I started growing back in march but I have never been able to finish a grow due to the issue, which I happen to conclude, of the ph of the water I'm using to be all out of wack. That and me messing up with the mutes and all that but den when I went 1/4 strength on 4 week old plants they still croaked. So I'm finally going to invest into a digital ph meter so I can finally grow my own, for personal use of course. It's a recession, and good dank isn't getting any cheaper. Besides I always had a passion for growing. But enough of my ranting, what digital ph meter would you guys perfer? Thanks p.s if the meter solves my problem then I'll be sure to post a grow after I practice with some bagseed. I got some granddaddy purp seeds I got from a friend I want to grow. But I can't because w/o a meter i know for sure I'll kill them
Yes, invest in a pH meter. It mightn't be the pH level thats the problem. Can you explain how they died? What symptoms did the plants show before death? Something silly can kill a cannabis plant, like not shaking the nutrient bottle before making up the nutrient mix, or not letting the soil dry out before feeding, the list goes on.
I would also like to hear some good suggestions for a digital pH meter... Anyone have any experience with some good or bad products?
This is the one that I bought: Ecotester PH2 I have had no issues with it and no complaints yet. They also carry a PH/TDS for $10 more.
Blue lab makes a good meter and a good truncheon (stick) meter. Both come highly rated... I have a Hannah 9813-0 and have been fairly happy with it, but the probe has been giving me some problems. It's about a year old. You can get some good deals on Ebay if money is an issue. If you're growing in soil, it might not be pH problems......growing in hydro a ph/ppm meter is a must, but to be honest......I rarely use my pH meter on my organic soil grows. If you build a good soil with pH buffers added, you rarely need to adjust pH on your water. My well water is 7.4 pH, but when I measure the runoff, it's 6.3-6.4. Hopefully others will weigh in with ideas on their meters.......Hope I've been helpful to you... chunk
I just took a look at blue lab's website, very informative and very good looking products. Thanks for the recommendation +rep for what its worth...
Well for starters, I am growing in soil. And the way they ALL died was they all seemed to wither up and die. This was before I started using distilled water. Then I decided to make the switch to distilled water. After the switch I was getting results that was tremendously better than they were before but growth always seemed slow and stunted. After a while of using the distilled water, the plants started to tank like they were before. I figured the ph of the soil was messed up because of the distilled water that was sitting for many weeks. I'm thinking the ph slowly changed over time. Like I said before, I never went beyond 1/4 of the suggested strength of the fox farm nutes. The soil was also fresh FFOF. The space is properply ventilated although the heat of the summer did push room temps to high 80's at times. Honestly, if it's not the ph then I don't know what the hell it is. Can someone, anyone tell what may be wrong? P.s when I last tried to grow, all sprouted plants died within two days. Mind you that all I used was distilled water and that's it. The distilled water had been sitting for many weeks by this time and the soil was new so I can't possibly come up with any other reason. Please help!?! Help and advice much appreciated
Well, theres your problem. Giving the plant stale water is not good. Algae or anything could have been growing in it. Distilled water is water made from steam. Water is boiled, the steam then goes thru cooling pipes and condenses in another container/bottle. What is wrong with your tap water?
They seem to have no growth and die even faster. And I seen no sign of algae growth at all. The water never smelt weird either. So that's why I come back to my theory of the ph being the roots of all problems. A ph Imbalance is enough to kill plants pretty fast I'm assuming. I mean one day the sprouted plants were healthy, literally within 48 hours, those mo-fo's were dead. So I figure if I can give the plants ph adjusted water then I can finally finish a grow like I always wanted to. Unless the is a huge chance it may be something else.
Sorry to butt in. I'm less than a week into my first and I'm using distilled water. I can, but don't drink my tap water. Are you saying the tap would be better than the distilled?
I'm saying that if you can drink your tap water, then you can grow plants with it. Tap water also has minerals in it which are benificial to plants and humans. If you use distilled water, you will need to add these minerals or use soft water nutrients.
Look at what kind and availability of the batteries, I hate sourcing watch batteries. How much does the end cost to replace, I never dropped my Ecotestr but the glass probe broke, replacement was $20.00 less that a new complete unit, if I buy a 3rd one it won't be the Ecotstr. I'm partial to my next one being HM, local Co. to me. Any other suggestions ?
That's why I want the meter, so I can adjust the ph to be just about perfect. But I'm doing an experiment. I literally just out about 15 seeds to germ. I'm just gonna use my ffof with the tap water and see what happens. And I think I'm just gonna make my own soil mix after because I'll be out of soil after this. Not even enough to to transplant if they happen to survive. You said compost and perlite with dolomite lime will do just fine?
Yep, compost and perlite, i don't know about the lime if your tap water has a high pH level. As long as you let the soil dry out before feedings, i'm near certain that you'd be fine with the ffof/perlite/tap water and the right nutrient strength (pH adjusted would be a bonus), try and find a brand of nutrients that has a pH buffer added.
I already have the fox farm line up of nutes. So Im gonna have to stick with that for now. But do you happen to know any nute brands that do come ph buffer that you perfer? I'll search now I guess. But I guess my plan of action can be for me to get the meter then make my own soil. After that I should be good! Right?lol