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doctorman_gw

PH going up over night to 7.8 from 6 in Rain Tower Hydroponics

doctorman
10 years ago

Hey Guys,

my first post here and I hope to resolve my PH problem with you help!

I have an indoor RainTower Hydroponics (something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcdwGlR5Si8&feature=youtu.be )

it is 5"*5" fence post with holes on 4 sides and 3" net pots with hydroton as media. Water gets pumped up 6 feet and rains down every 15 min on-off.

I have 400w induction light on top and reflecting surfaces around.

There are 3 bushes of plants in the system now
1) green sweet basil
2) Purple basil
3) sweet mint

I use tap water, my water is alkaline at 7.8 and is medium hardness, so I struggled with this system for a week fighting the PH with vinegar and one time with lemon juice. I had slime build up and cloudy water that I believe was from the vinegar so I bought GH PH Down Dry and replaced it..

The issues is this..
I adjust my water with PH down to 6 pour it in the system with or without nutrients in hours my PH goes up and by the next day I am up to 7.8 or so.. I keep adding PH down to the system twice a day to keep it under 7. I can not understand what is causing my PH swing so fast.

Some said the plants are taking up so much P that makes your PH go up.. I added more phosphor and ended up bittering up my basil plant..
could it be bacteria? should I run bleach 1 tbsp/gallon in there for couple of hours?
I can not belive 3 little plants could cause my PH swing in hours.. but again I am new to this..
any ideas guys?

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