PH Issues

Plants do not take in nutrients in an equal and proportional way. Some does diffuse in, but some depend significantly more on active transport -- which means the plant roots release some molecules that attach to specific nutrient molecules and return (relies on concentration gradients and such... physics). While the plant does not have a CNS, it does have feedback loops that controls this process. It is not necessarily evenly distributed across all nutrients. So, over time, whatever you initially provided around the roots - the balance of it - will change. This will usually change EC and pH, too. Good to remember EC is not an accurate way to measure concentration... there are 4 different conversion factors and the only difference is the brand of probe you bought as to why you'll get up to a 40% different ppm conversion from the exact same EC. it's a good thing to track but as far as nutrient concentration, don't read it too literally. This is what the 10% runoff helps reset. Religiously get 10% runoff or more and fertigate every irrigation. This is how soilless works. You will prvent buildup and each fertigation resets the balance of nutrients around the roots. It may technically rest a bit higher than your actual formula, but the key is that it doesn't continue to rise over time. try to measure at the end of runoff, but it'll always be a bit inaccurate. You are essentially flushing out the imbalance, so that runoff won't be representative of what persists in the pot. 2.1 EC is not low. If anything, i'd wager you have some hard water or are not religiously getting 10% runoff and that is causing the elevated level. Check out cocoforcannabis.com -- does not matter if you use coco. The information regarding how to handle a soilless grow is the same. If adhering to orthodox irrigation methods for soilless growing, it is a nothing-burger. You can always try irrigating at a slightly lower pH and see how that goes.. but if the plant goes from healthy to less than healthy but you get a more consistent reading, what is the goal here? so, be willing to reverse course or change your perception of what is necessary if it doesn't fit the reality playing out in front of you... top-down thinking leads to mistakes and wild goose chases. Going back to the limitations of using EC for tracing and controlling concentration levels... better to calculate weighted average percent of mass or ppm from the guaranteed analysis labels. This will precisely tell you what you are providing and allow you to tweak formula in very specific ways to react to leaf symptoms or whatever else. in a soilles grow with orthodox irrigation methods, the fix to any and all nutrient related issues seen in the plant is a tweak to your forumula. buildup should not be occuring. the balance of nutrients should remain consistent... all it takes is to stick to the 10% runoff or more and be willing to react to what you observe... review notes and tweak formula from start to avoid the problem altogether next time. Be systematic and before long fertilization isn't even a thought or concern. it is a simple expectation of healthy plants at all times.