Dialing In MEGA CROP for Auto's

[Anasazi]

You just cannot go wrong with a good ph pen i have heard so many horror stories when using the inexpensive ph pen. It was a wise investment that will help you grow trichome laiden beautiful plants

Funny enough my cheap pen was giving me wrong ph and ppm. I'm sure that contributed to my problems even though I was using an ph perfect at the time. So glad I upgraded.

I'm having different problems now though. So I've tried mc 2 part now and it seems great but my only problem is the ph. The ph keeps dropping and dropping and dropping and dropping. I've never had to buy ph up in my life but now apparently I need it with mc. PH 5.9 and 3 hrs later its already 5.7 and falling. Seems to stop at about 5.1 under 24 hours. Currently waiting on ph up to get here but this definitely sucks and i'm not sure if it's normal or not. I have 20 gallons of 45 ppm tap water in my rdwc so this seems iffy to me. AN nutes definitely werent this unstable with ph.

 

[MidnightSun]

You seem overly dramatic about using UP. A bit of PH up isn't a big deal. Way cheaper than your AN nutes....right?

 

[BII]

Funny enough my cheap pen was giving me wrong ph and ppm. I'm sure that contributed to my problems even though I was using an ph perfect at the time. So glad I upgraded.

I'm having different problems now though. So I've tried mc 2 part now and it seems great but my only problem is the ph. The ph keeps dropping and dropping and dropping and dropping. I've never had to buy ph up in my life but now apparently I need it with mc. PH 5.9 and 3 hrs later its already 5.7 and falling. Seems to stop at about 5.1 under 24 hours. Currently waiting on ph up to get here but this definitely sucks and i'm not sure if it's normal or not. I have 20 gallons of 45 ppm tap water in my rdwc so this seems iffy to me. AN nutes definitely werent this unstable with ph.

The best "pH Up" product is simple, super cheap and available, you probably already have it -- baking soda, sodium bicarbonate -- and it's potent/strong too. It's stable itself in solution, so you can make and use a stock dilution, if dealing with the powder is a hassle.

 

[Anasazi]

You seem overly dramatic about using UP. A bit of PH up isn't a big deal. Way cheaper than your AN nutes....right?

The way this ph is dropping i'm assuming i'm going to need a lot of ph up. Money is not the issue, overloading ppms with ph up and the frequency in which i will have to do it is my worry. I'm curious if anyone else in dwc/rdwc is having similar problem.

The best "pH Up" product is simple, super cheap and available, you probably already have it -- baking soda, sodium bicarbonate -- and it's potent/strong too. It's stable itself in solution, so you can make and use a stock dilution, if dealing with the powder is a hassle.

Thanks for the tip, do you know if this is ok to use in dwc/rdwc?

 

[Simplicio]

The way this ph is dropping i'm assuming i'm going to need a lot of ph up. Money is not the issue, overloading ppms with ph up and the frequency in which i will have to do it is my worry. I'm curious if anyone else in dwc/rdwc is having similar problem.




Thanks for the tip, do you know if this is ok to use in dwc/rdwc?

Sodium bicarbonate's chemical formula is NaHCO3.
When it reacts with acid, it produces co2, a salt, and water, so it adds nothing hazardous.
It would be fine in DWC.

 

[pop22]

Most nutrient blends do this. You can't just whip up a batch and feed the plants. I always make my solution at least 24 hrs in advance and re-adjust the ph then. Solutions need time for PH to stabilize. PH also changes with temperature. Waiting at least a few hours will get you a more stable PH.

Funny enough my cheap pen was giving me wrong ph and ppm. I'm sure that contributed to my problems even though I was using an ph perfect at the time. So glad I upgraded.

I'm having different problems now though. So I've tried mc 2 part now and it seems great but my only problem is the ph. The ph keeps dropping and dropping and dropping and dropping. I've never had to buy ph up in my life but now apparently I need it with mc. PH 5.9 and 3 hrs later its already 5.7 and falling. Seems to stop at about 5.1 under 24 hours. Currently waiting on ph up to get here but this definitely sucks and i'm not sure if it's normal or not. I have 20 gallons of 45 ppm tap water in my rdwc so this seems iffy to me. AN nutes definitely werent this unstable with ph.

 

[F.N.]

Funny enough my cheap pen was giving me wrong ph and ppm. I'm sure that contributed to my problems even though I was using an ph perfect at the time. So glad I upgraded.

I'm having different problems now though. So I've tried mc 2 part now and it seems great but my only problem is the ph. The ph keeps dropping and dropping and dropping and dropping. I've never had to buy ph up in my life but now apparently I need it with mc. PH 5.9 and 3 hrs later its already 5.7 and falling. Seems to stop at about 5.1 under 24 hours. Currently waiting on ph up to get here but this definitely sucks and i'm not sure if it's normal or not. I have 20 gallons of 45 ppm tap water in my rdwc so this seems iffy to me. AN nutes definitely werent this unstable with ph.

A/N is PH perfect it cannot go out of balance.

 

[MidnightSun]

A/N is PH perfect it cannot go out of balance.

AN's PH perfect is NEVER 5.8-6.5 for me so I don't believe the hype. It was around 4.5 with RO water when i used it. I'm told it doesn't have to be...but I've been doing this since the 70s and am set in my ways....plus it's overly expensive for the results I've had.

 

[pop22]

Yeah, I always thought it to be marketing bullshit! If there where such tech, ALL nutrient companies would be making this claim by now. And it's funny, it's almost always the bottled nute companies that sling the most BS to sell you an over priced bottle of water!

AN's PH perfect is NEVER 5.8-6.5 for me so I don't believe the hype. It was around 4.5 with RO water when i used it. I'm told it doesn't have to be...but I've been doing this since the 70s and am set in my ways....plus it's overly expensive for the results I've had.

 

[BII]

AN's PH perfect is NEVER 5.8-6.5 for me so I don't believe the hype. It was around 4.5 with RO water when i used it. I'm told it doesn't have to be...but I've been doing this since the 70s and am set in my ways....plus it's overly expensive for the results I've had.

You and others seem to be misunderstanding AN's 'hype,' somehow assuming that 'pH Perfect' involves the pH after mixing being normalized in a set range or pH being adjusted. I don't recall AN making that claim.

Rather (as I understand it), 'pH Perfect' involves the nutrients being higher quality chelate complexes, better bioavailable to and better taken up by the plant over a much wide range of soil pH (not changing the pH) vs. conventional nutes, with the actual pH of the mixed solution rather irrelevant, don't need to check or adjust (presuming you start with low ppm water and don't add too much other salt-based supplements).

As far as I know, adjusting the pH of mixed pH Perfect feed is counter-productive, just wrong, involves adding salts that can only negatively affect the pH Perfect functionality and nutrients' uptake.

Since this a MegaCrop thread, I should add that MegaCrop makes no claims of being 'pH Perfect,' but like AN does similarly claim better chelates, here amino acid chelates); and seems to 'pH Perfect' in practice for many. I and others have found that MC pretty much just works without pH adjustment with a wide variety of starting water, that it can be used with water starting over a wide range of pH. Others like me, even with borderline high starting ppm's, have reported doing rather well without ever even bothering to measure pH.