# Please help problem with PH level



## kailijs (Apr 23, 2016)

I grow on grodan libras 100cmx15cm. I got realy big problem i soke all slabs before planting and startblocks in 5.2 Ph 1.4 ec and get nice slabs 5.9-6.4 ph level and 1.3 1.4 ec. In watering tank give 5.7Ph - 5.8 Ph + EC 1.3- 1.4 give them B`cuzz A&B nutrients + PK 13-14 (50:50) all time - everything goes good but in second week of flowering lot of slabs start rise up EC, PH has good 5.9-6.6 Then but EC rise up to 1.5 - 2.2 I rinse slabs with PH 5.8 water without nutes. And after rinsing make back in tank 5.8 ph + ec 1.3 2 days all mesures has good but in third day in allmost half slabs ph falls down to 4.3-5.4 ec is 1.2-1.4 

Tell me please if is some way how to get back good Ph level i see plants are suffering. I try disconect water for 24 hours in hope the ph will rises up but it doesnt help get even worst. Now watering again with 5.8 ph get back +/- 5.8 Ph in slabs but now after 2 days again in several slabs i see ph is 4.3 4.5 4.8 5.1.... 

What can be problem ? Now plants is 2 weeks + on 12/12 regime.

If sombody can help how to do like that ph didnt fall, i will be gratefull !

P.s.

Please if somebody know how tell me PM or here, plant are suffering ((

Thank you for support !


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## zem (Apr 23, 2016)

the ph going lower fast must be a plant issue, ec is too low for flowering plants how do you feed your plants?


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## kailijs (Apr 23, 2016)

I feed them with B'Cuzz Hydro Nutrition A+B (http://atami.eu/product/hydro-nutrition-ab/)
and ATA PK 13-14 http://atami.eu/product/ata-pk-13-14/

Give them in equal parts 50 % A+B and 50% PK13-14

Make them not EC 1.4 like usual but make lower becouse afraid give too much i made 1.1-1.3 EC

I afraid that grodan block can be ruined becouse ph falls down to ph4.3-4.8 to lot of slabs...

Think this ph can fall down becouse low EC ? 

Where can be problem becouse after rinse ph start falling down  I watering all time from tank with 5.8 PH


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## Grower13 (Apr 23, 2016)

kailijs said:


> I feed them with B'Cuzz Hydro Nutrition A+B (http://atami.eu/product/hydro-nutrition-ab/)
> and ATA PK 13-14 http://atami.eu/product/ata-pk-13-14/
> 
> Give them in equal parts 50 % A+B and 50% PK13-14
> ...


 

are you reading the PH of the tank daily? are you aerating your water?


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## kailijs (Apr 23, 2016)

shure i reading ph in tank daily severeal times in day it is constant 5.7 PH - 5.8 PH in tank
aerating you mean - water cyrculation in tank - yes ofcourse i have big enought circulation pump in tank who goes 24/7


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## zem (Apr 23, 2016)

kailijs said:


> I feed them with B'Cuzz Hydro Nutrition A+B (http://atami.eu/product/hydro-nutrition-ab/)
> and ATA PK 13-14 http://atami.eu/product/ata-pk-13-14/
> 
> Give them in equal parts 50 % A+B and 50% PK13-14
> ...



Well if the plant has a low EC it will stress her and it can cause a lot of issues, when plants are unhealthy, this can cause ph drifting, so it could be


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## Grower13 (Apr 24, 2016)

how big is your tank? how often are you doing res change? are you topping off your tank?


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## kailijs (Apr 24, 2016)

My tank is 1000 LIter i feed it down to 20% then fill up again to 100%.

Can`t understand why this ph drifting down - i give EC 1,4-1,5 in first week only secon week ec start rises up and after rinsing starts this mess...... 

Problem is they didnt get any fertilizer becouse ph is lower 5.2 this is biggest problem - i will told disaster...


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## Grower13 (Apr 24, 2016)

can you top off more often? how many plants are you running? .......try topping off  daily that will help you get a ph swing through the proper range from low end to high end...... your ph should rise as plants use the nutrients in reservoir ........ also if your mixing and using your PH may be dropping as a normal thing during first 3 days after mixing.......... it also could be your feeding them to strongly......... btw when I refer to topping off I mean with plain water.


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## kailijs (Apr 24, 2016)

Several hundreds of plants. "topping off" you mean every day rins rockwool slabs with plain water with Ph level 5.8 ? 

Maybe just mix in reservuar Ph 6.0 - 6.3 and feed like before then lovest Ph will rise up ?


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## Grower13 (Apr 24, 2016)

topping off =  bringing the reservoir back to the same amount of water every day........ by doing this.... as your  plants use the nutrients in the water and the ph of the nutrient solution should rise for you over a period of time and bring your plants through the good PH range over a given period of time.


