Problems with canna coco a+b

[Bjg]

Hi so I'm wondering if theres anyone who uses canna coco a+b in a reserviour drain to waste. I'm having a few problems.
1st problem is ph rising. My tap water is around 23ppm at 7.2 ph
I mix nutrient a+b only to approx 250ppm then ph down to 5.8 I have a fountain pump inside res circulating water pretty vigorously. 6 hours later back to 7(I haven't even fed the plants yet). So I drop ph back to 5.2 (feed plants) and 3 hours later it's back to 6.9. I've stopped running the big pump in the res and swapped to a small circulator pump. Any ideas what would could such a shift in ph in a stand alone tank.
My next problem is the mix is going cloudy within 24 hours not real bad but just cant see the bottom of the tank. I also noticed this when I mixed a jug for previous feed if I left it over night it would be cloudy in the morning. Im on tank water so no chlorine I'm not sure if theres some sort of reaction happening with my water. I also just noticed the ph down I'm using is citric acid. Prob not the best so I have some phosphoric acid on the way. Not sure if this will solve my problems. But if anyone had this problem and solved it please let me know what you tried. I also suspect low alkilinity which might be the cause of the ph swing. Any water quality gurus floating around that might be able to help.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Billy the Mountain]

The phosphoric acid should help. Citric acid is short-lived at lowering pH.

I'm curious where you get tap water at 23ppm? A limestone-free area I presume.

 

[Hook Daddy]

I don’t use canna, but the ph rising is in part due to the pump. Try taking it out and see what happens. Mine did the same thing, I removed the pump and switched to ro water, problem solved. My well ph was around 8 ph which is why I switched to ro water in the long run.

 

[Bjg]

The phosphoric acid should help. Citric acid is short-lived at lowering pH.

I'm curious where you get tap water at 23ppm? A limestone-free area I presume.

Its filtered rain water comes out of the tap at 23ppm

 

[Billy the Mountain]

You don't need to run a stir pump continuously.
I only run mine a few minutes every before a fertigation event.

 

[Hook Daddy]

Agitating the water in a res adds oxygen and removes co2, which in turn raises the ph. The water will try to raise to the original ph. The phosphoric acid will last longer and help delay the rise so you will have to add less often, but it will still rise over time. Water agitation by bubbler or pump is essential for dwc, but not for coco.

 

[Bukvičák]

Pump wont make your solution cloudy. Its the citric acid which does. Pump wont rise your pH unless its adding oxygen. But it has been already said…

 

[mudballs]

You might not believe this but that cloudy water could be an algea bloom lol.
Phospates and cloudy water google results
Since ur on well water, i bet you it's an mini algea bloom.

 

[Bjg]

You might not believe this but that cloudy water could be an algea bloom lol.
Phospates and cloudy water google results
Since ur on well water, i bet you it's an mini algea bloom.

Bit like a new fish tank when first set up then you wait for it to settle and the cloud disappears. I see where you're coming from and I did start to look into that and you could very well be onto something. If it is the case what affect will it have on plants I wonder. I'm sure there was something I used to add to fish tank to clear it up but I cant imagine that being good for your res, I could be wrong fish didn't mind it. I'm going to start with turning off pumps which scares me as I feel aeration is necessary, changing ph down to phosphoric acid and go from there I think if that doesnt clear it up I'll look more into algae bloom idea. Any tips on how to prevent an algae bloom if that is the case.

 

[Billy the Mountain]

You shouldn't be adding anything organic to a reservoir; citric acid included.

As Bukvičák mentioned, its the citric acid causing the cloudiness.

 

[Bjg]

You shouldn't be adding anything organic to a reservoir; citric acid included.

As Bukvičák mentioned, its the citric acid causing the cloudiness.

Does this include cannas supplements as well because I'm sure the rhizotonic and boost have organic materials in them. I've left them out so far. not sure how to add them if not in the res I'll have to mix and ad separately which kind of defeats the purpose of having a pre mixed res in the first place the whole idea was to mix, set and forget maybe monitor the ph over the week.

