PH KEEPS RISING! PLEASE HELP!!!

[rapt44]

Hello, I am running a recirculating top feed drip system in six of the 5 gallon buckets with pure hydroton and a 10 gallon reservoir with ice to keep it cool. Feeding goes on all day with 2 minutes every 10 to help it drain. I am using the three part advanced nutrients with silica, that fulsomething acid, nectarsweet, calmag, wet betty, and supervit. I have a CO2 system. Change the water out regularly. I am using RO water.

Here's the problem. A week ago my ph began to rise, I figured it was because the plants were getting root bound, so I transplanted them into their own 5 gallon buckets with a little bit of nutriboost. They seemed to do ok, but the ph kept fluctuating. Must be root rot right? So I used some of the Zone from dutchmaster (like peroxide). Still no change. I had a clog, fixed that (don't know why but I thought that could have been affecting ph, and then maybe the metal strainers I put in to prevent the clogs are affecting it?) Anyways, simplest answer is easiest. Calibrated my ph meter, it was off. Changed out all the water. Remixed everything. Seemed to have it fixed. The ph was staying at 5.6 or 5.7 where I put it! So I discontinued the Zone applications and as I am about to go into flowering, thought Id help bulk up the roots from the transplant with some tarantuala and iguana (the fungi stuff u use with it) as well as some hygrozyme.

Yet now my ph is back to rising to 6.1/6.2 in the course of a few hours!!! I even bought a second ph meter, calibrated them both and they both confirm that the ph is now rising.

My suspicions:
1) The hygrozyme is dissolving some of the dead root mass which is raising the ph.
2) The cultures are raising the ph as they get started.
3) I am running my 6 at around 700 ppm. Adding around 10 tsp of micro, 10 of bloom, 10 of grow, 30 total (as recommended by advanced's website for light feeding a 10 gallon reservoir), to my 10 gallon reservoir, then all the additives and excellerant junk to bring it up where it needs to be. Am I not adding enough of the basic 3 part solution, the big guys are going through that in a day or two, and that is rising the ph? But by as much as 5.5 to 6.2 in a half a day? And the ppm's don't seem to be changing much.

Sorry for the long e-mail but I am stuck!!!!!! ALL HELP IS APPRECIATED AND WILL RECEIVE GOOD KARMA!

rapt44 Reviewed by rapt44 on 02-28-2008. PH KEEPS RISING! PLEASE HELP!!! Hello, I am running a recirculating top feed drip system in six of the 5 gallon buckets with pure hydroton and a 10 gallon reservoir with ice to keep it cool. Feeding goes on all day with 2 minutes every 10 to help it drain. I am using the three part advanced nutrients with silica, that fulsomething acid, nectarsweet, calmag, wet betty, and supervit. I have a CO2 system. Change the water out regularly. I am using RO water. Here's the problem. A week ago my ph began to rise, I figured it was Rating: 5

[Weedhound]

Do a search for hydroton....ph issues or high ph.....you'll have more information on your problems then you'll know what to do with.

If your hydroton isn't the issue then most likely you are burning them.

Good luck.

[Weedhound]

Also would be good idea to do a full system flush

[rapt44]

Yeah, when I did the full system flush it stablized til i added the tarantula and the iguana and the hygrozyme. I've been reading about the hydroton and high ph. So you believe I didn't pretreat the hydroton correctly? I rinsed it. I thought it was ph neutral (oh shoot does that mean at 7?)

[Weedhound]

Ok....more thorough read through. What day are you at? I personally use cannazym and have found the opposite is true...cannazym helps stabilize ph, not raise it so i'm not sure that is your problem.

When did you add this metal you are talking about? That would make me wonder if perhaps something is leaching into your water. I don't know enough about it to say but I do wonder....

How are your plants growing? Happily or do they have issues? As they get later on into flowering its normal for the ph to rise daily due to high nutrient needs. Mine generally will rise about 1 point a day (from 5.6 to 6.5 in 24 hours) so that becomes something you have to deal with if that is indeed the reason.

I personally hate hydroton with a passion (it's a personal thing :wtf but if you are more than 4 weeks in your hydroton should be stabilized even if you didn't pre-treat it correctly. And if it was normal before but NOW is a problem.....that doesn't really fit with "new hydroton syndrome."

[rapt44]

HMMMMM. Well I am in the transition week to flowering, although 3 are older, just over a month, and 2 are only a week or two, and another is somewhere in between. 730 ppm levels, I gave the 10-12 gallon res an extra tablespoon of micro due to what looked like some manganese deficiency in some leaves. I am highly interested that you said your levels change from 5.6 to 6.5 IN 24 HOURS!!! Holy crap is that normal? How many plants, how big a res? I have 6 in a 12 gallon res. It sounds like that could totally be it. I am Adding around 10 tsp of micro, 10 of bloom, 10 of grow, 30 total (as recommended by advanced's website for light feeding a 10 gallon reservoir), to my 10 gallon reservoir for six plants. Does that sound low to you? I think it may be. Could low nute levels cause it to change ph that much in just a few hours? Keep in mind my ppm levels don't fluctuate all that much, no signs of deficiency other than the above.

[Weedhound]

Ok I have personal issues with hydroton myself.....I think it leads to fert build up issues. I used it for about 6 months and finally changed but lots of people seem to have no problem with it so sometimes I wonder if it's just me.

I have pretty large plants in waterfarms (about 2 gals apiece) and my ph doesn't start rising like that until about week 4 of flowering and on and I used to have to adjust it constantly. Now I recirculate the nutes and that helps keep the ph down but it is considered normal pretty much at that point.

However....you aren't at that point and so yours should not be rising like that unless they are suddenly taking a huge grow jump or something. So it's pretty much up to you to watch and see if the nute level is too much which can also definitely cause ph to rise. If you want to find out for sure....drop back your ppms and see if your ph stabilizes. If so....stay on the lower side. If not....I am still wondering about the metal in your system and did you use a flushing agent when flushing the system?
Those would be my other two thoughts.

[rapt44]

Hey, thanks again for all of your help. So, I'm sure it's not too much nutes, they may even be a little low, as for hydroton, I give this a good flushing every week along with some floaclean as a salt leaching agent. And as for the metal peices, they are just those mesh screens you see in hoses, 3 for a $1.50 at the store. As they were made for water usage I don't believe they are leaking into the water and the problem started before they were put in.

I am at a new lead and would love your input. So the first time it was off, I think it was the ph meter uncalibrated. Now I have 2 that are calibrated and got problems when adding Tarantula, Pirahna, and Hygrozyme. I just remembered that I had some TEA COMPOST and FLORALICIOUS, both organics, in my reservoir. Could the Hygrozyme be reacting to the organics and causing the ph to rise by breaking them down?

[xcrispi]

I doubt root rot is / was causing your ph to rise .
Rot more often than not causes drop , not rise . I use hydroton too , I soak it in ph corrected water for 2-3 days before even introducing it into my system , and I rinse as much of the powdery crap out of it beforehand . Depending on what stage of life the plants in I get as much as .5 or more ph fluxuation per day .
I try to keep my res. somewhere between 5.5 - 6.2 . Hydro is much more maintence than soil .
Peace
Crispi :jointsmile:

[rhizome]

Mix up a couple gallons of your nute in a seperate container, drop in an airstone, and let it sit for a day or two.

If pH doesn't change, then the issue is in your system.

If pH does change, it's an interaction between chemistry and your water supply.

Get the metals out of the system- pretty much anything but stainless is asking for trouble.

Is there any precipitate at the bottom of your res?