Coco runoff ph/EC high

[967]

Hi all, just checked the run off of my plants for the first time in like forever, usually don't bother but i got curious..

The three oldest plants (6 weeks veg ish) are putting out 1.7 - 2.0EC, ph around 6.5. Haven't fed above 1.4EC yet, usually ph 5.7 - 5.9. They all look healthy just thought i would see what was coming out compared to what was going in

Does this mean i should ph to around 5.5ish to get the runoff ph down a little bit? Am feeding 1.0EC now and will continue to do so until it comes out around that same number, or until i get deficiencies

Or should i just ignore the runoff like a lot of people tend to do?

They are in grow bags around 1.5L and must be very near rootbound if not already. Getting fed twice a day at the moment. Can't really transplant yet as i won't have space in flower room for another 2 weeks at least, and will outgrow their current veg chamber if i transplant now..

 

[nachoconqueso]

The EC should not be 1.7-2.0. That is not good at all. Flush the plants out thoroughly with plain 5.8 pH'd water. Really rinse those roots out good man. Then hit them with your normal regimen and continue to monitor the runoff. Trying to even out the pH by applying it at 5.5 is not the best plan here. Regardless of what pH you currently have as runoff, you first need to take care of the load up of salts. Might kill two birds with one stone here anyways. Also, transplant asap. This could be the source of your problem. A whole nutrient lockout situation which loads up the salts and the excess salts causing a high pH (probably N buildup imo). I'm not sure though. Make sure you don't switch them to 12/12 until they're transplanted and fully healthy again. You don't want a situation where your plants are trying to recover/adjust to new space while also being put into stretch mode. It'll hurt you're overall results which you don't want.

 

[967]

Ok will do that now. What should runoff EC typically be? How much of a flush is sufficient? Should i flush down to say 0.6EC or right down to 0.1EC which is the level of my tap?

 

[967]

Also what would cause this build up? Feeding too strong? I have let them run pretty dry before, not to the point of wilting though. Usually stay pretty damp. If i transplant now i think i will run into even bigger problems than if i don't. Plants are only around 18" tall and about as wide, looking perfectly healthy. Were my mothers but now planning on budding them bitches

 

[967]

After a whole shitload of flushing at 5.8 i have the EC down to under 0.2, but the ph doesn't seem to want to budge! Its around the mid 6's. Gonna leave it like that before my temper gets the better of me

Should i keep feeding around 5.8 or lower to try and make up for it?

 

[967]

Would it help if i soaked them in a bucket of 5.8 tap water and if so, how long can i leave them in it before they drown?

Sucks not being able to edit posts..

 

[nachoconqueso]

Woah dude...haha

Sounds like you have it cleaned out pretty good. Don't let it sit in a pool of water. If you pH your water too fast and don't give it time to settle sometimes it'll raise and play tricks on you. Check the calibration on your pH meter and give the pH'd water an hour or so to settle on the right spot. Once you have that locked down give it one last flush and start feeding as usual.

There's no reason why you can't get the pH down with clean coco, a properly calibrated pH meter, and a little patience on your water. There's nothing there except the water to affect it. Let us know, but I don't want to see you post here for at least a few hours.

 

[otis33]

I know its kind of late at this point, but you should never flush with straight tap in coco, you will mess up the cation exchange. if you feel the need to flush, flush with half strength nute solution. To avoid salt build up in the future, water to 15-20% run off, our use drip clean by h&g. The Ph of your run off is not really as important as the Ph of what is going in. it is good to stay on top of salt build up, but in this case, I think you may have over reacted a little. the reason it is a good ideas to "charge"your coco is to balance out the cations as coco holds on to calcium. When you flush with straight water you disrupt the balance in the medium and until the cations reach an equilibrium you may end up with deficiencies (CA)