You must maintain an ideal level of pH in your hydroponics system. Going too high or too low will mean locking specific nutrient availability in the system. Unfortunately, all this is a deficiency in the plants like slowed growth, less availability of healthy elements, etc.
You can raise pH in hydroponics using chemicals like pH adjusters etc or you can use vinegar. Before using these methods you must know the pH requirement of the crop.
This post will help you learn different ways to adjust the pH and also everything else you need to know about the pH in hydroponics.
How To Raise pH In Hydroponics Using 3 Different Ways?
We’d like to suggest you research the requirements of pH in specific hydroponics plants before you settle out for those different methods. That’s a necessary step to know your hydroponics solution in a better way!
Hopefully, you’ve done your research by now. Without further ado, it’s time to review our top methods to adjust pH in hydroponics.
1. Testing
The prevalent and required method to adjust pH in hydroponics is regular testing. Luckily, you’re available with different tools to do, ranging from old-school types to modern-day ones. The handheld pH meter is the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about regular pH testing.
Then, auto-dosing systems are generally hooked up on the reservoir tanks and dose daily to let you monitor the pH levels. Lastly, you’ve old-school solutions like litmus paper, whose color changes depending upon the nature of the solution.
Always keep in mind the frequent calibration while using digital pH meters. There are separate calibrators available for this purpose.
2. Use Chemicals
Gardeners used to use various chemicals to adjust pH in hydroponics. The most commonly found chemicals are potassium hydroxide and phosphoric acid. Both of them serve the purpose to raise pH in hydroponics and lower it, respectively. You can also consider buying pH adjusters available at most hydroponics supply stores. Always remember to overlook the concentrated pH adjusters as they can highly ruin your hydroponics system.
Other kinds of chemicals that you can use our hydroponic nutrient solutions. Both sulfuric acid and nitric acid can be considered to lower pH in hydroponics. Yet, they are a bit dangerous chemicals that need to be used very carefully.
3. Use Vinegar
Being a weak acid, vinegar can be used to adjust pH in hydroponics. The chemical composition of vinegar is CH3COOH which is a mixture of Oxygen, Carbon, and Hydrogen. Thus, they may take up a bit of nutrient uptake to keep your nutrients in the right balance. However, you’ve to carefully use vinegar in your hydroponics solution as the high amounts aren’t cost-effective at all.
So, these were some of the tried and tested ways to get to know how to raise pH in hydroponics or adjust pH in hydroponics. Our last mentioned method is a natural one. There are more natural ways such as citric acid and baking soda etc. Yet, you can only use these ways for a short-term fix than other pH adjusters available in the market. It is because of the unavailability of pH buffers in household products than commercial items.
On the other hand, using tools such as pH meters is good to monitor its levels. They can only warn you about a specific level of pH available in a solution. What you have to do next is to adjust pH in hydroponics or know how to raise pH in hydroponics if it’s too acidic. Again, it’s all a matter of knowing what level of pH needs to be maintained in your hydroponics system.
Role Of Tap Water’s Ph
Yes, the phenomenon of monitoring tap water’s pH is what we haven’t mentioned above. However, it’s another essential factor that needs to be studied very carefully. The pH of tap water will vary from season to season. Thus, it’s better to check tap water almost regularly. Depending upon the nature of your tap water’s pH, you’re required to raise it or lower it down.
“What pH should my hydroponic water be?”
Ideally, the pH of water in hydroponics should be 6.0 to 6.2. Thus, you need to adjust even a slight difference such as 6.8 or 6.5 by using various pH adjusters commonly the pH Up and pH Down.
And, there are some resources that suggest an ideal range of 5.5 to 7.0 as pH of tap water for hydroponics. Make sure to check the water before you do anything with your hydroponics setup. Tap water consists of various chemicals, including bacteria and minerals. These elements further can cause a major impact on the health outcome of your hydroponics plants. The three main factors found in tap water, namely Chlorine, Chloramines, and Dissolved Minerals can negatively affect your hydroponics.
Then, the role of hard water! Is it bad for hydroponics? Yes, hard water isn’t a good fit for hydroponics. It contains large quantities of calcium and magnesium that get easily dissolved in tap water. And, these massive quantities can still add to the concentration of hydroponic solution where you don’t know the existence of harmful minerals.
So, you can check the presence of hard water either by using TDS or by contacting your water company.
What Form Of Water Should Be Used?
Consider using other forms of water for hydroponics if your tap water contains high PPM. It’s an expert practice while you know how to raise pH in hydroponics. Listed below are some of the best options.
Reverse Osmosis Water
It is water treated via the reverse osmosis process. The procedure generally removes the dissolved solids and particles from the water through a membrane. And, the large impurities and other hard elements won’t pass out the membrane which makes it purer water than the tap water.
Distilled Water
It’s an extremely pure form of water treated by the process of condensation and evaporation. And, the formula is mostly used to remove the dissolved within the hydroponic water.
Filtered Water
It is the simplest solution to use filtered water that has been passed through a carbonated filter. This water also acts as a removal element for lots of dissolved solids and other undesirable chemicals within the water.
How To Lower pH in Water?
Numerous ways are available to know how to lower pH in water. And, we will provide you with four simple solutions to lower pH in water. Firstly, you can consider adding a water filter over the tap. Then, you can also add food-grade acids to a large amount of water. The other two methods are adding lemon drops and installing an acid injection system.
You can leave the water in sunlight for around 24 hours, which will remove its vast amount of Chlorine. And, you can check for activated carbon water filters to remove a large number of chloramines.
What Causes pH To Drop?
We can count upon several reasons due to which pH levels go down in hydroponics. First of all, it occurs when plants tend to absorb more nutrients from the water. This happens in consequence of less availability of hydroponics solution in the tank. It’s the main reason for regular monitoring and testing of pH levels.
Other reasons for the frequent fluctuation in pH levels could be the presence of algae and bacteria in the hydroponics solution. Algae can be held responsible if you will notice a significant rise of pH in the morning and a lower level of pH in hydroponics in the evening. It’s because algae take up the acidic carbon dioxide from the hydroponics solution. The bacteria, a major reason for root diseases, also cause a sharp decline of pH in hydroponics.
Final Thoughts
So, this was how to raise pH in hydroponics using various testing and adjustment methods. As a final motivation, we’d recall the importance of testing especially. It’s the foremost you may need to follow daily in the beginning stages to get your hydroponics pH at the right levels.
After that, things like the usage of pH adjusters, solutions, and other chemicals come into place. Meanwhile, there should be a keen consideration over the pH level of your tap water going into the hydroponics. It is also an important aspect for which we’ve dedicated an entire section above on how to lower pH in water or the measures to correctly treat your tap water.