 

[calvin.m16]

I quit running H&G and Canna due to weird PH swings in between feedings in coco in the rootzone. I had issues with Canna raising PH and issues with H&G lowering PH.

Switched to CYCO Platinum and I don't need to check PH anymore... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Billy the Mountain]

Does this include cannas supplements as well because I'm sure the rhizotonic and boost have organic materials in them. I've left them out so far. not sure how to add them if not in the res I'll have to mix and ad separately which kind of defeats the purpose of having a pre mixed res in the first place the whole idea was to mix, set and forget maybe monitor the ph over the week.

I don't use any supplements so can't comment on that.

As a rule though, no organics in a hydro res.

 

[Star Dog]

I use canna a+b dtw my water is 0.0 ec with 7.2 ph, I run a small pump to keep the nutrient moving gently, ahb mixes to 5.9/6.1 ph after mixing I don't have to adjust it for 4/5 days.

If you are mixing additives in you have to go about mixing them in order to avoid precipitation, Ime cloudy indicates that minerals have precipitated/bonded together.

 

[mudballs]

Bit like a new fish tank when first set up then you wait for it to settle and the cloud disappears. I see where you're coming from and I did start to look into that and you could very well be onto something. If it is the case what affect will it have on plants I wonder. I'm sure there was something I used to add to fish tank to clear it up but I cant imagine that being good for your res, I could be wrong fish didn't mind it. I'm going to start with turning off pumps which scares me as I feel aeration is necessary, changing ph down to phosphoric acid and go from there I think if that doesnt clear it up I'll look more into algae bloom idea. Any tips on how to prevent an algae bloom if that is the case.

You use rainwater, my bad, not well water. Only way to prevent an algae bloom is stop algae from getting in or killing em. Never seen a mix go cloudy myself.these guys are convinced it aint that anyways. Never mind my ramblings im an oddball

 

[Hook Daddy]

OP, if your going to run hydro I would suggest at least looking into Jacks nutes. Simple, easy and cost effective. There may be other good ones that are not into the hype and bs, but jacks is a solid nute system that many long time growers use, and nothing else is needed.

 

[Bjg]

I use canna a+b dtw my water is 0.0 ec with 7.2 ph, I run a small pump to keep the nutrient moving gently, ahb mixes to 5.9/6.1 ph after mixing I don't have to adjust it for 4/5 days.

If you are mixing additives in you have to go about mixing them in order to avoid precipitation, Ime cloudy indicates that minerals have precipitated/bonded together.

Do you run just a+b and no additives throughout the grow without any problems?
I find if I mix a stronger ratio of just a+b (600ppm) it holds the ph perfectly at 6.1-6.2 without any ph down at all. But my plants are only 2 weeks old any more than 300ppm and they dont like it, so at that ratio the ph doesnt really change from 7.2 so I have to ad ph down then fight to keep it down. I'm hoping the phosphoric acid and less aeration will solve my problem.

 

[Star Dog]

Do you run just a+b and no additives throughout the grow without any problems?
I find if I mix a stronger ratio of just a+b (600ppm) it holds the ph perfectly at 6.1-6.2 without any ph down at all. But my plants are only 2 weeks old any more than 300ppm and they dont like it, so at that ratio the ph doesnt really change from 7.2 so I have to ad ph down then fight to keep it down. I'm hoping the phosphoric acid and less aeration will solve my problem.

Yes I only use a+b there's no additives added, I hope that works out for you.

 

[Bjg]

OP, if your going to run hydro I would suggest at least looking into Jacks nutes. Simple, easy and cost effective. There may be other good ones that are not into the hype and bs, but jacks is a solid nute system that many long time growers use, and nothing else is needed.

I've looked into Jack's and not available here or very limited availability and have to buy in bulk at a hefty freight fee. Plus I've just purchased a tonne of canna nutes and I'm sure canna is a good line of nutrient and it's much easier to get my hands on just need to iron out a few gremlins.

 

[Bjg]

Thanks everyone, gives me something to work on.