Ph is rising, can't seem to stabilize

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Originally Posted by cmasfca

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I will go to the hydro store today and pick up 15 gal of RO water and some CalMag. The nutes that came with my aeroponic's kit is Liquid Earth and it has three separate bottles; A vigor, bloom, and grow bottle.

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You buy RO water at the grocery store. You fill your own bottles from one of those machines outside the store. It costs about $.25/gallon.

BTW - What light schedule are you on?

PC :smokin:

PharmaCan - I will take your advice and pay close heed to Weedhound's words, although I already have been ;)

I just got off the phone with my local Hydro shop and said that I need to get the chloramine(sp?) out of my water and the best way to do that is to flush my reservoir with R/O, just like you guys said! He suggested going 50/50 tap water and r/o, but when asked further he did say 100% RO with CalMag would be better, but more work.

I am going to the RO store today and getting 20 gal and flushing my entire reservoir with it. I then plan to follow the formula outlined at
The Cannabis Cultivation GrowFAQ - The Internet Hub for Marijuana Cultivation - MisterIto's chemical nutrient formula
How does that look? I am unexperienced, but it looks like something I could follow using different brands for the same function.

Thanks for helping the new guy :):hippy:

HA ha sounds like your man is on the ball.....and is used to folks wanting the easiest way to do things....cm that's probably why we're all crabs around here.....we aren't used to people like you willing to go whole hog....good for you. :thumbsup: I would pick your hydro-man's brain while you are there.....my hydro guy literally LED me through my first grow....I'll never be able to repay all that he taught me (and still does teach me......)

I don't really understand that schedule you've got there...but seriously I don't have to in order for you to use it......if you understand how it works then GO FOR IT I say!!! :thumbsup:

PharmaCan - I was on a 24 hour cycle for the first 24 hours after I planted the clones. After the first 24 hour cycle I put it on 18/6.

Weedhound - I am going to pick up some of that Botonicare Progrow today. Do I also need to pick up CalMag? Or does the Progrow include those minerals?

My Planned Schedule If I Need To Add CalMag:
0 ppm RO water 15 gal
200 ppm CalMag
200 ppm Botonicare ProGrow

My Planned Schedule If I Do Not Need To Add CalMag:
0 ppm RO water 15 gal
400 ppm Botonicare Progrow

Do these schedules look alright until I am ready to flower?

Would it be better to run these schedules for a week, then increase the ppm more, and if so, how much should I raise the ppm to?

I am having a hard time finding something that will give me a good range of ppms during veg stage and flower stage and flush stage. Anyone have something like that bookmarked?

Weedhound - No, you didn't come off rude; I just realized I was being a dumbass and had to acknowledge it :D

My ph in the last 4 hours has only risen .1, so I am very happy about that. Maybe the hydroton was affecting the ph, at least a little bit.

All this talk about hydroponics being self sufficient; I was starting to feel like I was caring for a baby in intensive care. Now I realize I was giving them shit to eat, I mean even I don't drink my tap water. You just...don't around here!

/slaps self

Well, hopefully my girls will forgive me :(

Thanks guys

Actually when your plants are sick I think it IS like that in hydro....they can go very fast....crash and burn quicker than soil and its amazing how quick you SEE the changes in them.

I love my botanicare nutes.....and they are organic (mostly.....) If you buy some Pro Grow, RO water and CalMag you will be set......anything ele will be extra for your plants and we don't want that right now.

So...CalMAg....200ppm Pro Grow....200PPM.....watch ph like a HAWK....its not allowed to be out of 5.6-6.1 range. If you see improvement in the net 4-5 days then start upping things. I usually up things once a week by 200ppm (next week 300ppm CalMag and 300ppm Pro Grow...etc) but you could probably do smaller amounts faster if they look happy (add 100ppm every 3 days... instead of 200pm once a week.)

The biggest thing that was pounded into my head by my hydro guy is the CalMag and how important it is to use if you are using RO or distilled water. His schedule is 50% of your TOTAL ppms (using RO water) should be CalMag in veg.... R0 water.... 1/2 Cal Mag, 1/2 Grow nutes. Stick with this ratio.....don't raise your numbers too high too fast and keep your ph under control. I think if you do will have some happy plants growing before too long. ;)

Perfect Weedhound!

This answers all of my questions and I am impatiently waiting for my girlfriend to get back from class with my car so we can go get some r/o water, calmag, and progrow. We did get a hanna combo meter that has probes that are always in the res giving readings so that will be great for watching them the next couple of days. That may be the only reason my girls are still alive, is that I have watched the ph rise by 1.2 over 6 hours! So I added the ph down, I've used a ton of that already and I onlly got it yesterday!

Anyways, I'm definitely medicated to the point where I need to concentrate on something unimportant. Here I come xbox!

I will be watching for replies on my laptop, so don't be shy :)

If no one has any other comments I will respond after I have r/o, 200 ppm CalMag and 200 Botanicare ProGrow in my reservoir with my airstone, temp gauge, ph probe, and tds sensor; But NOTHING ELSE!!! :D

You GO CM!!!! :thumbsup: :stoned:

Update!

I just finished flushing the system with R/O water and after filling my res with 15 gal the total ppm was around 20, which is definitely within the range I want.

I then did the math to find out how much CalMag I needed for 15 gal to make 200 ppm and it came out to be .625 cups. After filling one half cup almost all the way and putting it in the res, my ppm jumped to 500! Fuck. So I added in 30 ppm of Botanicare ProGrow by doing little by little (which is what I should have done with the CalMag!!) I'm such a dumbass :( I then lowered the ph to 5.6 and am not letting it go above 5.9. I need much less ph down now to have an effect; I'm glad I did 3 drops at a time.

Did I just screw myself over AGAIN by putting too much CalMag into the reservoir? If needed I could go get another five gallons of R/O water from the store down the street and dilute the solution.

So, yell at my dipshit self, call me names, but please, what would you guys (and gals!) have me do?

THANKS

I hate to tell you this....but you should change it. 500 is way too much for seedlings....
What was the total number you ended up with?

Here's what I would do......

you have 500 CalMag.....Add 500 Pro grow....dilute entire thing down to 400 ppm....save the rest for a few days to add later.....it will stay good for a couple days....but not too long after that.

The ratios are very important here.

Ps...if it's easier to go to the nearest 7-11 and get distilled water that will work fine too.