This is my first dwc attempt and my ph will swing from 5.5-5.6 up to 6.0-6.3 overnight my res runs a little warm at 70-72 im running the soul synthetics line of nutes is the ph swing due to nutrient uptake or my res temps any help would be appreciated. Thank you
your starting ph is off, so that's not helping. set ur res to 5.8 imo. if your nute strength is to weak or strong, this will affect ph as well.
Ill try that and ill have to monitor my ppms closer Sent from my SCH-I545 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
The issue most likely lies in the size of your res. I use 5 gal buckets that can hold 3.5 gallons at the most due to the root systems. I get a fair amount of drift with 3.5. I plan on getting 20 gal rope buckets here pretty soon. Tl; dr - get a bigger res and the shift will be less prevalent. Sent from my SM-G900V using Grasscity Forum mobile app
1st off, your pot temps are a tad high. Try holding your pot temp@ 65 to 70. There will be some flux in temps due to your temps produced by your light. You can adjust the pot temp by adding ice cubes. If the temp goes below 65 don't worry. end, the ph. The ph will flux due to the fact that water rises in ph as it sits. This is natural for this to occurs. Expect a flux for the 1st couple days after a water change, then things should even out a bit. When plants are in veg, they seem to like a ph of 5.5 to 6.0. When they are in bloom, they like a range of 5.8 to 6.5 with 5.8 being your target. No need to worry about the ph until it gets to 6.5. Above 6.5 you will be out of range and you will start to experience nuts lockout. Being in flux in range is good for the plant because the plant uptakes the minerals in the nutes at different ph levels. Sent from my VK810 4G using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Each one of the elements in the nutrient solution has its own PH value. When you mix these up in specific ratios you will get an average PH figure. If the plant uses up more of one element and less of another your PH figure will shift. Having to adjust most days is normal. The PH is needs to be kept between 5 - 7. But it's best to keep it between 5.5 - 6.5 if you can. If your PH is rising rapidly all the time then is definitely worth adjusting it down to 5 and let it creep back up throughout the day. Setting it to 5.8 is no good if it's going to be 6.2 within a few hours. The bigger the body of nutrient solution the more stable things will be, so keep that reservoir topped up to the brim. Even better would be to get a bigger reservoir. How is your EC/ppm? Does that shift much? If you are in veg now you may find that when flowering the PH shifts less, or even goes down instead. Mine does this
I had the same problem until I made my rez chiller. Now my soup stays at 55 and never swings even after 1/2 gal of my 3.5 getting drank a day and me just filing it will my well water. Before when I did the frozen bottle trick I would get huge swings hourly because temps would go from mid 70s to mid 60s. So on weekly changes I have to let water get down to 55 before doin any adjusting. If you get the ph up down kit like most have with the dropper you can see the change by checkign the ph and taking the sample and sticking it in the fridge it will drop down as temp drops but will stop around 5.0 at 40 degrees. Just some info that may help. Also after I made my chiller I noticed my plant started feeding properly. She now keeps ppm exactly at 850 no matter how much water she drinks. On a side note if you dont fill that small rez daily you will have issues. I missed one day and when I got in the next day it was way lower than norm almost 1 1/2 gals and the ph got wacked way out but luckily I caught it in time. Let her feet hang fre for a while and she was perked back up after rez change so it was a close call cause another day and she would of had dry roots.