# I just don't freaking understand..



## Elliot Jansen (Jul 30, 2008)

OK... So this is kind of a spin off of my last post.. ANyone who read my last post about rockwool watering on an as needed basis check this out... I have been FIM'ing my plants, so I decided to water them just to make sure that my lovelies have enough nutes to deal with the stress.. I spend about 75 bux and about 45 minutes of my time ph'ing my nute juice using the damn thing. I finally got it where I wanted it 6.5.. I ph'd the water semi dripping from my rockwool.. 6.5..( this is pre watering btw).. So I hit em with a regular schedule feed for just under 2 days and pull the plug.. They have been sitting, no flood, no nothing, since then... I ph my cube... 6.9 6.8 and 6.7.. :hitchair: Not terrible but not what I want. I want 6.5 - 5.8... What the hell happened I ph'd my water to the same as the cube and now a mysterious rise? I knew I should have just left them alone but nooooooooooo. I had to go all high tech on em.. Sorry just had to vent that frustration.. Well, I'm off do scour the forum for posts about mysterious ph rise and causes, I'm sure theres more than a few (causes and posts).. If anyone knows one I should check out feel free to post it..


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## wallace123 (Jul 30, 2008)

did you let the water stand for a day ???? if your using tap water there is chlorine ( chloride) in it which is  immobile for any uptake reason but what happens is that water evaporates and leaves elements of chlorine in the water and raises the Ph. basically let the water stand for a day and the chlorine to evaporate b4 you use and try to test again but realistically a change in a point in hydroponics isn't going to effect the nutrient uptake personally i would flood them everyday just make sure the solution is aerated


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## King Bud (Jul 30, 2008)

> To me it's a huge pain in the keister and just not worth my time.


Get over the dip! Experience hydro fever!

Evaporation, and nutrient/water uptake could affect the pH as well. What's the ppm/ec? 

I recommend a pH of 5.6, adjusted daily.

Having it drift a little isn't too bad, it allows the plant to take up more or less of certain nutrients, helping with deficiencies.


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## Puffin Afatty (Jul 31, 2008)

*:hubba: when I used tap water I had constant issues with the ph drift.  I changed to distilled water and havent had the issue again.  I hardly ever have to adjust the res.  I just add distilled water as it evaporates to keep the ec between 1.4--1.7 and the ph around 5.6.  No worries :aok:*


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## MrPuffAlot (Jul 31, 2008)

Why are you chasing PH???  why stress it??

its good for the plants to have some PH drift, so they can suck up
different elements.

just fyi:  

PH rising  =  Plants eating more nutes than water

PH falling =  Plants drinking more water than nutes.

Make sure you go full strength nute helps from PH drift.

another thing.. Why are you waiting so long for you to feed/water your 
plants??  I understand what you are thinking about the rockwool getting
dry and etc.  But dont have a compulsive disorder about it.  Don't
worry about your rockwools dring out completely..   Doing so
only stresss you and your plants out, and gives you more problems with
PH and etc.  Flooding/feeding is to maintain PPM and PH..  longer
you wait more problems you have.

GOODLUCK.   and stop  TRING TO over think things.  it really isn't that
complicated.  keep it simple


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## papabeach1 (Jul 31, 2008)

orange itself has very low safe acid to make ph go low with baking soda,   just a option..  since ya did make plants go high on the techs  stick with them just that ya make me feel like I'm doing the right things by use soil methods   the flood and the drain methods is really too much watering even for the leaves can turn flimsily easily  I just went in the indoor..  aww all fatty  swell sweet fats of 25 plants already all soon in flowering time in 2 weeks  its soo easy right there. we water them 2 to 3 time a week  pretty much of it.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Jul 31, 2008)

I think that a ph of 6.5 is too high to start with.  It is at the very high end of where you want your ph to ever be, if running a hydroponic system.  The drift you have encountered in not substantial, but when starting at 6.5, it does put your ph out of range of many nutes.  I would really recommend that you start with a solution  that is below 6--5.6 to 5.8.  Most people experience ph rise as the water evaporates and plants uptake water and nutes.  As already stated, some ph drift is beneficial to help with nutrient uptake.


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## Tater (Aug 3, 2008)

King Bud and Hemp Goddess are right you should be starting with a ph of 5.6 NOT 6.5 dyslexia strikes again.  Don't worry it happens to the best of us I spent a entire year praying to my dog lol.


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## Elliot Jansen (Aug 9, 2008)

Hey all... thanks for all the info. I havent been on in awhile but I thought I would check in and see whats up.. I would like to thank every Senior member and Expert for answering my noobish questions and offering great advice.. I would like to respond to acouple things in this post tho..

1st.. OCD about rockwool drying out.. I'm not particularly worried about about it.. The reason it may sound OCD is I had to explain my reasonings and what I meant by not having a regulated feeding schedule in my other post as well as this one.. The reason why I only feed my plants every couple days is to make my nutes last longer which sounds pretty crappy and cheap (and it is), but I am starting school and I won't be able to work full time anymore so I have to cut corners in veg.. And I am testing my belief that any more feeding than what the plant needs is a waste and unecissary (sp?). Perhaps after a yield or two I'll be in the black, but for now gardening on a smaller budget is a reality.. 

2nd.. 6.5 is too high to be starting with.. This is perhaps true, I actually went in and lowered it a little since I last posted, it sits now at about 6.4 - 6.3ish.. There may be a slight Mg deficiency in one plant as only 2 out of all of her leaves have a slightly yellow tip. Nothing I am concerned about at this moment though.. But it should be noted that the Ph I am using is working.. Perhaps on my next round of plants I will make sure that I start a little lower in ph so that I can maximize my growth and have flowering plants in the shortest amount of time possible..  (Also I am using RO water..)

3rd.. Why am I chasing PH? Why stress it.. Good point.. After reading this post I probably wont stress it anymore.. After seeing how my plants are doing.. You are right.. there is no need to stress over the drift.. 

My plants look green and happy and I have only been watering every couple of days.. They are approx a month and a couple days old.. Lots of new growth. I have been FIM'ing them every other node to try to increase my yield a little.. So growth upward has been a little diminished. But new stem growth and stalk growth are thick and green. They have developed steadying root structures.. And have moved on from their 3point fan leaves, to their 5 pointers.. They have a faint sweet skunky smell to them if I smell close enough to the leaves..mmmm. They are approaching 5 inches tall and about 9 inches wide from fan tip to fan tip... Got me a used dehumidifier for 49 bux from some old people last night.. My HID system is ready to go, got a bottle of Bloom.. So as far as I know I'm ready for flowering in hopefully a month or 2.. Still working on a way to get some pics up.. Well I'm off to learn about the art of pruning and when it is safe to start doing so, so that I can stay one step ahead of my children.. Their growing up so fast...sniff..:cry: :banana: 

ostpicsworthless:


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