Stinky res, Rising PH... wtf!?

[ninjagaiden]

i like to keep things pretty simple. My fert line up for bloom is as follows:

-AN CalMg 3-0-0 forumla (they make a 4-0-0 formula for veg, but this is pretty stupid. no need for 2 calmg's)
-HG Drip Clean
-Canna Coco A/B
-Atami Bloombastic @ 1ml/gal, then 2ml/gal later

I find canna coco to be a bit weak to use it all the way through harvest, a p/k supp is definitely needed.

I chose bloombastic as my booster as i can use it to help promote flowering, build buds, swell, taste etc..at least that is what they advertise.



I myself use r/o water just for the control factor - at ~300ppm with tap. I probably dont need it but i got a great unit for 100 bucks so hell why not?

 

[Guest 18340]

I don't believe your tap water was causing your ph rise. I believe that was a combo of your air stone an the organics you added.
If you're running to waste then you can do away with the air stone altogether.
Municipal tap usually has a disinfect in it, that is an added benefit in your rez. Used to be Chlorine but a lot have no switched to chloramine (which is what is in Dutch Master Zone).
My tap is 315ppm's today (it fluctuates +/- 20-30 everyday). This run I've been using Lucas formula (8 ml/gal GH micro, 16 ml/gal GH bloom) and tap water and I've let the rez sit without air stone for 10 days while I went out of town. I left the ph @5.6 an came back to ph of 5.8 from what was left in the rez.
As for the pk 13/14 and Hydroplex; I don't know enough about either one (still have two sample bottles of Hydroplex sitting on my shelf) but was curious why you added two pk boosters together. Especially those two. You don't get any burns from them?

 

[Herborizer]

Tap water should help keep PH stable. Also, tap water should have all the CalMag needed. Personally, I quit using all those extra additives and sorted out my water and kept things simple. Once I did that I stopped having all the issues that I was having before.

Simply: Canna A/B, DripClean, PH Down in veg. Canna A/B, Drip Clean, Bloombastic, PH Down in Flower. In veg, if I need some PH up, I use dynagrow Silicate instead. This simple nutrient configuration yielded me 0.91 GPW last round. No CO2!

 

[zone 8]

No immediate burns on the plants, but I will have to wait a week to see for sure. They had 2 feedings with the crazy mix, hopefully it did not rape their stability...

I just ran a test with 1gal of RO water and added the following, which I plan to have 15gal of in my res tonight ...

16ml A+B
8ml PK 13/14
5ml Botanicare Cal-mag

2ml of PH down and i am at 5.8PH with 1390-1400 ppm

So for 15gal of RO water I will use 240ml of A+B, 120ml of PK, and 75ml of Cal-mag


It's much more simple than what I was running, and it has the perfect ppm (from what I understand) for coco going on the 4th week of flowering. Also this mix is 100% synthetic and should not require the Airstone (Evaporating my PH down) and should not cause any foul odors.... Hell the 1gal I mixed looks like clean drinking water!!!


My question now is, Do I flush the medium with water first, before I use this new mix? The two feedings yesterday had the crazy mix, minus the hygrozyme and rhizo.

 

[Guest 18340]

If the plants are not showing any def's burns or any signs of stress from the previous two feedings then I would not flush them. Just feed with your new formula.
Thats the way I would do it...

 

[ninjagaiden]

Tap water should help keep PH stable. Also, tap water should have all the CalMag needed. Personally, I quit using all those extra additives and sorted out my water and kept things simple. Once I did that I stopped having all the issues that I was having before.

Simply: Canna A/B, DripClean, PH Down in veg. Canna A/B, Drip Clean, Bloombastic, PH Down in Flower. In veg, if I need some PH up, I use dynagrow Silicate instead. This simple nutrient configuration yielded me 0.91 GPW last round. No CO2!

not to thread jack but...are u using a pump or somethign to keep your water mixed with bloombastic? i keep a air stones in my res since the heavy sediment in the bloombasic likes to settle

 

[Lazyman]

A healthy res will exhibit ph climb, but as others have said, Hygrozyme is murder on reservoirs, I stopped using it years ago and have never been happier. it's a wonder they are still in business (especially when you can buy powdered septic tank enzymes at Home Depot for $6 that work better.)

I add 1ml bleach to the res for every 10g water daily. Take it from an old hand at this, bleach/dead res is the only way to go. I've tried everything else you can think of (and some you probably haven't) and this is what works the absolute best and is the cheapest.

 

[Herborizer]

not to thread jack but...are u using a pump or somethign to keep your water mixed with bloombastic? i keep a air stones in my res since the heavy sediment in the bloombasic likes to settle

Airstone in res. Works great. Yes, PH climbs from time to time. I add a little PH-down once or twice per week. Takes like 30 seconds.

 

[BongRipkenJR.]

Airstone in res. Works great. Yes, PH climbs from time to time. I add a little PH-down once or twice per week. Takes like 30 seconds.

That is what I have been doing. I have a PH drift of 5.6-6.1 after about 3 days. My reservoir turns milky and slimy as well. I am running Canna Coco A + B, Flora Nectar, Botanicare Cal/Mag. The beneficials I had in the barrel from my previous outdoor compost teas were still multiplying. My plants are very healthy though and don't seem to have a problem. I might have to use some bleach though :/