# Are there any nutes that RAISE pH rather than lower it?



## Hackerman (Aug 11, 2014)

I start with a water that's over 8 pH.

After I add Fox Farms Big Bloom and Tiger and after Cal-Mag I am at about a 5 pH. If I use Cha-Ching, I am at about 4.

I need to add a tablespoon (or more) of pH UP just to get it near 6.4 - 6.5 which is my target.

I sometimes use Cha-Ching to lower PH in my Veg water just because it does it so well. A tiny bit (I mean a 1/4 Teaspoon or less) can lower my pH over 1 full point. Works much better than the pH DOWN I use from GH. LOL

So, with my current nute mix, I go from about 8 to about 4. I hate to add all that base when I could be using something that's beneficial to the plant.

Anyone know of a nute that has a big effect on pH UP?

Thanks


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## vostok (Aug 11, 2014)

most of us went to school at some time to learn the basics of reading the "Potential of Hydrogen" in most stuff ....
some noobs mess with stuff like vinegar to raise up the Ph of there water solution( up to 1) or add lime calcium chalk etc to lower the PH (down to 14)

Its important for those who grow in DWC to be spot on with the Ph/ppm/etc etc for correct plant growth
if in DWC ....it always handy to have some Ph up and a bottle of Ph down ....avoid DIY tactics
and for those who grow in soil, Ph is really no big deal, as my mentor would argue
"How does one actually measure the Ph of soil...?

I would reply /....you measure the water runoff, to which I spent the next week carting manure around!!!!
...you can measure the runoff, use Ph swim. pool strips $5.00 from your local drug store, dip to the run off, but really not necessary if you have don any prior study?


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## Locked (Aug 11, 2014)

GH 3 part lowers my ph from around 8 to 5.9-6.
I don't know of any nutrients that raise the PH.  Be glad you don't add silica. It raises the pH of my water from 8 to 9.3. And that's only using 20ml in 5 gallons of water.


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## Hackerman (Aug 11, 2014)

Most people's water is a 7+.

Seems most of the nutes bring pH down way below our sweet spot of 6.5 (let's say).

So, most everyone is using pH UP (Base), right?

My question.... how much are you using per gallon?

Like I said, I am using almost a tablespoon per gallon. That seems like a lot. I am using General Hydroponics brand.

Thanks

P.S. I talked to the guy at the grow store today and he was not aware of any shelf nutes that brought pH UP, either.


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## MR1 (Aug 11, 2014)

Jungle Juice lowers my ph from 8.5 to about 7.8 full strength. I use ph down.


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## vostok (Aug 11, 2014)

Hackerman said:


> Most people's water is a 7+.


Regurdless of how much you may wanna marry the Growshop guy, many are seriously underpaid and work from a complicated commission basis, almost the same a waiting staff at hotels ..and hence will say anything for that sale!!...lol

Unless you actually buy your water in, many peeps water fluctuates daily if not hourly in North America anyways, and this time of years local utilities don't give 2 figs as to where they get that water, so long as they can quickly pass it to the consumer, with minimal hassle and at a convenient mark up ... there was a fantastic map on the www. someplace showing the calcium levels in most American water ...but now lost? ...anybody?

not the same


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## Locked (Aug 11, 2014)

Hackerman said:


> My question.... how much are you using per gallon?
> 
> Like I said, I am using almost a tablespoon per gallon. That seems like a lot. I am using General Hydroponics brand.
> 
> Thanks



Are you using GH liquid or powder?  I use the powder and and mix it to my preference which is on the strong side.


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## Hackerman (Aug 11, 2014)

I am using the liquid. I will check out the powder. Thanks for the tip.


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## jingo (Aug 11, 2014)

I use gh 3 part my r\o water is 6.6. I add nutes 8 drops ph DOWN and end up at 5.7-5.9 in dwc four gallons water.


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## Locked (Aug 11, 2014)

Hackerman said:


> I am using the liquid. I will check out the powder. Thanks for the tip.



Yeah the liquid is a waste IMO.  Like all things Cannabis  I like to have control over the strength and I also don't want to be ripped off. I just mix up the powder to my liking.  I use an opaque plastic bottle for the down.  It seems to grow some sort of algae when stored for  more than a week or two.  Never had a problem with the UP.


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## NorCalHal (Aug 14, 2014)

Silicate will raise your PH a bit. HL, when added to plain water it will shoot up PH to 9+, but when added to a nuit mix, it is not near as drastic, raising the PH only a few points.

On another note, most ALL hydro store folks I know get ZERO commission....hourly wage and that's it.


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## Locked (Aug 14, 2014)

NorCalHal said:


> Silicate will raise your PH a bit. HL, when added to plain water it will shoot up PH to 9+, but when added to a nuit mix, it is not near as drastic, raising the PH only a few points.
> 
> On another note, most ALL hydro store folks I know get ZERO commission....hourly wage and that's it.



Yeah it actually brings 3 gallons of Flower nutrients up from 5.7 to 6.5.  I suspect that is the buffers in the nutrients doing their job.


