hello all! so ive had my plants for 2 weeks now and i just went away for a day or two and watered my plants before i left with more fert. i got back from my trip (only 2 days...). now the new growth is yellow and 2 of my plants have red/brown spots leafs curling up w/ slight yellow farther up the leaf. so i tested the ph with my new meter and it read 8? I dont know why because my water i use is 6. so i go ahead and flush them in the bathtub. next days seem to get a little worst so i filled a water bottle with water with a ph of 6.5 and then squirted evenly to all plants... next day seems a little worst exept the new growth is seeming to be greener so i whip the ph meter out...now it says 5? i think im fucking it up worse because of my "new" ph meter what do you guys think? Plants are super silver haze and cyber cristal in a sunhut 400w mh air cooled earth worm casting and perlite use pure blend pro grow. ahh what can i say? im still learning lol, have to make mistakes to learn stuff. Cyber Cristal super silver haze
What kind of Ph meter do you have and have you calibrated it? Also do you have soft water or hard water? I let my tap water sit out for a day to evaporate the chlorine. Also what are your temps at canopy level?
i got a rapitest digi ph no calibration. i use britta water so my hardness is none and i have a thermometer sitting across 2 pots reading 76
Well that probably explains your PH problems right there. Most soil PH testers are not known for accurate readings, some may give you a general idea but thats about it. When I first started I tried using a Rapidtest soil PH tester- non digital one and it rarely ever moved off of 6.8 and when I PH tested the water run off with a better digital PH meter thats made for liquids it was actualy over 7.2. I learned from personal experience and lots of reading that you really do get what you pay for when it comes to PH meters. A good and accurate soil PH meter is out of the price range of most of us growers here. The soil PH meters my nephews used in thier agriculture classes were over $400.00 so thats why most of us use a good digital liquid one and those range anywhere from $30 on up but they also require some calibration solution and some bottles of PH Up & Down. The two top reccomended brands are Hanna and Bluelab, Milwauke also has some good digital PH meters. Water temp can also affect the PH of the water or nute mix so getting a digital meter that compensates for water temp is a plus.
ya i do need a new meter i know this now lol :/ so what should i do with my pants? and why is my ph high? is it because i watered with nutes twice in a row? i was just following recommendations on the bottle lol.
Till you get a better tester you can pick up a cheap aquarium PH dropper solution test kit and some cotton balls. Water your plants at 6.5 then collect some run off and filter out the disclored run off through a cotton ball and test that to see what your run off PH is. No nutes till you find out what your PH really is, back to back nute feedings can cause nute burn. Nute mixes also tend to actualy lower the Ph of the water mix going in but its the Ph of the run off thats important to know. Flushing the plants usualy takes about 3x the amount of water for the pot size only needing to PH the last gallon or so depending on pot size.
Thanks man \Im just gunna use water with a ph of 6.5 (I have aquarium ph papers so perfect) so technically no matter the problem you should prob discontinue nutes and water with clean water with a ph of 6.5 correct? cause that's what ive gathered so far in my research.
Like mentioned water with a PH of 6.5 then test the water run off. After you get your run off PH reading adjust the PH of your next watering cycle but dont try to adjust it to much anything more then half a point swing in PH can stress the plant even more. When the soil PH is off you dont want to try and adjust it to fast but it also takes time to get the soils PH in a good range of 6.2-6.8 when its off. Just dont over water by watering to frequently, when trying to adjust the soils Ph that can happen if you try to do it to fast and also dont flush the soil to often. Water till you have about 20% water run off then test for each watering day and no nutes for now. This is when a digital PH meter really makes a difference.
Alright, now it's done and the results are 5.5-6 for run off. Testing it as directed by you. but im pretty sure the ph was higher than this because i flushed it already and added ph down.
well after doing some research, ive come to the conclusion that i have foliar spots. correct me if im wrong. the problem? foliar feeding with the light to close or because the inline fan shuts off when the light does so the humidity must rises (will check the humidity tonight w/ fan off and fan on) Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor ... - Google Books page 384
