Typically you’ll want to run 3x you pot size worth of water to get a good “flush”. Sometimes 5x. That’s a minimum of 9 gallons for a 3 gallon pot. You were halfway home
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glad u mentioned that.!!
my Blue Lab pen is 8-9 months old, never been calibrated,
i have tested it in the 7.0 solution a few times, once in the 2.77, it is always dead on.!
take care of the very sensitive tip and it will serve u well.!!
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The pH is at 7.2 i was just trying to get it down to 6.4 or near that cuz thats what its suppose to be at.
I no i was suppose to but 9gallons threw at least on a 3gallon pot. I did 5though and it still wasnt dropping whats so ever so i stopped i was at four hours doing this on three of my plants. Plus i ran out of water that i had sitting out for the chlorine to escape.
I prob shouldnt try to flush with tap water that i havnt had sitting out for at least 24hours?
One thing you should NEVER do is run liquid through that is outside of the range for your plant’s medium. In other words; 4.5 PH WILL kill your plants pretty quickly. The fact your soil is at 7.0 to 7.2 is okay for your plants; not ideal but they will be fine. What I would suggest is PH’ing your input water to the bottom end of the soil range (6.3 or so) and allow the media to drag the PH back up. This will actually make most of the nutrients you need mobile for several hours as the PH rises.
You are using soil not media.
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pay loose attention to run-off,
if u r way to high or low then it is time to worry, 7.2 is in range, no adjustments needed.!
u r just causing yourself and your plants unnecessary stress.!
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Should i start worrying if it is 8.0 and higher. And thank you for clearing things up everyone. Feel much better now and less stressed.
I no we somewhat covered this but seriously how can i keep my water at the ph i need it at. Im getting so frustrated. I pH my water to 6.3 and in 15mins no joke it goes up to 6.8
Now how am i suppose to keep it down. I am going crazy with this. Does this happen to everyone. I use tap water and let it sit for 48hours with the cap off at least. Idk if there is somthung out there that i can get to make it so the pH stays at what i pH it at. Im sorry to kindof repeat my self but seriously is there something i can do to make it more stable?
Have you calibrated your pH meter or do you have some calibration solution to check it? Neither one of those levels is too bad.
VJust to clarify things.
You are using general hydro Ph down to adjust correct.
Do you put your ph meter in distilled water before and after checking your Ph swishing it in the distilled water for a few and also while in distilled checking its reading? I use the same gallon of distilled and once it is open and sucks up all the CO2 from air it can hold it normally stabilizes at around 6.4 or so and I know things are good to go before checking my feed water Ph
I use citric acid to adjust my tap from 8.4 down to usually around 6.6-6.8 and it seems to hold just fine for me.
Are you just using plain water and having issues or are you adjusting Ph and then adding nutrients? Because you want to add everything to water and then adjust Ph.
Again I have the same $10 meter you have and you have to clean it after a session with distilled water and keep cap on with sensor wet.
Swish the water you are testing with end of meter and then wait for it to stabilize a minute or 2.
I use a little container with lid that sour cream came in to put distilled water in and another to pour a sample of my feed water in after I adjust it and if off pour back in main and add more citric etc.
Other than that I will tag @waterboy to see what he thinks…lol
You could also buy another $10 meter as back up and as a second reading
Yes i have it seems to be right on i use the drops that came with my pH up & down. 
Yes i use General Hydroponics pH control kit, as you will see with the reply before this. Im just talking about plain tap water when i say the pH keeps rising i pH it to 6.3and it rises back to like 7.0 in 20minutes. I wouldnt care as much if my flower plants was at the correct pH but its not i need to lower it. Yes i know if im trying to lower it i have to have it at like 6.0 or lower even, it was just an example. Also i use the drops to for a second tester. Also i clean the meter off inbetween readings with distilled water. You said to keep the cap on and keep it wet? Dont you mean dry clean the probe off then recap after use?
These are my meters
The blue TDS meter needs to dry out after use
The yellow Ph meter needs to stay moist to keep the probe (glass tube) from drying out!
It’s weird how your Ph is changing so much?
Could be defective solution or meter…no clue here?
Try citric acid or white vinegar to lower it and see how it works.
Let us know
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Any chance you have a local grow shop that can test your water and meter? My local shop is very helpful in these situations. I agree w trying citric acid (aka REAL lemon juice). Don’t use the fake stuff. It is weird. Have you tried just leaving your water set out? Mine will hit about 6.8 given enough time at room temp with the top open on the container. My guess is something in your water is neutralizing your acid (pH down) as you leave it set. Chemical reactions take time. Try adding more pH down and wait. It should stabilize at a lower point. All I can think to try.
Verndoc is right,
u probably have hard water, lots of stuff in it, lots of Calcium.!
the Cal draws the pH up,
if it is rising from 6.3 to 6.8 in 15 minutes, it could be back up to 7.2-7.6 pH by morning.
don’t add lime to your pots and don’t worry too much about run-off, until it pushes 8.0.!
don’t add any Cal-Mag either, if u need extra Mag use Epsom Salt.!