PH Management

TL;DR 
Proper pH management prevents nutrient lockout and root damage. Maintain the correct pH range to ensure your plants can absorb essential nutrients efficiently and grow healthy, vibrant, and strong.

New to hydroponics? Read our Hydroponics Explained guide to understand how pH, nutrients, and root-zone conditions work together in indoor growing systems.

Balance Is Everything

The secret to healthy plants lies in keeping your pH balanced.
If the pH is too high or too low, your plants can’t absorb the nutrients they need — no matter how much you feed them. This imbalance leads to nutrient lockout, where essential elements remain trapped in the growing medium and unavailable to the roots.

When pH levels drift out of range, you may notice slow growth, discoloured leaves, or weakened plants. Proper pH management ensures every drop of feed works efficiently, keeping your garden balanced, vigorous, and productive.

Avoid Common Feeding Problems

• Over-fertilising: Excess nutrient strength can damage roots and disrupt uptake

• Under-fertilising: Insufficient nutrients lead to weak growth and deficiencies

• Nutrient lockout: Incorrect pH prevents absorption even when feeding levels are correct

Maintaining the ideal pH range (usually 5.8–6.5 for hydroponics and 6.0–7.0 for soil) ensures that your plants can absorb nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and trace minerals effectively.