OKAY where to start....If you ask anyone with even the basic of knowlage of growing in hydro what your PH level should be and the answer will be 5.8 is best but to keep it in betwwen 5.5 and 6.2 I have also read from many people and places that you PH level should only go up not down,but I also read that every strain and every plant for that matter has it's own needs and that the bigger the plants grow the more newts and different levels of different componds it needs,what newt strenght and newt combs the plant needs at 4 weeks of veg is way different than what it needs at 4 weeks of flowering.I also learned that the plants will uptake different newts at differnt PH levels at higher PH levels the plant will up take differnt then at lower ph levels... For the first 4 weeks of my grow I had no problems keeping my PH levels at 5.8,I didn't have to do anything the newts did it for me,going into my 5th week the PH levels kept dropping to 5.5 I would PH it to 5.8 thinking it would stay there...wrong....after every feed cycle it would drop back down to 5.5,and I just about lost my mind trying to figure out why ( remember PH is only supposed to go up) I was in great fear I was dealing with the dredded ROT,I even made a giant newbe mistake of digging up one of my smaller plants to check the roots (thankfullyit recovered with out missing a beat) I even condemmed my test meter and bought a better one, insted of a meter that you use to test every so offten I bought a PH monitor and thats where I started to learn a lession. One guy who really seemed to know his shit,gave me some advice in a thread,he told me what he does is he will PH his newts 6.3 and let it drift down through out the next few days ( hey wait a minute I though Ph levels should only go up). I get my monitor all set up check calibration and the prob went in the tank,it reads 5.5,so right a way out comes the PH up I up it to 5.8,it goes through it's next feed cycle and right back down to 5.5,so now I am like WTF so I get frustrated and slam it with PH up,it brings my PH up to 5.9,the another feed cycle and PH goes down to 5.7 after the second feed it then goes to 5.5,so this time I PH to 6.1,then a feed cycle ,down to 5.9 next feeding 5.7 and so on ( are you seeing the same pattern as I am?) I now Ph to 6.3 and it took almost 2 days to go back to 5.5... The lession... dont even try keeping PH levels at one set point,it's not going to happen, at 6.2-3 your plant will take up certant newts in the mix at 5.7 to 5.9 it will up take a combo of all and at 5.5 it will take different newts than at 6.2.so it all balances out in the end. So if anyone is struggling trying to maintane one PH level dont,just make sure you stay with in a 5.5 tp 6.2 range and it will balance out in the end..........Thank you for taking the time to read this,I hope it helps at least one newbe out!!!!!Now I feel like I stressed and struggled for nothing!!!!
Do you mean my old tester? trust me you dont want it,it a millwaukee ph 600 it only ran me 18 bucks and it's a peice of crap.but it is working,but I had to calibrate it every time I used it....if you need it till you can get a better one I will just give it to you,just PM your address and I will send it to you...