ph down in DWC buckets

Discussion in 'Hydroponic Cultivation' started by ncmaineac, Mar 10, 2011.

  1. ncmaineac

    ncmaineac Harvested Fat Sticky Bud

    so i have these 5 gal buckets and they have an airstone in the bottom...they are all stand alone unit...i have about 4 gals of water in each....just got my new ph 55 in and wanted to have two ph units to verify...my ph is a little high...about 6.3 to 6.5....i have been changing the water every week...and then on the second day i put in the chems according to useless formula...and on the 3rd day i am suppose to check ph and adjust..appropriately...


    my question


    any idea how much general hydroponics ph down would be needed to bring down the ph to 5.5...1mm or 1.5...or


    should i experiment on one bucket and then follow the formula that gets me to the proper ph...???


    all buckets are in the same ph range at the moment


    ps...i just bought my milwaukee ph meter from eseasongear.com and it was 53.99 including 2 day shipping and a bag of 7 and 4 to calibrate...and after letting it sit for 2 hours to enable the electrode it works great...if you need one get one ....great buy...not sure they are lower anywhere and the service is great.....
     
  2. rasganjah

    rasganjah True Ganjaman

    You should be pH'ing your nutrient solution to 5.8 before you water your Hempy plants. You have to do it that way for a top water system. Now you said you have 5 gal. buckets with 4 gal of solution in them each? How high up the buckets are your drains? Either way, what you should do is mix up your nutrients and let it sit and then pH adjust them, then water until you get runoff, and that will ensure that your pH stays in the range you want it to.
     
  3. ncmaineac

    ncmaineac Harvested Fat Sticky Bud

    ras


    thanks for the advice....but not according to those who do hempy all the time...sorry to disagree...according to steelcity and chris....1st day water , then wait 24 put in chems....wait 24 and check ph...


    sorry but those guys do seem to know whats up with hempy...are you sure????your gonna confuse me for sure..(not a hard thing to do)..


    thanks ras....


    my buckets on the floor..they are stand alone...and i dont water hempy..i change the water weekly....i am sooo confused...lol


    i just checkd my pm again from them and they say to do it the way i said...i will email them again to make sure and to tell them to check out what you said to see whats up...btw..i dont have drain off...i change the water every week...its only 4 gals....


    hempy is not a top watering system....i dont think...sorry
     
  4. teamster6

    teamster6 Guest

    Ras is right you should adjust the ph to 5.8 before giving it to the plants.


    As far as that goes water quality is everything. Sometimes letting it sit wont make much differance in the ph. My water here is terrible. I can let it sit overnight and the ph does not hardly change.


    I dont let my water sit overnight. I mix the nutes adjust the ph and water the plants. I water twice each day on my grow and check the ph in the mornings. 2nd watering at night I dont check ph. Following morning I check the ph again. Usually it will stabalize to correct ph after a few days. I do this on both hempys and my ebb and flo


    Works for me


    ha ha


    t6
     
  5. ncmaineac

    ncmaineac Harvested Fat Sticky Bud

    damn


    why would chris and steelcity tell me different...do you do hempy teamster????


    btw where are steelcity and chris...i dont even see chris here anymore and steelcity hasnt been here since the 3rd...anyone konw whats up....


    thanks ras and teamster,,,now i am completely confused...as;ldkjfas;ldkfa;lsdkf;alskdfa;sldkas;ldkj;asldk;saldkjas;ldkj


    i do appreciate you guys helping...please let me know if you guys have been doing hempy before...just confused why they told me different...dammit...oh well..maybe they were fucking with me...


    where are chris and steelcity ??????
     
  6. teamster6

    teamster6 Guest

    Yeah I changed and added that in above post. Yes I do hempys also and follow the same method. Differant people do differant things. I do what has evolved and worked for me. I like to keep it kiss. If its quick and works thats what I do. Everybody does there own thing!!


    Cheers


    t6
     
  7. rasganjah

    rasganjah True Ganjaman

    Yes I do Hempy. My last run of Super Silver Haze was all Hempy. 8 Trees in 2 1/2 gal. containers yielded 1 1/2 lbs.
     
  8. rasganjah

    rasganjah True Ganjaman

    I don't claim to be a guru or to know everything about hempy, but how exactly do you adjust the pH of a res that is covered in perlite and or vermiculite? I thought a Hempy was supposed to have a small reservoir at the bottom of the bucket like about 3" deep and you water as needed with hydroponic nutrients until you achieve overflow. I give nutes, nutes, then plain water.


