubbler is plenty big enough 2 stones. And I'm letting my water airate for 24 hours before I mix. I'm using a blue meter so no trouble there
 

Orphan Crippler

Well-Known Member
Sounds to me like you need some more time between final set and watering. After you ph balance the rez for a 2nd time and allow to settle does it continue to rize or stay set? 1000L is a large rez and that could be the issue here is that it take s longer to stabilize with the buffers ect an amount of that size say vs 100L
 

Mashoe

Member
I think letting it sit is the answer I was just trying to avoid bonding so I was trying to get it on the roots asap
 

Flowki

Well-Known Member
Is it an aeration wand?. Spray some into a separate bucket and test the ph again.
 
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