How come the Ph will change?

I have noticed that when I mix my water and nutes I will test the Ph. and bring it to desired measurement. The next day when I test it again I notice it drops a couple points. I check cal on the Oakton tester Pen and its perfect.

I've read on the forums to always check and re-check the Ph again and again. Does the PhUp/Down just disappear and disolve in the water? should I even bother to set the Ph of my water a day ahead of using it,or before i leave it to sit for a few days?

I use a One Gallon plastic Jug that is similar to a big Jar(Science Jug) with a plastic lid not sealed.

I'm using
Botanicare Pure grow pro Grow/Bloom
GroteK Ph up/down
Bio-Genesis High-Tide

Any help is greatly appreciated.

kd_special

Let the water sit for a day then mix the nutes if that is what your not doing right now. Some water will have a PH drop after sitting for 24 hours.
Adieu

The plant takes up the nutes at different rates which will cause ph fluctuations.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kdspecial

Does the PhUp/Down just disappear and disolve in the water? should I even bother to set the Ph of my water a day ahead of using it,or before i leave it to sit for a few days?

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The reaction between the pH up/down and the acids may not be instant... especially since you're using organics... I'd pH it and then use it right away. One thing you don't want is to let mixed ferts sit in just water where they can interact chemically.
Another reason that I am careful to start with SOIL at the right pH so it's not such a delicate operation. It's all about the humic acids, baby! :D

Oh yeah and what bluebear said, let the water sit and equilibrate with the atmosphere BEFORE adding ferts.

are you groing soil or hydro. if i understand right you are mixing nutes and letting them sit for a few days and using it to water your soil/soilless plants. if that is the case this is a big nono. it says right on most fert bottles to use the ferts after you mix with water and discard the leftovers. saving the leftovers for watering a few days later can cause problems that you don't want to deal with.

if you are growing hydro just ignore my rambling.

Cool thanks for all the help guys and Gals.. I was mixing before hand then letting the water sit then Phing. From now on I will let the water sit for a day or two then add nutes and PH it right before use.

Thanks for the tips,,

I will be sure to discard the left overs,,,,

kd_special

i've acutely found odd pH changes in my water bottles.

I let them all sit for at least 24 hours at about 30 C
The water is all in 4L mil jugs (but ones that never held milk)

So if i pH my water to 6.4 and use it. a few days later i test it again the pH often goes up above 7. I find this very odd. Is it related to the plastic? is plastic basic or something. or could this be due to the reasons above:
-acids reacting slowly
-pH of water just changing with time as blue bear said

Quote:

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Originally Posted by harris7

The water is all in 4L mil jugs (but ones that never held milk)

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Is this important? I use many 1 gal containers that i clean after i drinks me my milk. Is this bad?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by harris7

The water is all in 4L mil jugs (but ones that never held milk) a water jug rinsed well 3 times with warm water, as long as ther was nothing crusty and gross dried onto it, is fine even if there was milk in it at one time

So if i pH my water to 6.4 and use it. a few days later i test it again the pH often goes up above 7. .....
Is it related to the plastic? .....
or could this be due to the reasons above:
-acids reacting slowly yes

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The plastic material that milk jugs are made of, polyethelene, is ridiculously nonreactive chemically.
My lab requests that all water samples be sent in LPE, LDPE, or HDPE containers only... not even glass!
In fact, glass is more reactive.
Micronutrients, Cu in particular, form chemical complexes on the surface of the glass that can only come off at a very low pH.
If you are pH ing your water and it returns above 7, my first insticnt is to say that you have something in there acting as a buffer, such as CaCO3. Very common in surface waters and groundwaters.
Now, I wish my boss were around to explain the various equilibria that Carbon has with water... but atmospheric C goes into water and does a number of things, like forming carbonic acid, Carbonate ion, etc. I believe that if you have Calcium in your water (which is virtually always the case to some extent) you will get some level of CaCO3 but I think it depends what form the Ca took... Ca+n ion... whatever charge... anyway uh.... yeah.... Im'a go shush now. :D

Thanks for the info stinky...

dammit someone give me rep! :D I'm a geeky loser! I want to be COOOOOOOL like Skink!

i hooked you up, you just got 3 lil squres:rastasmoke:

OMG I am laughing so hard! That is awesome. 3 squares, baby! You rock.
I like your avatar BTW... it makes me think of the label of that Canadian Unibroue beer 'Maudite' with the pic of the devil paddling a fur-trapper's canoe to hell on a packie run! Ima go google it and see if I can find it.
there ya go... 8% alcohol and a hella good sippin' beer too!

