A few questions about PH..from a rookie

[lilman]

PH questions

1) What is the proper PH and just how close do you need to be to that number ?

2) If PH is too high how do i bring it down ?

3) If PH is too low how do i bring it up ?

4) Is nute lock the main concern with an incorrect PH level or are there other effects from your PH being off??

5) If i think they are nute locked how do i fix them?

I am intersted in how this effects plants in the 4th week of flower that are being grown in pro mix

Also
i did try to look this stuff up but there is sooo much info here it was taking me hours to sort through it all so decided i would just ask the pro's =)

thanks a ton !!!

[lilman]

sorry i forgot a question..

I have a light meter i have been using.. how many lummens do u need to bloom properly? I am getting about 2K lummens in my weakest area's.. is that enough light ??

thanks again !!

[Bluefunk]

1) depends i you're growing in soil or hydro - hydro i use 5.2-5.8, sorry can't remember soil ph window and would rather not blag.
2 and 3) If your water is hard (ph 7+) then you should lower the pH with pH down (nitric/phosphoric acid) and raise the pH with water. And if your water is soft 6ish, then you should raise the pH with pH up (sodium hydroxide) and lower the pH with water or if you need it lower than 6 use pH down. but NEVER USE pH UP AND pH DOWN IN THE SAME RES - insoluble salts will form. However, if you are in soil then you strongly influence the pH with the soil medium - once again i dont do soil, dont wanna blag.
4) you'll kill the plants with extremely low or high pHs (ph 1-4 or 9-14) but nute lockout is the main reason for pHing your water - to keep your nutes soluble.
5) If you are in hydro, change your resovoir - only reliable way to do it. And if you're in soil.. dont wanna guess.
6) Not sure mate sorry.


Hope that helps, hope you've got a hydro setup or it wont lol.

[Zandor]

There is a chart in the FAQ section that show the available nutrients at different Ph levels for both soil and hydroponic gardening. DL it to you desk top for reference.

That should answer your Ph question.