getting fancy with PH tweaking...

[F420]

ferengi why so low in flower? 5.3!

 

Some strains Ive had just liked it lower and then as I add water it slowly comes up again.

 

also why are u better off letting it drift than adjust?

 

because you can upset the nutrient mix by adding too many adjusters.

[Luke Skywalker]

Too true, but usually it's not an issue if you're dumping and flushing regularly.

 

I just wish that sulphuric acid was more available as this is a nutrient which would have the least effect in under or overdosage.

[thc24]

Hi KL and crew , agreed

5.3 is good if using pk and budlink and others that play with the pk, ph normally rises so lower is better in coco 5.8 is good for veg and 6.0 flower. ph down has a use buy date of sorts after about a year you notice you are using more and more to lower ph in steady ro water, its cheep and should be regulary changed canna claim to have a down that is inlike the others you need more instead of drops, mils. It is best to keep ph steady up and down iis asking for troubles and a slower grow ..

[F420]

using more and more to lower ph in steady ro water,

 

My personal view is that R/O water should never be used to water a plant.

R/O water was designed for screen printers.

Its doesnt contain any micro or macro nutirents.

[Luke Skywalker]

Which is why you add them in a nutrient solution....

 

RO is in many ways the same as rainwater, although obviously more harmful to the environment. The best water IMHO is the purest, as you've got more room for nutrients in the solution and no nuisance chemicals. I've heard of some commercial growers who advocate never using any raw water with a ppm over 200, roughly 0.3 ec! Many many growers haven't got any option of this kind, and most grow perfectly fine without worrying about this, but it would certainly make for happier plants if you could do it.

 

If there was something in your water which you really thought was necessary and wasn't present in your RO/rainwater then you could always mix a small proportion of tap water back in, say 1:10 or 1:5 tap:RO, and that could offset it, but I don't think there's much in there that would be of benefit.... (perhaps micro elements like chlorine and sodium which are only required in such miniscule amounts as to be almost non-existent?)

 

One note on pH adjustment that I just remembered. A good way to ensure that you don't overdo things with pH up and down is to dilute them about 1:10 in distilled water, this way you can measure in mL rather than drops, which makes it harder to overdo things.

 

pH up should ideally only be added in a diluted form, but for most intents and purposes it does little harm to add it straight. If you have a persistent clouding and precipitation after adding pH up then dilute it down before using, as it's reacting too quickly for the solution to dilute it back down to a more reasonable level.

[thc24]

thanks luke , ithanks for advice i normally mix 80% ro the reason for ro was the high ec of tap water 0.8 in perth second worst in country acording to integral hydro . yes i always dilute nute / additives in 10 lt before res, PH same start with 20 drops per liter .so true about over doing it i always needed ph up for my little mistakes another good tip is to calibrate meters before each use i find calibrate rinse and test without turning off to work best as my ph is a bit iffy needs constant ajusting. Have you heard about cannas ph down better for plants. Ferengi i have only heard good things about RO except for the od calcium deficiency in us humans if only drinking RO now onto my second unit the first lasted two years but bedid not replace filter after 6 months i messed it up had it tested and was no good got another cheep (200)just the filters had to reuse fittings and buy new hoses and blocks she pumps atleast 200 lt a day if no other taps are running i use 120 lt a week so i have to run a bit extra as you do not want them to dry or worst get bacteria in out pipe creating bacteria probs in RO res . EC is 0.0 soon as you get any ec its time to change the first chemical filter.

[keepleft]

hey guys should PK additives also be added diluted? i added weight plus undiluted to the nute mix and it went very cloudy! Edited February 20, 2006 by keepleft

[yoda4green]

By drifting the plant can uptake what it needs. It has a range and can get the best on both NPK and the micronutrients. The chart explains that theory. What does flushing the medium do for the system??? Can certain nutes build up and lock out other nutes??????

[yoda4green]

By drifting the plant can uptake what it needs. It has a range and can get the best on both NPK and the micronutrients. The chart explains that theory. What does flushing the medium do for the system??? Can certain nutes build up and lock out other nutes??????

[Roadblock]

((( Can certain nutes build up and lock out other nutes?????? )))

 

Yes mate nute salts will build up and burn the crapper out of your plants if it gets too high , you either flush regular or use high volume feeding to flush the buildup .

 

Rod