You must spread some reputation around before giving it to StinkyAttic again......grr....well I found your post very intresting....thanks! B

Shit I get that all the time trying to rep Storm Crow and BlueBear, lol!

What a great party I have started....

thansk for all the info guys and Gals... Stinky you rock with your Scientific info and facts

Since when did being smart get you called a loser?

How do I rep somone? what does that mean anyways? Is it like Props?

Props mang...... to all but espically Stinky cuz shes the beez kneezz....

kd

You rep someone by clicking on the little scales to the upper right of the post that you liked...

You have NO idea how much I took crap in school for being a geek and a nerd and having glasses and braces and -dare I admit it- a hella time pronouncing my 'R's"....

It was a hoot going back to my 10 year high school reunion and having Mr Hot Jock, Captain of the Basketball and Lacrosse Teams, all over trying to get my number, ROFL. I swear he just must not have even recognized the geek from back in the day! :D

holy scrap, i just got my 10 year reunion in the mail yesterday.

Stinky, The avatar is from stone brewing (http://www.stonebrew.com/).

They have some 13%ers there...really strong. The best is callede Arrogant Bastard Ale, they got ruination ale as well....good names, they fit the beer.

I've had the Arrogant Bastard. Our local snob pub, the Moan and Dove, carries it... yowee. Quite a quaff.

I see I see,,,, yeah we had a high scool reunion when they ripped my old high school down. I didn't go though Cuz Im way too cool for that. hahahahah

I was just a stoner kid in high school I was really only known for the guy you could get weed from and the guy noone knew too too much about except that I was nice and didn't start any shit. I swam on the swim team and I always got hassled for that. You know speedos and shit. you know the constant question "Do you shave your legs" hahahah. Fact was the swim team was the best team our shcool had. We were the poorest school in the town but also the oldest school in the town and so our school had a pool so we could practice more often than all other shcools in the region. I've won more swimming medals than any other sports like Bball and Baseball. One of my good friends ended up getting a full paid schlorship to the USA to swim for PENN UNiversity. He also swam on team Canada. I remember getting high before swim practice some times witha s elect few of swimmers at 530AM.

In High school I always hit on the girls with glasses and the bookish types. they made great girlfriends and friends cuz they could always hang out and were down for pretty much anything. Didn't have to try hard to inpress them they were happy with just hanging out watching movies. Also they always had perfect Skin.. Don't know why they just do. I think its cuz they rarly smoked ciggerettes and they were too smart for that bullshit.

kd_special

ROOTS sitting in water will change the pH... very very normal

Smoking around the grow while using air stones will change the pH..

And using a sulfur burner with air stones in your reservoir will TOTALY FUCK your pH....

iloveyou

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Garden Knowm

And using a sulfur burner with air stones in your reservoir will TOTALY FUCK your pH....

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MMMMMM sulfuric acid...
Luckily KD is a dirty dude. Doesn't have to worry about those hydro twitchies.
iloveyoutoo
:D

Hey KD... UPenn or Penn State? My bro went to UPenn. Real nice school. I hear that every morning they all go outside and find statues of Ben Franklin to genuflex in front of... he heh they're like in LOVE with him.

My high school sweetheart was a bike racer and shaved his legs. So did his best friend.... no one ever gave them crap for it; they were a pair- one 6'2 and the other 6'4- with stubbly legs! "hey STFU or I'll rub up against you and totally like ABRADE you!" lol

Yeah I never never smoked cigarettes. I still don't. My skin has always thanked me for it. On the other hand... my dirty sweaty smelly most favoritest Red Sox hat... that's adifferent story. I'm always suffering with a splotch or 3 on my forehead under the band of the cap...

GO SOX!!!! Yankees BOOOO!!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Garden Knowm

ROOTS sitting in water will change the pH... very very normal

Smoking around the grow while using air stones will change the pH..

