Why Does My Ph Go Up Every Day? Will I Ever Stop Adding Ph Down?

nostopin said:

i'm using hydroton. spent days cleaning it. i'm using tap water its around 54ppm and 7.0 for ph. i let it sit in a 55gal rez with air and a pump to circulate before i use it on any plants. maybe it is the hydroton raising the ph??? i dont know, maybe its the plants??? i just imagined that once you balance the ph it would stay close to that level, unless you add something with a different ph

oh and its a new rez with fresh water. i dont think i have any bacteria yet.
anyone try advanced nutrients "PH perfect" yet?

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take the airstone out the res and see what happens i know i know you will see people tell different but I bet you your ph will stay stable when you take out the air stone... leave the circulating pump in there but remove the air stone keep me posted

Hello all guys, i think the problem isn't only hydroton or rockwool medium, i'm using a DRAIN TO WASTE aeroponic system and i have the same ph up problem.

I make solution at 5,8 and next day it go up 6,5-7,0, i using tap water with 7,5ph and 200ppm.
My nutes are Floranova series from GHE, with GHE PH Down.
In my rez have an areator run 24h/7day, for the next solution i would try with distilled water, what do you think?

I'm thinking that the nutes keep the PH balanced where i set it, then after it floods so many times select elements of the nutes are used up more than others, thus throwing off the balance. yesterday was the only the 2nd time i added water with nutes in it. i added 5 gal. the rest of the time i have been adding straight PHed water to lower my PPM a bit. 850 might have been a lil high to start with. so i let it get down to 650 before adding anymore nutes. It seams to be getting more stable. less dramatic change in the PH. now if i leave it at 5.5 the next day its between 6 and 6.5 instead of 7. but now my water looks like chunky soup so its time to start a fresh rez. I guess 10 days is about right. thats what most people have told me to change it at. some have said they change it once a month, or not at all, but my pump wont work in mud lol gotta be clean liquid

Paglia said:

Hello all guys, i think the problem isn't only hydroton or rockwool medium, i'm using a DRAIN TO WASTE aeroponic system and i have the same ph up problem.

I make solution at 5,8 and next day it go up 6,5-7,0, i using tap water with 7,5ph and 200ppm.
My nutes are Floranova series from GHE, with GHE PH Down.
In my rez have an areator run 24h/7day, for the next solution i would try with distilled water, what do you think?

Click to expand...

omg please trust me take the airstone out the res just for a few hours watch your ph balance out

The airstones in my setup only seem to make the buffering action of the tap water, happen faster. I used to leave the stone out of mine, but my water went murky, and I noticed that the ph was still going up. Now, I run the bubbler 24hrs a day. It helps me reach a stable ph faster. Its the damn minerals in the tap water i bet. If your tap water stays at above 7.0, its from the calcium and buffers from the water company. They dont want rusty pipes. You PH down the water, but the minerals and such nuetralize the acid. If you continue to ph down it, eventually it stabilizes and up swing comes slowly. But YES, if you dont air stone your water, the ph wont swing up as quickly for sure. If your having swing issues, have you tried making it up and adjusting it for a couple days, then putting it into use? Just my 2 cents. Happy Growing!

so I took the air outta my rez for 2 days. the PH did stay lower than normal, but my soup is lookin and smellin nasty now. time for a fresh rez anyhow. I'll try the fresh rez without air to see what happens. The plants ARE getting bigger, but some of the leaves are canoeing pretty bad. the temp doesnt get above 80 in there anymore so i'm thinking its the PH not heat stress. I'll put some pics up tomorrow

How well did you rinse your hydroton before using it? You have to wash it, wash it some more. Then when you think you got it. Rinse it twice more.

Your ph is subject to change as your plants absorb nutrients. You need to PH your res once a day

The reasons may be many, substances can affect absorption but I have the same problem with NOT recirculation system or DRIAN TO WASTE system, i would try without airstone in the next refresh, as mutefruit says.

