Evil Acidity

Discussion in 'Sick Plants and Problems' started by CreamofMushroom, Jun 12, 2007.

  1. I was looking at my plants a couple days ago and saw that their leaves were curled up. As the nute levels, light, humid, and temps are perfect, I suspected a PH imbalance. Since i made a soilless mix of 1/3 peat vermiculite and perlite, i suspected the medium was acidic.

    Soooo... I went to the hydro store today and bought some lime and a ph test kit. I just went to test my run off... and do you know what it was? 4! 4! way waaaay too low. I have tons of lime, how much should i add!? how should i do it? HELP PLZ!?!?:(
     
  2. the lime is to be added in the soil before you begin, it acts as a buffer

    if you mix lime and water and apply to the plant you can bring down the PH but this is too slow, you need immediate ph correction

    optimum range 6.0-6.5 PH, you need to flush your plant.
    Flush with PH corrected water, till in optimum PH range, 3 times the volume of the pots rule of thumb but may require more
    EG: 1 gal pot = 3 gal. flush

    if you dont have ph down or up to correct your water for the flush, for emergency use you can use vinegar and baking soda
     
  3. I flushed all four plants until i got the ph to 6.5. They're all looking a LOT more robust. I left the ph in one of them at 6.0-6.3ish and it seems too be recovering a little slower. Should i feed them with lime saturated water for a bit?
     
  4. not yet ....wait till the soil begins to dry out & do another soil run off test to be certain its under control, compacted acidic root balls can create re-occurring PH issues if not completely flushed. adding lime at this moment may fool you into a false sense of security

    you can take a a couple teaspoons and stir it in the top layer of soil , however I personally would be more concerned with PH correcting my water and ferts if I were you, wild PH swings can lockout nutes real easy

    ferts are acidic
     
  5. I think this must be my problem....I must have a compacted rootball too?? can you click on my grow and let me know what you think?
     
  6. alright, thanks for your help ganja
     
  7. Ganja, do you recommend adding lime to soil mix from the start and if so how much per gallon of soil?
     
  8. 1 teaspoon per gallon of soil:D
     
  9. I went to check on my babies this morning and to my horror all were wilted. Some of their leaves are still curled up a bit. I went to check the run off again and the PH is perfect. Are they just shocked from the flush or is something else wrong. Help please! :confused:
     
  10. I checked back on couple of your posts to see that you have been experiencing this curling for a little while now.

    your grow details say perfect: I thinks time for us to judge that ..post em
     
  11. My temps are usually steady at 77 (sometimes a bit lower) with my air conditioner on. This is a stealth grow so I cant keep it on when im away from home. When its off the temps can climb up to 85.

    We've had a week or so of wet weather here so the humidity has been pretty steady at 55. When I first started the grow it was approx 30-40.

    For the furts i added 2.6ml(.5tsp) of flora micro grow and bloom and 1 tbs of floralitious diluted in 2 L of water(.5L per plant). I added this after the flush.

    Your help is greatly appreciated.

    BTW the medium was still very damp from yesterday, could lack of O2 at the roots be the problem?
     
  12. not this fast

    they are still reacting from your 4.0 acid Ph is my guess

    and did you PH correct your ferts after the flush, or you putting the plant thru wild PH swings of 4.0 to 6.5 then acidic ferts again

    you cant post pics?
     
  13. ill get some pics in a sec. what should i get to correct my ferts... yes... i did correct the ph then toss in acidic ferts... but i checked the run off and the ph was still fine :(
     
  14. here are the pics. unrelated, should i keep my ventilation on when the lights are off?
     

    Attached Files:

  15. they are showing signs of overwatering and nitrogen lockout from your PH issues, let them dryout, a couple days ........the nutes you added should green them up withing 48hrs

    post more pics in a couple days
     
  16. Alright, thats kind of a relieve. I just got back from the hydro store with some PH up, no damp, and B1. would i be worth a quick watering with the no damp solution right now or should i just let the plants dry out. I think its some sort of alcohol solution. Thanks again.
     
  17. it doesnt need no damp, that gennerally occurs when they are in seedling stage,
    it should improve within a couple days

    if not I suggest you try this , I recommend this fertilizer regardless
    Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food (they make several fertilizers be sure its this one)
    http://www.miraclegro.com/index.cfm...t/documentId/637153cfaa6b1ff545c0236933b0a7a4
    Fertilizer Analysis: 24-8-16 with micronutrients
    2 level "Teaspoons" per gallon of water, (reduce this by 50% first time application) feed every other watering till flowering
     
  18. thanks ganja i think im going to stick to flora for now since ive spend so much god damn money on it. if im still having N problems ill take your advice though. next grow for sure.
     
  19. spend a lousy $8 more for the MG ferts and feed 1 plant with MG ferts, the other your ferts .... test the 2 :D I'm sure you will switch preferences after 2 weeks

    ferts are like fishing luers, they are designed to catch your $ ....& this is not to say they wont work but the lowly hook & worm is better
     
  20. hmm good idea actually, id be interested in knowing if the flora ferts are any better than MG. I can use MG on one plant and see how it does. Can i still use the floralitious supplement from the flora series with MG. And if i switch to MG should i use the flora for flower or would it be worth it to get a MG flower fert.
     

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