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## Hushpuppy (Aug 15, 2014)

Riddle me this fellow growers. I mixed up some Espoma Dolomite Lime in 1 gallon of water. I used about 2 Tbsp of lime and mixed it up as well as possible. After pouring off some of the solution to use as a calmag additive in my soil, I checked the pH just out of curiosity and ffound that it was reading at 2.5pH. I though the Lime is supposed to raise the pH. Actually after pouring some into my soil and checking the runoff, my pH was too high at 7.6 and had to be flushed out. How is this right?


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## Hackerman (Aug 15, 2014)

Bad reading on the 2.5??

I always check stuff like that over and over. I swish the meter and stuff like that.

2.5 just sounds all wrong. Lime is 8pH , I think


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## Locked (Aug 15, 2014)

Sounds like your Meter is acting up. I add a fair amount of Lime into my soil when I mix it and if it had a Ph of 2.5 my plants would have already said something about it.


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## Hushpuppy (Aug 15, 2014)

That is what I was thinking so I bought a brand new meter and tested it, and came up with the same thing. I am thinking that maybe certain chemicals within the Espoma lime that dissolved quicker than others got poured off when I initially added it to the soil, then the solids that were left behind dissolved when I added more water to it and those chems actually lowered the pH :confused2:


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## Hackerman (Aug 15, 2014)

The other thing is that the water started out low low low pH for some reason. Not likely, but possible.

Is this something you can reproduce again or was it a 1 time thing?


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## Hushpuppy (Aug 15, 2014)

My water is around 5.7 out of the well. When I mix up my nutes in it and then aerate for 24hrs, my pH ends up right at 6.0, but I am going into coco coir which will initially pull the pH down some. That is why I was using the lime (mainly for the calmag additive) in the coco. I transplanted them into larger totes of coco to do a soilless set up this time around and was thinking to keep the pH above 6.0. I still have the jug of solution that is still setting at 2.5, which I left it for a few days while I was waiting for my new pH meter to arrive. I checked it after setting up new meter and it still reads 2.5


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## Hackerman (Aug 15, 2014)

If I am not mistaken, nutes should be used as soon as they are mixed. I have heard that nutes will dramatically change after being mixed for 24 hrs. Loss of potency being a big change. With that would come pH change, wouldn't it?

Is all this untrue?


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## NorCalHal (Aug 17, 2014)

Hackerman said:


> If I am not mistaken, nutes should be used as soon as they are mixed. I have heard that nutes will dramatically change after being mixed for 24 hrs. Loss of potency being a big change. With that would come pH change, wouldn't it?
> 
> Is all this untrue?




 Kinda true. If you let nuits sit in an uncovered res, water will evap from the mix, giving you a higher ppm solution, all you have to do is add a little more water to achieve your desired ppm.
 PH will change, it will rise. You do have to PH it again before you use it.


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## Wetdog (Aug 31, 2014)

Hushpuppy said:


> Riddle me this fellow growers. I mixed up some Espoma Dolomite Lime in 1 gallon of water. I used about 2 Tbsp of lime and mixed it up as well as possible. After pouring off some of the solution to use as a calmag additive in my soil, I checked the pH just out of curiosity and ffound that it was reading at 2.5pH. I though the Lime is supposed to raise the pH. Actually after pouring some into my soil and checking the runoff, my pH was too high at 7.6 and had to be flushed out. How is this right?



First thing, dolomite lime doesn't dissolve in water. It's ground up dolomite limestone and rock just doesn't dissolve all that well. A very small portion might, but mainly the super fine stuff just goes into suspension.

Espoma lime is pelletized, yes? I'm thinking that initial low pH might be from the fast dissolving clay binder that forms the pellets, but I'm really unsure of that.

Lime has to be in proximity of whatever it's affecting the pH of, if not actually touching. IE: mixed in the soil, or, as it works its way down if applied as a top dress.

Checking runoff is at best a waste of time. Soil pH will fluctuate with time and at different locations within the mix. Best to apply the right amount and forget about pH for a year or so. My pH meter hasn't been out of the box for over 3 years, except to remove the batteries a couple years ago. There have been no pH related issues.

I think that 7.6 was a fluke just as the 2.5 was.

Wet


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## Wetdog (Aug 31, 2014)

NorCalHal said:


> Silicate will raise your PH a bit. HL, when added to plain water it will shoot up PH to 9+, but when added to a nuit mix, it is not near as drastic, raising the PH only a few points.
> 
> On another note, most ALL hydro store folks I know get ZERO commission....hourly wage and that's it.



Yes, something like Dyna Gro's Pro Tekt in addition to being a good silica and K source works well as a pH up. IDK how much, I use it as a organic supplement, but something to check out.

*Vostok*

You may want to re-check your books. Mine say vinegar is acidic and will lower pH and lime is alkaline and will raise a low pH.:bolt:

Wet


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## Hackerman (Sep 6, 2014)

Hamster Lewis said:


> Are you using GH liquid or powder?  I use the powder and and mix it to my preference which is on the strong side.



I finally switched to the powder and I like it much better. Half a teaspoon in every gallon and it puts me right on the sweet spot of about 6.5

Thanks for the tip.


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