Ph regulator for organic hydroponic grow

[Rodrigo]

Hi, everyone!
This is my first time posting, so I'll star with the details of my setup.

What Strain is it?: AK-48
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? : hybrid, not sure about percentages
How Many Plants?: 3/veg, 3/flo
Is it in Vegetative or Flowering Stage?: both
If in Vegetative Stage... How Long? first batch of clones, 4 weeks old
If in Flowering Stage... How Long? 4 weeks into flowering
Indoor or Outdoor?: indors
Soil or Hydro? :Organic hydroponic
If Hydro, Reservoir size? about 3Gl for veg and 6Gl for flower
If Hydro, Reservoir Temperature? : around 23°C
If Hydro, what type of Medium?: rockwool. Grodan cubes. hydroton (clay pellets) for ebb & flood
If Hydro, what type of Setup?: veg: drip irrigation. Flower: ebb and flood
Size (Wattage) of Light? How Many? veg: 4x 2ft fluorescent tubes upright in corners + 4 100w energy saving bulb over the tops flower: 400w HPS + 3 100w energy saving bulbs hanging in the foliage
Is it Air Cooled?: veg: fan only. Flower: 1 fan, 1 extractor on the top and 1 intake
Temperature of Room/Cabinet? : around 30°C when light are on
RH of Room/Cabinet?: around 42%
PH of Medium or Reservoir?: around 7.2
Any Pests?: none
How Often are you Watering?: three times a day for 15 minutes
Type and Strength of Fertilizers used?: Advanced Nutrients Iguana Juice; Grow for veg and Bloom for flower, around 3ml/l
Size or Square Footage of Room?: around 60x60cm (about 25x25 in?)

So here's the issue, some info from above may be repeated below.

I have a small grow room divided in veg state room and flowering room, both setups are hydroponic; the veg room is a drip irrigation system and the flowering room is an ebb & flood system. I had a few hiccups at the beginning (this is my first attempt at growing) but everything has been going smoothly and the plants are growing beautifully and surpassing any and all expectations. I'm currently on week 4 of flowering and the buds are big, dense and covered in trichomes (and they're growing everywhere!), I can tell it's going to be a great harvest (FYI: I'm growing Nirvana's AK-48 F).
The issue:
I really never checked the PH level because I was waiting for the meter to arrive -purchased online- because here they cost 3 to 4 times more than on the Internet. Anyway so it finally arrived and after calibration the reading on the reservoirs were 7.5 veg and 7,2 flower. All I'm using is tap water (ph 7.2) and for nutes I'm using Advanced Nutrients Iguana Juice (Grow for veg and Bloom for flower) @ around 3.5ml/Lt.
So, as far as I understand it, the optimum PH level is between 5.8 and 6.3 so I'm way off the mark. The issue here is not how to lower the PH, I'm well aware that there are many good products out there to do just that. The thing is that I chose to grow using just organic nutrients and I haven't used anything chemical, not even spraying the leaves with soap water for spider mites (which luckily I have none of)

So my questions is, if I use any PH regulator do I lose the 'organic' status. i.e. not organic anymore, or is it still regarded as organic. The fact is that I don't know where the line is drawn between organic or not organic growing, is it limited to the nutrients and pesticides used or do water regulators count as added chemicals? (my best guess is no)
For the second part, what is the effect of having a high PH, I know that nutrients are better absorbed at the optimum level but other than that I don't know the effects of having a PH of 7.5. The plants look great in both veg and flower and the buds are amazing, so one might think that the effect is not so bad (another reason I took so long in getting a PH meter is because everything was going so surprisingly well)

Humidity is about 40% when the light are on; 400w HPS + 3 100w energy saving bulbs between the foliage for flower and 4 2ft fluorescents (upright in the corners of the room which is about 4sq ft) + 4 100w energy saving bulbs that sit about 4in on top of the canopy on rope ratchets) but I haven't checked when light are off and the temps go down.
Temperatures on flower are about 86°F (30°C) when lights are on for flower and a little higher for veg. I'm working on lowering these, any input or advice is appreciated.