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## kailijs (Apr 24, 2016)

You mean keep PH 5.8 all time, but every day fill up tank to 100% and again correct ph and add ec to correct level? 

How much water give to plant in slab ? If i give too much then can happen situation that plant cant get nutes? Correct if i`m wrong. I have 4plant x 4 spikes in one libra and second timer to control main pump. Now i give about 1.3 liter water to libra in 24 hours. It isnt to much ?


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## Grower13 (Apr 24, 2016)

only correct the PH when it rises out of the range your looking for........ then you adjust ph back to the bottom of the range........ top off reservoir  every day plain water......... do a complete reservoir change when your PPM's get to low....... for me it's every 2 weeks.

My preferred ph range is 5.6 to 6.2........ takes a week for my ph to rise through this range........ I adjust it back down and wait for it to rise to 6.2.


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## kailijs (Apr 24, 2016)

only correct the PH when it rises out of the range your looking for........

this means if i have in some slabs 4.5 Ph and in some slabs 6.3Ph  then i must give ph 5.8 all time

my necesery minimum is 5.2 and maximum is 6.5

minimum ec is 1.4 mximum is 1.6 

how to do then ?
_________________________________________
when i fill up tank (usualy dayly plants consume ~250 liters)

then ph rises up to 6.5 and c falls down to 1.2

Maybe some ideas why some slabs is fine some is ruined  

Lot of plants curved looking realy bad more than 60% of all plants are suffering


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## Grower13 (Apr 24, 2016)

Is it just random which slab may have what PH...... or is it dependent on the plants position within the growing system your using?


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## kailijs (Apr 24, 2016)

i using this type of system:

https://www.google.lv/search?q=dutc...ables+with+grodan+slabs&imgrc=j3VGWZH0fIElWM:


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## Hushpuppy (Apr 28, 2016)

Does your watering/feeding system recirculate back to the reservoir or is this a "drain to waste" system?

It sounds like you may have stripped out some (or all) of the elements within the medium that helped to balance the pH, which you did when you conditioned the medium at the beginning. You might have to do a reconditioning of the slabs to get that balance again. Coco coir can act in this same manner when flushed.


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## kailijs (May 12, 2016)

i use drip to waist system. maybe ph meter when i prepered slabs did some error... soaking slabs with plants on them i think isnt good idea or can try? 

some slabs fall down to 4. ph i afreid it ruins rockwool and cant get again ph like i need in level 5,5 - 6.4


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## Keef (May 13, 2016)

Kailijs- I grow in aero with plastic baskets and foam collars !--- I recently had a run in with such a problem ! --pH kept going down -- I would adjust it back up !--- I was pulling my hair out !-- I had leaves showing all sorts of deficiencies! -- Root Aphids had moved into the space between the plant stem and the foam collar then  bored into the stem !--- I hope that is not your problem !--- Almost wiped me out !--- Put some beneficial nematodes on your grow medium and see if things improve !


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## trainfriend (Feb 10, 2017)

kailijs said:


> I grow on grodan libras 100cmx15cm. I got realy big problem i soke all slabs before planting and startblocks in 5.2 Ph 1.4 ec and get nice slabs 5.9-6.4 ph level and 1.3 1.4 ec. In watering tank give 5.7Ph - 5.8 Ph + EC 1.3- 1.4 give them B`cuzz A&B nutrients + PK 13-14 (50:50) all time - everything goes good but in second week of flowering lot of slabs start rise up EC, PH has good 5.9-6.6 Then but EC rise up to 1.5 - 2.2 I rinse slabs with PH 5.8 water without nutes. And after rinsing make back in tank 5.8 ph + ec 1.3 2 days all mesures has good but in third day in allmost half slabs ph falls down to 4.3-5.4 ec is 1.2-1.4
> 
> Tell me please if is some way how to get back good Ph level i see plants are suffering. I try disconect water for 24 hours in hope the ph will rises up but it doesnt help get even worst. Now watering again with 5.8 ph get back +/- 5.8 Ph in slabs but now after 2 days again in several slabs i see ph is 4.3 4.5 4.8 5.1....
> 
> ...



I won't claim to be an expert in this type of growing but I know this:

1) Solution pH rising under ordinary circumstances is normal. Nutrients are acidic. Acid drives pH down. As the plants consume the nutrients the solution becomes less acidic causing pH to drift upward. It's a good thing! LOL. Adjusting PPMs back to optimum level will reduce pH and you will ride that EC scale upward again.

2) When solution pH goes downward it could be a sign that your nutrients are too "hot". When plants grow too fast, especially when high nitorgen fertilizers are used, the plant tends to drink more water and consume less nutrients. Hence there is a more nutrient dense solution...lowering the pH.  To solve this, lower the PPMs/EC of your solution.

I assume the pH of the Grodan cube would be governed by the pH of the solution that runs through it? Make sense?

