I've been growing for many years and I never understood why people recommend a pH as low as 5.5 when growing hydroponically. The attached chart from growweedeasy clearly shows that calcium and magnesium are at their least available when the pH is under 6.0. I am currently growing a hempy and I have been using a pH of under 6.0. Even though I use a high calcium nute and tap water I still developed a calcium deficiency. I have since changed my daily feeding to over 6.0 and it seems to have cleared up. Why do people suggest 5.5-5.8?
I have always found a range to be the best. I ph my res to 5.5, in a couple hrs it’s 5.7-5.8, and I let it rise through the week to 6.3 ish. This ensures adequate uptake of all micronutrients as well as macros by swinging through that range. When it hits 6.3-6.4, I’ll drop it back to 5.5 and begin again.
Yes I understand the pH drift - when i did dwc and coco I didn't have a problem. But in hempys I feed everyday and the pH is always exactly the same as it goes in. So if I feed at 5.8, it never goes above that and the run off is the same the next day. I'm just going to stick to a little over 6.0 to be safe. Thanks for your reply.
I should probably check my ph. I just made a gallon of each kind of nutes for my Hempy Comparison, and dump a little in every morning. They’re finally starting to take off after a slow start. Can’t get much easier than this though
I was just talking to Yankeetransplant and he only feeds every 3 days or so which gives the pH of the nute solution time to slowly increase. He starts at 5.8 and it increases to 6.2 over a few days. I thought it would help if I fed daily, but he knows his shit, so I'm going to follow his advice. He also uses tap water and never has to supplement with cal/mag.
Every three days for the Hempy? Just let it suck on the res in the bucket for the other two days then refill? Is that the plan?
I guess that's it. He suggests to let it go until the perlite is just damp before feeding. Hempy suggests every other day. I'll play it by ear I guess.
P likes that ph 6 or even lower. Mag likes it 6.2 or higher. Calcium needs don't increase as plant matures but P needs increase in first flower. Magpro can be a solution. I drain my hempy everyday. 4 hours dry seems to clean things out. Once I let a 2 gallon hempy sit in a dark room for a month and it was still damp when I emptied it. Just a bucket of wet roots.