Hi all this my first post and im looking for a bit of advice if possible.

Im 2 weeks into flowering our first NFT system using +4 2m x 1m trays feeding from 2 2m troughs ec 0.9- 1.0 ph 5.8

Everything looking good plants are looking nice and healthy roots perfect flowers forming nicley but I am having to change water in both troughs every 2 days as ph keeps plumiting on the 3rd to below 4.8, is this normal behaviour? as i thought i would only have to change water once a week just topping up midweek. any input would be appreciated.

what feed are you using mucka



ps welcome to the site bro

cana aqua flores havent added boost yet

thank you

hi demand, and welcome

have you tried getting a bucket of water, measuring PH and EC, then doing the same 24hrs later?

often (maybe all the time - i'm not sure) the EC and PH change after coming out the tap

is it fresh water or from a tank (like in the loft)?

i wouldn't say its normal behaviour, but could well have something to do with how you're adjusting it in the first place

when i change a tank, it normally takes me at least a day to get it under control, maybe more

these levels should be checked at least once a day preferably

I check ec and ph levels twice everyday and im not adjusting at all

day 1 ec 0.9 ph 5.7
day 2 ec 0.9 ph 6.0 - 6.1
day 3 ec 0.9 ph 5.8 in morn by evening will drop to 4.8 -4.9 ph

as you see the drop is quiet rapid and always seems to be on the 3rd day and im not adding nothing at all over the 3 days.

Will try the bucket suggestion tho see what happens thank you

But he said its only happening in tank 3, out of 4. Check the roots on tray 3.

not sure what you mean here stealth m8

He only has the problem on one (out of 2) of the troughs mate, check the roots on both trays that are on the trough with the falling ph.

one more thing check the batterys in ya ph pen and did you calibrate it wen you bought it if not might be worth doing cos i had similar problem a few year ago an it turned out to be both

There is only 2 tanks feeding 4 trays and the prob is in both tanks levels seems to be exact same in each.

Is a brand new pen was callibrated when bought but think i best get it done again just to make sure. Bucket test is now in place so will see if it is just my water supply that causing the probs.

Thanks again for everyone's response

i didn't mean to say it would be this totally, but PH and EC does change over 24hrs and is worth knowing where you start to where you end up 24 hrs later, helps you set up the tank in future

how about your water supply Demand? where does it come from? mains water? tank in loft?

reason i ask is that i used to feed from a cold water tank in my loft - then everything started dying - took me ages to sort out, but soon as i started using mains water the problems went.......

i have no idea what was in that tank water still!!!!!

if it reliably does this every time, then can't you just adjust up again?

Hi again still having same problem always on 3rd day ph starts dropping, crop is looking good tho so ill just keep changing tanks every 3rd day.

btw my water comes from the mains not tank in the loft.

thanks again all for all your imput

Could well be root rot, is you're feed tank well aerated?

Hi

The pH in my system drops in a similar manner - it has done for the last 2 years & I've given-up thinking it's a problem since yeilds are OK etc. As Scooby Snax suggests - I tend just to manage the situation.

pH isn't a linear scale which might explain why the drop in pH appears to increase over time (the third day in your case) - pH6 is 10x that of pH5, pH5 is 10x that of pH4 etc.

I start by setting the pH at about 6.4, then it drops to about pH5.3 over the course of about 5 days - by which time the res. needs refilling/replacing anyhow. Saves a mint in pH-down!

For me it's a case of managing the situation rather than fixing it ATM

ATB

Stan