I am currently using Cutting Edge nutrients. When I test my tap water, the Ph is around 7. After using half the recommended dose of nutes, my Ph is around 3.5 in my gallon water container. Cutting Edge's mixing chart and FAQs state that one of their additives will cause a temporary low pH. They do not recommend ever using Ph up. They state to start with a 7.0 Ph water and then add nutes. I tested my water before adding that one additive and it was still very low. I have emailed the owner of the company for clarification. Just wondering if anyone has heard of nutes doing this. Thanks.
ive heard of nutes having pH buffers in them but have not used a brand that claims this. mix ur nutes and wait an hour or so....then test pH and adjust....that hour gives the buffers in your nutes or tap water time to do what ever they do before you take ur pH reading. hope this helps
Well I fed them last night and I still had a half gallon left with nutes. Just checked the Ph and it was still low, 3.5. When light goes back on I will see how they are doing. The first time I watered I used the Ph up because I didn't fully read the directions. They seemed to do OK. Had some drooping and yellowing but are looking healthy. Hopefully they are fine this time with the low Ph. Haven't heard back from owner yet. Any advice or comments appreciated. Anyone else have experience with using Cutting Edge nutes?
What do you mean by lock out? I just got home and took a look at them. Look pretty good. What would be a bad sign of watering with too low of a Ph? Still haven't got a response from owner. My water was 7. After adding nutes it was 3.5. This is what their website says: 2) What is the optimal Ph level for my nutrient solution? The optimum Ph level for maximum nutrient availability is different for all elements, for instance Nitrogen has a different optimal Ph range than Phosphorus. The optimal Ph range can also vary due to medium and growing method variances, that is to say soil vs. rockwool or Aeroponics vs. Ebb and Flow. Therefore, we recommend a Ph range that is most inclusive, from 4.5 to 6.5. The Ph level we recommend for the most inclusive beneficial range is 6. We do not recommend using Ph up at any time. If your water is acidic, i.e. RO water, adjust your water to Ph 7.0, then add nutrients. Utilizing this method, the elements are less likely to be locked out because of a severe Ph swing. ** NOTE ** Plant Ampâ„¢ contains Organic Acids which cause a temporary low pH reading. Do not adjust pH up. The pH will rise naturally as the plant uptakes the chelated calcium in one or two days.
I just started, but from what I gathered with alot of reading.. Always check the ph after nutes are added. Some have different things in there to possibly alter the ph level. Or if your using more than 1 nute. etc.... Good thing you caught it.....
What has been said is correct, you PH your water after adding nutes. ALL nutes tend to lower PH a good bit. If you are feeding and not PH'ing your water after adding nutes, you will be fucked basically. PH cant be stressed enough!!!
So the first time I fed I did adjust the Ph up to around 6. This time I started with my water Phed at 7, added the nutes, and then fed. The Ph was around 3.5. They looked fine yesterday, but I will take a look at them when they get up from their nap. What is the worst that can happen from low Ph? Even though the company states to not use Ph up, I should use it? I am still waiting to hear back from the owner. It takes about a full cap of Ph up to get the gallon of water to 6 from where it is after adding nutes. Still, any advise appreciated. Thanks.
If I'm reading this right, you are looking at the wrong thing. You need to know the pH that your plant is experiencing, which is the interaction not only of the water and nutes but also the soil and amendments. So test your runoff to make sure that is where it needs to be, and if it's too low then raise the pH of your input water+nutes -- regardless of how high or low it starts at -- and if the runoff is too high then vice versa.
Exactly. I know this is something that had me confused when I started growing. People always said "Give plants X PH", which is confusing, because the PH of the water going in might have to be higher or lower depending on how it reacts to soil, nutes and amendments. I've heard some successful growers say they have never tested runoff, but it's ultimately what helped me fix my PH problems. But 3.5 going in is LOW LOW LOW.
what they are saying is adjust your water's ph before adding their nutes. they have formulated it to work with the ph of water they state. if you add it to the not properly ph'd water, then it will lock out upon mixing. then it's too late to ph it up....get it. ph it first. and always check your ph and EC going in and out. not always as everyday....but once a week is fine...unless you notice problems obviously
imo, i would NEVER buy nutes that specifically told me not to ph the nutes before i introduced them to my plants. EVERYONE'S LAST STEP SHOULD BE TO PH BALANCE THEIR SOUP! jm2c...screaming style.
That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that you need to compare your runoff pH to the target range. In fact, you don't even necessarily need to test your input water -- whether before or after you add nutes -- you just need to know if it needs to be higher or lower to get to the target. I also agree that these nutes sound sketchy, telling you what to do about pH without even taking soil and amendments into account. Or are these hydro nutes?
So as long as I adjust my water to 7.0 and then add the nutes and feed I'm fine? The water going in was around 3.5, but after checking the girls they made some serious growth in the past day. They look great. I will Ph the over flow next time I feed.
No, that's exactly what I am saying is NOT how to do it. That was your original question. Read what I wrote and also Curt. Measure the pH of the runoff, and base your adjustments on that. For example, suppose your runoff is 7.5. That's too high. To adjust it, you lower the pH of your input water -- regardless of whether it starts "high" or "low" before any adjustments. High and low are relative. You want your runoff to be in the 6.4-6.8 range. You are not necessarily fine to automatically start with 7.0. If your plants look fine then that's great. It certainly is possible to hit the right pH ranges without ever measuring or adjusting, just depends on what your particular cocktail ends up working out to be. Still best to measure and adjust as needed.
Thanks for the advice. They look pretty good feeding them with that 3.5 input. I will be sure to check the run off moving forward and I will adjust accordingly. My friends always only checked the input and always had good success. I guess they got lucky and got it right. I Phed my water the first time to about 6.5 and they seemed to struggle. Since they look so good now, hopefully I got it right. I will find out on my next water. Thanks
always know your ph and your EC or PPM out. and temperature must be held contant. so your water and your medium should be the same temperature. i use coco for example. my ph going in is the same as the ph going out. there's 2 reasons for that. one is becuase i use a drain to waste, so i water every day and i get atleast 10-15% run off every single day. second, if there's a ph change, it gets replaced with proper ph solution every day. it really has no time to fluctuate. but i always measure my ph and keep it at 5.9 remember that as ph goes up, EC goes down. so constant temp readings are crucial to accuracy. but monitoring the first 50ml of runoff is something i always do. i can tell immediately if the nutes are being used or not. however, no meter can tell you what nutes are being used in particular. thats why i like to add things seperate. this way you can remove them seperate. it takes years to properly dial in a strain so you know it like the back of your hand. i have one that i've had for 15 years personally now. in coco, it works out that i give it water one day, then nutes another. maybe an extra water on the weekend, but they don't like that. i have to keep the nitrogen up there. i'm at a 2.25 ec with RO water. anything lower than 1.7 and i start to get faded green. especially the ones in the center. they need more nutes always. and i have my lights on movers.
^^^^^ wow man, thanks. Tons of good info. I too am using coco mixed lightly with soil and some perlite. I am 2 weeks in from clone. I will have my third feeding tonight and will check my in and out and give an update.
Results are in: Water from the tap was 7.0. Water after adding nutes was around 3.5 Run-off was around 6.5!!! Very happy moment for me. I don't have to Ph my juice at all. Thanks to everyone for the comments and advice.
but still...if you put in 3.5 and get out 6.5 that means your stable ph in your medium is way too high. you should get out what you put in pretty much. and your nutes at 3.5 in your resevoir will lockout way before you apply them. you need an EC meter to tell you what's really going on....