Aeroponic problems

I have been using an aeroponic system. I have not been able to find a PH meter that works worth a shit. With all the advancements in technology, no one can make a fucking PH meter that will goddamn work worth a fucking shit. I digress. Anyway, my last grow was a aeroponic system in a Rubbermaid bin, using 1.75 inch netpots. I ran advanced nutes, grow, micro, bloom. Also hydroguard. 5Gallons RO water per bin. 3 tsp Epsom salt per week. Humboldt Snow Storm Ultra/Crystal burst. In both bins I had 2-2.5ft plants, 16 sites per 30gal rubbermaid bin. When I flipped over to flower is when I started having purpling issues. The stems turned purple, but the buds continued to grow during flower. The purpling also caused purple coloration in some of the buds and leaves. Which I had not seen this strain/clone do before. At the end the bud was frosty as can be, and pretty with purple and green, and a bit of red. The buds looked like candy they were so frosty. Anyway, I did not use a PH meter, because I had so many problems. I went through veg with my 16 site clones with no issues except a bit of root rot, which hydroguard cleaned right up. I did not use a PH pen the whole grow, and I think the hydroguard saved my ass, but obviously, I should have probably had larger plants. The bud was 2x better than what I am able to do in the dirt, and have saved it as my private stock. The bud feels like I am pulling apart sticky nerds candy.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm tired of this trial and error shit.

What was wrong with your meter? I have a blue labs meter and one of their combo monitors with zero problems. I take care of it - reconditioning with KCL solution every month or so, never leaving it in RO water - calibrate monthly to 4 and 7 and keep it in 7 solution in between uses. The monitor probe just stays in the rez 24/7 and I calibrate monthly and recondition every couple of months or so. If you do these things, the meter will be perfectly accurate and last for years.

So, what is your aeroponic problem?

I got frosty nugs, they are just small. I'm guessing the problem was not PH'ing the water. Or the small netpots. I did 2 ft plants in aero. Did not use a PH tester.
I ordered my PH pens from Amazon, the first one used a screw to adjust and felt cheap, and I might have broken it. It didn't work correctlyout of the box. I mixed the solutions and followed the directions, but it just wouldn't work. Then I bought a second PH that was all digital, and had good reviews on Amazon. I stored my 3 measured solutions out, and sealed in mason jars. I followed the directions again, and tested all three samples, thinking I was done. I washed the tester off and air dryed, then put it into one of the solutions, and it was way off. I have had no luck with those shitty pens. I'd really hate to have to buy another one. I used RO water in veg, with base nutes and hydroguard. Once I got into flower, I started to see the main stem and others purple. The buds kept growing. The buds were smaller than I expected.

AN micro, bloom, grow - I stiopped second week of flower
Homboldt: snow storm ultra & crystal burst
Botanicare: Hydroguard
Epsom salt: 2 tsp
1.5 inch netpots
5 gallons of ro water in 30 gallon bin

Since that was my first hydro grow, and everything stayed nice in Veg, I thought I might be able to take it through flower, without fucking with the PH.

Zero root rot except in the beginning until I discovered hydroguard, and it took care it.

Go for the Blue Labs pH pen.

well for starters 2tsp Epsom salt is about 8x to much

Purple on stems doesn't mean much but purple on leaves is P def ... advanced nutes are very low on P

you cant grow in aero and not monitor your PH

do you have any pictures?

what are the three npk numbers on all the fertilizer bottles your using and how many mls of each per gallon are you mixing?

Get a calibration solution (or 2) then calibrate the pen. Check your solution the next day to see if there is any deviance.

GreenTools said:

Get a calibration solution (or 2) then calibrate the pen. Check your solution the next day to see if there is any deviance.

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I'm a dork about pH meters. My background is water treatment engineering and I've ruined and resurrected many probes and learned a bit.

Yeah - always use 2 solutions, 4 and 7 for a 2 point calibration. When you set these 2 points accurately, it makes a line between the 2 and everything in between them will be accurate. Outside of these points it becomes less and less accurate. Since we are testing for about 5.5 to 6.5, we use 4 and 7. If for some reason we needed to be accurate at like a pH of 8, we'd calibrate to 7 and 10 - and it would be accurate between those.

If you only use 1 solution to calibrate, then it's literally only accurate at that single point. In either direction the calibration will drift.

The probe is filled with KCl solution and ions flow in and out of it as pH changes. Over time, that KCl solution becomes depleted. Soaking it in the KCl storage solution will diffuse back into the probe, reconditioning it.

Never leave a probe in water - ESPECIALLY RO or DI water. Since there's nothing at all in RO, the KCl will diffuse out very quickly and be replaced with water. Often once that happens the probe is junk. Higher end probes are refillable.

Also, don't let a probe dry out. The KCl inside will start to crystallize. A little bit can be brought back with the storage solution, but too much and the probe is junk.

Between uses, either put a few drops of KCl in the cap, or just leave it in some pH 7 solution. It's ok to leave in that as long as you just recondition every couple of months or so.

If you treat your meter with these tips, it will always be perfectly accurate and will last a good long time.

FennarioMike said:

Never leave a probe in water - ESPECIALLY RO or DI water.

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i disagree. i've had a milwaukee for probably 5 years now. always rinsed in white vinegar and then stored in RO water per the milwaukee rep's recommendation.

Recently, I went through my second expensive Oakton pen. Replacement tip $68. I don't think so.

pH/ TDS pens are available under $20, buy 2 so you have a backup

My first pen was a TDS from amazon. It stayed on 0 if I remember, and the screen would not change. It felt cheap, and I just chalked it up to cheap chinese import. I really want to get more into hydro, because I have produced much more potent bud in it. The PH pens are such a pain in the ass, and I am going back to dirt. Maybe I will return one day, but the aggravation due to these PH pens, have turned me off. I just cannot believe that there is not a better alternative to this, with all the advancements in human tech. These PH meters are brittle pieces of shit, that half ass work.

rkymtnman said:

i disagree. i've had a milwaukee for probably 5 years now. always rinsed in white vinegar and then stored in RO water per the milwaukee rep's recommendation.

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I may get a Milwaukee, the guy at the hydro shop keeps trying to sell me. He said you only need one solution to calibrate, which would be nice. Next grow will be dirt, going to experiment with teas, zymes, mycos, and try to see if I can do better in soil. I have spent a lot of money and times on aeroponic setup, so it does not make sense to completely abandon it.

nxsov180db said:

I had problems with PH meters up until I actually spent more than $20 on one. I have a Anaheim Scientific Ph Meter now that cost around $80 I use regularly and a Blue Lab Ph Meter for backup.

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I will look into that, thank you. How often do you change water out?

The_Dude said:

Next grow will be dirt, going to experiment with teas, zymes, mycos, and try to see if I can do better in soil.

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you won't. hydro "better" than soil hands down. especially aeroponic.

this is the one i have. does need 2 cal solutions: 4 and 7
https://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-MW101-PH-Meter/dp/B0009YH06Y