Ph....add nutes. then ph again? or just add nutes

I was wondering how many people ph'd their water twice?

I have heard to do it first..then add nutes, then set the ph again....

Or to add nutes to less than the amount of water you want to be at....(so if you are going for 50 gals total ....add 50 gals worth of nutes...then add water until the ppms/ ec is set ...and your ph should be close enough to just adjust it)

thanks

Never ph twice. It's wasteful and unnecessary.

K.I.S.S. -> Just add nutrients to the total volume of water. Wait a few minutes so it is all mixed up. PH the solution. That's it.

I never PH my rez. Add water, add nutes done. Im using flroanova bloom with a few additives. Stays pegged at 5.9 for at least a week at a time In a recirculating rez. I have not went more than a week without an add back, so I don't know how much longer the PH would stay in range.....

If you are using a meter learn to Calibrate it if you haven't already. You can use the reference solution to check accuracy every time you use it, and get a feel for how often your meter needs to be recalilbrated. My Hanna normally needs recalibration weekly, just fyi.

1. Mix nutes

2. Wait for an hour or two

3. Adjust pH

4. Re-check as often as daily... at least every three days until you are familiar with the way pH fluctuates, as a result of the way your plants use water/nutes in your particular system.

4. Don't ignore your pH if you're in Hydro. No matter what they tell you.

I just fill my res with water add nutes one by one check PH then I add PH up or PH down .

I've read that nutes should never be in water with a pH of >6.5 because it will cause precipitation, but this is probably outdated info as I've never seen it happen with 3-part and Maxi. The same source said if precipitation occurs, to lower pH and stir.

I wouldn't adjust the ph twice...as others have stated, add your nutrients and adjust as needed.

I add 4.5 to 5ml of pH down to each 5 gallon jug when I fill them and when I am ready to use it the pH is just a little high and adding nutes makes it perfect. My tap water runs about 8 pH and I was warned about the high pH causing problems when the nutes are added. And it is easier once you dial in the amount of pH adjustment you need to add it up front.

Generally, the instructions go: Water + Nutes, then PH. There is then no need to PH the water twice because the buffers in the base nutes typically buffer the tank where you need it and you make a minor adjustment here or there.

For me with GH 3-Part this means I mix my nutes a little Phosphorus shy and add my PH Down/Phosphoric Acid at 5ml/5 Gal which brings my ph to the 5.7 mark and my phosphorus right into target (in veg). Then it stays there, and I top off with PH'd water.

If the pH is between 5.2 and 6.5 there's no need to adjust it. If it isn't, then it's probably time to mix up a fresh batch and do a water change. I haven't used any pH down in over a year now, and my plants are happy. Keep a check on your pH, but take it from someone who spent hours and hours of my life over the years trying to maintain pH at 5.9, it makes no difference as long as the pH is within acceptable limits.

Here's my Thinking:

Here's my Thinking:

El Toker said:

If the pH is between 5.2 and 6.5 there's no need to adjust it. If it isn't, then it's probably time to mix up a fresh batch and do a water change. I haven't used any pH down in over a year now, and my plants are happy. Keep a check on your pH, but take it from someone who spent hours and hours of my life over the years trying to maintain pH at 5.9, it makes no difference as long as the pH is within acceptable limits.

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I agree that attempting to keep pH at a rock solid 6.0 is a Fool's Errand.

When mixing up a batch of nutes, I like to get my rez's pH as close to the lower end of the range as I can, anywhere in the 5.2-5.5 range is fine. This is cuz in my experience, in my rez, pH tends to drift higher. Then I just let the pH drift from 5.3-ish to 6.5-ish when I will add water/nutes/pH down... what have you. In doing this I'm trying to assure myself that my plants are getting all the benefit they can out of the nutes, given the optimal pH range, while keeping fiddling with my rez at the minimum.

CrumpleZone said:

I agree that attempting to keep pH at a rock solid 6.0 is a Fool's Errand.

When mixing up a batch of nutes, I like to get my rez's pH as close to the lower end of the range as I can, anywhere in the 5.2-5.5 range is fine. This is cuz in my experience, in my rez, pH tends to drift higher. Then I just let the pH drift from 5.3-ish to 6.5-ish when I will add water/nutes/pH down... whatever. In doing this I'm trying to assure myself that my plants are getting all the benefit they can out of the nutes, given the optimal pH range, while keeping fiddling with my rez at the minimum.

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I understand what you're saying, and when you look at those charts that show the different optimum pHs for different trace elements.
(This is the first one that came up when I googled it)


It does make sense, as your pH rises particular micro-nutrients become more available for absorbtion. That's based on the assumption that the limiting factor for bud production is nutrient availability, I wonder whether that's the case, certainly when growers use CO2 the roots are able to extract nutrients fast enough to feed that growth.

I think it may be the case that if you get the nutrients within an acceptable range then other things like CO2 availability become the limiting factors. I doubt the accuracy of the cutoff points because it's unlikely to work that way and because plants I've grown at pH 5.3 didn't show any signs of Phosphorous or Magnesium deficiency. It would have been impossible for the plant to thrive without these two nutrients being available.

I base this on grows where I've had the pH consistently at the upper or lower ends of the safe range. There was no evidence of nutrient deficiency in the leaves or any obvious difference in yield.

The only times I see nutrient problems is when the EC is too high and I've found you tend to see that reflected very quickly in the appearance of the plant.

I'd be interested to hear if anybody had significantly increased their yield purely by optimising their pH.

I'm glad you posted those charts. They make the whole pH issue so much easier to understand. I gotta learn how to post pics on here someday.