Are you having trouble keeping your hydroponic plants alive? It could be because you haven’t quite got your plant’s pH levels right. It doesn’t matter how perfectly you’re doing everything else, if you don’t regularly monitor and adjust your plant’s pH levels, there’s a good chance they will grow weak, or even die.
What is Plant pH?
When it comes to hydroponics, pH is an incredibly important factor and refers to the amount of acidity or alkalinity in a nutrient solution. pH is expressed as a series of numbers that represent the degree of acidity or alkalinity, usually ranging between one and 14. Numbers between one and seven refer to acidity, while seven to 14 represent alkalinity levels.
For optimum results with your plants, maintaining a slightly acidic level of between 5.5 and 6.5 is ideal.
If you maintain your plant’s pH within the recommended levels, they’ll be better equipped to absorb nutrients. However, if the pH is too high or low it can interfere with the absorption of important nutrients, such as iron, calcium, and magnesium.
This is why maintaining a stable pH level is so important, as it will help ensure your plants develop healthy roots.
How Can You Test the pH Levels of Your Plants?
To grow healthy hydroponic plants you should be checking their pH levels daily. This should always be done after water or additives are added to the tank, and only after the tank has been mixed thoroughly and allowed to stand for at least 30-60 minutes.
You can test plant pH levels using a HY-GEN pH Test Kit. This hydroponics kit contains a test tube, colour chart and concentrated indicator solution, which makes testing the pH levels of your plants easier than ever! All you need is a single drop of the indicator solution to find out if the pH is within the recommended range. You can learn more about how this fantastic kit works in our handy product guide.
What Products Can Assist with Maintaining pH Levels?
If you’re having trouble maintaining the pH levels of your plants, whether they’re too high or too low, Hydroponic Generations have the perfect products for you!
HY-GEN pH Up will assist you if your pH solution is too low, while HY-GEN pH Down is the perfect product for when pH is too high. Each of these products has been developed specifically for hydroponic plants, contain food-grade ingredients and are highly soluble.
As you can see, pH levels in your plants can make a big difference to their overall health. To learn more about maintaining the pH levels in your plants, as well as all of our hydroponic systems in Perth, contact Hydroponic Generations today!