# PH 6.5 before and after nutrient addition?



## Biffdoggie (May 15, 2006)

Does anyone do this as a habit? Setting the ph to 6.5 before you add nutes to the res then adjusting after also? I read that 6.5 is the best PH for nutrients to disovle?
Input?


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## Bjaebjoch (May 16, 2006)

Well I'm still real green, but the concept makes sense to me. If y'all think this is a good idea I'll certainly give it a try. I'm only on the first week of my first grow so I haven't even begun to add nutes to my res. One thing I did notice was that the water keeps climbing in pH. I adjusted it to 6.5 when I filled the res and I just checked it again today and it's reading 7. It's no problem to correct it again, but is this always gonna happen?


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## Biffdoggie (May 16, 2006)

Normally once you have everything in it will say pretty soild until you top it off or add anything to it, I'm assuming you're using tap water? what medium are you using? If it's rockwool, did you flush it? Even my horrible tap water down here stays pretty constant.


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## Bjaebjoch (May 16, 2006)

I'm using tap water with a base ppm of about 250. My system is kind of a dwc with drippers. Because I started with clones the plants are in organic starter plugs in a net pot full of hydroton. I'm going to pick up a digital pH meter tomorrow so I'll at least be able to take accurate measurements. Trying to match colors is just not my thing. 

While I've got you attention, do you think it'd be wise to pick up an RO filter when I go to the hydro store? I'm worried that my tap water might be too poluted, but I've also read that RO comes with its own problems.


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## Biffdoggie (May 16, 2006)

Everyone has different opinions on the filtered water thing, I have used both filtered and non-filtered and didn't really notice a difference and my water is at a baseline of 400-500 ppm of junk!
I'm not sure about the organic starter plugs but they may need to be flushed before-hand or it might affect PH. Hydroton is supposed to be PH nuetral but stil needs to be well rinsed before you use it, mostly for all the silt that comes off of it.
Make sure and calibrate your meter when you get it, they should give you a packet of calibration solution.


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## Bjaebjoch (May 16, 2006)

I think I'll hold off on the RO filter than. I can definately apply that money to a better fan for my cab. I did rinse the hydroton pretty well and let the drippers run for a week with nothing in it to make sure everything was cleared out. When I put the clones in I of course rinsed out the res and all. I read on another forum that I should let the water bubble for awhile to let the chlorine out. Is that something you do? Is there anything else you do to your tap water before adding nutes and fixing the pH?


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## Biffdoggie (May 16, 2006)

I do let it bubble out for a while when I can, 24 hours or more is great if you can get it. If you don't have huge res you can get some 5 gallon water bottles and get the water in them early and let them sit for when you need them, that'll get some of the junk out of it.
Nope, I don't do anything else, what nutrient are you using? Some of them require a micro-type adjustment solution if you have hard water, I know general hydro 3-part flora stuff does.


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## Bjaebjoch (May 16, 2006)

My cab came with FloraNova Grow and FloraNova Bloom. At some point I think I would like to expirement with an organic fert but for now I think I'm better off learning with something easy, especially since I've already got it. 

I found an extra bubbler from my old fish tank so I think I'll stop by walmart and pick up a tub bout the same size as my res that way I can let it bubble a day or two before I add it to my res.

I'm gonna head off to the hydro store after lunch. Is there anything else I should ask for while I'm there?

Thanks again for all your advice,
Bjaebjoch


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## Biffdoggie (May 16, 2006)

Do you allready have a TDS meter for PPM? I use flora-nova also and it will make some great plants but you have to use a meter for the mix, it is extremely concentrated and the mix ratio on the bottle is too strong, it is a good, simple to use one part nute.
No prob. man. Sounds like you have a good start.


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## Bjaebjoch (May 21, 2006)

Got a TDS meter with the system. Picked up that digital pH meter the other day and I think that I got one that doesn't automatically adjust for temp. It seems like the pH is higher at the top of the res than at the bottom so I've been taking my readings from about dead center. 

Thought I'd add nutes tomorrow. What ppm would you recommend? I was planning on 1/4 strength of what the bottle says but I have no idea what that will be in terms of ppm. I also picked up a 10gal tub from walmart and an airstone to go with the spare air pump I had. Now I've got a better source of water for my plants. Would you recommend changing the water in my res or just top it off and add the nutes?

Thanks,
Bjaebjoch


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## Biffdoggie (May 21, 2006)

How old are the girls? That is what's going to tell you how much you wanna use, like I was sayin', flora-nova is strong stuff, in a ten gallon res you won't need much, def. go by the ppms and not the mix ratio.
Do you mean change it now before you add any nutes at all or change it everytime it gets low? If it gets low just add some water with no nutes, adjust Ph and check PPM, I'll usually run my nute mix for about a week and a half, topping off as needed and then replace the whole thing (55 gal.).


