Grow Mediums A-Train needs info on the coco for future run... help a brother out.

[A-Train]

I'm damn glad I asked started this thread.... I have learned A LOT. Thank you everyone who chimed in

 

[Waira]

Meef -- Great find on the demo' video! There's some seriously trick chemistry going on in there, getting all those diverse inputs to get along with each other (not cross react) and still correct pH!... my main concern with it is they don't tell what the hardness of the water is, besides the pH... I can only assume it was RO/Di water, even for high pH water tub? it begs the question of how they made it alkaline, probably by adding pH up (an X-OH or some kind, probably KOH)... Okay-- hard water, with CaCO3 in it, will be alkaline pH, just like alkaline pH adjusted RO water, but that has no buffering capacity like the hard water does, and it's hard water use that has me wondering about how well the nutes can handle the carbonate buffering action,... lots of folks don't have ready access to that type of water, so I'm trying to put the puzzle pieces together on how to advise on troubled plants with pH problems, even when using self-adjusting nutes! And I did learn I was quite wrong about how the Si supplement alters pH- ... I have to correct myself at another thread on this (oh wait, that's here--LOL! stoner),... wow, does it ever up the pH! I just tested with my Pro-Tekt Si,... I have no idea why either, but something is causing OH- to form, or sucking up H+--

>> Rifleman-- that is a fat-phat harvest yield brudda! -- Confidence well founded indeed .... would you do me a favor, since you use tap, and take a pH meter to your nute solution please? --just to give me an idea about AN's buffering capacity,...

>> BII --- that's the kinda data that matta! All of you are helping me get a better picture of how all this is working, and I appreciate it, truly--

... I tell you what, I'm getting a major hardware boner with this Autopot/Airdome/coco set-up ...I think it's a done deal next chance I can get to grow ID's,... A-Train, you are gonna bust the tent condom on your grow, I'll just bet!!

 

[A-Train]

I can only hope so

 

[Wile e Peyote]

-- [emoji3] Ooh man, to have tap that naturally nice,... seriously Wile'E, that's like snow melt! ... Roger that on the additional Ca-Mg use ....some questions if you don't mind: used start to finish? How low did the nutes take your pH? Was that before, after, or if, you added Ca-Mg, or anything else? ...Did you develop Ca defc. at some point? ... I wonder what the nutes (alone) are supposed to pH buffer to,...seems I saw something about that somewhere -- Thanks Wile'E!


Hey 2Stoned, did that Ca defc. get fixed? ... Ah, see what I'm driving at here-- stuff I need to know myself to better help other coco nuts! You mix in your CaMg in and get a pretty high pH @ 7.0,... what's your water source? ....we'll see what WileE says about his mixing - hey, does it say on the bottle anywhere what the nute solution is supposed to pH buffer to? .... Well, straight run-off pH isn't an accurate measure of actual in-media pH,... a common error made when folks use the run-off pH test method, which when done wrong is full of measurement errors; that said, all I can say for sure is it's acidic in there- ...the best thing is always direct measurement, with a quality in-media pH probe like the Accurate 8,... Otherwise, here's a link to an improved method for run-off testing.. run it if you like and see what about it is--- https://www.autoflower.org/threads/...-for-run-off-testing-and-ph-estimation.41733/


:smoking:Rifleman, how's it growin' mate? ... I'm curious too, about how well the nute's hold the pH, even in a static environment,... are you mixing 5gal nutes at a time, or dosing the whole 20gal tote, I first should ask..?... do take pH after mixing, or later on?

>>> AWhit'm-- like FI says, total dissolve solid= ionic solids, that is, charged +/- ions,... Ca++, Mg++, CO3--, NO3+, etc.... so, ppm= parts per million of theses ions... TDS and EC are almost the same thing; TDS is an extrapolation of EC (Electroconductivity) in fact... EC tells you how well electrical current is passed through the water (pure is poor at it); the more ions, the better the conductivity... more ions=more ppm! That's basically what the TDS meter is measuring,... Now, that said, there is a catch: not all dissolved solids are ionic... take sugar for example: it doesn't form an ion in water, it's a neutrally charged molecule, so in a way, the EC and TDS meters are blind to them, they are "swept under the rug" in a sense, but because they aren't charged, they aren't interacting with the buffering chemistry, and can be for all practical purposes, ignored!

>> FI buddy-- I like it! Thanks for further fog clearing....

I always add cal mag first the ph of my tap water is 7.4 I can't remember if I was using rhizotonic (known to up your ph) at work at the moment will check back over my thread and get back to you I do know when I checked the ph it was 5.3 and I think that was half strength bloom A+B and if using big bud usually use at 1 ml per ltr

 

[2Stoned2Care]

Hi @Waira thanks for the help when i had a problem and yes thanks to you my calcium problem is all fixed.she is back on track and looking good.i have had no other problems at all using the ph perfect coco nutes without checking ph.as you can see the lower leaves are still affected and i know this wont repair but the new growth has no problems at all.a big thank you again.btw my tap water is 7.4ph ppm 170.also AN said the ph perfect help the nutes uptake between 4.0ph and 8.0ph

 

[2Stoned2Care]

@Waira would you like me to take a good pic of a affected leaf bro so you can use it for future reference ?

 

[Rifleman]

@Waira Not a problem. This is why I decided to just trust AN and quit worrying about it. I topped off both five gallon buckets I've got going this morning. Dug out two of my old pH pens...unused in six months or more. Dipped them both in a 7.0 cal solution. Also old. I did not go through the routine of calibrating them and just went with the numbers they showed after 30 seconds.

7.0 cal solution 6.87 and 7.12
Tap water 7.42 and 8.89
Sour Crack bucket 5.73 and 7.61
Dark devil bucket 5.29 and 6.94

I've had as many as three pens at one time and it has always been that way. If you want a large reservoir reading that will have to wait until lights on.

 

[A-Train]

Ok guys now to throw a wrench in it. I have a well also... I'm going to take 5 liters of bubbles tap and sit next to 5 liters of the well water.

I'll mix the nutes in and wait 1 hr and check the ph again and see where they both go to..

Is there anything negative about using well water? I can't use ro not buying a system currently and don't want to raise any eyebrows lugging out 10 liter jugs on a nightly basis

 

[Rifleman]

Advantage....no chlorine. I'm on utility water and you can smell the chlorine in it from the tap.

 

[MeefChief]

I'd like to see a PPM reading on both out of sheer curiosity.