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Option two: If you are growing a mixture, using 16 to 22 and keeping your lettuce in another simple system, such as Perlite mix, then hand watering the lettuce or arranging a automatic gravity system (like an autopot smart valve) could allow you to optimize the other plants in the main system.
We have even seen good results have been obtained with Lettuce mixed in with plants at 16-20CF but the roots of the lettuce needed to be flushed with fresh water regularly to stop burning.
We must emphasize that lettuce is the only difficult crop to mix with others (except for exotics like orchids), due to its abnormally low Nutrient requirements. Otherwise for a mixture of plant varieties outside of Lettuce, 16- 22 CF seems to work well in most situations.
pH - the Acidity/Alkalinity of your solution.
(Sweet and Sour)
The pH is read either by a colour test such as liquid dropper test kits, litmus paper test or an electronic pH tester. The pH of a solution is the acidity or alkalinity of the nutrient. When a Solution is too acid or sweet, plants have difficulty taking up most elements. When a Solution is too Alkaline or sour, similar problems develop.
pH is read on a scale of 0 to 14. In soil pH can vary and can be difficult to adjust. However, in Hydroponics, adjusting the solution is easy, using pH raise or pH lower to adjust the nutrient to read between 6.0 to 6.5 (optimum 6.3 pH). This will allow all the minerals and micronutrients to be more available to the plant.
The availability of nutrient elements are related to pH. Organic materials can vary the availability by increasing the availability in acidic solutions, and more advanced solutions contain these organic additives.
You can see by this chart that between 6 and 7 is good and hydroponic growers have found 6.3 to be around optimal. It is always good to allow the pH to wander a little between 6 and 7 as our pH adjusters are made from potassium and phosphorus. Using lots of pH solution to get it "just right" may add too much potassium and phosphorus to the mix. Keep it simple.
Nutrient Availability pH Chart
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