How to prevent PH & PPM spikes?

[Barron]

We transplanted our seedlings into Waterfarm buckets on Sun. They all started with a PH of 5.5 and PPM around 200. I checked the PH and PPM last night and the PH is at 7.3 and PPM is at 729 What should i do to fix this and how do i prevent the PH and PPM from Spiking?

 

[dano1985]

how and why does the ph creep up so fast oh these? every time i check it, the ph is up.... how do I prevent this and/or stop it??? + rep...

 

[MrFishy]

I dunno THE answer, but have read that pH readings change w/temperature fluctuation?

 

[Barron]

I think for the most part the temp stays pretty consistent. I think it will drop a few degrees when the humidifier runs out of water cause its a warm air humidifier. I have no idea what the temp is when the lights are off. Any experts have any input on this?

 

[Barron]

Should i add some distilled water to each rez to try to dilute the nutes a bit?

 

[lorenzo420AG]

if you are using hydroton, did you make sure to clean it really well first? dirty pellets will make the ppm/ph rise

 

[Barron]

I cleaned them real well but there is some sediment at the bottom of each reservoir. Do you think that might have something to do with it?

 

[Barron]

Come on guys can anyone help me out? Bump

 

[Barron]

BumpBumpBump

 

[bgmike8]

well you have to let the ph down get mixed in real good to get an accurate measurement. plus the plants use certain chemicals in the water and makes the ph fluctuate. i also noticed that when i cut some hole in my walls the sawdust raised my ph. you just have to keep checkingph. now your ppm will go up when you add ph changers

 

[meltdown213]

I used to have Ph issues all the time and know how you feel. I believe my issue was caused by too strong of a light(400 watt) for my 2 gallon res. I still use all the same stuff but now with a 16 gallon res and have had little to no ph problems.
I've noticed that the Ph stays much more stable with larger quantites of water. I tried and searched for days on this site to find answers and tried all of those that sounded legit and nothing worked but adding more water.

I was considering 5 gallon DWC buckets next time but hesitant because of my past experince with PH issues.

 

[orzz]

1.Water level drops PPM goes up: Drop your nutrient strength in relationship to the PPM rise.
2. Water level drops PPM stays the same: You may be able to fine tune you nutrient strength, if growth is vigorous leave it alone.
3. Water level drops PPM drops: Raise you nutrient strength in relationship to PPM drop.

 

[bgmike8]

all you need is a good ph meter and some ph down. of course smaller volumes of water will be affected quicker than larger ones.

how hard is it to just throw a few drops of ph down??

 

[Barron]

all you need is a good ph meter and some ph down. of course smaller volumes of water will be affected quicker than larger ones.

how hard is it to just throw a few drops of ph down??

I have a good PH pen I have the Martini. Its not hard to add PH down Ive been doing that thanks!!!

 

[bgmike8]

i have a hanna that does ppm too. i like it but i havnt calibrated it in a year.

 

[orzz]

i have a hanna that does ppm too. i like it but i havnt calibrated it in a year.

How hard is it to calibrate .... sorry Just clowning off your earlier post about pH down?

 

[bgmike8]

lol .

 

[tman42]

Hey Barron the only thing that I could find to get rid of this problem was to order the waterfarm recirc kit http://www.4hydroponics.com/grow_room/Mnl/WaterFarmUpgrade.pdf that way you aren't having to pH each bucket separately. They are kind of hard to find, as not many people advertise them and the couple local hydro shops I have been to have no idea of this upgrade kit. I found mine at the site in the above mentioned link. Hope this helps out.

 

[orzz]

lol .

You'll want to calibrate it and your ppm/tds/ec meter every month. No use taking the readings if it is not calibrated. You may even do more harm than good if you drop the pH too low because of a poorly calibrated instrument.

 

[meltdown213]

all you need is a good ph meter and some ph down. of course smaller volumes of water will be affected quicker than larger ones.

how hard is it to just throw a few drops of ph down??

Its not hard..but when you have to do it 2 times a day it sux. I can go days now without checking PH and eveything is fine. The PH in my tank will slowly rise as the water decreases...I top it off with nutes and the PH goes back down. I only have to ajust my PH during res changes.