Ph Changing Daily

AeroGanja

In Bloom
Hey I'm completely at a loss, tried to do some searching, came to the conclusion there is probably a term I don't know because I cant find anything. Even more complexing is the issue started 2-3 weeks ago, and is now persisting. Something I've never encountered, now I digress to the problem.

Sunday night, I make some tea, start aerating it, test the ph, it's high, put some down in until its 6.0 and let it sit for the night.
Next morning (Monday) I test the Ph of the tea, its 8.1... I put some ph down in it until its 5.9 (9am) I check it again at 7pm, its 7.6...... I lowered it to 6.0.
Next morning, 7.8.


You get the jist, what the F*&* is happening? It's RO water with a teaspoon of clonex solution and some mycorrhizae in a plastic bucket (no metal inside whatsoever) with an airstone and some rubber tubing.

I'm genuinely stumped.
This also happened/started in the final week of flower of one of my other plants, never had it before, and now I cant get it to go away?
 

AeroGanja

In Bloom

The Ph relates to Alkalinity and Carbonate hardness. RO water has little of either.

Liquid 'trace' or 'micro' ferts would increase the ' buffering capacity' of the water, whereby calming the tempest in the teapot.
Well, this is humbling, because after reading both your comment and the information in the link you provided, I'm just as confused as before. Are you suggesting I don't have enough carbonates in the water, or am I way off base?
 

JL2G

Jesse Loves 2 Grow
Staff member
Moderator
Q-36 Space Modulator
Well, this is humbling, because after reading both your comment and the information in the link you provided, I'm just as confused as before. Are you suggesting I don't have enough carbonates in the water, or am I way off base?
RO water will absorb any nutrient, or minerals in the water, and that will alter it's ph reading, sometimes drastically. Any residual minerals will slowly continue to change it over time as well, IE calcium carbonate being one.
If left alone to sit in the air RO will slowly become acidic as it absorbs Co2.
To me this says likely there's something in there acting as a ph buffer imho, maybe a bicarbonate in the tea mix? Something getting past the filter, or something residual in the bucket maybe?
Have you checked your fresh RO water with a ppm tester? Make sure the filter is working properly, and it's pure RO?
 

Jewels

Tilts at Tables
after reading ,,, your comment ,,,,, I'm just as confused as before.
Welcome to the Jewels show !?


Buffering is like the ballast found in the hull of a ship, keeps everything steady freddy.

Or like a shock absorber, providing resistance and arresting wild swings.

At the end of the day homeostasis wins. The ph result is the factor of the constituents.

Ph down products are temporary, and will all equalize - eventually
 

AeroGanja

In Bloom
Update: I've seem to found the problem (possibly) should be able to confirm over the next few days.
Problem? Air bubbler set to high, when it should've been on low. Dunno exactly how, i guess the bubbles help diffuse things into the water? Regardless, lowered the bubbles and voila ph is stabalizing
 

VAHomegrown

In Bloom
Update: I've seem to found the problem (possibly) should be able to confirm over the next few days.
Problem? Air bubbler set to high, when it should've been on low. Dunno exactly how, i guess the bubbles help diffuse things into the water? Regardless, lowered the bubbles and voila ph is stabalizing
I hope you fixed your problem! Any update? Too much O2 can cause PH fluctuations as reacts with other elements in the water.
 

greyfader

In Bloom
Update: I've seem to found the problem (possibly) should be able to confirm over the next few days.
Problem? Air bubbler set to high, when it should've been on low. Dunno exactly how, i guess the bubbles help diffuse things into the water? Regardless, lowered the bubbles and voila ph is stabalizing
if you are running a high co2 level and using a high capacity air pump you could be injecting enough co2 into the solution to cause a ph drop.

dissolved co2 forms carbonic acid. the carbonic acid breaks down and forms bicarbonates, carbonates, and hydrogen ions.

the hydrogen ions reduce ph.
 
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