pH keeps going up, up, up, and away.. should I be worried?

[JohnnyBlazeItUp]

Hey everyone, i've searched around the site and found many people say that ph goes up normally a lil faster during veg but i'm wondering if what i'm seeing is excessive. I've grown in soil and rockwool before but i just started a new grow using hydroton and a drip system in 1 gal buckets.. here's the setup:

- (4) 4x4 trays fed off of (2) 20 gal reservoirs using a drain and recycle system.
- (16) 1 gal pots per tray (1/sqft.) with clones in a rockwool plug in hydroton (1 tray has only 7 plants)
- 1/2 in poly drip tubing feeding (16) 1/4" circle drippers per tray
- (4) air cooled 1kw lights on dimmable quantum ballasts set at 50%
- advanced nutrients Grow A&B
- GH ph up and down
- Declorinated and sediment filtered tap water that comes out about ph7.5.. after adding nutrients I try to set it at ph5.6-5.8.
- nutradip constant temp/ppm/ph meter brand new (which is acting funny, going to get calibration solution tomorrow and verify it's accurate from the factory, also it may be sensitive to the RF from the ballasts so i've been measuring the solution inside and also away from the room to be sure)
- temp has been between 70-77 the entire time with res temps around 70-73.. humidity has been between 42-55%
- 720cfm inline fan cooling the lights via ducting and (2) oscillating fans in the room
- Strains are Grape, Mazar, Chem D, Blackberry Bubba Kush, and 2 Purple Kush

The clones just went in 2 days ago and seem to be doing well for the most part but no major growth yet.. some are showing signs of ph problems or light issues by twisting over belly up or curling a little bit.. that brings me to the issue at hand.. I put in fresh water yesterday to get rid of a little bit of sediment left on the hydroton after the planting the night before but had to use tap water cause i didn't get a fitting with my de-chlorinating machine.. after i adjusted it down it seemed to want to rise quite a bit yesterday so i adjusted it again in the evening.. i came in this morning and it was quite high yet again.. i got the fitting all set up and made my fresh water then changed the reservoirs and dropped the ph back down to 5.6-5.7 and figured it would go up to a lil above 6 like normal.. i came back a few hours later to find it around 6.8-7.0 almost! Yikes! so i added just enough to bring it down to 5.9 or so.. i don't feel comfortable putting that much acid in! anyway, it's back up to 6.4 but it seems to be have stopped there for a moment.. i'm sure it'll balance but i don't wanna add much more down to the mix.. i feel like it can't be good to have that much in the solution.. could my meter be buggin out? it seems to be accurate although the ppm part is off.. who knows i guess time will tell.. anyway here's some pics.. let me know what you guys think! Thanks everybody! Happy smokes! :jointsmile:

Blaze

JohnnyBlazeItUp Reviewed by JohnnyBlazeItUp on 02-14-2010. pH keeps going up, up, up, and away.. should I be worried? Hey everyone, i've searched around the site and found many people say that ph goes up normally a lil faster during veg but i'm wondering if what i'm seeing is excessive. I've grown in soil and rockwool before but i just started a new grow using hydroton and a drip system in 1 gal buckets.. here's the setup: - (4) 4x4 trays fed off of (2) 20 gal reservoirs using a drain and recycle system. - (16) 1 gal pots per tray (1/sqft.) with clones in a rockwool plug in hydroton (1 tray has only 7 Rating: 5

[LOC NAR on probation]

Very nice setup.

Knock your PH down to 5.0 or 5.2 and it won't go up so fast.

When we first put clones in our drip with hydroton it does the same. We check it twice a day and bring it down. Seems when we only bring it down to 5.6 it rises back fast.

Don't worry about the acid it does not hurt anything. Not having it hurts.

We have used what comercial boys use sulfuric acid.That's right battery acid is what large hydro opps use for ph down.

[JohnnyBlazeItUp]

Ok cool thats a relief to hear! It did stay locked at 6.4 overnight so i'm gonna bring it down to 5.6 and leave it alone! They do look a lot happier this morning too!

ok, you've got my interest peaked.. battery acid? yikes! so do they use it because it's super concentrate? thats pretty ballsy! I wonder who the first guy was that said "hey, i know.. lets throw some of the nastiest acid in the world in there and see if they like it" hahaha.. i guess if it works though thats all that matters.. and here i was scared of a lol GH pH down haha..

anyway, thanks again LOCnar!! I'll keep on it and let you know how it goes..


:smokin: