TheCreaMachine239
Member
I added more nutes to the bucket to bring the EC back up to 1.5 and the ph came down to 6.2. Will post a update tomorrow.
Ph Crashing Overnight
- Thread starter TheCreaMachine239
- Start date
70's natureboy
Well-Known Member
I keep going back to Lucas Formula because it keeps my PH so stable. I use the 5/10 ratio that gets me around 1 EC. Maybe you do have root rot issues. My roots are perfectly happy at 70-72 degrees, other people seem to have problems at those temps. Sometimes I swap my 5 gal buckets for 18 gal totes and then I don't even check on them for over a week. good luck
Buddernugs
Well-Known Member
Usually root rot will crash ph down into the 4.2-5.4 range range overnight when it sets in so if it is root rot u caught it early... so I think you’ll be alright my dude just cover your bases u got this my dude keep your head up these things are a lot Tougher than you think they can handle a lot trust me you got this
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
I agree to a point. I used a 4 gallon bucket. It would hold 2 gallons of water keeping it about an inch from bottom of net pot, and 5 airstones took up some of the volume. Every day as water and nutrients were taken up, the ph would rise. At a certain point though it would start to drop. At a gallon low, I would
Hes definitely got this. The plant has made it this far. Has a pretty robust looking root ball. I believe some hydroguard would benefit. H2o2 is good but it's too strong imo. I use h2o2 to sterilize my ro water a couple days before adding nutes, let the h2o2 oxidize and evaporate off, then I add hydroguard as a preventative.
firsttimeARE
Well-Known Member
Root damage presents itself different on the leaves and will also make them shrivel up. Your leaves do not look like that. A slick feeling on air stones is normal. All mine feel that way and I have pearly white roots filling up a 27gal tote and spilling out into the next totes.
Depending on how deep into flower you are a pH drop is normal.
A theory I have is applicable when EC is rising and pH dropping the plant is using up different nutrients than what you are giving them. Causing some to get left behind and when the ones they use are mostly gone its still gotta drink and the concentration of those nutrients it doesnt need are still there so EC rises. This usually happens for me if i go too long between res changes and too many top ups. This isnt your case. Well not entirely. You never mentioned if your EC climbs with this pH shift downward. Doesnt seem like you let it play out long enough. My guess is it will.
I still get this pH downward with my big RDWC system. I have to switch my doser to pH up which isnt a big deal...i just play a different swing and pH up to 6.1 and let it drop to 5.6 and repeat
Depending on how deep into flower you are a pH drop is normal.
A theory I have is applicable when EC is rising and pH dropping the plant is using up different nutrients than what you are giving them. Causing some to get left behind and when the ones they use are mostly gone its still gotta drink and the concentration of those nutrients it doesnt need are still there so EC rises. This usually happens for me if i go too long between res changes and too many top ups. This isnt your case. Well not entirely. You never mentioned if your EC climbs with this pH shift downward. Doesnt seem like you let it play out long enough. My guess is it will.
I still get this pH downward with my big RDWC system. I have to switch my doser to pH up which isnt a big deal...i just play a different swing and pH up to 6.1 and let it drop to 5.6 and repeat
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Well put. Id like to say though that in a bigger system the ph will stay stable longer before the drift gets out of hand. Is that not your experience?
firsttimeARE
Well-Known Member
Much longer. I have a doser now so I barely pay attention. Gone are the days of being trapped in the grow room battling pH.
I grew in bubble buckets for 5 years. Been doing rdwc for 5 years now and I wouldnt go back to the headache of pHing each individual plant site.
Buddernugs
Well-Known Member
I agree with h2o2 being to strong if you don’t dilut it I used 3% strait undiluted to treat root rot I did a 3 hr soak up to the brim of the pots... every plant that was older then 6 weeks survived with no issues and started eating again in 1 day after a heavy flush to rinse out that 3% h2o2.....however every plant younger then 6 weeks was cooked in less than 24 hrs..... I use 5ml per gal of Rez water of 29%h2o2 (have used 34% at 4ml per gal in the past as well) and immediately feed my plants with no issues...h2o2 gives the root zone massive amounts of o2 it’s amazing stuff as long as you don’t over do it
TheCreaMachine239
Member
Little 24 hour update here. The water level was down about a inch from the fill line. The EC went from 1.41 to 1.37 and the PH went from 6.31 to 6.36. I topped off the bucket back to the fill line with slightly stronger nutes this time. My EC is now 1.455 and my PH was 6.33. I decided to add a 1/8 TSP of PH down to the bucket and now I’m sitting at 5.97 PH.
Buddernugs
Well-Known Member
Perfect your ph is in the butter zone at 5.8-6.0 keep her steady captain
TheCreaMachine239
Member
Another 24 hour update. Ec went from 1.45 to 1.42 and the ph went from 5.97 to 6.09. The water level went down about another inch or so. The PH usually starts crashing around the 3rd or 4th day so we will see what happens. That plant still appears to have some sort of issue though. It has burnt tips and edges with yellowing just before the burn marks, some drooping leave tips and it’s still pretty dark green. Also, some of my older lower leaves are looking like this....
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
My older lower leaves started doing that too late in flower. I dunno why but it didn't seem to affect what was going on up top so I went with it.
TheCreaMachine239
Member
My buds are not putting on ANY
mass so I’m a little worried.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
What week are you in again?
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
And show pics of buds.
TheCreaMachine239
Member
Well I got lazy and didn’t write down when I switched to 12/12 but It has to be around week 7 or 8.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
If you're are week 7 or 8 then it doesn't look too bad. They'll start to swell up at the end. What I'm seeing doesn't look too bad though. I've seen worse! Lol
TheCreaMachine239
Member
Another update. EC went from 1.44 to 1.43 and the PH went from 6.07 to 5.7 in 24 hours. The water went down again about another inch or so from the fill line. It’s day 4 after doing a res change. The first two to three days the PH climbs while the EC falls and around day 4 is when the PH starts to fall until it eventually crashes around day 5. I’m guessing my only option is to top it off with plain water to bring the PH back up to try and extend the res change another day or so. I’d still like to know what’s causing this exactly but I have a feeling a bigger res will solve this issue.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
We've explained it for the most part. As the nutrients are taken up and used by the plants the ph buffers become depleted. Also airstones cause co2 to get into the water causing acid rain effect. There's number of reasons. Maybe a lil rot.... small res. When the ph in your res is no longer stable, it's time to change it. Why fight it?
TheCreaMachine239
Member
I just like making simple things difficult .