Water test results

[Bobcharlieeeee]

Iv had my water test results back from GA and they are

 

Calcium           96

 

Magnesium      2

 

Sulphate          20

 

Alkalinity           268

 

pH                   7.55

 

 

 

This is a hard water with high levels of Calcium and alkalinity but low Magnesium and low-moderate sulphate.

This water will need a hard water feed and due to the low level of Magnesium, for best results it will be necessary to add some additional magnesium to balance the Ca: Mg ratio of the food plus water. This is easily done by the addition of some Epsom salts, the amount needed will vary depending on which media/food you intend using (hydro, coco or soil). If you intend using our food let us know which type and we will work out an exact amount for you to add.

 

 

 

Im just waiting back for a response about how much MG i need to add, anyone else out there with similar water? anything i need to be concerned about for COCO growing? 

[Gaijin]

Mine was very similar - Ca 100 : Mg 0 

 

I'm using their "hard water for soil" nutes with a splash of Epsom salts to give me some Mg. I'll be ordering a custom feed in future. That way I'll never be standing there wondering if I mixed the Epsom salts in yet, or not  

[Bobcharlieeeee]

@Gaijin how much epsom do you add mate? 

 

How do you find the GA nutes? 

[Gaijin]

29 minutes ago, Bobcharlieeeee said:

@Gaijin how much epsom do you add mate? 

 

How do you find the GA nutes? 

 

 

I've just grown these autos in 3L pots, first attempt. Seemed to turn out ok so far 

 

 

You need a ratio of three parts Ca to 1 part Mg. Adding a third of a gram of Epsom salts to each litre brought my ratio up from 100:0 to approximately 100:30, which is about 3:1

 

But like I said, I'd get stoned and be wondering if I already added the Epsom or not  Poured away a few batches of 25L due to this. So I'll get the custom feeds next time and see how they work out

[Bobcharlieeeee]

iv been advised to use 1.5g per 10l of water if using there hard water nutrients

 

[Gaijin]

That's about double what I'm using. Maybe I'm not using enough. No matter; I'm chopping some girls today and the others won't be too far off. They survived on what I gave them. Anyway, best of luck mate, you're all set now  

[BilgePump]

@Gaijin 0.3g per litre is 3g per ten litres so in actual fact you're using double what bobcharlieeeee has been advised to use 

 

[Gaijin]

2 hours ago, BilgePump said:

@Gaijin 0.3g per litre is 3g per ten litres so in actual fact you're using double what bobcharlieeeee has been advised to use 

 

 

Indeed. Our water is about the same. I started a thread a while back and got my .3 per litre from there. I'll be on custom nutes moving forward anyway, but still, I wonder which is right, now  

[Bobcharlieeeee]

iv been doing some PH tests on my water and im a little confused, the PH seems to go up and up each day its left out,

 

the reason im doing this is next grow im switching to a reservoir and coco so i want to get an idea on what kind of ph adjustment i will need to do. 

 

growers ark say 7.55 and i will need to aim for 6.4 for coco after adding nutes

 

straight from the tap it is 7, after a day its between 7.4-7.6 and then second day 7.95-8.0

 

which figure should i use? 

 

a cheap ph pen probably isnt helping

[Slippy One]

@BobcharlieeeeeIn a res with coco, add your ph down until you get 5.5, after a few days it'll rise up to 7+ ph but this is a normal curve and lets other nutrients get taken at different rates. Don't use an aerator pipe but do use a small circulator pump, don't let the res get below 17C or above 27C and you should be good. Keep it simple and avoid any organic boosters that'll turn your res into a frothy soup in 24hrs. Enjoy!

 

 

[stu914]

9 minutes ago, Bobcharlieeeee said:

which figure should i use? 

 

None of the above bud, they're far too high...

 

Growing in coco is a hydro system so your ph should be set at about 5.5 - 5.6 and allowed to drift up to 6.2 before resetting back to 5.5.

This allows all the elements in the nute solution the best opportunity to be taken up, outside these parameters and the plants will struggle.

 

( @Slippy One beat me to it...)

 

[Slippy One]

@stu914yeah but I let them get up to 7.5 before adding more ph down. No science for me just that I read somewhere some nutrients prefer 7+ ph.

 

[stu914]

Just now, Slippy One said:

I let them get up to 7.5 before adding more ph down.

 

I moved on to Advanced nutes about 10 years ago and cut out the ph man altogether...

[Bobcharlieeeee]

On 13/08/2022 at 8:11 AM, Gaijin said:

That's about double what I'm using. Maybe I'm not using enough. No matter; I'm chopping some girls today and the others won't be too far off. They survived on what I gave them. Anyway, best of luck mate, you're all set now  

thats the amount whilst using there nutes, so i imagine there will be some mag in the nutes already

 

[Bobcharlieeeee]

@Slippy One @stu914

 

so if i was to say, use water straight from the tap with a little hot water from kettle to bring it up to temp, that would be okay to put straight in the reservoir provided that i have phd it down to 5.5? and have a circulation pump?

 

then when time comes to refill the resevior, do you add NON phd water with nutes, then adjust the ph in the reservoir? 

 

what makes the PH rise out of interest?

 

 

what about at the start when im top feeding seedlings / young plants? before i put the plants in the auto pots, should i ph to 6.4? 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Bobcharlieeeee