Indoor PH ISSUES IN MY RDWC help

[shavo]

Hi Shavo here i am new to this forum but have been checking it out for a while now. So im growing some og kush autos from sonoma seeds in a 5x5 tent with led called raging kush by ScYnce . Pricey as hell should of did a diy light but got lazy . i do like the specs of it tho . I built my own recirculating bubble flow bucket system i am using hydroton in 8 inch baskets also using ro water with remo nutes only in week 2 but my plants are a lil stunted because i have been chasing 5.8!! I set my ph then not even 2 hrs later i was up to 6.8 that was in my first week . I was adjusting it like 5 times a day but think that is why i have plants yellowing - a ph lock up maybe ?
So plants weren't using up any nutes or nothing like that being only 10 days old . I rinsed/washed out my hydroton really well but i still think that it may be the culprit still. After first week my babies were getting yellow on the bottom set of leaves so i rinsed out whole system with ro water dipped my baskets with the hydroton and all into ro water, now my ph rise only goes to 6.3 and stops. I am only setting ph once a day now tho or well every 12 hrs to be fair. So far for nutes all i have used is velokelp and magnifical by remo. Yesterday i added some voodoo juice and a small amount of micro and grow. ppms are at 340. So anyone know how to get my ph to stop rising !! i dont mind a swing but once i get it coming back to my res at 5.6 about 3 hrs later im right back to 6.3!! i just want to stay close to 5.8 or have a slower swing from 5.5 to 6 would be nice , or steady 5.8 even better
So does any one have any ideas for me ??

 

[Simplicio]

I've soaked hydroton for several days in acidic water to get rid of its high pH.
That's the likely cause.

Keep adjusting pH, and eventually it is likely to stabilize as the hydroton loses its high pH to the lower pH solution.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

If you did not buy PH balanced Hydroton (the expensive ones). You may never get it under control. I made this mistake myself several years ago.

What about N-P-K hydroponics requires this from day one! You may have starved them for the first ten days?

With RO water there is nothing in it to buffer the movement of PH add 50 to 100 PPMs of Cal-Mag before your nutrients this will help.

Read my primer on DWC basics https://www.autoflower.org/threads/deep-water-culture-basics-bubbleponics.64478/

Successful hydroponics will reap big beautiful plants but is is IMPO the most demanding of the farmer.

 

[shavo]

If you did not buy PH balanced Hydroton (the expensive ones). You may never get it under control. I made this mistake myself several years ago.

What about N-P-K hydroponics requires this from day one! You may have starved them for the first ten days?

With RO water there is nothing in it to buffer the movement of PH add 50 to 100 PPMs of Cal-Mag before your nutrients this will help.

Read my primer on DWC basics https://www.autoflower.org/threads/deep-water-culture-basics-bubbleponics.64478/

Successful hydroponics will reap big beautiful plants but is is IMPO the most demanding of the farmer.

Thanks for the tips and the link , the hydroton i got was a bag from my local grow store with the red lettering, the other bag i got on amazon and ya cheap stuff i think . So you think i will be battling this ph issue the whole crop? Once i pull these out if they make it , or i just pull them and start over ugh. Then i will ph the hydroton.
And i was using food first week 100 - 150 ppms at 350 ppms now . i wasnt top feeding them though so i very well may have starved them out shite!
I read your dwc thread and some good info there . These are just the kinda tips i have been looking for thanks .
I have grown before but took some time off from it for a while its nice to be back at it . DWC is new to me but i have tried several other systems but mainly grew in dirt . Lots of new info and ways to grow these days i see. I used to laugh a t leds but here i am now own one . Well i will see soon how it goes .

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Thanks for the tips and the link , the hydroton i got was a bag from my local grow store with the red lettering, the other bag i got on amazon and ya cheap stuff i think . So you think i will be battling this ph issue the whole crop? Once i pull these out if they make it , or i just pull them and start over ugh. Then i will ph the hydroton.
And i was using food first week 100 - 150 ppms at 350 ppms now . i wasnt top feeding them though so i very well may have starved them out shite!
I read your dwc thread and some good info there . These are just the kinda tips i have been looking for thanks .
I have grown before but took some time off from it for a while its nice to be back at it . DWC is new to me but i have tried several other systems but mainly grew in dirt . Lots of new info and ways to grow these days i see. I used to laugh a t leds but here i am now own one . Well i will see soon how it goes .

