Ph of 4.6 for 12 hours. Seedlings doomed?

newbie2323

Well-Known Member
So the actuator that automatically dispenses ph down into my res got stuck open for way too long, taking my ph down to 4.6 for about 12 hours before I noticed. I just corrected it with some ph up, but I'm wondering if my girls are toast.

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Renfro

Well-Known Member
They are still feeding on their seed reserves so I doubt it's an issue. You might wanna prop that one up.
 

newbie2323

Well-Known Member
Are you away from your grow for long periods of time?
Yes, I travel for work and can be away up to two weeks. This is my first attempt at growing cannabis - trying to automate as much as I can (PH down control and water top-up) and add other controls that can be initiated over wifi (flushing and refilling the res and adding nutes)

Looking better today so I guess I didn't kill them yet.

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Logan Burke

Well-Known Member
Not near long enough to create any long lasting consequences...you're good to go. :) I was interested in purchasing one of those BlueLab Guardian meters...guess I'm rethinking that now, haha. You have a pretty cool setup, automated growing is becoming a thing nowadays and with enough $ you can get a (nearly) self running system...but again, that's either with enough $, enough know-how, or enough of both. With a big enough res, and an automated system for PH control, you could probably get away with checking in person once a week or once every 2 weeks.
 

newbie2323

Well-Known Member
Thanks. Yeah, the low ph was user error. The bluelab monitor is great for monitoring EC, PH and res temp. To control PH I'm using a Milwaukee Instruments PH controller hooked up to a solenoid that opens up a slow drip line of PH Down when PH climbs above 5.8. Not shown in the picture in an 20 gallon external res. The low ph was due to too much ph down in the line when the solenoid opened up. In hindsight I should have first tested it without plants. Oh well, plants are doing great now and the PH controller issue has been fixed. :)
 

2com

Well-Known Member
Thanks. Yeah, the low ph was user error. The bluelab monitor is great for monitoring EC, PH and res temp. To control PH I'm using a Milwaukee Instruments PH controller hooked up to a solenoid that opens up a slow drip line of PH Down when PH climbs above 5.8. Not shown in the picture in an 20 gallon external res. The low ph was due to too much ph down in the line when the solenoid opened up. In hindsight I should have first tested it without plants. Oh well, plants are doing great now and the PH controller issue has been fixed. :)
Have info or pics on your auto dosing setup anywhere? Which model Milwaukee pH controller are you using? You can also get pretty cheap peristaltic pumps if you wanted to use that instead of a solenoid.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
Have info or pics on your auto dosing setup anywhere? Which model Milwaukee pH controller are you using? You can also get pretty cheap peristaltic pumps if you wanted to use that instead of a solenoid.
Peristalic pumps are awesome because they meter out the amount accurately, where a solenoid valve with gravity feed would have less pressure the lower the volume is on the bottle.

The only downside I have found to the peristalic pump itself is the tube that goes under the rollers will wear and crack then leak. So have replacements on hand ready to go and perhaps set yourself a normal replacement regimen.

As to the dosing controller, this should have over run protection. Otherwise, if/when the pH probe goes bad the pump could be triggered falsely and just run forever (had it happen).

Controllers with an alarm or at least dosing log will help determine if there is an issue since you can tell when dosing exceeds a certain amount.
 

SamWE19

Well-Known Member
If you don’t mind me asking @newbie2323 how good are those automated ph systems?

I have a 1000l tank that recirculates so when I add ph down I have to wait a while before I check to see if I need to add more. How do these systems work?
Do they add ph down then wait or what?

Cheers
 

2com

Well-Known Member
If you don’t mind me asking @newbie2323 how good are those automated ph systems?

I have a 1000l tank that recirculates so when I add ph down I have to wait a while before I check to see if I need to add more. How do these systems work?
Do they add ph down then wait or what?

Cheers
The better ones will wait, and you select the wait time. Look for videos on youtube, some by bluelab for their auto dosing ph controller (and a longer video on the "pro" model) and other brands as well.
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
they look like they need a little more airflow they seem a little wispy like they aren't wiggling
 
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