I learned something today that I have stumbled across before in threads but the info wasn’t really connecting for me and this short read really simplified the science! So naturally, I wanted to share it!
After I read this article, I added nutrients to my reservoir rather than PH up and it fixed the problem! Enjoy the article!
I find my RO water always comes out at a higher PH than that which I would feed plants with. Even if I leave it with an air stone in it.
Adding nutrients usually brings it close to the perfect range. Sometimes I have to add a bit of down.
But once you add your nutrients the first time, you can’t really keep adding nutrients. You would then have no choice but to supplement with PH Down.
Agreed! This is more in regards to acid rain effect I should have mentioned and how adding PH up to no avail is only a bandaid on a broken arm.
If your PH is going up though, depending if your EC is stable and water level is falling, that would be perfect according to this chart I love to use. My issue with this chart was about the acid rain problem specifically.
While it may be true that RO exposed to air it may drop in pH it is of little consequence. You could add one drop of pH down to a gallon of RO or distilled water to a gal and it will drop to 5 or 6 but how much effect will one drop of pH down have on a pot of soil or a rez full of nutes?
Pure water reacts way out of proportion to any acid/base manipulation compared to tap water that has a large assortment of minerals to buffer the reactions.
That article linked is just hyped up to sell people on buying an expensive filter to add minerals to their water and the pH change caused by absorbed CO2 has a negligible effect on overall pH so always add all the stuff you are going to feed your plants then check the pH and adjust if needed. Or save yourself the hassle and use RO water with pH Perfect nutes and retire your pH pen.
I’ve tried the ph perfect and for me it’s just not as good as the basic General Hydro nutes.
Maybe not a hip statement but I dont mind a little ph adjustment. It’s going to be needed at some point Ph perfect or not.
I basically shared the article to say adding stuff to your RO water helps stabilize PH. We be on the same page.
I personally am happy with the GH line of nutes and monitoring/controlling the PH myself.
from human health pov, calcium carbonate is good choice. but for plants, it is a little different. I used to use baking soda, NaHCO3. it is widely available and cheap. But I prefer potassium carbonate, K2CO3. it helps me to use less K2SO4 so less sulphur to reach K concentration I want. thanks to its chemical behavior it can be added to KOH and SiO2 stock of mine.
