JinpachiMishima

Folks,

I am a bit puzzled with the new info I just ran into. This is about pH levels in Ebb&Flow hydro system throughout the life cycle.

In my previous grows after transplanting seedlings into hydroton pebbles under the HPS I would adjust the nutrient pH to about 6.3 to 6.4

As they would get close to flowering i would lower pH to about 6.2 or 6.1

And throughout flowering cycle I would eventually lower pH to 5.7 or so towards the end (harvest). Normally the results were satisfactory.

Recently i watched a short video on youtube about White Widow growing. It was grown in soil and they would begin with pH close to 5.5 and eventually increase it to about 5.8 towards the end of the grow which is entirely different from what i was doing.

Any comments on this from experienced hydro growers?

Thanks!

xjo

Lets slide this over to Hydro....

Xjo

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afterburner

yeah I would say the video is pretty close... I try to keep my pH about 5.4 - 5.8 for veg mode, and 5.8 - 6.1 during flowering

MG intake is higher at a slightly lower pH...

pH chart thanks to st0ney

JinpachiMishima

thanks for the input fellas...i really appreciate it.

and thanks to the Afterburner for the nice chart

Lollie

Hi JinpachiMishima,

Welcome to GC.

I like to run higher than is recommended on St0ney's chart but not as high as you've run. Most people here run by the chart. I have a feeling they'd do better with the higher numbers.
How are your harvests? How long do you let them go? Why do you drop the pH toward the end? How long have you been doing things your way? I'm interested.

All the best,
Lollie

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Conversions: 70 ppm to 50 ppm = 1 CF = 0.1 EC and 5 ml = 5 cc = 1 teaspoon

JinpachiMishima

Hey Lollie,

sorry for the late reply....have been having troubles in the garden with the new setup and basicaly in there almost 24x7.

I have been running the described above way for 6 full harvests in my Ebb%Flow setup using a standard 55 gallon drum and buckets. And the pH levels I used I took directly from the Cannabis Grow Bible 5th Edition by Greg Green. In the hydro setup he gave these very particular recommendations. With these 6 harvests I have always began at 6.5 on the first day of 24x7 HPS, then down to 6.3 at the beginning of flowering and then down to 5.9 or 5.8 towards the last weeks. I had a feeling that something is wrong for the following reasons: 1) The buds grew a pretty good size and healthy although the further into flowering it went the more they began smelling like an old moist wrag..and towards the last 2 weeks entirely losing the natural skunk smell. This was with every strain i did. 2) Towards the end of the grow the buds began to feel dryer even while still on the plant. And after full curing they became unusually dry and very very light. One oz bag looked more like half a pound bag. Potency was somewhat less then desirable even with strains like Albino Rino and Blueberry. Now I suspect that the pH levels had quite a bit to do with that causing partial nutrient lockout...I did notice at some stages the leaves showed signs of excessive magnesium phosphate and lack of the Micro nutrient range.

Now I started a brand new grow with the same Ebb&Flow only expanded to more buckets and two 55 gallon drums. I am growing White Widow and it is now on the 4th day of 24x7 HPS. I am at pH level 5.5 and will experiment by keeping one system at 5.5 and the other at 5.7-5.8 during the vegetative state. I can then let you know how things went for each bunch.

Thanks for the input again.

JinpachiMishima

One more thing, Lollie....to answer your question on how long I let them go. This is for my last harvest of Albino Rhino. With my Ebb%Flow they reached the height of 12 inches on the 28th day of 24x7 HPS. Then I started flowering on the 28th day...should have started a week earlier.

They fully matured on day 76 counting from the first day of 24x7 and reached the height of 6.5 feet (they are 75% sativa). They grew a bit tall for my lighting system and were not getting adequate light.

Since then I made extensive upgrades to my system and lighting. I will post the pictures of my new setup in my gallery here but will only keep the pictures up for 2 weeks.....I am a little paranoid.

Regards,
Jinpachi Mishima

Lollie

Okay, 76 days including veg time of 28 days equals only 48 days flowering. That would equal light buds for me also. I generally let mine go about 70 days in 12/12. But that doesn't explain why yours get dry and loose all smell later in flowering. That doesn't sound right to me? I'll wait to hear how your ladies do in the lower pH range.

Thanks for the information.
Lollie

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Conversions: 70 ppm to 50 ppm = 1 CF = 0.1 EC and 5 ml = 5 cc = 1 teaspoon

JinpachiMishima

Every time I harvested judging by the color of the hairs...once ~50% turn their color I begin the harvest and the buds looked fully mature although somewhat light in volume. I would like to point out that the they were fatter 2 weeks before the harvest time for some reason. To me it seems like the deficiency caused by incorrect pH levels.

I will post some pictures in my phostos of various stages in development. I will begin with 1 week old and then every two weeks or so. I put some pics up of my setup.