Does PH affect EC?

jordanwh

Member
long story short I was battling with deficiency’s due to ph lockout while using PH water drops, decided to invest in a solid PH pen and realized how far off and inaccurate the drops were, plants are bouncing back with lush green new growth which got me thinking about getting more accurate feedings. Thinking ahead does PH up/down affect the EC? Say I’m feeding @ 1.2 EC but the ph of the nutrient solution is 5.5, would adding PH up or down also increase EC?
 
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Pa-Nature

Well-Known Member
It will affect but from expedience not enough for alarm unless you need mega to change ph .
I asume u have PPM meter
Adjust you water before nute and check water before and after
 

jordanwh

Member
It will affect but from expedience not enough for alarm unless you need mega to change ph .
I asume u have PPM meter
Adjust you water before nute and check water before and after
PH the water before adding nutrients and then check after reaching the desired EC?
 

jordanwh

Member
No, get your feeding done, then adjust pH.
5.5 is only for pure hydro like nutrient film or DWC
So reach my desired PPM and PH the nutrients like I normally would? In short I’m just making sure that’s all it comes down to and there’s isn’t anymore adjusting I should know about. Simply add nutrients until my desired EC, ph that and done?
 

jordanwh

Member
/all he was asking was how much it affected his water/ec
I like to over think things that I’m unsure about. Basically just wanted to make sure it was as simple as PHing the nutrients after reaching my correct EC level without anymore adjustments like playing tag with my EC and PH. Puts my mind at ease to know it’s that simple and not a science project trying to dial it in.
 
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ANC

Well-Known Member
Yes, as you are adding more stuff to the water. but in terms of measurements. you know how much of the EC is from your fertiliser.

You get a feel for it after a while, I incrementally increase my res size as the flowering girls increase in biomass
to kind of stick to a fixed regime.
 

Serpentz

Well-Known Member
long story short I was battling with deficiency’s due to ph lockout while using PH water drops, decided to invest in a solid PH pen and realized how far off and inaccurate the drops were, plants are bouncing back with lush green new growth which got me thinking about getting more accurate feedings. Thinking ahead does PH up/down affect the EC? Say I’m feeding @ 1.2 EC but the ph of the nutrient solution is 5.5, would adding PH up or down also increase EC?
I was curious what you are growing in. It's a DWC? Coco? Soil?

A bit off topic but, If you're growing in soil then a pH level of 5.5 is too low...you're 10 times more acidic than you should be for soil which should be 6.5 - If you are a hydro grower like me there is a magic number of 5.8 pH.

As for changes in EC, I've not noticed anything but I only use a few drops of Plagron pH min per 15 liters of water...and that's in a deep water culture, not soil. I just wanted to catch this and make sure you don't go back to some deficiency with too low of a pH.
 

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jordanwh

Member
I was curious what you are growing in. It's a DWC? Coco? Soil?

A bit off topic but, If you're growing in soil then a pH level of 5.5 is too low...you're 10 times more acidic than you should be for soil which should be 6.5 - If you are a hydro grower like me there is a magic number of 5.8 pH.

As for changes in EC, I've not noticed anything but I only use a few drops of Plagron pH min per 15 liters of water...and that's in a deep water culture, not soil. I just wanted to catch this and make sure you don't go back to some deficiency with too low of a pH.

5.5 was just a number I came up with, say I add everything and I drop to 5.5, would using ph up to get up to 6.5 throw my EC way off again. Luckily these forums are very useful and I got my answer, good looking out though. Soil by the way.
 

Pa-Nature

Well-Known Member
5.5 was just a number I came up with, say I add everything and I drop to 5.5, would using ph up to get up to 6.5 throw my EC way off again. Luckily these forums are very useful and I got my answer, good looking out though. Soil by the way.
Soil should be 6.5- 6.7
 

Serpentz

Well-Known Member
seedling at 6.7 400 ppms day 10 from seed crack ,
19 watts LED
View attachment 4281910
Not saying 6.7 isn't OK. I said past a pH of 6.7 and the plant roots will have less Manganese and Iron intake causing a deficiency. Overall I guess its not a big deal in soil but for sure a problem with my setup.
 

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Serpentz

Well-Known Member
Actually, I guess it would be more of an Iron deficiency but probably not a huge deal unless you get to 7.0
I don’t even ph my water for soil. Pour it in and go no issues.
I have a friend that does the same thing. He buys some mineral water and pours it in and always grows nice little plants. He has limited space and growing in a small cabinet. I tried to get away with this but ended up with a small deficiency because of high pH. Sometimes people get lucky or maybe it depends on the size of the plant.
 

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
Actually, I guess it would be more of an Iron deficiency but probably not a huge deal unless you get to 7.0


I have a friend that does the same thing. He buys some mineral water and pours it in and always grows nice little plants. He has limited space and growing in a small cabinet. I tried to get away with this but ended up with a small deficiency because of high pH. Sometimes people get lucky or maybe it depends on the size of the plant.
I run three rooms all soil I build and use my 200ish ppm well water. Many many grows this way. In soil unless your using subpar soil or crazy out of control water ph isn’t even a thought.
 
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