Ok so I have a ph tester, all my buffer solutions, PH down and even know how to calibrate . What I need to know is when I make up My water with my ferts and ph balance it do I have to take into consideration what the current ph of the soil is or do I just make all of my feed up at 5.5 - 6.0. Hope this makes sense not sure if I need to make a solution with a lower ph to counteract the high ph of the soil. So for example If the ph of the soil is 7.0 and I wanted to achieve a ph level of 5.0 would I make up a solution that was 3.0 or would I just make a solution at ph 5.0 and water with that? Any help would be very much appreciated! Thanks GC
this is where a lot of folks and i have problems. first, you should "never" chase ph! what that means, is that you don't constantly check your medium ph, and try to adjust your water/feed to try and get everything just right by watering/feeding at a higher/lower ph to get the medium to give you the numbers you're looking for. if you properly ph "everything" that goes in/on the plants, ph should never be an issue! always allow for a good 10% run-off when you water/feed to wash out any built up nutes. this is what i did in soil. now that i'm in coco, i allow for a good 15% run-off.
Take a tip from farmers and gardeners. Get your soil pH right first and then don't worry about pH. I add dolomite lime to my mix when I make it. It keeps the mix buffered and in the 6.5-6.8 range and I don't pH anything. Not water, or nutes, or whatever. Why complicate something as simple as getting your soil right? My pH meter has not been out of the box in over 6 months. Well, yes it has. I had to add more solution to keep the probe from drying out, but it hasn't been used. Wet
Ive never had a issue with my grows and all I do is PH Balance the water. Ive never tested the run off and never had a issue. You gotta think this stuff grows in mass all over the world outside and thrives. I bet on my plants being durable organisms and usually am right at least in my grows.
I fed my girls with only 6.5 water but around flower time the buffer just seemed to disappear. Now I am "chasing it" like GrowBot said. I am guessing my mix did not have enough lime (dolomite is def in the mix tho)? Do you guys think we can add the lime even as late as the beginning of flower to the soil mix, doing our best not to cause root damage, to attain better PH stability?
I've never messed with the PH of my soil...as said if you have a good base there's no need to F with it.
you really should never have to worry about the ph of your medium. first, only respond to an issue if the plants let you know there is one. in soil, the medium ph is constantly changing. as you feed/water, the numbers will without a doubt change. don't even worry about medium ph until your plants tell you to. again, some have a problem with this logic, but it works for me.......
I actually had a ph problem when i tried to mix my own medium. Anything peat based is gonna drop in ph after a week or so if you dont add the lime. I mixed up a nice soiless mix but didnt put and lime in and before i knew it my leaves were turning all rusty and shit. I washed out the roots as much as i could and put them in some Fox Farms Ocean Forest Organic soil mix. But im still adding some lime as Ive had some ph fluctuation with this after a month or so vegging. I always check the ph of my water and feed mix but its always around 6.5 out the tap and using the A.N. line it claims "PH Perfect"
coco needs to be watered everyday if not on a drip or some kinda feeding system. Also i believe coco has an issue with calcium or magnesium getting locked up very easy.
Yes you can add the lime. Top dressing will work. Most times not enough lime is added to mixes that have it. What is added to FFOF for instance, seems to run out at ~6 weeks or so, usually right in flower. Wet
what amount of lime do you suggest to add to FFOF to keep the ph correct throughout flowering? That happens to be the medium I am using and i just picked up some dolomite lime. I am doing a SOG perpetual and going from rockwool to FFOF directly into flowering.
*I* use 2tbl/gallon of mix, or 1cup/cf of mix. It's kinda hard to over apply lime (though you can), but easy to under apply it. I'd add it to the mix and then moisten it a few days before transplant. I'm doing similar, but veg a week or 2 before flipping to 12/12. Wet
if you don't use coco specific nutes, then you need to give the plants some epsom salt once a week. one tea spoon per gallon.
How much lime should I add to 75% pro mix and 25% perlite in 5 gal buckets. I've had minor problems with ph but I believe lime will change all that