ec problems

leehamer

Member
hi can some one help my i mix all my newts and set my ec to 1.6 and when i check to ec keeps going up how does this happen also what will stop this
 

Bayou bud

Active Member
What nutes do you use? What stage are your plants in? What order do you mix nutrients in? Sometimes the EC/PPM/TDS and pH will all fluctuate for around an hour or so after mixed together. Do you see any white precipitates at the bottom of your nutrient solution? What type of water are you using?
 

leehamer

Member
canna aqau and normal tap water i mix part a then b and add the canna root additive also my plants are in veg four weeks old from seed and im using clay pebbles with rockwell cubes. i notice white when my pebbles dry out after ive flooded and drained. my ec has gone up to 1.8 now and was 1.4 48 hours ago. i dont know what im doing wrong
 

Bayou bud

Active Member
I use the same medium. Naturally EC will rise as you continuously feed from your res. This is because at this time the plants are sucking up a mix of the water and nutrient solution in their rhizosphere. Typically they will absorb more water than they will nutrients. This is why is it important to "Top-Off" one's reservoire daily/before each watering and then re-pH before each feeding. As more of the water is taken into the root-zone, there is a release of root carbs that slough off from the uptake process as well as a now lower level of water in your res, this will cause your EC to slowly rise over a few days because of the use ratio of water to nutrients. Also, the water in your reservoire will naturally transpire as well, causing the concentration of Nutrients to rise as well. The ratio at which your plants take up water-nutrients will differ depending on the stage of life, the current EC in rhizosphere, and also the growspace humidity and temperature.
 

Bayou bud

Active Member
Also, the tap water contains a lot of variability as to the strength and availability of the micro/macro nutrients. Depending on the time of year and rainfall/season, your tap water will vary greatly in composition. If you use tap, let it sit out and breathe overnight to get rid of some of the chloride/flouride etc. It will contain a PPM/EC that you will never fully be able to break down and understand because the municipalities change up which reserviores they use for general public water several times throughout the year depending on the rain index. I like RO water best.
 
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