You've got some good advice I think. I would also try different nutrients. I also don't think you need to be flushing weekly. Give them food all the way through the whole grow. Your plants don't look like plants growing in pH of 5 either, so I'm guessing your readings might not be accurate.
Ph problem.
- Thread starter Bamboozler
- Start date
Bamboozler
Member
My system is basically the following: four 18l pots filled with hydropebbles, a water pump sitting on bottom of the res, the water is pumped into the pots and then runs off back to the res. Very simple. Also i have a air stone on the res for shits and giggles and some oxygen and stirring.
Bamboozler
Member
How would the readings be off? I check and calibrate my things regularly, as i stated before. Now i did an extra calibration just to prove my point about my water ec.
Bamboozler
Member
My ec does actually rise when i try to fight the ph drop with ph up. Otherwise it slowly drops or stays the same, which tells a tale of the nutes being consumed i guess.
Bamboozler
Member
Oh sorry i forgot to mention. I bought this plug in style kit and yes, it has a little hose for each pot. Four times a day, 15min at a time. I just put in fresh water, ill try again with nutrients tomorrow. They look good, maybe a little wet and wilted, but the main concern of mine was slow growth.
Well as I said, those plants don't look like plants being grown in 5 pH. I would expect them to look much worse. I would seriously consider a different line like said above. My gh nutes for example, using their basic recipe actually puts it within a good pH range without adjusting with my tap water. It shouldn't be as difficult as what you are experiencing. Normally you set your pH and you're good. Adding back nutes as they use them usually bring the pH back down within range again. I'm also a little surprised that your plants don't need more cycles if all your using are those hydro-balls which don't really absorb that much.
Bamboozler
Member
Well, they dont have to withstand the 5 for long, as i fight it continuously with additives and fresh water. My main concern is that why it gets so acidic so fast.
Ok so I just looked up your nutrients, they are just GH 3 part labeled differently. Those are solid nutrients and are very stable so you can rule that out for being a problem. The other logical things to look at are root rot (doesn't sound like you have that problem), Bad water source (if you can drink it and it tastes fine I wouldn't be that worried about that) and finally procedure. Something you are doing is throwing the pH off. I would just dump a few gallons through your pots of warm water and mix up a new Rez. Let your water stand for 24 hours before mixing up a fresh reservoir and then water them more often. I would knock off with all the cleaning solutions and weekly flushing.
bernie344
Well-Known Member
Mmmmmmm
Bamboozler
Member
As stated in the very beginning of this thread, the first message to be exact, they are fine. They look fine, feel fine and smell fine.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
But do they sound fine?
I'm sorry...I had to do it. I get it. It's not the roots. How they doin btw?Bamboozler
Member
That they are not brown or slimeySo what are you trying to say?
Bamboozler
Member
Hahah yes, they sound fine too Theres like a shitload of roots. This is my first time going hydro, i never thought of seeing such an amountBut do they sound fine?
70's natureboy
Well-Known Member
I am not a math whiz but this sounds like double what I use in a 5 gal pail (is that 20 liters?) It seems to me that would give you an EC around 2. If this is rebranded GH nutes they should be ph stable. If you are using double the normal amount then there is your ph problem. How did you check the calibration of your ec meter. Did you spend that big dollar on the 1300 ppm calibration solution? That's all it takes to find out how your meter reads. If you have to use florakleen and hydrogaurd then you are already headed for problems. This is how we learn bro.
Bamboozler
Member
Yes, i checked with the solution, as the image above shows. Thats how i always do it. I dont know why some of you are so concerned about the meter reading being off, even when i show you it isnt. What do you mean by "headed for problems"? I dont use them because i have to, i have used them weekly from the beginning to ensure that there's no harmful build ups at any moment. And dont get me wrong mate, im eager to learn but its harmful to the learning process when most of my time goes to fight poorly made assumptions.
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Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
As far as the meter goes, it's important that is calibrated and accurate. As far as the hydroguard goes, I add it every res change just as a preventative. It definitely doesn't hurt to add it