My pH is too High

[GpsFrontier]

First I'm not really familiar with General Hydroponics FloraDuo series nutrients, but I am sure they have pH buffers. Although from what I just read about it, its a 2 part nutrient that needs both A & B parts to work well, just mixed in what ratios are best for the particular plant.

I can't say for sure, but the well water could be a potential source of a problem. As for the pH meter, unfortunately it could also be a source of a problem. Even when properly calibrated, and cared for, they can still give false readings. I have even herd of claims of false readings in relation to the proximity of certain light sources, though I don't member if that was referring to pH, EC, TDS and/or PPM meters. I would suggest to always have some pH drops on hand to verify odd or strange pH readings. If you don't have pH adjusters yet (pH up/pH down), you really need to get some. Don't rely on home remedies like white vinegar to adjust pH. Their not stable, and wont provide the desired change long. And the more of anything you add to the nutrient solution, the more problems your likely to encounter.

Starting with a water pH of 7.0 is also a potential problem. pH above 6.5 can result in precipitates. That is some mineral elements tend to want to bond with others, and thus become unavailable to the plants. That's the reason that most nutrients come in a 2 or 3 part mix, to keep the minerals that want to bond separated before there diluted in the water.

Start with getting some pH adjusters (for hydroponics), add some pH down to get the pH in the range of 6.0, and go from there. I would e-mail general hydroponics tech support at [email protected] and find out for sure if you need to use both parts (A & B) in your nutrient solution. Let them know what type of plants your growing, and ask the best mixing combination for the type of plants your growing. Though they probably wont reply until Monday, I don't think they work on weekends. The pH meter might be working just fine, but there's not really any way to tell unless you have something to compare it to. The pH drops wont give false readings, are cheep, easy to read, no calibration necessary, and fast. There's not really much point in changing the pH, if your not sure your pH test is accurate in the first place.