Why does my ph never stay?

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Bowman10117

Member
Hi everyone! Ive been having an issue with ph here lately… i use tap water that comes out around 8.3-9 ph and I adjust it with some standard hydroponics ph up/down i get the ph at 6.5ish and ive noticed if i wait a few hours give or take.. the ph has went back up close to where it was to begin with… is it my water? am i using a poor product to adjust it?
 
Lordhooha

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
Bowman10117 said:
Hi everyone! Ive been having an issue with ph here lately… i use tap water that comes out around 8.3-9 ph and I adjust it with some standard hydroponics ph up/down i get the ph at 6.5ish and ive noticed if i wait a few hours give or take.. the ph has went back up close to where it was to begin with… is it my water? am i using a poor product to adjust it?
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It has a lot of junk in it to buffer the ph how it wants. What soil are you in? I don’t ph anything in soil I simply add my nutrients and go. Ph that high though seems like it would have a high ec or ppm. That is what I’d worry about the most. Try to use ro or distilled water. Start with a blank slate and go from there.
 
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silk689

Well-Known Member
1 - next time you want to feed, fill a bucket of water 24 hours b4 and let it sit there. This will evaporate some of the chlorine and a few other nasty chemicals. Then ph your water and see if it still fluctuates a few hours later or holds steady..

2 - Also when was the last time you calibrated your ph / Ec meter?
 
Lordhooha

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
silk689 said:
1 - next time you want to feed, fill a bucket of water 24 hours b4 and let it sit there. This will evaporate some of the chlorine and a few other nasty chemicals. Then ph your water and see if it still fluctuates a few hours later or holds steady..

2 - Also when was the last time you calibrated your ph / Ec meter?
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Chlorine isn’t much of an issue it’s everything else. Too much stuff in the water buffering the ph. Pure water is better rather than tap. Chlorine is good for cloning. I use ro in my cloners but add a pinch of pool shock in all of them to keep junk from forming.
 
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Bowman10117

Member
Lordhooha said:
It has a lot of junk in it to buffer the ph how it wants. What soil are you in? I don’t ph anything in soil I simply add my nutrients and go. Ph that high though seems like it would have a high ec or ppm. That is what I’d worry about the most. Try to use ro or distilled water. Start with a blank slate and go from there.
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Im using FFOF soil I usually just do hydro but i decided to try this stuff out.
 
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Bowman10117

Member
silk689 said:
1 - next time you want to feed, fill a bucket of water 24 hours b4 and let it sit there. This will evaporate some of the chlorine and a few other nasty chemicals. Then ph your water and see if it still fluctuates a few hours later or holds steady..

2 - Also when was the last time you calibrated your ph / Ec meter?
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Okay ill give this a go and i calibrated it about 2 weeks back give or take
 
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inth3shadowz

Well-Known Member
Don't even bother PHing in soil seriously...I haven't PHd my water for soil since my first run when I was a doofus. My tap water fluctuates between like 8 and even higher, and still no issues. Even with Coco, I use Maxibloom which stabilizes PH, so I don't even look.
 
LeastExpectedGrower

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
These days, I mix my nutrients into the water ahead of time and don't pH or even check it at that time; I'm using dry nutrients rather than liquid, so the extra time means I don't have to stir or mix but let the time dissolve the solids into the water.

Then I wait until right before I'm feeding to check the pH of the water and adjust. I assume that it probably also changes once it makes it into the soil, but there's other buffering and variables once it hits dirt, so I don't really worry about it after that point. So far of all the problems I've encountered, none of them track back to pH issues.
 
