ph help

[linky]

My ro water is 6, after adding nutes ph drops to 4.5.

This normal after adding nutes my ph is dropping so much?

I am using cal mag, aquashield, liquid karma, sweet, hydroplex and pure blend pro bloom.

I have an 8oz bottle of ph up, took half of the bottle to get it to 6 with just 20 gallons of water in my container.

My other container just has ro water and cal-mag, ph is 6.

potted plants, using fox farms


thanks!

 

[cannabineer]

Something sounds seriously out of kilter there. Have you identified which of your component bottles is the sour culprit? It's likely gone bad somehow. cn

 

[linky]

Something sounds seriously out of kilter there. Have you identified which of your component bottles is the sour culprit? It's likely gone bad somehow. cn

hmm have not thought of that, all were bought two months ago, most have dates of nov or dec 2011 on the bottle, one or two do not have dates though.

is it normal for the ph to go down after adding nutes though? I am new to this.

 

[cannabineer]

The other thing that just occurred to me is that your pH meter might be very far off. I'd cross-check with another pH meter andor make certain of this one with both buffers: pH 4.00 and 7.00. If you haven't calibrated yours lately, that's a likely problem. They can drift a lot even one week after being calibrated. cn

 

[linky]

The other thing that just occurred to me is that your pH meter might be very far off. I'd cross-check with another pH meter andor make certain of this one with both buffers: pH 4.00 and 7.00. If you haven't calibrated yours lately, that's a likely problem. They can drift a lot even one week after being calibrated. cn

actually just using test kit from local hydro store.. came with solution to check, ph up and ph down, just got that recently as well

 

[cannabineer]

The indicator test kits can be notoriously hard to read, esp. with nutrients that contain colored agents. GH Flora, for instance, uses chelated iron in the Micro component that makes for a definite pink-brown color after mixing.
I would definitely spring for a good pH meter. I recommend the Oakton brand. Have you pH-tested some (diluted) buffer? That'll tell you something about whether the kit is reading right for you. Jmo. cn

 

[linky]

maybe I should just dump all the water I have in that container then since I just put so much ph up in it, don't want to hurt the plants. The test kit I have though says its for nutrient water testing, hydro gardens or something like that.. would have to go down and check.

 

[jbiz206]

Sounds right if you got that little bottle of ph up with the gh kit for 20 gallons of water. When my ph drops to 5.7 it takes 3ml per gallon to bring it up to 6.8. So if you got the 237ml ph up bottle you can do the math if your ph is down to 4.5. If your doing anything outside of soil/coco i would buy a ph and ppm meter also. Hope that restores your confidence and buy the gallon thing of ph up or more expensive nutes that dont have a violent ph swing