Do you use PH Perfect? If so, I have a CalMag question.

I spoke with the AN tech line yesterday. During the conversation I brought up that I was using GH CaliMagic. He told me to stop running any Calmag with PH Perfect. He said it will mess up the PH, but I've been running it from the beginning. Feed, water, feed, water. I add it when I water, then PH down to 5.8. First with 150ppm tap and now with R/O & had great results. The guy said to stop doing that too! Said not to PH my water even though it's 8.4. He said the PH Perfect in the Sunshine #4 will balance it. I'm due to water tonight and am in my 3rd week of flower. My plants are looking perfect. Just can't bring myself to leave it out. If it aint broke......right? Or wrong? I'm still a newb want to continue learning. What do you guys do?

I say go with what works, but if your really curious, try leaving out the CaliMagic on 1 or 2 plants. It won't take long to see if you get a deficiency and then you'll know if you really need it or not. If you do get a deficiency, then whether it's a feed night or not, water with a dose of CaliMagic and the plant will bounce right back will little to no ill effects overall.

Kief Moon said:

I spoke with the AN tech line yesterday. During the conversation I brought up that I was using GH CaliMagic. He told me to stop running any Calmag with PH Perfect. He said it will mess up the PH, but I've been running it from the beginning. Feed, water, feed, water. I add it when I water, then PH down to 5.8. First with 150ppm tap and now with R/O & had great results. The guy said to stop doing that too! Said not to PH my water even though it's 8.4. He said the PH Perfect in the Sunshine #4 will balance it. I'm due to water tonight and am in my 3rd week of flower. My plants are looking perfect. Just can't bring myself to leave it out. If it aint broke......right? Or wrong? I'm still a newb want to continue learning. What do you guys do?

Click to expand...

I'm running AN sensei PH perfect and was getting cal def during veg and mag def in the first few weeks of flower. Added cal mag and it went away. I also ph as well. I'm not growing in Sunshine #4 but if it's working for you than why change it. I have to ask why did you call AN tech if your plants are looking perfect?

Thanks for the feedback. I will keep using it. I found a lot more specific threads on the topic here on RIU by searching Google. It seems many are doing the same thing.
I called the tech line to asked about the best way to use Final Phase. It's not used like a traditional flush. Much less water. I've read good things about it.

Soupsah. How are you feed/watering? The AN guy also said I could feed every time instead of feed, water, feed, water. I'm running the Hobbiest bundle and up around 1400 ppm with A&B plus Big Bud & B52. The two strains I'm running are nute hogs but it seems like they'd burn if I fed every time. Plus it would cost a ton more.
The plants were unfortunately vegged WAY too long before my rooms were finished & they could be flipped. They are in 10 gal. pots. I have one under each 1000w scrog. They fill almost every hole on the screen. This was my bigger room at 2 1/2 weeks. 4000w. All legal. For my first run I couldn't be happier.

I'm in hydro UC so nutes always available to the plants when ever they want it. On my F&D I feed 3 times a day. That's a nice scrog, nice and even canopy. I'm doing scrog as well, but my canopy isn't close to being even.

so is anyone using ph perfect with tap water for soil plants without adjusting the ph?? Are you not supposed to adjust the ph on waterings either?? Ive been trying to find some answers on ph perfect with tap water and soil.. My tap water ph is around 8.0 and after mixing up half dose of ph perfect the ph is around 6.7-7.0.. so I always adjust down to around 6-6.3..bad idea??
Later fellas

Ive not ph before in soil and it wasnt good had serious nute lockout and now i ph every time

Trulife69 said:

so is anyone using ph perfect with tap water for soil plants without adjusting the ph?? Are you not supposed to adjust the ph on waterings either?? Ive been trying to find some answers on ph perfect with tap water and soil.. My tap water ph is around 8.0 and after mixing up half dose of ph perfect the ph is around 6.7-7.0.. so I always adjust down to around 6-6.3..bad idea??
Later fellas

Click to expand...

I was using PH perfect with tap water, and soil for a bit. The nutes work great in soil but you have to PH your water and feed. Advanced Nutrients recommend a ph of 6.3 for soil.

My take on it is two things... first, the AN guys are gonna want everyone to run the pH Perfect without anything else for the simple reason that if it works perfectly without any other additives it shows off their product better. They want people to be impressed and like their stuff, so it works better for them if we're not monkeying about with the mix.

