I think I'm dumb. The more I try to learn this oh thing the more...oh well anyways So my runoff is 5.2 using tap at 6.8 3 gal pot Ff ocean So I used a few gallons of 6.8 tap and flushed it as too raise the ph of the soil or so I think lol It won't get higher than 5.4. Is this not how you get ur soil in the correct ph range to allow nutrient uptake ? Or am I supposed to ph my water like 7.5 before I do this next time and my soil ph go up ? Or Do I always give it 6.8 water no matter what? Gah!!!! Help my confusion guys I love u all !
FFOF is acidic which works out well fore me because my tap water has a Higher PH. You measure the PH of your soil combined with your water which is what runoff is.
My runoff was the same for a while with ph7 tap water. I just added some limestone to raise it cuz my plant wasnt growing so well. If your plant is doing good i wouldnt stress it.
If you're using FFOF soil, adjust your feed water to a pH of 5.8. The soil has certain pH buffers like dolomite lime, to help keep the pH perfect.
So If i understand correctly...he's using feedwater with a ph of 6.8 and can't get his runoff above 5.4 and your suggesting that if he uses feedwater with a lower ph of 5.8 his ph will go above 5.4? How does that work? I'm not trying to be a smartass...I'm genuinely confused.
Are your plants showing any signs of anything being wrong. You might consider that your ph meter might be incorrect, it's possible that it might be calabrated to ph 7 but drop it in a 4.0 liquid and it might read something total wrong.(thats unlikely btw but it does happen) maybe if plants are not showing signs of a ph imbalance you might just watch em carefully for any problems and if you need to... Aeyjay's suggestion to add limestone seems like a good idea. btw...I'm full of bull hinky so I wouldn't put too much faith in anything I say.
Thanks unix I was just going to ask the same thing. Do u all recommend I adjust the feed water to like 7.5 or so ? How do I get my runoff in the correct range ? Or does my runoff not have to be ?
to raise your ph in your soil you have to water with a higher ph water till you get the right run off you are looking for For soil an optimum root zone pH is between 6.0 and 7.0, with the most time spent with a pH between 6.2 - 7.0. You can assume that the pH of the water that runs out the bottom of your plant is about halfway between the pH of the water you put in and of the pH of the root zone. So for example, if you water your plants with water that has been pH'ed to 6.0, and the water that comes out the bottom has a pH of 6.5, you can assume the pH of your root zone must be around 7.0, because the water that came out was 6.5, which is halfway between 6.0 and 7.0. When trying to adjust the pH of your root zone, make sure to do all changes slowly. It is actually worse for your plant to have the pH change drastically than it is for the plant to have roots in the wrong pH.
If you're using FFOF and having a run off like that, I would question what else you're doing (or not doing). In all my experience using that soil, never once had a problem with run off. Using a root system cleaner helps a lot with the clearing of extra nutrients and salt deposits in the soil, which can unbalance your soil pretty quickly. If your soil is that out of wack now, obviously adjust your pH to correct the soil since its too late to keep a lower pH feed.
[quote name="growkings" post="19099175" timestamp="1386162407"]... When trying to adjust the pH of your root zone, make sure to do all changes slowly. It is actually worse for your plant to have the pH change drastically than it is for the plant to have roots in the wrong pH.[/quote]Im glad i checked back in, i did not know that. My first plant the lime raised the pH nearly a whole number almost instantly, maybe that is why it hasnt fully recovered yet. Thanks.