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## Bjaebjoch (May 21, 2006)

They've been in the veg chamber for one week today. The water in my res was bubbled for about 12hrs before I put the clones in and I've been pH adjusting it every couple days to get it to 6.5. I set up that extra bubbler yesterday, so the water in it will have bubbled a full 24hrs later this afternoon. I think I'll be lazy and just top it off with my 'clean' water and mix the ferts in the res. I'll go by the ppm, but would you say 300 above my base is a good place to start? Once I've got the res with nutes and adjust the pH back down to 6.0 (the ideal pH for mj according to most of what I've read) I only want to top off for a week and then change the water completely?

Thanks,
Bjaebjoch

PS. Sorry I jacked your thread. You've been very helpful and I much appreciate it.


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## massproducer (May 21, 2006)

if your are growing in bubblers then you may what to take your ph down to 5.6-6.2, i would never let it get any higher then that.  You also have to check if your nutes are buffered, meaning when I add my advanced nuterients to my rez, it will adjust the water to around 5.8 automotically because that is where the PH should be.  If I were to try to adjust the rez out side of this zone, i am going to lose the buffering and will have a very unstable PH.


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## Biffdoggie (May 21, 2006)

Thats true, sometimes once I add everything to the res it's right about perfect, the water around here changes a lot though, both PPM and PH. You can run longer than a week, some people go two to three weeks with it, you just never know what is left in the nutes specifically. Like I said, I do a week and a half usually. The good part about stuff like flora-nova is the fact that it is pretty cost effective, especially with a ten gallon res.

What's your take on nute change timing mass?
One week in the veg chamber with no nutes added yet? If so they could probably take 300 allright, how tall are they? I can't stress enough how concentrated this stuff is, it only takes about a cup and a half to do my 55 gal. so start low and creep up on it.

 No prob. on the thread jack, that's what this place if for, you'll get it all figued out.


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## Bjaebjoch (May 23, 2006)

My ladies are almost 6" tall now. It only took 2.5 teaspoons to raise the ppm by 300 and the pH did drop to 6.3. I adjusted with half a cap of my pH down and now it reads 5.9. So far they seem to be loving it. They both have some big fan leaves growing in at the top and the lower nodes all have leaves sprouting out as well. I'm hoping that in a week or two I'll be able to switch them to 12/12 cause my roommate and I might be moving at the end of the summer and I would really hate to move them.

One thing I noticed that striked my as a little odd was that one of the clones has two really long slender roots with tons of hairs coming off, while the other has several shorter fatter roots that barely reach the res water. Do you think this could be because I usually peek into the res on the side with the shorter roots? 

Bjaebjoch


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## Biffdoggie (May 23, 2006)

Sounds good, looks like you are on your way, you can induce flowering whenever you want, some people will start it once the clones are established and start gaining some veg. height., usually this is a good plan when you have a bunch and are doing SOG. Most strains are going to take around 8 weeks to flower indoor so give the veg time you can. You definitely don't need to go huge with them to get some good tops.
I don't think the root difference is from looking in the res on that side, roots just grow different sometimes, a small exposure to light won't cause any damage, some people say that roots being in the light all the time won't hurt, but I don't know about that.


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## Bjaebjoch (May 23, 2006)

Great. I finally feel like I'm getting a handle on things. I finally got my temps down with a new exhaust fan and with your help I now have a pretty good understanding of how to keep my nutes (at least for now). Now I've just got to build a charcoal scrubber and I'll be all set. Thank you so much. 

My roommate keeps pressuring me to start the albino rhino seeds we ordered as soon as we get them, but at this point I know we won't have time to let em finish. He doesn't believe me that moving them across town would be a bad idea. What do you think Biffdoggie?


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## Biffdoggie (May 23, 2006)

Well, moving plants is always a little dodgy, especially if you live in one of those states that will take away your birthday for MJ crimes. As far as plant health goes it would be fine as long as they are not damaged in transit and set up with the same lighting and such. 
The down side, besides actualy driving down the road with them, is you will wind up with the two on different light cycles unless you let the current ones veg until the ARs are ready to flower, are you set up to veg and flower at the same time?


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## Mysterious (Jun 9, 2006)

My tap water PH is 8.0, so i always adjust the ph down to 6.0, add nutes, then retest before i even put into my Reservoir.  Is any else using the Sunleaves garden of ease hydro setup?


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## Biffdoggie (Jun 9, 2006)

Not I.


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## Nutra Wand (Sep 13, 2006)

Edit Spammer


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