Understanding ph

[grodude]

I have reading a lot about ph to understand it better for my grow and it seems I have learned a few new things:

I should not force the ph to 5.8, rather if it is within 5.5-6.5 I should leave it. I should monitor the ph and check it 1-2 times daily. A range of ph is actually better than being stable because different nutrients are absorbed in different ranges of ph. Above the 6.2ish-6.5ish range and especially over 7 is very bad for plants. A lower ph is not ideal, but not as detrimental as a higher ph.

Seems like ph is very important and prevents many problems a plant may experience. If my ph does remain at 5.8 for example with littler fluctuation should I manually change it myself so it get's a good range. According to the diagram I posted if my ph was stable at 5.8 and only tended to fluctuate up OR down, rather than both ways, would I not potentially run risk of not allowing the plants to absorb either calcium or manganese.

I clearly don't have experience so I don't even know if my question makes sense, but any and all input will be appreciated. Thanks

View attachment hydroponics-ph-chart-marijuana.jpg

 

[grodude]

Another question I forgot to ask. When checking ph in an rdwc system does the water have to be stagnant to get an accurate read, or is it okay if water is circulating/bubbling when I stick my pen in there. Thanks

 

[Deman]

Hey grodude
In my experience I would say PH is the single most important thing to get right to ensure you have healthy happy plants in hydro grows.
I have seen disaster in large grow rooms because of incorrect PH. One bud had bad batteries in a brand new tester and destroyed his yield because he didn't catch it till it was too late.
I always test my res's with two meters and if they don't jive I calibrate till they do.
Testing can be done anywhere in your solution. I always swish mine around until they stabilize (and to ensure no air bubbles are trapped next to the end of the meter)
I always strive to keep my PHs as close to 5.8 as possible but sometimes run a feeding through a little lower or as high as 6.0. The strains I grow do not like any higher PH as I have learned the hard way.
I find most res PH fluctuations are caused by nute ppm levels that are too high. This usually causes the PH to rise over the course of a few feeds. Lower the PPMs till it stays stable then gradually increase as they grow