Indoor PH Problems When Flowering Begins

[ketchieshoobie]

I ph the bubbled water with/without amendments right before I water. It would be difficult to keep several bottles bubbling, some with nutes some without (plants at different stages).

Do you think that makes a difference?

 

[JM]

we did some experiments and found very vigorous growth with the bubbled water.... during summer i only do it when i am making teas... but indoor i do it for everything pretty much...

 

[ketchieshoobie]

Sorry, what I mean to ask is does it matter whether you ph before bubbling or right before watering?

I am a firm believer in the bubbling. I just don't want to have to bubble a jug with the nutes in it for tomorrow and another without nutes for tomorrow. I bubble the water un-ph'ed then make up my mixes and ph them right before watering.

 

[JM]

ph and add nutes before bubbling....

or know what the ph is pulled down by after adding nutes... then you can ph then bubble... then add nutes after...

I find bubbling typically reads 1.0 ph higher after 24 hours... if i was at 6.0 before... I'm at 7.0 after...

 

[ketchieshoobie]

Well that is news to me! Perhaps my problem has been ph-related after all...

I would bubble RO water, add amendments, ph to 6.2-6.4 then water. So hours later the effective ph in the soil would be 5.2-5.4? I wonder how my run off was 6.75?

I did notice when I started bubbling that it didn't take many nutes to really drop the ph in bubbled water. Hmmm...

On a related note:
I compared tap water to RO filtered tap water this morning.
(ph/ppm): Tap - 8.05/455, RO - 4.5/57
That is an amazing drop in ph.

I need to find a *simple* consistent water strategy. Ideally I would use tap water but a starting ppm of 450 is too high, isn't it? But using a RO filter is not consistent - as the filter ages the ph/ppm move all around.

For now I will amend and ph before bubbling but any suggestions for a long term solution would be appreciated.

Thanks,
KS

 

[JM]

i wouldnt worry about starting ppm ... worry about ph.... start with the non-RO tap water... bubble for 24 hours... then add nutes and ph buffer to 6.3-6.5

and test your own results with your water... mine may (prob will) be different than yours... many things affect ph (potential hydrogen)



hope this helps mate

 

[ketchieshoobie]

Thanks JM for all your help. I will measure tap water ph before bubbling, bubble it, measure it again, then let it sit 8 hours and measure it again... That should give me some idea if plain tap water will be more stable.

KS

 

[ketchieshoobie]

And it is much more stable! Basically it was 8.35 (+- 0.02) out of the tap, after bubbling and after sitting for 8 hours. Tap water it is. :thumbs:

 

[ketchieshoobie]

I'm not sure if it was the RO water Cal/Mag deficiency or the inconsistent ph of the RO water, but fixing both and my plants are back and kicking it!

I strongly suggest that anyone using RO water be sure to start Cal/Mag supplements around 2 weeks of age.