Herb & Suds

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
I never ph
I allow my nutrients to lower it
General Hydroponics PH down is citrus based and weak for an acid due to safety concerns
Hard water without a R/O system is difficult to stick the ph with it
 
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silk689

Well-Known Member
Iam the total opposite and ALWAYS PH after adding my nutrients. Ive been growing for over 20 years so maybe iam just stuck in my ways :lol:
 
Lordhooha

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
silk689 said:
Iam the total opposite and ALWAYS PH after adding my nutrients. Ive been growing for over 20 years so maybe iam just stuck in my ways :lol:
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I have two big ass buildings and don’t ph shit. Some look at me crazy however my rooms stay green and healthy I just keep the microbes happy and everything else in check and bam it’s all good. Hydro setups are the only time I mess with ph it’s the only time it matters. Also for a 20 year grower you spout off a lot of bs and don’t seem to have a firm grasp on how soil works, leds work or anything more than bro science……do you even grow bro?
 
harrychilds

harrychilds

Well-Known Member
The same thing happened to me a while ago and the only thing I could figure out is they add some stuff to the water, I believe they are called buffers. And the buffers make the PH rise back to it's original PH. If you google "buffers in water" it says this. "A buffered solution is one that resists a change in its pH when hydrogen ions (H+) or hydroxide ions (OH-) are added. Water that is not buffered is subject to drastic changes in pH by addition of an acid or base. "......... I don't PH my water anymore after I had this PH problem. And I have never had any problems, as long as my EC is on point I am fine. I done a shit load of experiments on different types of water and when you add 1 drop of PH down to RO water it drastically changes the PH and stayed the same, from my guess work. I guess you could add calmag to RO water and then water down some PH up/down and create a perfect PH solution of water/feed to give to your plants but I've never dived in that far as I can't find much info on it, my tap water is around 6.5/7.0 and by the time I add nutrients it drops to around 6.2/6.3
 
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silk689

Well-Known Member
Lordhooha said:
I have two big ass buildings and don’t ph shit. Some look at me crazy however my rooms stay green and healthy I just keep the microbes happy and everything else in check and bam it’s all good. Hydro setups are the only time I mess with ph it’s the only time it matters. Also for a 20 year grower you spout off a lot of bs and don’t seem to have a firm grasp on how soil works, leds work or anything more than bro science……do you even grow bro?
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why all the rudeness ? Is everything ok at home?
 
Kassiopeija

Kassiopeija

Well-Known Member
harrychilds said:
The same thing happened to me a while ago and the only thing I could figure out is they add some stuff to the water, I believe they are called buffers. And the buffers make the PH rise back to it's original PH. If you google "buffers in water" it says this. "A buffered solution is one that resists a change in its pH when hydrogen ions (H+) or hydroxide ions (OH-) are added. Water that is not buffered is subject to drastic changes in pH by addition of an acid or base. ".........
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I think the pH buffers are used in some fertilizer bottles, like AN perfect pH, IIRC these are calcium-compounds.

And that pH-swings are much more worse for microbes or roots than if said pH isnt 100% on the theoretical best 6.2-6.5. With pH-downers potentialky causing CO2 etc that needs to gas out of the water taking hours,
 
Lordhooha

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
harrychilds said:
The same thing happened to me a while ago and the only thing I could figure out is they add some stuff to the water, I believe they are called buffers. And the buffers make the PH rise back to it's original PH. If you google "buffers in water" it says this. "A buffered solution is one that resists a change in its pH when hydrogen ions (H+) or hydroxide ions (OH-) are added. Water that is not buffered is subject to drastic changes in pH by addition of an acid or base. "......... I don't PH my water anymore after I had this PH problem. And I have never had any problems, as long as my EC is on point I am fine. I done a shit load of experiments on different types of water and when you add 1 drop of PH down to RO water it drastically changes the PH and stayed the same, from my guess work. I guess you could add calmag to RO water and then water down some PH up/down and create a perfect PH solution of water/feed to give to your plants but I've never dived in that far as I can't find much info on it, my tap water is around 6.5/7.0 and by the time I add nutrients it drops to around 6.2/6.3
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It’s because it has calcium and junk in it whether it’s well water or city water. The buffers are just the latent minerals in the water source. It’s why it’s a pain in the ass to ph untreated water vs treated ie ro water.
 
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