And using a sulfur burner with air stones in your reservoir will TOTALY FUCK your pH....

iloveyou

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So if i"m puffing down a pack of smokes and it's sucking into my airpump, my PH could DROP, or RISE? Any definitive idea?

I've been wondering about ph dropping in my hydro setup and that could explain some.

I run an air purifier, but maybe I need to move it closer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

MMMMMM sulfuric acid...
My high school sweetheart was a bike racer and shaved his legs. So did his best friend.... no one ever gave them crap for it; they were a pair- one 6'2 and the other 6'4- with stubbly legs! "hey STFU or I'll rub up against you and totally like ABRADE you!" lol

Yeah I never never smoked cigarettes. I still don't. My skin has always thanked me for it. On the other hand... my dirty sweaty smelly most favoritest Red Sox hat... that's adifferent story. I'm always suffering with a splotch or 3 on my forehead under the band of the cap...

GO SOX!!!! Yankees BOOOO!!!!

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yeah ciggies are my arch enemy. I've seen too many pass form it and My mom has had second hand Smoke suffering from her mom. I can't believe its still considered ok. thanks God for the eduction we have about it now. I think less and less kids start.

I never shaved my legs I would never be able to take the chafing.. I wear a hat alot. Like my Shag hair right now is poping out the sides of this mofo. I liek the BlueJays... But we are more into Hockey here... GO LEAFS GO!! Toronto maple Leafs are where its at. they sell out everygame regardless if they are winning or losing. Toronto is the Hockey city of the world.

Have a good weekend All.....

thansk for all the help with the PH stuff Knowm,,,, and everyone else.

kd_special

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MisterE

So if i"m puffing down a pack of smokes and it's sucking into my airpump, my PH could DROP, or RISE? Any definitive idea?

I've been wondering about ph dropping in my hydro setup and that could explain some.

I run an air purifier, but maybe I need to move it closer.

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Look at the tubing that goes from your aquarium pump to the air stone.. EVEN after 1 ciggie that thing will have tar in it... yikes...

I smoke now and again.. YET i maintain KAK diesel status...lol.. lots of running, frisbee, poongazing, dead lifts.. etc....

I know that a sulfur burner with airstones running is a major NO NO..

I don't know exactluy what ciggies do.. but I don't recommend it.. or if you do do it.. put a PH tester inthe reservoir and report back to us..

iloveyou

GK, working out, maybe we'll have to have a work out session and a smoke session someday. I aint to much into those dead lifts, but we could lode up the squat rack with about 3 or 4 wheels on each side and bend the bar a little. LOL
Adieu

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Garden Knowm

Look at the tubing that goes from your aquarium pump to the air stone.. EVEN after 1 ciggie that thing will have tar in it... yikes...

I smoke now and again.. YET i maintain KAK diesel status...lol.. lots of running, frisbee, poongazing, dead lifts.. etc....

I know that a sulfur burner with airstones running is a major NO NO..

I don't know exactluy what ciggies do.. but I don't recommend it.. or if you do do it.. put a PH tester inthe reservoir and report back to us..

iloveyou

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I do use a continuous PH/TDS meter and before my latest res change, my PH kept dropping pretty dramatically. And that was with RO water and weak (300ppm) nutes and calmag+ about 10 days prior, with plain RO top ups. I'd start the day adjusted to 5.8 and it'd be 5.3 after 12 hours or so.

It's been steadier since the nute change, but I'd sure love to know what could make it drop like that on a daily basis.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BlueBear

GK, working out, maybe we'll have to have a work out session and a smoke session someday. I aint to much into those dead lifts, but we could lode up the squat rack with about 3 or 4 wheels on each side and bend the bar a little. LOL
Adieu

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I have been going to crossfit.com and trying their workouts.. they have dramtically effected my over all strength.. Last night I kinda fooked myself...

I tried to do 5 sets of 15 with 155lbs on the dead lift alternating with 5 sets of 15 on the bench with 145 lbs.. alternating with 1 minute of jump roping, alternating with 25 leg lifts with the 2 pound ball...

as fast as I can.. no rest...

on the 4th set (rotation) of dead lifts.. something got fooked.. in my back.... LOL.. today I am chilling...

I have been doing a lt of air squats... sets... 5 sets of 50... 2-4 times a week..

What country are you in BEAR?

lovelovelove