Personally I’ve paid for the costly ones & the cheapest ones, both work very similarly.
I’ve seriously not PH anything in years…
Any PH pen is better then not knowing at all.
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You can use GH ph down without problems or
DIY is just as simple & Maybe cheaper and all natural… also could use citric acid in the baking section at grocery store. Just use a little Ata time untill you get desired results.
Also nothing with UP/Down products happens instantly, make a change, wait 15 min, test again.
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When I see that sort of wrinkly effect and dark color, I think excess nitrogen too. But they don’t look terrible I would just not give any nitrogen until they look better, and go easier on it when/if you do again.
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As for “best watering practices”…
If the plants begin to droop but the pot still has some weight… should I still avoid watering in order to force the roots down further to the moisture?
My plants keep drooping before the pots dry, it’s unlike my previous plants.
What’s your RH? In veg it should be high, that would help also with water intake. BTW, do buy that pH pen or you will be chasing shadows … 
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With a heater running & exhaust headed outside, even with humidifier, the highest I can get it is 50’ish %. & yup I’ll go buy a ph pen tomorrow
So should I let them just droop if there’s still some weight to the pot?
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I think you can spray mist the plant and soil surface right before lights out, that would slow drying and would help rising the humidity, 50 is a bit low …
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Is that the 2023 leave it the fuck alone Model? 
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No, it’s an old model, hold up, gonna find a Tesla Semi.
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If you want to drop pH and do it cheap then order phosphoric acid from a brew supply store or buy 78% sulfuric acid from an auto parts store. Having a calibrated pH meter and fresh calibration solution is important too.
I collect rainwater, have 2 tanks for a total of 3,000 gals. All plants love rainwater.
Get a water and soil test from Ward Labs if you’re in the states.
Leaves look fine.
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Say @George, I’m seeing a smattering of those little blotches in my octopod plants and I notice that Calcium also inhibits Potassium. I’ve been intentionally adding Cal/Mag to avoid any deficiencies in that area. Would cutting back on the Cal/Mag likely help with potassium uptake? I’m reluctant to cut back on Nitrogen because these are heavy feeders and they seem otherwise very healthy.
Cheers,
-Grouchy
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What stage are plants in @GrouchyOldMan ?
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Hi Grouchy, a pic would help before making any statement 
, have a great journey …
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I’m having a similar issue with the strawberry razzmatazz at 7 weeks in flower
Yes I did get a bit heavy with the ppm
Tips burnt and rust spots
Even more reason to go slow and steady on the feed stay around 700 ppm
Rust spots on older leaves , iv been feeding calmag cal mag and Epson salts lite mix , and extra pK in a booster
But at week 7 on a 9 10 week plant why bother it’s looking beautiful other then the rust spots
Bud development is spot on
If she was younger I’d say I need to aggressively try to fix
But it’s too close to finish
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Hi guys,
Sorry to leave that hanging, just back from a long walk with Saintly Spouse…
The plant in question is a Fem Frankenstein S1 plant about a month into veg in an octopod.
She looks robust and is putting on healthy growth. This morning, after reading this useful thread, I noticed a sprinkling of these little spots, similar to what @Gonzo is seeing.
I looked very carefully for any sign of pests, and found nothing above or below the leaf. I’ve battled thrips and The Borg before and this doesn’t look like that to me.
My lights are hitting about 600 PPFD, and the VPD in the room is averaging 1.1. The water + nutes is pHed to 5.6, EC is 1.2. I have been adding CaliMagic at the rate of 3ml per gallon to avoid the Calcium deficit I’ve seen in the past with this system. Soil is Promix HP with 25% extra perlite.
That kinda leaves some deficiency as the best candidate, right?
Thanks in advance for any advice and apologies to @Gonzo for the hijack.
-Grouchy
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Hi bro I do find t that ph at 6.0/6.2 is better for my Octopots
Also I found Frankie to like the can mag
Give her a shot of bloom nutrients shelllove it
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THAT is very interesting @Papalag!
I ignored pH one single time early on with Octos and got nailed badly: pH of my tap 7.2 = sick plants.
After that I took it seriously and have gone with the consensus of pH 5.5, tho that seemed pretty acidic to me.
Raising it to 6.0 would be triv, that’s about where it lands after TexasTomatoFood, Hydroguard & Cal/mg. I will try that on the next batch of nutes. I’ll add a dose of bloom nutes too.
Good one, Thanks. 
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