Simple PH Question

[adlardo84]

Hey everyone, hoping you could help me out with a simple question. If I am growing in soil (Fox Farm Ocean Forest and 1/3 Perlite) I know that the pH of the plants should be around 6-6.5, only slightly acidic right? However, If the pH for any reason is higher or lower am I supposed to add anything to the soil. I guess what I am asking is if I should bother buying pH Up and pH down? Thanks.

[toastybiz]

You can get PH Up and PH Down in a pet/aquarium store, so as long as you could get to a place like that easily then no need to buy the adjustments now. Every now and then someone one here says they live 100 miles from the nearest store, in which case maybe getting something ahead of time is a good idea.

But first, get a pH meter to test, otherwise it's a moot point.

There are a variety of other methods for adjusting pH with items around the house or other things you can buy.

[GrowBot]

ph is very important to be able measure and adjust. to grow successfully you need to buy these things for your garden.

[stvitusdance]

adlardo i've got similar questions (and i hope this not considered stealing your thread):

- should i know my tap water PH? how? PH strips from the pet store?
- is it better to buy and use distilled water?
- should i watch PH using a PH soil meter and not worry about the waters PH?
- somebody said to check the PH of the runoff out the bottom of the pot - how?
- if using a soil PH meter what is ideal for MJ plants? what range is acceptable?

thanks!

[stvitusdance]

oh yeah and another question - is it better to treat the water with PH up or down or use some additive (like lime) to the soil to adjust PH? or do both?

[adlardo84]

haha no worries, i actually have those same exact questions dude

[toastybiz]

Test pH with a test meter, available at hydro stores and online mostly. You want a digital read-out. There are cheap ones in Home Depot and Lowes that are not very reliable. There are other methods such as test strips and such, but you will be testing frequently so better to invest in a meter.

Test the water not the soil. Actually, if you test the "soil" you are actually testing the water moisture in the soil, not the soil itself.

To adjust treat the water then use that to water your plants. Keep in mind that your runoff pH may not be the same as the water going in -- for example, if you water with 6.5 pH and the runoff is 7.7, you will need to lower the water pH to below 6.5 in order to bring the runoff pH down.

Ideal pH for MJ in a soil grow is in the 6.3-6.8 range, tending toward the lower end of that range in veg and the higher end in flower. In reality, anything in the 6.0-7.0 range is OK. Proper pH for a hydro grow is different.

[stvitusdance]

(sorry once again for jumping into this thread.)

hey thanks toasty for the info. that helps a lot.

do you use your local tap water and do you monitor and adjust its PH prior to using it on your plants?

[toastybiz]

I use filtered tap water, which in my area is pretty good. But no one can make a blanket statement that tap water is OK or not OK, the quality and pH of tap water varies widely from place to place. Filtering it first is always a good idea.

Also, if you use tap water dispense it into a container and leave to sit open for 24 hours before using to allow the chlorine to evaporate.