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Inconsistent pH readings has me going crazy. Can a more experienced grower help me out?

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Outdoors' started by Nicky James, Jun 27, 2018.

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  1. #1 Nicky James, Jun 27, 2018
    So this is my first grow and I've been learning a lot as I go about the delicate dance of pH balance. And I'm having a little trouble understanding why my pH levels are so wildly different between what I am feeding the plants, the pH of the soil, and the pH of the runoff. When I tested the soil Read 7 .0 with a manual testing kit. When I fed my plants water with nutrients this morning the pH of that water after adding the nutrients was around 6.0 for all plants. So we have a soil pH of approximately 7 and a food pH of approximately 6.

    Both plants are in 15 gallon fabric pots on my balcony and are approximately 2 feet tall each. A girl scout cookie and a night nurse in roots organic soil. they each get 2 gal of nutrient water on a 221 feeding schedule which is just nutrients on the first and second day and a clean water flush on the 3rd.

    Today is day two of the 221 feeding and I was testing the pH of the runoff from underneath the pot of the Girl Scout cookie and for some reason the pH was way low at about 4.8 or 4.9.

    So I guess I'm just confused. Is this normal to have such varying pH readings between the soil, what you're feeding the plants, and the runoff? Also, is there an ideal pH level for runoff? And if my runoff pH is too low how would I increase the pH of the runoff without damaging or burning the plant? Does it even matter what the soil runoff pH is? As you can see I'm pretty new to this and a little confused. I apologize that this is a bit rambling

    Extra credit question. You'll notice one of the pictures is of a leaf that got quite a few black spots on it suddenly overnight. What's the deal with that?

    TL;DR soil pH is 7.0, nutrient water pH is 6.0, and runoff pH is 4.8. Why is this happening? Is it bad? Should I be concerned? And if so what actions can I take? Thank you all so much for taking the time I really appreciate all the help you've given me so far this year!
     

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  2. #2 atram0rs, Jun 28, 2018
    i’m not the experienced grower your looking for, but how old is the meter and when is the last time you calibrated it?
     
  3. #3 Soil2Coco, Jun 28, 2018
    How are you getting the soil ph?
     
  4. #4 Papa Puff, Jun 28, 2018
    ok ur water should always be the same. so when I go to ph or feed my water I don't use a meter anymore because I know my water is always 7.2. so I know its a few drops of down. so when I feed n and organics. veg feeding my water stays the same so a few drops of down. bloom mix ur ph goes down so I know I need a certain amount of drops of ph up. ur plants look good and if u are in soil u can buy a $20 soil meter on amazon to double check ur soils ph. so my point is ur water wont change. if u have been feeding and watering u should know by now. also u can check ur water each time by itself! if water is off meter is off. all ways to check
     
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  5. #5 Nicky James, Jun 28, 2018
    I'm using a manual tester rather than a digital. Rapitest is the name brand.
     
  6. #6 Nicky James, Jun 28, 2018
    Using a rapitest soil ph tester. Not a digital meter.
     
  7. #7 old shol4evr, Jun 28, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2021
    i
    delete
     
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  8. #8 michganman, Jun 28, 2018
    My suggestion: stop chasing your tail and throw out ph meters and all that fancy stuff after this grow. Build a good organic soil and just let it go. I think you will be a lot happier and have less stress if you just top dress with some dolomite lime, a good organic dry fertilizer and water it in. Keep top dressing with kelp meal and earthworm castings throughout the rest of the grow and you'll be good. If it starts to turn lighter green top dress some more dry organic fertilizer. I like dr earth, it's good stuff. It doesnt look too bad right now at all.
     
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