Nutrient ph problem question...

Ok, I have a grow journal and the link is my
Sig. I did a res change yesterday and everything was good all the little details are on my journal. I used stealth hydro nutes that I got when I bought the system. My ph was good all day then I checked it this morning and it was 7.2 WTF.
So I am not sure why this happened? Any advise on what to do? I adjusted it down to 6.5 and I won't be able to mess with it until tomorrow.

Do I need to do another change or just adjust it down till its right?

If you need to do that big of an adjustment I would drain out a gallon of water first. Then add the pH down to a fresh gallon of water and add it to the mix. PH down will increase your parts per million.

Hey LEDZEP, there are a few reasons why pH could be fluctuating so much especially after a nutrient change. To start, there are salts that exist on your roots which build up over time and dissolve into the new solution, affecting the pH. In addition, plants root systems secrete different chemicals into the water as a byproduct of nutrient absorption, not to mention that when food is absorbed the pH of the solution is altered. Dont worry about pH'ing the solution with plants in it as long as the acid is meant for hydroponic systems and bring it down to 5.7-6.0 for the start and down to 5.5-6.0 when they are used to it. Have any more questions don't hesitate to ask!

sympLED said:

If you need to do that big of an adjustment I would drain out a gallon of water first. Then add the pH down to a fresh gallon of water and add it to the mix. PH down will increase your parts per million.

Click to expand...

sexyroots.for.all said:

Hey LEDZEP, there are a few reasons why pH could be fluctuating so much especially after a nutrient change. To start, there are salts that exist on your roots which build up over time and dissolve into the new solution, affecting the pH. In addition, plants root systems secrete different chemicals into the water as a byproduct of nutrient absorption, not to mention that when food is absorbed the pH of the solution is altered. Dont worry about pH'ing the solution with plants in it as long as the acid is meant for hydroponic systems and bring it down to 5.7-6.0 for the start and down to 5.5-6.0 when they are used to it. Have any more questions don't hesitate to ask!

Click to expand...

THanks for your help I appreciate the info...
+Rep for both!

To be safe just use any ZYME/ZIME product. It should keep the roots safe through any PH fluctuation. Drop Per Gall I don't care what the bottle tells you.

I had a severe problem using my tap water of about 250ppm/8.1pH, even after ph-Down-ing it, it just kept "reverting" back to the 8.1 neighborhood. Turns out that part of that 250ppm had a very strong buffering capacity - so although I could knock it down for a while, it would always go back to 8.1-ish, until I saturated the buffer (many many ph-downs).

Now I just run my tap water through a brita filter. Kind of a pain, but it knocks the water down to 200ppm/7.0pH, and completely removes it's buffering capacity. Now, whatever pH I set it at, it STAYS there, except of course whatever the plants do to it (generally raise it a tad).

I don't know if this is your problem, but you could do a small test with a couple of buckets of water - one straight water, one brita filtered. Put a tiny amount of acid in each to drop it like .5 of a pH. Let them sit for a few hours. See if the unfiltered water has crept back up in pH from the original drop.

Could be completely coincidental - but - could also be your water is "reverting" back to it's original pH (7.2) which would indicate a similar buffering issue as I had.

Dear Power Towel,
although your stories of tap water are quite intriguing and interesting, there are so many variables that you are not accounting for which could explain your pH change since the solutes in your water are completely unknown, the quantities are unknown, in addition to various gases evaporating over the time frame you are talking about. It is for this reason that Reverse Osmosis machines are used in growing: unless you know 100% EXACTLY what is in your nutrient solution, there can always be nutrient lockout and pH fluctuations. For example, If there is too much calcium present in your water, it may stop the absorption of any number of key elements needed for plant growth, leaving you with a deficient looking plant even though you HAVE put more than enough nutrients in your res to keep the plant healthy. In addition, chlorine and chloramines (both of which are present in high levels in almost every sample of tap water no matter what location) are toxic to a plants root system, and often promote browning on the tips of leaves, not to mention slowed down nutrient uptake! If a reverse osmosis filter is out of your price range ($100 - $200) then a detoxifying agent from any aquarium store will do. These solutions detoxify the chlorine and chloramines (harder of the two to take out of water) in addition to neutralizing the metals already in there. Put this agent in your resoivoir before adding nutes, let it bubble for a few hours, add your nutes, pH, enjoy

