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Is this the right way to treat my water?

S

Spanky

New member
I know this is probably a dumb question, but I have never seen it discussed. Can anyone tell me this is the right thing to do?

I put cal/mag in my water. Then I add my nutrients. Then I shake them up and check my Ph. If it is too high, I put in a small amount of Ph down. Then I test the Ph again. If that turns out to be too low, can I put a little Ph up in the bottle until it comes close to a reading of 6? Or, once I have put in either up or down is that it? Do I have to dump the bottle and start over?

I am growing in coir for the first time and I know getting my Ph right is very important. Thanks for any help!
 
You have it right for the most part, except when it comes to adjusting PH.

(1) Start with Cal / Mag. Add your desired amount to your water, mix well, and let sit a bit.
(2) Nutrients. Add desired amount to your water, mix well, let sit a bit.
(3) Check PH. Adjust up OR down as needed.

If you overshoot your PH correction, you really should not use the opposite correction fluid to get your PH back in the other direction.

(3a) If you add too much PH-Down and now your PH is too low, you can add a bit of tap water to your nutrient solution until your PH is back up in the desired range.
(3b) If you add too much PH-Up and now your PH is too high, add a bit of RO or distilled water to your nutrient solution until your PH is down into the desired range.

Note that either option above will dilute your nutrients some so be aware of that.

This is why you always use your PH adjustment fluids in small amounts. I use a simple plastic syringe so I can measure out my fluids exactly. After you've done it a few times, you'll remember how much PH-Up or Down is needed to get your batches of nutrient solution in range.
 
How come you add cal/mag first let sit then add other nutrients??

Ive been adding all nutes letting it sit then checking ph
 
Certain nutrients when mixed together cause what is called fallout. It makes some nutrients added be null and void. Its all in chemicle reactions of the ingredients in each type of nutrient.

Should always be

Cal/mag
3 part nutes
other additives.

The only thing i do different is I use siluca in my mix, which I add the day before adding any other nutes. I needs to break down for like 12 hours before the cal mag is added it has sever fallout if mixed to closely together.
 
I find it interesting that in nebulas tutorial it says nothing about using ph down if you’ve gone too far with ph up. I’m not disagreeing with you just surprised me she doesn’t mention that unless I missed it.
 
The problem when using ph up/down solution unless doing it with natural methods is that its actually not good for the plants in large doses. They use some pretty nasty stuff that by a weed plants standpoint that are harmful.
 
The idea makes sense that you are adding too much stuff to your water. It’s just something I would think would be more prominently mentioned. In looking around the net the only place I can find mention of it is on forums. I didn’t see anything from say general hydroponics etc.
 
Yeah I think out of the 25 or so different articles I read on how to pH water only one or two ever even mentioned it but I have seen it spoken about in several forum topics. Some of the bottles of pH actually tell you to be careful too, with the amount you use.
 
What UrbZ said, that and you only get one shot at proper ph in my opinion. Once I've gone to far in one direction I toss it out without using it. The fox farms fold out feeding schedule contains all this info in the text and fine print. The literature that comes with GH also agrees.
 
In one gallon jugs of tap water I put in 2 drops of chloramine buster stir and let sit over night to let it come up to growroom temp, it also breaks up ammonia and chlorine which can make your weed taste nasty. then add my nutes. The water here is high P.H. but I have learned that 1.5 tsps of lemon juice concentrate, which is about a two second squeeze on the old plastic lemon brings it to 6.0 . Then on watering day, same water treatment add cal-mag & L.J. Thats how I roll.
 
UrbZ Damn I've been mixing all my nutes in at one time, so far I don't think I've had any negative repercussions, my girls are still growing like crazy. I'm going to do a little research on the topic myself and learn more about it. Thanks for the heads up
 
Thanks everybody!

John C.'s explanation makes it very easy to understand. His suggestions on adding water to adjust PH ought to be in all the related tutorials! Very helpful. If anyone does a search like I did, maybe this thread will come up and help them too!

I am using the pipette that came with my up and down. I start with just one drop and that little bit makes a huge difference in a gallon of water. I don't know how to get out a half a drop, but if I let things sit, as instructed, I might not need it at all.

UrbZ mentions the issue of fallout which is also very useful info.

Thanks again to everyone who took time to respond!
 
A couple of minutes.plus you don't need to shake your ph adjusted solution violently, just an easy up an down of your jug. Is all it takes. If you let it sit to long it's gonna change.
 
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Hey spanky, you could get a smaller container say a 500ml and fill it with already mixed and rested nutrient solution then add a drop of ph adjuster to that. Then use the 500ml solution to adjust your main solution. This will dilute it enough that you can make more finely tuned adjustments to your nutrient solution without affecting your actual nutrient level ratio.. just a thought
 
Thanks DAAS69. I should have been more specific. I was actually asking how long I should let the cal/mag water sit before I add my Botanicare Pro Grow, and then how long should I let that combination sit before I PH test it? My Google search gave a wide range of answers.

But you did answer another question I had...I take it that I should use the water at once after it is at the right PH. Meaning I can't mix up a batch to be used in a few days, right?

Oh no. I just realized I have to test my run off! I can't imagine what questions it will bring up once I see the results of that!!
 
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