When asked “How do you maintain the proper pH of a growing medium?”, often the answer is to adjust the water pH to achieve a growing medium pH in the ideal range of 5.6-6.2. This is simply not true. Many hydroponic companies suggest nutrient programs that use reverse osmosis to strip the water of all mineral elements and then use a series of fertilizers to reintroduce the elements removed and add those elements needed to maintain proper vegetative plant growth and flowering. By doing so, the theory is that the growing medium pH should remain stable and not drift into unwanted ranges and proper fertility levels can be maintained. Although it is possible for this to work, the majority of growers experience pH drift problems with their growing medium with this approach.
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