Ph levels? Some one please explain to me again whats more important..... Water run off or soil ph. My soil test is 7.5 run off is 5.8 Now what, do I raise it or lower it? Im so confused
To test runoff, first get pure water & test its pH. Water thoroughly and wait at least an hour. Then, press on the soil to squeeze some water out the bottom. Collect this runoff & test. How are you testing?
Run off is the most accurate, I believe. I'd flush heavily with water at 6.8-7.0 and reduce the amount of nutrient water you are feeding for a while. Good luck!
So are you guys saying not to worry about the soil? I have now lost a plant need to figure this out. Soil is high ph 7.7, run off low 5.8 so all I need is to raise my run off?
I have never used a PH meter in 20+ years of growing in soil. Almost any liquid fertilizer you use is going to be acidic, they do this to maintain solubility of the nutrients. I am not sure how you are testing your soil PH. Distilled water has a neutral PH of 7. I use tap water that has been allowed to sit in a 5 gallon bucket for a minimum of 24 hours, you gas off any chlorine. I have watered with tap water that is straight from the tap with no ill effects, but I still like the idea of removing the chlorine. My tap water, like most tap water is slightly acidic at around 6.4 adding my nutrients drops the PH level down i am sure. So what is my secret? FINE, powdered dolomite lime. Its is a slow released, PH neutral soil stabalizer. No matter what you water with, be it high PH or low PH the lime will always seek to correct the soil to a PH of 7. In my case my water is always trying to lower my PH since it is acidic. The lime is constantly canceling out the effect of the acidic water and leaves me with a SOIL PH of somewhere around 6.8 - 6.5. Unless your water is really hard (really high PH or alkaline) dolomite lime will work to stabalize your PH really well. Even if your water is really high PH the lime will still seek to stabalize your PH to somewhere around 7. A PH of 6.8 id perfect for cannabis. I use way more lime per gallon than most people on the boards recomend. I add about 1/2 a cup per gallon of soil. Its slow releasing so you should never have to add more. It's also a great source of Magnezuim and calcium.
If they were my plants I would repot them in a mixture of 50% coco peat, 40% organic potting soil (I really like FF ocean forest) 5% course sand and 5% perlite. Again add 1/2 cup FINE dolomite lime per gallon of pot size. It's important that you use fine, powdered dolomite and not peletized lime. Make sure you mix the medium really well the re-pot the plants in a new pot that is bigger than the one you are taking them from. I usually double my pot size when I repot. Get as much of the old soil off the root ball without damaging the roots. Give them just plain water for a week or so then start feeding them with half strength nutes. I am a cronic UNDER-feeder. I like to let my plants tell me when they need nutes rather than have them tell me I gave them to much.