Don't give up on the girls you have now. I learned more from the difficult grows and failures than I ever have from the ones that go easy.

 

[shavo]

So just a quick question if i just let my ph stay at 6.2 how well will the plants respond to that number. My res seems to want to end up there daily so thinking i should stop chasing a lower number (5.8) the swing happens to fast to chase it anyway, without causing more harm than good i think . So at 6.2 would my plants get all they need.

 

[shavo]

Well my ph finally stabilized . I never gave up on my girls but it cam close. I waited 7 weeks for my Aoutoflower to start budding! Yes i said 7 weeks !! They are in there first week of flower finally and i thought i was to be done in 2 weeks .OG KUSH AUTOFLOWER from Sonoma seeds. After 6 weeks i finally saw my first pistols pop and the flowering began , had a big stretch period and my girls are now huge . Hoping the stretching stops or my or i will have to tie them down. Wasnt expecting such growth or i would of used a scrog net . So i had them under 24 hrs of light and they stayed in veg until i dropped the light to 18/6 . I thought autos could flower under 24 hr light . Not sure if it was from my ph issues at the beginning or just genetics but whatever it was as long as i have no more issues my lil autoflower that were supposed to be done in 9 to 10 weeks will now "or should" be done flowering after 17 weeks UGH! So mush for getting a quick crop off before my seeds arrive. They did show up 3 weeks ago . So things are running fairly smoothly now and hope they continue to and also hoping that after such a long veg that i will end up with a really good yield from these girls. Keep you fingers crossed lol. I will post pics at some time here when i get a chance.
HAPPY GROWING

 

[shavo]

Don't give up on the girls you have now. I learned more from the difficult grows and failures than I ever have from the ones that go easy.

thanks for that i almost did give up !

 

[shavo]

So just a quick question if i just let my ph stay at 6.2 how well will the plants respond to that number. My res seems to want to end up there daily so thinking i should stop chasing a lower number (5.8) the swing happens to fast to chase it anyway, without causing more harm than good i think . So at 6.2 would my plants get all they need.

Update : They took 6.2 fine and it leveled out to 5.9 to 6.0

 

[Simplicio]

Well my ph finally stabilized . I never gave up on my girls but it cam close. I waited 7 weeks for my Aoutoflower to start budding! Yes i said 7 weeks !! They are in there first week of flower finally and i thought i was to be done in 2 weeks .OG KUSH AUTOFLOWER from Sonoma seeds. After 6 weeks i finally saw my first pistols pop and the flowering began , had a big stretch period and my girls are now huge . Hoping the stretching stops or my or i will have to tie them down. Wasnt expecting such growth or i would of used a scrog net . So i had them under 24 hrs of light and they stayed in veg until i dropped the light to 18/6 . I thought autos could flower under 24 hr light . Not sure if it was from my ph issues at the beginning or just genetics but whatever it was as long as i have no more issues my lil autoflower that were supposed to be done in 9 to 10 weeks will now "or should" be done flowering after 17 weeks UGH! So mush for getting a quick crop off before my seeds arrive. They did show up 3 weeks ago . So things are running fairly smoothly now and hope they continue to and also hoping that after such a long veg that i will end up with a really good yield from these girls. Keep you fingers crossed lol. I will post pics at some time here when i get a chance.
HAPPY GROWING

7 weeks to start flower is unusual, but it does happen.
Most of mine flower during the 5-6th weeks, and ripening usually takes 7-9 more weeks.
My record is 10 weeks to start flower.
It's probably coincidence that they started flower when you switched lights to 18-6.

Autos can get huge in hydro, and yield huge, and the longer they veg, the bigger they get.