Question for the experienced growers

richwayall said:

Im hoping some of riu's finest can help answer a question...

Will a plant change the ph of its water? The reason im asking is because on my first grow i noticed some change in my ph from day to day, but on this go around i bought a digital ph meter and have been checking regular and the ph has been running constant(5. till today when i checked it today it was at 8.1.[/QUOTE
5.8

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slomoking13 said:

are you in soil or hydro? If you are in hydro, it has to do with what you are feeding the plant... (this is the description i read that i believe will best answer your question and save me time from typing something different) most hydroponic nutrient solutions have all the nitrogen as nitrate. The ph drifts up because roots absorb more negatively charged ions or anions, primarily nitrate (no3-), than positively charged ions or cations, such as potassium (k+), magnesium (mg++) and calcium (ca++). To maintain a charge balance, the root excretes hydroxyl ions (oh-).
Adding a little ammonium (nh4+), from 5 to 10% of the total nitrogen, can minimize the upward drift in ph. If too much ammonium is added, the ph will decline because the root absorbs excess cations and then excretes hydrogen ions (h+) to maintain charge balance.
So basically, once again it has to do with what you are feeding your plants if you are in hydro.... Also depends on the water you start with. Eg. Tap water vs. Distilled or r/o filtered water and the ph/mineral content
it doesn't sound like you are, but if you are in soil and you are talking about run off ph... Then either the medium you are using has a high ph and needs lime or your nutrient mixture/water has a high ph and needs to be adjusted

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richwayall said:

thanks slomoking13 , yes you where right i am doing hydro its the same water source that i used last time.
The only thing i have changed is the nutes went with the dutchmaster grow a @ b .

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