I have a ph that keeps returning back to 6.5, why ? The plants are under 18hr 600w Sodium lights. In pots with clay pebbles fed through dripper tubes every 3 hrs. Using Canna Aqua Vega. Have flushed system with fresh water. I try and keep the ph at 5.8, but it returns back to 6.5 after a few hrs. Have recaliabrated PH meter, buts still get the same results. The plants are now showing signs of yellowing leaves.
are you testing the ph of the water before you water them? also what soil are you using. it could be throwing off the ph also
I've heard several people ask this question and had no idea as to the cause. Aftering doing some research, it seems there are a couple of things that could cause the sudden fluctuation up and down. One is a bacterial problem, caused by dead plant material that may be accumulated at the bottom of your container. Try cleaning out the container and adding new solution. Mild doses of hydrogen peroxide will help kill these bacteria. Just keep in mind it will kill the good bacteria too. Adding hygrozyme will help restore the good bacteria. Another theory is that the plants photosynthesize during lights on, but slow down or stop during darkness. This will cause the plants to pull more CO2 out of the solution, thus throwing it temporarily out of whack. It will adjust back to normal levels when they aren't using as much. Not sure about that theory, but thought I'd throw it out there for food for thought. Hope it helps.
yep let me guess you got a gallon of ph down and its at least half gone or more. check it out when your acid gets old your ph will wander up more than normal and leafs will yellow.....GET NEW ACID in smaller bottles your problems have just been solved mine were!!!!
If your Useing ph down to get to 5.8 , this tells me your probably running low PPM. Or tap. I have found that while stepping up nutes from 250 to 1000 over time in Hydroton E&F , your Ph will drift less and less upward as you add more nutes , because they act as a buffer in the water. If you got less than 600-700ppm@ .7 conversion , expect your PH to drift Upwards untill you reach somwhere around 800-1000 which is where it may even out or even slightly drop from nute accumilation as the plants use water. Most nutes Drop PH , you may have one of the few exceptions. Why not slowly add nutes being used As Ph down , so that your Ppm's rise to comfortable levels and your Ph stays stable. If your ph starts to drop, use water and less nutes as ph up. If you are useing tap , Bam! that's probably your problem. Either way your res will drift it's all about keeping it in an acceptable range , I find that by topping off with fresh water and nutes daily, I can manage ph Much easier.