by ciaran
What does algea look like, and the dreaded P.H ??
6:10 am in Being a good member of this community, Getting Started, made from scratch (without a kit), Nutrients, Nutrition, Projects in Process, questions, Seeking Advice by ciaran
Hello all.
I have got my bottle columns up and running now.
And am doing some tests for waterproofing, timing and P.H readings.
I have added my nutrients, clay balls, the whole shooting match is ready for the plants now.
HOWEVER.
The P.H seems to keep rising into the 7′s. Not ideal. I was wondering if this may account for the high tide marks I am getting in my bottom reservoir.
It’s a sort of brownish stain.
Could it be;
A: Clay balls not washed off prperly before using?
B: The nutrients. A Rather dark liquid called “Boi-juice”. Or.
C: The very high P.H precipitating the iron out of the water and leaving a film on the reservoir?
D: Or is it plain old algea? I thought that would be green and nasty. This is brown and kind of like a dirty water mark.
I just wanted to get the whole water flow, P.H, plumbing and timing right before putting plants in
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
And I wil try to answer any questions of yours.
Thanks in advance.
Ciaran
Bare in mind that pH 7.0 is neutral, yes it’s high for plants but it is the point that chemical reactions are balanced so if you keep your water acidic which is obviously what you need to do and have unstable alkaline material hanging around then it will naturally try to balance out. Many clay pebbles say they are pH neutral and in water will be but that is due to a balance of acidic and alkaline material with in the clay. if you immerse the clay into and acidic environment some of the alkaline material detaches itself from the pebbles and bonds with the acids in your water.
You need to ensure you buy quality pebbles that are designed for hydroponic use then make sure you wash them properly. I often look at weed growing sites for hydro advice, these guys make a lot of money if they get it right and so spend a good amount of effort making sure they do. This excerpt is from uk420.com’s forum: http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=190392
“First off i take the full bag of pebbles and burst loads of holes in the bottom 6 inch of the bag while standing it in the bath. I then turn the shower on to the coldest setting(cos more water comes out) and rinse the bag through for about 5 minutes. This gets rid of most of the crap
I then as with the blocks soak them in ph 5.6 water for 24hrs preferably bubbled at around 20 degrees
Tip all the water away and replace with a mild nutrient solution with an ec and ph of which you intend starting your plants on. As long as they have around 12 hours soaking in this solution they will be fine
Your pebbles should then be nice and clean and ready to go into any system you wish, in fact even after soaking in just ph water your pebbles can be used, I just like to get a bit of nutrient into them”
As for the stain, it’s not the pH, as I said, pH 7 is neutral, brown nutes… brown stain… I’m guessing it’s the nutes.
Hope this helps, Ed