pH down adding to ppm value

[Little Brother]

i've seen people talk about keeping ppm for nutes within certain ranges during certain times when growing hydro-style. do i need to consider the ppm that the pH down adds to the water?
my water is ~150ppm at any given time. i add maybe 200ppm in mega crop then a bit of kelp and humic and fulvic acids. 2ml of hydroguard and some root stimulator. directions for root stimulator say 3.5tbsp per gallon. i use maybe half that.
I will get the pH in range (5.5-6.5) then add all that stuff. the pH will rise pretty quickly after that. i will add distilled water that has been pH'ed down to like 3 to bring the bucket back within range. i've done this once since last water change and now my ppm is sitting at ~1250ppm.
if anyone can offer any insight it would be much appreciated

 

[Death The Cultivator]

i've seen people talk about keeping ppm for nutes within certain ranges during certain times when growing hydro-style. do i need to consider the ppm that the pH down adds to the water?
my water is ~150ppm at any given time. i add maybe 200ppm in mega crop then a bit of kelp and humic and fulvic acids. 2ml of hydroguard and some root stimulator. directions for root stimulator say 3.5tbsp per gallon. i use maybe half that.
I will get the pH in range (5.5-6.5) then add all that stuff. the pH will rise pretty quickly after that. i will add distilled water that has been pH'ed down to like 3 to bring the bucket back within range. i've done this once since last water change and now my ppm is sitting at ~1250ppm.
if anyone can offer any insight it would be much appreciated

I know there is phosphorus in pH down but that's a big swing. @Mañ'O'Green or @Waira might be able to advise better.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

i haven't been keeping the best track of stuff but the mc, kelp, and humic and fulvic acids all add up to about 500ppm. the additional 750 must be coming from the root stim and pH down

Humic and fulvic *shouldn't* increase ppm nor should phosphoric acid to that extent. When I mix 55 gallons the ppm doesn't really change with 5 tbsp added in. Might try mixing one by one or adding your additives then MC. Still over 1EC from a root stimulator is odd

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Ok none of this makes sense to me? Do not mix nutrients in the reservoir, use a separate container. Do you aerate your water overnight before you add nutrients? This will help precipitate some of the calcium carbonate and help stabilize the PH. Mix in this order. Add Mega Crop first at 3g per gallon. Then add Humic Acid, You do not need Fulvic Acid in the reservoir it is simply a more refined Humic Acid. Save the fulvic for foliar feeds. Next add the root stimulant (what brand?) and finally the HydroGuard. Now let it sit aerating for 30 minutes and then PH to 5.8. Now do your reservoir change. It is important to keep the water level in the reservoir as constant as possible. In this regard I had a top-off tank and float valve. Water level fluctuation causes stress to the plant and wild PH swings as the nutrients in the reservoir will concentrate as the plant uses more water than nutrients. If you have a top-off tank you can mix nutrients about 25% strength of what is in the reservoir and it will keep the PPM fairly consistent which is a goal. The reason being by keeping the PPM consistant the osmotic pressure on the roots remains consistant and the plant is more easily able to uptake them as needed.

Do not add 3 PH water to the reservoir. That will burn the root hairs. Never add PH up/down directly to the reservoir for the same reason. Monitor the PH several times a day and make small corrections as needed.

If you ever use additional silicon add it to the water first at least 15 minutes before adding the MC.

Change your reservoir every week without fail or suffer numerous problems! Trust me on this I have had some epic failures trying to save money on nutrients.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Ok none of this makes sense to me? Do not mix nutrients in the reservoir, use a separate container. Do you aerate your water overnight before you add nutrients? This will help precipitate some of the calcium carbonate and help stabilize the PH. Mix in this order. Add Mega Crop first at 3g per gallon. Then add Humic Acid, You do not need Fulvic Acid in the reservoir it is simply a more refined Humic Acid. Save the fulvic for foliar feeds. Next add the root stimulant (what brand?) and finally the HydroGuard. Now let it sit aerating for 30 minutes and then PH to 5.8. Now do your reservoir change. It is important to keep the water level in the reservoir as constant as possible. In this regard I had a top-off tank and float valve. Water level fluctuation causes stress to the plant and wild PH swings as the nutrients in the reservoir will concentrate as the plant uses more water than nutrients. If you have a top-off tank you can mix nutrients about 25% strength of what is in the reservoir and it will keep the PPM fairly consistent which is a goal. The reason being by keeping the PPM consistant the osmotic pressure on the roots remains consistant and the plant is more easily able to uptake them as needed.

Do not add 3 PH water to the reservoir. That will burn the root hairs. Never add PH up/down directly to the reservoir for the same reason. Monitor the PH several times a day and make small corrections as needed.

If you ever use additional silicon add it to the water first at least 15 minutes before adding the MC.

Change your reservoir every week without fail or suffer numerous problems! Trust me on this I have had some epic failures trying to save money on nutrients.

Is this DWC specific?

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

you have given me much to think about. i'll revise my system. thank you for taking the time to help us noobs
so if i was doing dwc in a single five gal bucket how would you mix the nutes in? like add .75 of the water and use the .25 in a separate container to mix the nutes then add to the whole?
root stim is 'ferti.lome' manufactured by VPG

I always mix all 4.5 gallons for a 5 gallon reservoir in a separate bucket the night before. I have a suction pump and drain the reservoir and fill with the already mixed and PHed nutrients that were aerated overnight and PHed again just before going in the res.

Think of your roots as fragile and don't mix stuff in the reservoir.

I looked up 'ferti.lome' manufactured by VPG That is not a hydro product and is using NPK sources not good for hydro. 3.5 Tablespoons per gallon makes a solution for soil not for hydro too much of this is where the high PPM comes from. Don't use this in DWC. Just use a 1g kelp (2 parts) and 2.5g Humic Acid (5 parts) as a root stimulator.

Is this DWC specific?

Well yes! I would say that it applies to most forms of hydro, autopots, drip, flood and drain any vessel that is not containing roots can be mixed right in the reservoir. In RDWC you can just turn off the circulation and mix in the tank. I found it really hard to hit my numbers doing it that way.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

I always mix all 4.5 gallons for a 5 gallon reservoir in a separate bucket the night before. I have a suction pump and drain the reservoir and fill with the already mixed and PHed nutrients that were aerated overnight and PHed again just before going in the res.

Think of your roots as fragile and don't mix stuff in the reservoir.

I looked up 'ferti.lome' manufactured by VPG That is not a hydro product and is using NPK sources not good for hydro. 3.5 Tablespoons per gallon makes a solution for soil not for hydro too much of this is where the high PPM comes from. Don't use this in DWC. Just use a 1g kelp (2 parts) and 2.5g Humic Acid (5 parts) as a root stimulator.
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Well yes! I would say that it applies to most forms of hydro, autopots, drip, flood and drain any vessel that is not containing roots can be mixed right in the reservoir. In RDWC you can just turn off the circulation and mix in the tank. I found it really hard to hit my numbers doing it that way.

Gotcha. Thanks!

i have a HoneForest pph meter. on the mega crop calculator they ask if you are using the 500 or 700 ppm scale. what is that about? the hone forest website doesn't say anything about a ppm scale

You are using a meter on the 700 scale so you take the ppm and divide it by 700 - 1250 ÷ 640 = 1.9EC

US ppm is a conversion 500 and the other is 700. You have to mention that usually as many use the 500 scale so if given directions for a 1.0EC that would be converted to 640ppm for your meter.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

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