I rinsed the hydroton for 2 days. poked holes in the bottom of the bags and turned the water on them a few times. then put them in a kiddie pool and filled it with water scooped out the hydroton, then i rinsed them 1 net cup at a time in the sink. i filled the flood tray with it and ran the pump cycle 15min on 15min off for about 6 hours and changed the rez. then did it another 6 hours and changed it again even though the water was clear. i'm gonna be switching to flower today so i'll leave the air outta the new rez

It is Amazing how much dust comes of the hydroton. it looked like i spilled brown paint in my driveway for a bit lol

so sense i have switch to flower, and floranova bloom my PH prob is under control. the problem now is i just got some (botanicare) CNS17 flower, and Ripe. so next rez change i'm gonna switch to that. i have herd alot of people complain about the salts left from the GH products, and i dont wanna have to deal with it if it happens to me. so this is the stuff they suggested to me. its pretty cheap $20 a gal. I almost shat myself when i calculated how much to use. 40 gal rez uses 1140ml. can ya'll check my math lol i still cant belive it. you use it at a rate of 30ml per 4 liters. 40gal is 151.4 liters 152 to make it easy. anyhow, anyone use this stuff? pros/cons?

nostopin said:

so sense i have switch to flower, and floranova bloom my PH prob is under control. the problem now is i just got some (botanicare) CNS17 flower, and Ripe. so next rez change i'm gonna switch to that. i have herd alot of people complain about the salts left from the GH products, and i dont wanna have to deal with it if it happens to me. so this is the stuff they suggested to me. its pretty cheap $20 a gal. I almost shat myself when i calculated how much to use. 40 gal rez uses 1140ml. can ya'll check my math lol i still cant belive it. you use it at a rate of 30ml per 4 liters. 40gal is 151.4 liters 152 to make it easy. anyhow, anyone use this stuff? pros/cons?

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I have 60 gallons of total reservoir volumes and to go through an entire 32 ounce bottle of floraBloom each week during flowering is the norm. I buy it 6 gallons at a time though which is maybe what you should look into doing.

All i know is if this bill passes to make it completely legal, its gonna be cheaper to just buy it than to grow it (indoor). there sayin it will go down to around $38 a ounce in the bay area. thats just crazy. Gonna be TONS of used grow equipment for sale soon I bet

I'd still continue to cultivate, I like my dank and knowing exactly what went into it.

nostopin said:

All i know is if this bill passes to make it completely legal, its gonna be cheaper to just buy it than to grow it (indoor). there sayin it will go down to around $38 a ounce in the bay area. thats just crazy. Gonna be TONS of used grow equipment for sale soon I bet

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And you cant replace the joy of gardening. Well put Mouse!!!

nostopin said:

i'm using hydroton. spent days cleaning it. i'm using tap water its around 54ppm and 7.0 for ph. i let it sit in a 55gal rez with air and a pump to circulate before i use it on any plants. maybe it is the hydroton raising the ph??? i dont know, maybe its the plants??? i just imagined that once you balance the ph it would stay close to that level, unless you add something with a different ph

oh and its a new rez with fresh water. i dont think i have any bacteria yet.
anyone try advanced nutrients "PH perfect" yet?

Click to expand...

Your hydroton does not have a neutral PH or whatever... Ultimately it is absorbing Ions or other particulates and this will cause your res to increase in PH.

I got the information from a post by Fatman7475 who has been banned.

However, I also have a flood and drain setup with hydroton and here is what happened with me. My PH went up for 4-5 weeks straight and then stabilized. When I added pots with more new hydroton the PH began to rise again.

Eventually it will level off but expect to have to adjust it for at least a few weeks.

copy that NLXSK1. i have noticed it starting to level off. That would explain it.

i had the same issue. It is the hydroton causing it. You have to clean it good with PH'd water (i mean GOOD)

So here they are a week later. PH is balancing out nicely. i quit using the GH PH down and went with the advanced nutrients PH down. 3 bucks more but it lasts 5 times as long. Still having the canoeing problem with some of the leaves, but other than that they look ok for my first hydro

Oops. pics 2 and 5 are of a dirt grow.

This entire conversation is the perfect example of why I grow in soil. As nature intended, soil buffers Ph, allows for nutrient conversion into a form usable by plants, and requires much less adjustment, providing that you don't go nuts with your nutrients.