How do you guys set Ph/EC of solutions?

[NOF]

Hey guys, how do you mix up your nutrients when

watering?

I mean, in my case I use detilled water with 0.3 and then I add the fertilizer to the EC that I want (0.8-2.3 with organic nutes). Then I set the pH up or down with nitric acid/phosphoric acid or potassium hidroxide.

What I realize is when I´m going to check the final EC of
my solutions before watering, my EC get too high with the acids or hidroxides used to set the pH. One time it got up to 4.0 microS.

I watered with no problems except for the fear of burning all my little darlings.


My question is: Is my method ok?
Or should I make it different?


How do you guys set your solutions?


All the best for everyone,


NOF

 

[theweedman.fr]

HEy dude your method sounds fine to me, and if its working for you.. great stuff.

My personal method is take tap water, let it stand for 12/24 hours for the clorine to evaporate, put 30/40 litres into the res, then add the right nutes + ph down, mix, and keep repeating until res is full. PH check every day.

I try to keep my PH at 5.5, as I find this is what my plants seem to really like, dont know what PH other people run at though ? Would be interested to hear what others have for their PH.

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

Yeah you're doing it right, although it is odd that your PH up/down is affecting your EC that much. I've only ever used GH's PH Up/Down and they don't affect EC enough to really matter.

And... distilled water should be 0.0ec... not 0.3.


I use tap water, let it sit 24+ hours before using. Mix up nutes, set PH to 5.5, and dump into the reservoir. The PH slowly drifts up, and when it gets to 6.2, I add some PH down and bring it down to 5.8 or so. Usually I don't have to adjust the PH, I just add in the new PH'd solution and it brings it within range.

I had an EC meter before but I don't use it currently. I'll adjust my nute concentration based on what the plants say they want.

 

[FreezerBoy]

I'd cut nutes by 75% and see what happens.

 

[NOF]

Hi there...

In my case, I use organic fertilizers as well as organic soil in my garden.
What I use for set up/down pH, is some solutions that a mate produce in
my college lab.

He make solutions of Nitric Acid (in my country, nitric acid is controlled by the army, cause some people use to refine cocaine and bild bombs!!!), wich I used to set down the pH on veg phase. On blooming phase I use Phosphoric Acid.

My intention is to make nitrate avaiable on my solution as the nitric acid dissociate with the solution on veg phase, and make phosphate avaiable on my solution on blooming phase.

To set the pH up, he make a solution with Potassium Hidroxide, to develop potassium salts on my solution. My intention was to bring some nutrients also when setting up/down the pH. Salts that the roots could absorve.

My plants never showed any overfert for these actions except in my last feeding.
I mixed up a solution with Humic Acids, and my bonsai mothers and clones as well
showed some disease traits after been watered. I did not let the solution so strong.
I stopped the fertilizer adition when it achieve 0.8 microS.

After setting up the pH, the final EC was 4.0.
I realize, but I´m not that sure...that I did a potassium overfert on my plants...

What I realized also, is that with organic nutes, you need to put more ph up/down solutions to set the pH due to buffering/tamponate systems that are present on organic
solutions.

Guys, my english is not the best around, are you understanding what I am trying to
say?


All the best.

 

[CaptainTrips]

Yeah you're doing it right, although it is odd that your PH up/down is affecting your EC that much. I've only ever used GH's PH Up/Down and they don't affect EC at all.

And... distilled water should be 0.0ec... not 0.3.

Yeah, 0.3 EC is not distilled water... I think that is higher than my tap lol.

 

[gonzo`]

I do the same as you with the nitric in veg and the potassium in flower...

I think you're problem is that you are using organic nutrients which you cannot pH up or down... Or so I understand...

How much (roughly) nitric are you adding? If you use a lot it will add to EC...

My advise is either stop using pH (because EC 4.0 is waaaaay too high) or get refined nutrients...

 

[theweedman.fr]

I also do the same.

Nitric in veg, potassium in flower.

 

[Admiral Canna]

I use GH pH Up and Down and my ass they don't play with your EC levels. 6 tsp of GH pH up in a 5 gallon bucket of my nute solution will jump my PPMs by 200-300.

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

I use GH pH Up and Down and my ass they don't play with your EC levels. 6 tsp of GH pH up in a 5 gallon bucket of my nute solution will jump my PPMs by 200-300.

You're right, I didn't mean literally nothing, I meant negligible to the point of not needing to incorporate it into your mix when planning feeding strength. OP was talking about PH adjustments doubling his EC.

 

[NOF]

It depends mate...

Adjusting pH with inorganic salts it is necessary a few drops os my solution of
nitric acid/phophoric acid or hidroxide potassium.

I need to check with him the concentration of acid that he put on the solutions.
I believe that he make a "weak" solution of both ones.


But when the subject is organic nutes, like fer-I-fish (commom used here in my land),
I need to add much more solution due to buffering/tamponate sytems that
organic solutions create.


By the way...my destilled water have 0.1-0.2!!!
Lower than this, only R.O water (for the jokers ones).

 

[NOF]

By the way, does anyone knows which product GH up/down are made?

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

Distilled water and RO water should both be 0.0ec... where are you guys getting distilled that has shit in it? By definition, that water should be pure.

 

[FreezerBoy]

0.3 is why you go RO or distilled, not the result of going RO or distilled. RO is physically filtered and I'd think there will always be some minerals left over with the level of equipment we use. Distilled is water converted to steam and back, all gases are expelled, all minerals left behind and should read 0.

 

[CaptainTrips]

Yup, 0.2 EC is NOT distilled water. It might have a label that says distilled water, but that doesn't make it so... Maybe your meter is off.

 

[NOF]

Guys...I´m sorry, but you some of you may be wrong.

My mate is a Chemical Engineering and works on a College´s Lab for 4 years.
There they produce both kind of water for chemical tests: R.O and destilled ones.

In theory, these water should be 0.0 EC but in pratice is not that way.
My tap water is 0.3 and destilled / R.O stays on 0.1.

 

[NOF]

And as freezer boy said, there always have some mineral left over with the equipements
used! Anyway whe are discussing something that are not going to move us around.

0.1 mS is nothing. I don´t think we need to spent time doing that!
It´s like a drop of water on a load cup!


I believe that what really matters in this thread is the discussing around the methods
we use to set our solutions!Don´t you think the same?


All the best,

NOF

 

[CaptainTrips]

Guys...I´m sorry, but you some of you may be wrong.

My mate is a Chemical Engineering and works on a College´s Lab for 4 years.
There they produce both kind of water for chemical tests: R.O and destilled ones.

In theory, these water should be 0.0 EC but in pratice is not that way.
My tap water is 0.3 and destilled / R.O stays on 0.1.

Well, 0.1 is a little different. But you said it was 0.3, which is about what my tap water is. I've tested distilled water before. Never seen it read more than about 1 ppm. Although i've never calibrated it, and its a cheapie. I just use it as a "relative" reading... you only need to be in the neighborhood anyway.

 

[grapeman]

Yeah you're doing it right, although it is odd that your PH up/down is affecting your EC that much. I've only ever used GH's PH Up/Down and they don't affect EC enough to really matter.
.

I agree. I use food grade Phos acid and a proper ph up and it never affects my EC in a meaningful way.