Please help problem with PH level

[sopappy]

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

 

[sopappy]

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?

 

[Hushpuppy]

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.

 

[Hushpuppy]

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.

 

[2RedEyes]

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.

 

[sopappy]

...
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

 

[sopappy]

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)

 

[sopappy]

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.