I’m new to dwc, I’ve had 15 successful grows in coco an soil. My dwc bucket system is rising in ph everyday. Starts with 5.6 I use store bought distilled water an my ppm start around 800 after I add g.h. trio at half strength. I checked ph an it rises everyday, day 3 its 6.6 an I got drown spots on leaves.!! How do I fix it an make ph stable. Should I mix night b4 an airate it over night then add it to 5gal reservoir? I’m new to hydroponics an need any help I can get.
Are you using calmag? If not, you need that with GH trio. And hopefully you also know to add calmag first and then nutes and then PH.
Sorry if you already know these things.
How old are they?
5 gal buckets can be a challenge because the photosynthesis that’s taking place within the amount of water happens so quickly in dwc that it doesn’t have a chance to stabilize IMO.
Even with my setup, I keep ph up and down in stock.
If you can get some pictures in natural light, it would give us a better chance to diagnose the issue at hand.
Good luck!
Yes I use cal mag also. It was a clone, an its 3weeks old now in the dwc. I cut off all the spotted leaves an I just mixed up a bucket of nutes , no ph up or down yet. Got 4 airstones in it right now gonna check ph tomorrow an see where it stands. I use hydroguard also. Ppms right now are 835 . Roots look good. No rot, got it under a mars hydro 1000w light. Temps 75 degrees in my tent and rh is 59% . Not sure why the phbis flexing so much but its driving me nuts. It was 6.6 today so I added 1ml on ph down an got it to 5.9 . Had a lil algae so I blocked off all light leaks an used food grade peroxide to kill it some days ago an it good so far. Just ph issue now. This is the 1 I have in dwc, these others are the ones i got in coco ,there in week 3 of flower an are monsters already. No issues at all there, just this damn dwc giving me a headache lol
How do u mix the nutes in what order and add cal mag silica and everything u use. If not mixed for the 3 part in a certain way it will cause ph lockout also. Do silica. Calmag bioroot if u use then flora micro. Then grow then bloom then anything else like liquid kool bloom ect. Ive had my res jump also but not quite in 3 days it was like within 6 days would jump to a 6.2 but ppm levsls would be super low.
Edit might need food as u said only half strenvth.
I usually use cal mag first then hydroguard then rapid start an the micro,grow,then bloom. I mixed it last night in a bucket with 4 gal store bought, purified water. Ppm are bout 850 after mixed. It’s been airating all night gonna check the ph again later today to see if it stabilized. I cut all the affected leaves off of it an made a light proof cover for the top of the dwc bucket an pot. I also swapped out the top feed hose that was clear for a black one. Temps an rh are good 75 degrees an 52%rh today. I’ll clean out the bucket today an fill with the new batch an see what happens. its bout a 3 or 4 week old clone in there, it’s got a thick stock an overall healthy other then the rusty chicken pocks lol… how high should I keep my ppms ? There bout 850 like I said. I checked the reservoir ppms an they dropped to 524 but the ph was 6.56 ,so I added 1ml of ph down an dropped it to 5.9. Gonna check it today an see if it jumped again.
Just checked it again, its 6.4 was 5.9 last night smh. The bucket of nutes a made last night is 5.6 didnt add any up or down to it. Its staying stable, gonna add it to system tonight an see what happens. Ppms are 850. Should those ppms be good enough? Or is it to low. The strain is blue dream clone.
Although it’s a clone, technically, it’s as old as the mother plant. You would think it’s ok to feed 100% nutes (high ppm’s), but the fact is, It doesn’t have the root mass that the mother plant does. Therefore, the PH in the system is not reacting the same. If you find your PH going up then lower nutes. If PH going down then raise nutes. I would try to lower your ppm’s to around 500 to start with. In hydro, more is not always better.
Good luck!
Not a hydro but I recall @peachfuzz saying ph swinging up is a good thing when you top off you ph water to 5.8 and that’s about it till res change if I’m not mistaken
It’s got a lot of roots it’s been it the dwc for bout 3weeks now. I got the solution at 5.5 on the dot. Ordered a water chiller today also. I’m hoping it works out. So let it rise all the from 5.5 to 6.5 then drop it down?? Do I drop it back down to 5.5 again? Or change the water once it hits 6.5?
I would do a water change and set nutes around 500. See if that helps keep PH steady. If you don’t want to fight PH problems, you’ll adjust your feeding habits to what the plant wants. Bringing the ppm’s down or up will keep your ph in range it just works that way. Bringing them down how low, is for you to determine. It may not take going down to 500. That’s a starting point. If you do that and the PH drops then you need to raise the ppm’s
It’s not that hard. Just dip some nute/water out, add water making your nutes lower and then check. You don’t have to wait till next water change. Git er done!
I’ll give it a try an see what happens. Tgank u tons lol:crossed_fingers:
6.2 is better to swing up to from 5.7 5.6
Per the grow schedule GH publishes (which you should read before mixing anything again):
Silica first
Cal mag
Micro
Grow
Bloom
Hydroguard
The main problem is with bucket hydro you don’t have any depth to your reservoir (pardon the pun). Plants in flower will drink 2 gallons per day assuming gucci lights and literally requires refilling daily (your bucket will hold at the most 3 1/2 gallons). Huge PH swings are not only normal but expected. Unless adding a significant standing rez you will fight PH all the way through.
Sorry; just the way it is.
How do I combat that? Adjust everyday? Ph down? Water temps are 24 degrees Celsius. Is that maybe causing it to swing so fast. I ordered a water chiller. Hasn’t arrived yet.
How would I add I bigger reservoir to just 1 dwc bucket? Is it possible? Or should I adjust it daily?
Ppl think ease with hydro… dont have to lug soil … dump and refill… but you have to be watchful as new growers … untill you got gravity fed res toppers like @peachfuzz you gotta be on your game all the time
This is what I use for my single bucket rdwc system’s…
Works like a charm…
Hold around 8 gallons when full depending on what size net pot you use…
I know this is sad to say, but I’m scared to make mine that simple… lol