Also, Dear SIV3L, YOU ARE CORRECT that zyme products are really great for your system, but I don't think its for the purpose of being able to handle pH changes. For the most part, enzyme products like....

sensizym: http://www.hydrogardencenter.com/sensizym1l.aspx
hygrozyme: http://www.hydrogardencenter.com/hygrozyme500ml.aspx

will help break down dead proteins, and act mainly to keep your system clean and uptake as much food as possible! Hope this helps your understanding of these products and if you need any questions answered don't hesitate to ask!

sexyroots.for.all said:

Dear Power Towel,
although your stories of tap water are quite intriguing and interesting, there are so many variables that you are not accounting for which could explain your pH change since the solutes in your water are completely unknown, the quantities are unknown, in addition to various gases evaporating over the time frame you are talking about. It is for this reason that Reverse Osmosis machines are used in growing: unless you know 100% EXACTLY what is in your nutrient solution, there can always be nutrient lockout and pH fluctuations. For example, If there is too much calcium present in your water, it may stop the absorption of any number of key elements needed for plant growth, leaving you with a deficient looking plant even though you HAVE put more than enough nutrients in your res to keep the plant healthy. In addition, chlorine and chloramines (both of which are present in high levels in almost every sample of tap water no matter what location) are toxic to a plants root system, and often promote browning on the tips of leaves, not to mention slowed down nutrient uptake! If a reverse osmosis filter is out of your price range ($100 - $200) then a detoxifying agent from any aquarium store will do. These solutions detoxify the chlorine and chloramines (harder of the two to take out of water) in addition to neutralizing the metals already in there. Put this agent in your resoivoir before adding nutes, let it bubble for a few hours, add your nutes, pH, enjoy

Also, Dear SIV3L, YOU ARE CORRECT that zyme products are really great for your system, but I don't think its for the purpose of being able to handle pH changes. For the most part, enzyme products like....

sensizym: http://www.hydrogardencenter.com/sensizym1l.aspx
hygrozyme: http://www.hydrogardencenter.com/hygrozyme500ml.aspx

will help break down dead proteins, and act mainly to keep your system clean and uptake as much food as possible! Hope this helps your understanding of these products and if you need any questions answered don't hesitate to ask!

Click to expand...

These are all great points and I agree, except, my water has zero cholorine (Never does - if you lived where I do you'd know, and I have verified this using chlorine testers). I also verified the pH in my tap water always rises back to 8.1 until it's saturated, just water no nutes, in a bucket with no plants. So I realize my issue may be unique, but considering ALL I have in the bucket is water and pH down, and it goes back to 8.1 (it's original pH) over time until I saturate the buffer.

I do hear your point about RO though - and if I can get something for $200 that will eliminate the hassle of brita - I am on board. My plants are all very healthy, though, so I don't think I have any sort of lockout yet.

damn this is deff one of my problems. so what do i need to buy from petsmart?

I use water I get from Safeway in two 5 Gallon jugs. Costs me about $4 to fill them up. It's easy and pretty cheap. Water's always good to go. Adjustments to pH are easy using minimal pH UP or DOWN to tune it in. Then it stays there through the week adding only more plain water that is not pH adjusted. Just dump it straight in. I keep it in the fridge in individual gallon jugs. When it gets low I just throw another gallon in. End of the week I drain and replenish. My pH levels are tested with a digital meter every day sometimes 3 times a day.

I have found that SH nutes make my ph spike 24 hours after i use them. every time.I think they are just cheap shit nutes. switched to ionic and no more problem.

Thanks six...I'm gonna go get some GH grow for my next go around I don't think I'm gonna veg much longer then I'm gonna switch to Lucas Formula. I just updated my grow journal...check it out if you get a chance.

probably should try a buffer after u have put all your nuttes in to keep it around 6to 6.5 depending on soil

LEDZEP said:

Thanks six...I'm gonna go get some GH grow for my next go around I don't think I'm gonna veg much longer then I'm gonna switch to Lucas Formula. I just updated my grow journal...check it out if you get a chance.

Click to expand...

nice setup. i forgot to tell you i have been using the S.H. nutes on a master kush i have in dirt( mg ) and it seems to be doing great. gunna keep a couple plants around in dirt and use up my sh nutes.