So that's basically it. I don't know how to post photos since this is my first time at these forums but I have great pics of the buds.

Thank for any/all help!

 

[Jimmycricket]

Holy shit this is a big wall of text , give me a sec and ill get back to ya.

 

[Jimmycricket]

Ok so the sort reason on why PH matters, both in hydro and in soil, is that the plant can only suck up certain nutes and minerals at certain PH.

I am going to venture a guess and say that when you change your res and add fresh nutes your PH drops. Then it slowly creeps up towards its base (which is around 7.2 as you pointed out). Check that next time you change water see if it does drop some.

The best PH is actually one that varies back and forth. for hydro it was be from about 5.0-6.2 ish. The reason having it go up and down slightly would work would become apparent if looking at a nutrient uptake chart.

Typically what us guys do that have high PH water (my tap is right at about 7.2 also), is we drop it down slightly low (I go to anywhere from 4.8-5.2 depending on what I am doing) Then slowly over time it will get near 7 again.

As for dropping it organically lemon juice or vinegar would work. It will only last a couple days usually though.

 

[Rodrigo]

Ok so the sort reason on why PH matters, both in hydro and in soil, is that the plant can only suck up certain nutes and minerals at certain PH.

I am going to venture a guess and say that when you change your res and add fresh nutes your PH drops. Then it slowly creeps up towards its base (which is around 7.2 as you pointed out). Check that next time you change water see if it does drop some.

The best PH is actually one that varies back and forth. for hydro it was be from about 5.0-6.2 ish. The reason having it go up and down slightly would work would become apparent if looking at a nutrient uptake chart.

Typically what us guys do that have high PH water (my tap is right at about 7.2 also), is we drop it down slightly low (I go to anywhere from 4.8-5.2 depending on what I am doing) Then slowly over time it will get near 7 again.

As for dropping it organically lemon juice or vinegar would work. It will only last a couple days usually though.

Hahaha, thank you, Jimmycricket, sorry about the length, I have a tendency to be over thorough at times.

Regarding your guess, actually the ph doesn't really fluctuate, I did check it with a fresh change of water and nutes and they (the nutes) don't seem to change the water ph, i.e. it doesn't drop below 7 and doesn't go over 7.5. (maybe organic nutes don't affect as much as synthetic?)

The thing that gets me is that the plants, both in veg and flower, are growing surprisingly fast; from seed to flower in 6 weeks with very dense foliage. and the plants in flowering are 4 weeks into it (they grew aroun 50cm, around 20in, in about a week) and the buds are thriving, they are growing everywhere, very fast, completely covered in trichomes and very big and dense, and at only 4 weeks into flowering I can tell I'm gonna get a really good harvest. although since this is my first time, even though I think things are going great, it might just be that they could be going waaaaay better if I lower the ph. I guess I'll have to find out on the next harvest.
All this despite of having a high ph, so at what point do I risk nute lock? could it be that because I'm using organic nutrients then nute lock doesn't occur? other than lockout, what do I risk by keeping it as it is.

In another forum someone replied that organic has to do with the capacity of the plant to use bacteria in order to breakdown nutes to a form they can absorb, so a ph regulator shouldn't matter and I could still regard it as Organic. what do you think.

Thank you so much!

 

[Jimmycricket]

Organic hydro nutes are the same as chem in regards to how the plan uptakes them. The only real difference is how the nutes were collected.

Organic hydro nutes are already broken down, its just they originally came from some source naturally (like manure, or plant matter)

TBH I often would keep my hydro plant near 7ph much of the time as well and never saw any deficiencies.

The short answer to how ph works is that certain minerals are more accessible to a plant at certain PH. at 7PH magnese, iron and phosphorous are all not very readily available. I would mostly be concerned about the Phosphorous because that is one of the most needed elements for bud growth.