someone please explain...

[badness]

ok, i am using promix hp as my medium and using all advanced nutrients (pretty much everything they have). i am having WILD ph swings and i can't figure out if it's the promix or the nutes. i started using the promix and an nutes at around the same time so i can't weed one out that way. i use to use fox farm dirt and nutes and didn't run into such crazy ph.
this is what happens: after first watering with ph adjusted (i monitor and adjust always w everything) water or feed the runoff is around the same as what i put in. then i start to notice lockout so i flush. when flushing the ph starts to change drastically. like today, i put in 6.5ph and the runoff is at 7.0. then after more flushing w/6.5 the ph keeps getting more basic, up to 7.4!! then up to 7.5. fuk!!!!! eventually i seem to get the runoff the where i want it but it takes many, many gallons of water and many hours (sometimes 3 hours just fuking flushing). it's a waste of time and water. i know that there needs to be some flushing during a grow but this is rediculous. how can the ph keep going the opposite way gallon after gallon. it doesn't always go basic sometimes it goes very acidic.
i know that promix has a ph buffer in it but i don't quite understand what a ph buffer is suppost to do. am i treating the promix the wrong way? i've heard that other people have had big ph swings w/ an nutes.
someone please help, i have a whole bail of this promix and i can't get fox farm dirt here unless i pay like $40 just for shipping one bag of it.

[badness]

has no one had this problem or is anyone using promix?

[ibjamming]

IMHO... Your "problems" are related to too much water and too much shit you're giving it. Let it dry out for about a week, every time you flush...you're drowning them...and throw away all that crap you're feeding it. Top dress with dolomite lime... Stick to 1/8 strength basic nutes... Water it half as much as you think you should... And tell me what they look like in 2 weeks.

You're loving them to death.

[badness]

i always let the soil completely dry out before watering or feeding. i appreciate your opinion but it doesn't really answer my question as far as the ph going the opposite way while flushing and why the ph just won't budge way after i have put 10 gallons thru a 1 gallon pot (slight exageration but not far off) of adjusted water. i do agree w/ u that i probably put too much nutes in and WAY too much love but i have to disagree about AN nutes being crap. i am not going to get into a AN debate cause i have participated in enough of those and it's like having a debate about religion. u either fuk'n hate them or love them.
as far as the lime i think that's what's in the pro-mix. could you explain to me what exactly the lime does and how to go about ph adjusting the water or nutes to get the ph i want (6.3-6.5).
please keep in mind that i am not a beginner but i am new to this pro-mix. thanks!

[badness]

i talked to someone at promix and she seems to think that it has something to do w/ the alkalinity of the water but she wasn't talking about ph. she wants me to send her a sample of my water source (city) and they will thoroughly test the water to see if something is having a reaction to the buffer. i told her my problem and she said that it didn't make sense (nor to me). i think she said alkalinity but i could be wrong. it all made sense at the time but i don't have much for short term memory. i sure hope that's the problem otherwise i'm shit-cann'n the promix! other opinions are very welcome!

[TexarkanaTim]

I would suggest filling a container with your tap water and letting it sit uncovered for at least 24 hours. This will help the chlorine and other crap dissipate out. I think the constant flushing could be a big factor in the Ph issue. I have never closely monitored Ph with a soil grow and have never had a Ph related problem. Any good quality soil mix (like Promix) shouldn't create any Ph issues. AN nutes are good quality, so they shouldn't be creating any problems either. I know its hard to do, and we all love to baby our plants, but don't be so worried about your Ph level. If you are adding good water and good nutes, it should take care of itself.

[ibjamming]

Originally Posted by badness

i always let the soil completely dry out before watering or feeding. i appreciate your opinion but it doesn't really answer my question as far as the ph going the opposite way while flushing and why the ph just won't budge way after i have put 10 gallons thru a 1 gallon pot (slight exageration but not far off) of adjusted water. i do agree w/ u that i probably put too much nutes in and WAY too much love but i have to disagree about AN nutes being crap. i am not going to get into a AN debate cause i have participated in enough of those and it's like having a debate about religion. u either fuk'n hate them or love them.
as far as the lime i think that's what's in the pro-mix. could you explain to me what exactly the lime does and how to go about ph adjusting the water or nutes to get the ph i want (6.3-6.5).
please keep in mind that i am not a beginner but i am new to this pro-mix. thanks!

Lime will get ph close to 7 even if your water is alkaline. I didn't mean AN nutes were crap...you mentioned that use used ALL the AN stuff in your grow...if so, if you're using a whole bunch of extra additives, you're adding too much stuff. Also, don't let the soil dry out COMPLETELY...but I doubt you meant that... I bet your "problem" is simply too mucg water...it's VERY common to over water and every time you flush, you're drowning them a bit more. Think of flushing as waterboarding them.