ph drop

[mofreak]

i have a some really healthy looking plants in bubble buckets, the ph always drops. it never rises, so i adjust it and go on and everything is fine. i was wondering if maybe i cut back on the nutes?? but i dunno they are totally healthy and iv'e been getting real good harvests for awhile, i just hear that it is naturally supposed to rise.

 

[FreezerBoy]

EC and pH move in opposite directions. Movement in either direction is "normal" depending on conditions. EC up, pH down = too rich. EC down, pH up = too lean. Chances are you're overfeeding (if you're following Lucas or the bottle you could be over feeding by as much as 300%) At what rate is it moving? 0.5 over a week or two is a good thing as no one reading allows absorption of all nutes.

Never use kitchen products to control pH (ie vinegar/ baking soda) they're effectiveness is measured in minutes.

 

[mofreak]

i don't have an ec pen or any pen. i'm feeding them half strength dutchmastergold flower.i only use half strength on everything. it's hard for me to even change anything because they look picture perfect. thnx freezereboy, i like your knowledge.

 

[mofreak]

also they are drinking alot of water so i guess that would mean that they are drinking more water than nutes thereby decreasing the ph, does that sound like something, i top them off every day.

 

[FreezerBoy]

That could be it. Water loss doesn't always = movement in pH or EC. I've seen numbers flatline for months. It depends on how well you match your girls appetite. How fast is pH falling? If it's faster than 0.5 a week, I'd try lowering nutes. I'm running my DWC without an EC pen this time around. I love my Bluelab but, now that I've used it awhile, I no longer feel it's necessary. 1/3 strength nutes seems to be right for my current 8Mile from Mandala.