How to prevent PH & PPM spikes?

Barron

Barron

Well-Known Member
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:shock: What should i do to fix this and how do i prevent the PH and PPM from Spiking?
 
dano1985

dano1985

Member
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

MrFishy

Well-Known Member
I dunno THE answer, but have read that pH readings change w/temperature fluctuation?
 
Barron

Barron

Well-Known Member
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

Barron

Well-Known Member
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?
 
bgmike8

bgmike8

Well-Known Member
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
 
M

meltdown213

Well-Known Member
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

orzz

Well-Known Member
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

bgmike8

Well-Known Member
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

Barron

Well-Known Member
bgmike8 said:
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??
Click to expand...
I have a good PH pen I have the Martini. Its not hard to add PH down Ive been doing that thanks!!!
 
tman42

tman42

Well-Known Member
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

orzz

Well-Known Member
bgmike8 said:
lol .
Click to expand...
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.
 
M

meltdown213

Well-Known Member
bgmike8 said:
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??
Click to expand...
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.
 
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