Thanks for fast response bro
1 Like
Even checked calibration of ph pen aND it’s spot on 7.0 no fluxuations
@Sirsmokes I would ph your nutrient solution at 4 until it comes back down. Or maybe a flush? I don’t have a lot of experience on this matter yet, maybe @bob31 has better suggestions?
1 Like
I got 20 gallons gassing out right now to flush my tds was only 580 I’m not sure if it has anything to do with anything not sure. About all I can do is wate and research at this point can’t even flush for 36 hrs for water to be good
Ph of 4 seems kind of sketchy, but I like the process. I was thinking more of running a flush with something of a ph closer to 5-5.2. Then checking runoff of last pour.
I think going lower with ph would get it in range faster, but it may shock the plants.
4 Likes
@dbrn32 maybe a ph of 5 might be a little easier on the roots. But a ph of 8 it’s going to experience nute lock out soon if not currently.
1 Like
I agree 100%. And I may be wrong, but intentionally going that far out of range makes me nervous. A large ph swing could be just as or more harmful than being high or low.
If it were my baby, I’d flush with around ph of 5 and see what runoff of last pour was. I suspect it would make up around half the gap to ideal. From there, I would add some Dolomite lime and continue to water a little low. I would expect the following process to have ph in check within a week or so.
If it didn’t respond much or at all, I’d be getting her into some fresh media more than likely.
5 Likes
When did you pour water? If you stir it every once in a while it should help evaporate chlorine.
I read watering with coffee diluted 50/50 with water will help lower the ph faster so I’ve got a pot of coffee on and will make another until I get 2 gallons so I can flush each plant with the coffee and check ph and go from there I do know a big swing will hurt them it does need to be a swing over the next week. If I can get it to 7 pretty quick and work from there I should be ok may have to veg them longer but it is what it is. At this point experiment is off its operation lower ph to save the girls…
That’s good to know I can stit a couple of times bur that’s why I said 36 hrs but it’s a bunch of 2 gallon buckets so 24 shold be good I filled them at midnight
I agree, 24 hours should be plenty in buckets that small. Especially if you give it a little stir a few times.
Do you have any dolomite lime? If not, maybe see if there’s somewhere local you can grab some tomorrow. That will help you out quite a bit. You shouldn’t need much, probably a couple of tablespoons per 2 gallon pot. But I swear the stuff has saved me more than a few times.
1 Like
I have lime but don’t know if it’s dolomite but I used it to bring my pH up last grow…will it also bring it down … is it a pH stabilazer?
I’m going to go read the bag I’m curious now I don’t remember what the bag said lol to many mdeicing filled nights
1 Like
What I have spicifacally says to raise acidic ph so I better not use it but it’s not dolomite
I can go to my local big home store tomorow and look
Sorry bro, I fell asleep. Those are all great questions, and perhaps someone can answer better than me. But I’ll give you the best explanation I can. Dolomite lime is ph neutral, around 7 I’m pretty sure. So it technically can be used to raise or lower ph, based on wherever it is. Think of it more as a stabilizer or buffer than an adjustment tool.
Now I was tired, and perhaps peat would’ve been a good suggestion to actually lower the ph. But my understanding is that those soilless mixes already contain peat? That was my thinking anyway, perhaps I should’ve asked before suggesting otherwise. Anyways… it’s also my understanding that the dolomite lime contains calcium and magnesium, something that most media doesn’t. And that when the mineral content in pots gets out of balance, this why we see some of the big ph swings. Something to do with the reaction of the hydrogenated molecules with the non hydrogenated molecules I guess.
My thinking by recommending the lime is that you need to get back to within at least a manageable range, and the lime should help do that. From there, you can water and feed with a ph low solution. But that was really based on getting it to react with ph low water in the first place. My concern is that whatever is going on in your mix will just continue to happen. You’ll water low and bring it down, and then it will climb back up. Without some sort of other interaction, I don’t know if it will get any better with just ph’d solution.
Perhaps @bob31 @Donaldj or @Countryboyjvd1971 can weigh in or recommend a more solid solution to help fix your issue.
@Sirsmokes Pro-Mix has an entire line of “Growing Mediums”. Which one are you using?
NFTGis telling you to pH to 6.3 and the pro-mix does it say anything about the correct pH on the bag?
The runoff was 8.3 and the slurry test came out at 8.1?
And the calibration came out at 7 on the meter using 7.0 calibration fluid?
I have never seen a growing medium with a pH of 8. (Not that I have seen everything, but I’m sure I would have heard something by now?)
Sounds to me like that bag of growing medium didn’t get mixed properly and has too much of something in it.
Any chance you can dump it into a wheel barrow or something and give it a good mixing and then try the slurry test again?
If it still comes out that high we would need to figure out what to add to the soil to lower the pH.
3 Likes
You should never go more than 1 point away from your target ph as a large difference could kill the plant.
If the departure from nominal ph is large enough it may warrant a flush IMO. How do the plants look?
2 Likes
I use the promix bx and ph as per nutes mfg recommendations
In this case with nectar was between 5.8-6-8 depending where in grow just fyi
Promix can be watered using regular ph ranges and doesnt need to be phd at lower values as with coco
3 Likes