Importance of bubbling ferts ?

[nomoreschwag]

How important is it to bubble your ferts when using organics? My first couple grows I didn't bubble and had good results. The next half dozen or so grows I would bubble for 24-48 hrs before feeding and I seemed to have more problems than before. My current grow I decided to stop bubbling and the plants seem to be healthier....What gives?
It seems like I read that certain additives like LK can really throw off PH when bubbled. Think that might be my deal?

 

[Trancerman]

from what i remember...bubbling the ferts make the solution less acidic...guess it can work both ways good/bad....get the Ph idea down

 

[minds_I]

Hello,

I have noticed that my pH of bubbled ewc/guano/molasses/kelp is well about 8.5.

Oerhaps the pH is what is throwing your grow out of wack. Do you have D.lime in your mix?

minds_I

 

[Suby]

If your using organic ferts from a bottle then just mix them with water than has been bubbling for 24hrs to evap chlorine and oxygenate then use them immediately.

Teas are what you have to bubble and bottled ferts are not neceassry in a tea, some work great like LiquidKARMA whcih I still love and use.

Water ph and hardness will play heavily here, more so than what you put in your tea.
Hardder water will resist ph change more agressively and bottled water will swing easily one way or another.
You can also use half bottled and half tap and see how that works for you but H2O2 is the nackbone of any tea and it's as important as the rest.

My home tap water is 6.8 and only slightly hard so perfect for organic growing, horrible for hydro growing though.
To lower teas you can try using fish emulsions, those are apparently acidic, I like apple cider vinegar which breaks down quickly.
A healthy organic soil rich in elements will easily handle ph swings that a reasonable.

 

[nomoreschwag]

minds_I - Yup, 1 cup per cubic foot (roughly)

I use distilled water only, mainly because its one less thing to worry about if/when problems arise. I use PBP soil bloom formula with LK and black strap all through flowering. I add in Indonesian bat guano after about 30 days of flower.

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

Suby, my water in "stripped or sequestered" city water. Its pH out of the tap is about 7.5. It is a soft water.

I use apple cider vinegar myself. What do you mean is breaks down quickly?

Once the fert solution is in the soil, the D.lime will very quickly titrate the vinegar anyway.

It is my understanding that D.lime is great for maintaining the pH at around 7 and works well to raise the pH. BUt I also read that its not terrific at lowering the pH when fert solutions are above 7.

I have also noticed that my plants seem happier if I adjust the pH to the low 6's.

I have in the past given my plants fert solutions with radical pH swings as low as the low 4's and as high as 8.5-9. They did not respond well with the latter solutions and in fact had negitive reactions.

Using a fert solution such as fish emulsions should have the pH adjusted tot eh low 6's because the d.lime will only titrate a limited amount of acid anyway.

So, in conclusion- Use d.lime and reduce radical pH swings of fert solutions

minds_I

 

[Suby]

Hey MI

what i mean by it breaks down quickly is that it doeas not last long in the system, I've tried using ACV in my hydro bubblers and within 1 day it was back where it was the day before, when i use nitirc acid the ph stays much lower for longer with less.
Basically the acids are of different resistance to breakdown by soil elements because they are natural like vinegar etc.

with ph we have to remember that ph is an exponential scale, that to say that the difference in ph between 7 and say 8 are not 2 points but rather 2 exponential points, by the time your teas reaching 8-9+ you can bet that's going to do some damage same for teas below say 5.5.

Some of my sucess is from my water source which is excellent, I find that slightly hard water is better for organics as the ph is less likely to swing too low or too high, the hardness of the water acts as a buffer to a certain extent.

nomoreshwag

PBPro products are great, i loved the bloom for soil, if your not using dolomite lime then you will need a source of Ca and MG like botanicare calmag.

suby