    What you're describing sort of sounds like the Useless' formula instructions for a res change out, but that is when you're working with an actual reservoir.


    Don't ya think it would be easier to mix a big batch of nutes in a separate res, adjust it to the right level and just water all the plants with that until they are full? That way they all are sure to be in the same pH range. Instead of adjusting individual buckets?


    If you really want some conformation you could ask Mr.Gj, he's a hempy guy and a damn good one too. You've seen his Lemonberry plants.
     
  9. ncmaineac

    ncmaineac Harvested Fat Sticky Bud

    thanks res


    yep i think it would be easier but i am not there yet...i am just doing 10 hempy buckets...


    put water in until they are at bottom of 8" net pots filled with hydroten,


    leave 1 day then put in nutes (ph will lower when you put in nutes)


    then let settle for a day and check ph and adjust appropriately...


    directions from chris and steelcity at seperate times....go figure....


    change water every 7 days.....


    water and perlite or vermiculite never touch each other...i dont use them..i use hydroten and water doesnt quite touch that either...my resevoir if you will is in the bottom of my buckets....individually...with an airstone to bubble the water....


    things are a little different when you have a reservour however the order stays the same....chris and steelcity have done some damn good plants as well..but they are missing in action...unfortuanaly....any ideas where they are...seems like a secret oh well none of my biz????


    so you dont do hempy is that correct ras..????? just wondering..i thought you were a dirt guy...me too...but i thought i would try this...dont let anyone tell you its easy...lol...i have change the water 4 times in 3 weeks...i have an extra pump which helps...


    i will ask mr gj as to what he does...


    i have fixed the problem with 1.25 mm of ph down in each bucket and the ph is 5.5- 5.8 in each bucket now...with two probes..lol...i like double checking ph..


    really thanks again ras..i appreciate all your help...
     
  10. ncmaineac

    ncmaineac Harvested Fat Sticky Bud

    lol not hempy dwc


    damn what a spazz...i keep saying hempy but i mean dwc...sorry folks...duh
     
  11. rasganjah

    rasganjah True Ganjaman

    You aren't really doing a traditional Hempy and that is where the discrepancies lie. You are doing more of a DWC it sounds like to me, not Hempy. Maybe someone else will chime in, but as far as I know, that is not a hempy as I know it.
     
  12. ncmaineac

    ncmaineac Harvested Fat Sticky Bud

    must be typing at same time


    yah...i keep saying hempy but mean dwc....i found the link from steelcity....http://www.growkind.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42170


    and it reiterates...what i said he said..but its still not a fucken HEMPY....


    sorry for the confusion...i dont have any herb so maybe thats the problem..this shit cant grow fast enough for me...i have no connections here as my dealer of 10 years died last oct...from a heart attack...great guy and friend...


    i cant apologize enough....sorry sorry sorry...for the confusion..one simple word changes everything...


    did i say sorry....
     
  13. rasganjah

    rasganjah True Ganjaman

    Now then to the adjustment of pH.


    What nutrients and feed schedule are you following?


    After you let your res sit and you test it what is the pH? I use GH Flora with the Useless' 3 Part Formula and it takes like 5 ml in my 80 gal res to bump it from say 5.3-ish to 5.5 or 5.6-ish When I add bloom boosters it takes more. That being said if your water and nutrients are similar to mine, I would think you want to be working in drops and not ml. Try adding just a few drops at a time and testing until you get the desired pH and take note so you can duplicate that in each bucket. I think it's 5 drops makes approx. 1ml. A little goes a long way especially when we're talking about only 4 gal. of solution. :passsit:
     
  14. rasganjah

    rasganjah True Ganjaman

    I changed Hempy to DWC in your thread title so hopefully that helps you get the answers you are seeking. :thumbs-up: :passsit: Sorry to hear about your dealer friend, that sucks.
     
  15. Bje4201

    Bje4201 Vegetating

    Glad you cleared up the hempy/DWC issue. I was totally confused. If it helps my tap runs 8-8.5 ph and if takes 1.5 ml of ph down to hit right at 5.5-6 after it sits overnight. Try experimenting with your water and keep track of how much down it takes per gal is all I know what to tell you, I'm new so there might be a better way. I'm running a dwc myself, 7 ga res and about a capful of down will balance out the ph midweek for me if I need it. Just realized how old this post is:BangHead::roffl:, hope you figured it out by now.
     

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