If I understand you correctly, you're in week two of flower. Running 1.3 EC = 650 PPM (TDS 500 Scale). Again, I don't know that type of system. I use RDWC but I assume the numbers are about the same. In week two of flower my PPM is somewhere around 500 (or EC 1.0 I think). It sounds to me like you nutrients are too hot.

Anyone else out there want to jump in?


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## sopappy (Mar 12, 2018)

Keef said:


> Kailijs- I grow in aero with plastic baskets and foam collars !--- I recently had a run in with such a problem ! --pH kept going down -- I would adjust it back up !--- I was pulling my hair out !-- I had leaves showing all sorts of deficiencies! -- Root Aphids had moved into the space between the plant stem and the foam collar then  bored into the stem !--- I hope that is not your problem !--- Almost wiped me out !--- Put some beneficial nematodes on your grow medium and see if things improve !



I also read you can put vaseline on the stems
but I felt really weird doing that


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## sopappy (Mar 13, 2018)

Grower13 said:


> can you top off more often? how many plants are you running? .......try topping off  daily that will help you get a ph swing through the proper range from low end to high end...... your ph should rise as plants use the nutrients in reservoir ........ also if your mixing and using your PH may be dropping as a normal thing during first 3 days after mixing.......... it also could be your feeding them to strongly......... btw when I refer to topping off I mean with plain water.



I was changing every 7-10 days and trying to adjust the pH to 5.8 during those first 3 days by adding pH UP, and probably screwing up, I'm adjusting far too often constantly correcting.
How do I manage this 3 day anomaly when I reset?
prepare nutes 3 days in advance and wait until 4th day to adjust pH and then do the reset?
or adjust to higher pH at first giving it room to fall? check 4th day, adjust and do the reset?


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## Hushpuppy (Mar 13, 2018)

I have found that my plants like for me to let the pH drift between 5.3 and 6.0 (running in hydro). But I have also found that if you have a small reservoir with multiple plants, you will be changing pH continuously because the plants are affecting the concentration of nutes in the solution. I run 3 plants in about 35 gallons of solution. It has been my experience that lower EC/ppm will cause pH swing even more as the plants are changing the concentration faster due to having less chemicals in the solution to be pulled out.

I usually run my plants around 700ppm/1.4EC during veg and raise them to 1200ppm during flower. I still have to change my solution every 10 days, and I have to adjust the pH pretty regular (every 3 days). I have almost no trouble with my plants being unhappy at those levels, but different strains require different levels sometimes.


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## Hushpuppy (Mar 13, 2018)

I have also found that during the first couple days after adding nutes, the aeration will cause pH change. Once that settles down, I adjust pH to one end of the scale and allow it to adjust itself to the other end before adjusting it again.


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## 2RedEyes (Mar 13, 2018)

My ph seems to drift down so I start a res at 6.4 or 6.5 and let it drift down to about 5.5. Im in coco chips. Often all I have to do is add some more of my ph 7.8 tap water and its right back where I started it. Unless I add more nutes as well then I gotta ph up it.


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## sopappy (Aug 22, 2018)

Grower13 said:


> ...
> mixing and using your PH may be dropping as a normal thing during first 3 days after mixing..........



Hey G13, (anybody quick question...  Do youl mix your nutes 3 days before doing a reset?
If so, how do you treat the mixture for the 3 days? closed lid, closed lid and bubbled, open lid fluted...
I mixed too strong once so had some already mixed, tried to save it in a 5 gal bucket but film and crap formed on the surface in a few days


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## sopappy (Aug 22, 2018)

Hushpuppy said:


> I have also found that during the first couple days after adding nutes, the aeration will cause pH change. Once that settles down, I adjust pH to one end of the scale and allow it to adjust itself to the other end before adjusting it again.



If I don't aerate or flume, I 'll get a gross film on top in an open bucket,
should it be capped only so PH settles otherwise, if it's bubbled, it might as well be in the rez, no?
(small wonder I can't grow worth a damn)


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## sopappy (Sep 1, 2018)

Grower13 said:


> only correct the PH when it rises out of the range your looking for........ then you adjust ph back to the bottom of the range........ top off reservoir  every day plain water......... do a complete reservoir change when your PPM's get to low....... for me it's every 2 weeks.
> 
> My preferred ph range is 5.6 to 6.2........ takes a week for my ph to rise through this range........ I adjust it back down and wait for it to rise to 6.2.



I've been reading, reading, reading, apparently 6.0 is plenty high for hydro and 5.0 - 6.0 is ok and lower than 5.0 is way better than higher than 6.0    ??????? (should have saved article)
Writer suggested that the lit all revolved around magic 6.2 number because that was the highest reading on the pool checking thingies. Even 4.5 is nothing to freak out about. I would have thought the other way around.

I've had so many crappy grows, I don't mind experimenting, I'm starting at 5 with this batch.


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