That said, it's also a thing where they know how their product works and want to be sure a grower isn't setting themselves up for trouble. They can test every possible combination of nutes so they can't guarantee whether a particular combination will work - especially since everyone's water is going to be a little different if it's not RO. They can't guarantee it will work if you're not using it the way they tell you to and even if you want to assume nefarious (greedy) motives, the fact is they want your grows to go really well if only so that you'll buy more of their stuff.

That's my guess as to why they told you to stop using the CalMag.

Now, as to useful advice... I've always subscribed to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" school of thought. Seen too many bureaucracies take working things and fix them until they were broken. However - just because it doesn't seem broken doesn't mean it's working perfectly. Especially when you're new it can be tough to see problems coming before they get bad. It's a tough call. The CalMag you're using might cause trouble down the road, but it might not. Ditching it could cause trouble or prevent it.

I'd say go with your gut. Just keep an eye on the ladies, they'll let you know what they need.

I am using AN sensi grow with no additives. The first time I added cal mag, it made my pH drop quickly in my hydro setup and was in the 4's within 24 hours. I just switched to flower and will be starting sensi bloom with no additives. Wonder if I will see deficiencies

Ph perfect is great after you get the hang of it. I used sensi grow with ro water as suggested and was chasing a cal def right off the rip, cal/mag would fuck the ph up so I started using calcium nitrate and epsom salt, fixed the problem with no ph issues , but it was just another thing to add n that sucked. Using conni n flower and by week 2 I ditched the ro water and started using my tap water, no more cal problems, ph is still perfect, and things are just easier. Reguardless of what they say, try ur tap water first, mix up a gallon and check the ph, if it sets then fuck the ro, php is great with my tap water n my tap water sucks. Im sure they have a reason for saying ro water is needed but I dont know what it is, works better with bad water

Kief...he gave you solid advice when it comes to their ph line. I know the company and have been to their facilities many times and basically I call bullshit! If that salesman was on the ball he should have asked Why are you running PH-perfect? The perfect line works well...one way, people try all kinds of ways and you see the results here on RIU, people crying and whining the product doesn't work! Not true. If I was servicing your garden I would tell you to make a switch to their 3 part jj or even their sensi lines. PH-perfect is more costly and only works well on a drain to waste system. I would also recommend re-cycling your nutes. People throw perfectly good nutrients out every day....no....You should be able to re-use your nutrient mixes, dropping the price dramatically. This woks for any line of products. If your following their instructions, there are better ways to spend your cash...JAS

Jbone77 said:

Im sure they have a reason for saying ro water is needed but I dont know what it is, works better with bad water

Click to expand...

The reason for it is pretty simple: they can't know what comes out of your tap. Every municipal water source is a little different from all the others. So they say that they only guarantee pH Perfect to work with RO water because even though it does seem to work with most tap water, it doesn't work with all tap water and they can't guarantee "usually".

I'd also point out that there's no guarantees the pH Perfect line will work if you add in things that aren't balanced specially for it, so if you're using Cal/Mag there's definitely a good chance it's going to throw the balance off. I've never had a single calcium deficiency in all my years running AN so I don't have any advice on solving them, unfortunately.

JonnyAppleSeed420 said:

If I was servicing your garden I would tell you to make a switch to their 3 part jj or even their sensi lines.

Click to expand...

The Sensi line is pH Perfect. So if you're advising someone to stop using pH Perfect and start using the Sensi line, you're contradicting yourself.

JonnyAppleSeed420 said:

PH-perfect is more costly and only works well on a drain to waste system.

Click to expand...

That's not even remotely true. I have NEVER seen anyone run pH Perfect in drain-to-waste (I can't even remember the last time I saw drain-to-waste outside of a commercial agricultural facility). I've run pH Perfect in DWC and recirculating DWC without even the smallest problem and my plants doing maybe even better than they were pre-pH Perfect. I've seen countless phenomenal grow journals running pH Perfect.

Where's your basis for saying it "only works well on a drain to waste system"?

I run drain to waste coco annd it works well. I think he meant to say in hus experience it worked the best in DTW.

"Fundu Kulfi is the best ice cream (Kulfi) in London. In London you will never find such a delicious Kulfi any where else. Just search for Fundu Kulfi : ) Best ice cream in London. London's best ice cream http://www.fundukulfi.com"

DIE SPAMMER SCUMBAG! DIE!!

The Sensi Bloom should have more than enough calcium and magnesium present so you shouldn't have to use any cal mag additives, especially if you are using some of their additives which has even more cal mag in it. Using more cal mag on the girls could cause a lockout.

I'm going to try out Sensi bloom for my Claber 8053 drip system (I grow some soil pots and some hydroton pots). I'm sick of pH'ing every time I flip it on to water.

-spek