(pics)PH problem plants + form

[TheXFactor]

heres one of the fems and the whole garden.. im curious where i should be looking for the change? new growth or the old ugly leaves.

heres a great question... i put ph down about 50 drops to one gallon to lower from about7.8 to 6.6 and both my pen and the indicator solution match. and then i let it sit over night and then i check it in the morning and the water is above 7 to 7.2? how can this be... i also, to the water of both jugs and poured them into eachother atleast 5 times each. firgue a quart going from each back and forth and one always test higher than another one no matter how much ph i put down i put in... i wonder if the govt did this to the water to make it difficult to grow plants with the wATer.

but things are looking good ill post some more pics...

TheXFactor Reviewed by TheXFactor on 11-23-2008. (pics)PH problem plants + form E-indoor E-soil E-2-4 gallon plasitic buckets CSL-Happyfrog, some has extra perlite, some with clay balls on bottom. all have clay balls on top to help maximize soil use. SCL-perlite. SCLR-slab ph, some are as high as 7.5 and others are around 7. E-tap water. E-7.6 ph (i now have a meter and i lower it to around 6.4. E-Age of plant, 1 month. E-botanicare, pure blend. veg cycle, 2-1.5-3 or something like that. Rating: 5

[TheXFactor]

heres the other fem.. im goign to put a lot of close pics of this because i think this is the one with the best chance. explosive growth in coming days. maybe a week.

[TheXFactor]

heres the nl hazes.. i dont but the first one ill show u might be just a cool pheno... maybe not idk...but its sus posed to be nl haze.


ill also post the one that has some holes in the leafs and curling of the edges of tthe leafs.

[stinkyattic]

Can you answer the questions? Am I to take that as a yes, you are pre-mixing your nutes? Don't do that unless they were designed for it. A hydro nute is meant to be stable over time, diluted, in a res, at pH 6 or so. Even if you use a hydro nute, adjusting the pH into a different range may make it less stable.

Use your nutes immediately after mixing. Don't let them sit.

[TheXFactor]

sorry stinky..

no i am not pre mixing... or atleast heres my process of water... take it from the spout, or tapwater,, let it sit over night maybe 3 night to help evap whatever will evap, chlorine, bleach, and maybe some of the cloramine, and then i check the ph very thourogly. ive only added nutes at half strenth one time so far and i added them right before i watered them.... i adjust it at all points....


and thats my watering/feeding style.

no res...

one thing i noticed with my soft water(7.6-8.3)(ph7, why is it so difficult for me to lower the ph, i end up with the tap water have to add over 50 drops to get below 6.7 and another 30 to get below 6.4 (per gallon) and with store bought water and it takes just a few drops to get it where u need...

i always double check the ph pen to the liquid indicator stuff.

pics tomorrow night.

[stinkyattic]

Is your tap water from a well or from the city? Soft water that takes a lot of pH down may have other crap in it. Or your meter might be not reading it right. What is the actual ppm, and if you are on a well, what is the surrounding landscape, especially the type of bedrock?

Something is not adding up. Have you tested the straight tap water, before leaving it out, with the liquid drops? Low ionic strength solutions do not register correctly on cheap or failing electrodes.

Chloramine does not evaporate. Neither does bleach (there should never be bleach in your tap water anyway!). Leaving it out to be better for plants is a myth. The only way to get chloramine out is by charcoal filtration, like aq fish tank filter or brita, and it's not necessary. If your water is considered safe to drink, it is safe for plants, although a fully-organic grow might have some issues at high levels of treatment chems.

You only have to check and adjust your pH once, and that is after adding ALL the fertilizers and before giving it to the plants. Quality ferts like Canna actually have a pH buffer in them to bring you to the correct pH if there is not a high level of interfering junk in your tap water.

[TheXFactor]

thats the interesting part..

i live in an reletively upperclass suburb, which i believe gets water from lake michigan. but it of course is treated. with what i dont know, i do know sometime ill go take a shower or brush my teeth when the water is running and close to ur face, it almost smells like chlorinated pool water(its subtle but i know that smell)... yet safe to drink..

i know that we do not get water from the ground, 2 towns over and i know i would have some of the best water around, but thats not the case..

i found it very perplexing tho, i filled the jug, let it sit for min, get to room temp, i have 75$ oakton pen, that the lady i thought was trying to sell me something that was just more expensive but she told me with the cheeper ones, they often fail, and ppl bring em back and yada yada yada.. soo i got A good one, interesting, the liquid tester always matches exactly to the pen, with a slight degree more of error but its close!

say in the PM i test the PH of TAP, its at 7.8 i then add 50-70 drops of PH DOWN.. i cant get it to really move off of 6.7 to go lower... i check it the next after noon and its at 7.0-7.2 and the liquid stuff matches the ph pen.

i havent had a problem with store bought water(when it comes to lowering ph, most are at 8 and go down 6.5 with 5-10 drops) but i want the plants to have something stable, not one brand today, tap tomorrow, a 3rd and maybe 4th brand of water.

[stinkyattic]

Do all your fert mixing BEFORE you even touch the pH. When it sits, CaCO3 in the water, and other carbonate from atmospheric CO2, can react with the acid and neutralize it.

I recommend just adding your PBP to your tap water BEFORE you adjust it. It's buffered. You may find that you mix up a gallon of your nutes, shake it around, test it, and find that the pH is already correct. If it isn't, it will take less adjustment to get it right.

Oh- and your meter is a perfectly fine one.

[TheXFactor]

heres an update of all the plants. please questions and advice please.

start off with a whole garden shot, then close up of F'd up parts of the plant..


heres my current routine. 18-6 light.. im using store bought r/o or distilled type. starts off around 5.5-5.6.. thats pretty good for now, i havent checked run off lately. . its 2.5 gallon jugs. i just to day put about 1 teaspoon of epsom salt into the 2.5 gallon jug. we'll see results soon i hope.

ive given 1 dose of ferts a few days ago but im going to hold off for now because im pretty sure the soil has enough stuff in it already... ive read people can use happy from all the way through veg and into flower with just proper water.. then just a few nute in the middle of flowering and flush at the end.

[TheXFactor]

heres some more pics.