ph problem again...but found culprit??

Well great... your friend is one of the lucky ones. We all will face pH problems at some point. It's simply a matter of time, and it's good to be prepared! Soooo.... here ya go!

Here's a pH testing tutorial I slapped together:
http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-pro...hy-how-do.html

I like having a backup test kit. I use liquid indicator, which is pretty darn foolproof. If I had a meter, I'd still check it against the indicator every time I calibrated. If you don't feel like mucking about with buffers and calibration, stick with strips or liquid.

Also, potting-up to the next pot size on a regular schedule, using fresh soil and not making a HUGE jump in size all at once, will often keep pH troubles at bay for longer.

Yes Stinky, I read that a while back very informative. That is when I started checking runoff. My plants were having problems and apparently my ph testing was also. Now the plant itself has a healthy appearence, but as stated before, in flower for 7 days and only have grown 2". Hence the new ph test strips to discover my tap water over 8. Once I get it under control with ph down, do you think my plants will start their stretch? thanks again

I don't know how much your particular plants will stretch- the 3 main factors are strain, light spectrum, and night/day temp swing. But any increase in quality of their care will translate to an increase in vigor and health. Good luck.

Well thats a friend who is not to botherd about his grow, ruff and ready is what he is.
I myself have had loads of probs when i first started with NFT and rockwool blocks untill i found out that you had to soak the rockwool in PH water for a good few hours, after that everthing was fine and dandy. ;)