I had one of those cheap ass pH meters (the prong ones) but its not accurate more than half of the time so i tossed it. Now I have a pH tester kit. They kind where you collect a water sample and put drops of solution in it till it changes colors to indicate what pH it is.. I bought it because I think I may be having a pH problem in my grow (soil). I was wondering a few things 1) should i be checking my water BEFORE i water or the RUNOFF or both? 2) what should my water that i intend on giving to my plants be? 6.3? 3) if i water my plants with the correct pH will my problems be fixed? in one day? over the span of a week? etc? any and all help appreciated. ty ps. to raise/lower pH i'll be using pH up & (or) down if that helps.
check both, soil may need amendments to correct natural ph imbalance. 6.3 is a good spot for h20 watering with correct ph may solve problems, if your soil isn't off on its ph and needs adjusting by mixing in amendments. (lime, etc.. depends on ph) you should see improvement in a few days or so, but any major damage is already done, new growth will be looking good.
im pretty sure my soil is ok. Im using ocean forest & perlite. im getting ready to go to flower soon (my plants are all at least 1ft tall) the damage thus far has been minimal but they don't look extremely happy so i wanna check to be sure. so you're saying watering with 6.3 pH doesnt always solve the problem? also (im not feeding so dont worry but for future reference) should the pH be checked/adjusted BEFORE adding nutes to the water or AFTER? fyi im using the ocean forest and the ff nutes (bio bloom, tiger bloom, and grow big).
i was having the same prob at first.. what i found to help was when watering to raise PH depending on how low urs is.. i water with PH water about 8.0 thats when my soil runoff gets about 5.3 it seems to raise it back in the 6.5 zone(safe zone for soil) i usually run about 9 gallons though my 3 gal pot to fix the PH probs. im using ocean forest and ive noticed that is does run on the low side of things so PH up is recommended. another tip is when u first put dirt in the pot (no plants yet) run massive amounts of water though and check runoff... this helps me with 2 things.. it shows me if i need to improve with drainage.. and also i can fix any PH problems b4 i put life in there.. i was always told to plant in wet dirt anyways so its not an unnessary step for me. also yes u always wanna check the PH after adding nutes.. i use fox farm line up and i found they do lower the PH. always always check the PH of the water after u add anything.. its better to catch the PH problems b4 u put it in your pot so u can prevent from having to fix PH probs and stress the plants. im no expert by all means but i just wanted to share my experiences with you and hope it helps..
thanks for the reply. i had to ask as i wasnt sure if it was safe to mix ph up or down with water that already has nutes in it (wasnt sure if there was some type of chemical reaction or something). Im not sure if mine is too low or too high. historically i almost never have pH problems but when i have in the past its usually too high (even w/ ff soil and nutes). Usually im lucky enough to just let my tap water sit out 48hrs and water (or add nutes and water). some strains can be picky though. whats shocking is my strawberry cough (arguably the most nute sensitive strain im growing) is the healthiest. funny isnt it. You do what ive done in the past...raise or lower the pH of the water i intend to water w/ higher or lower than i need then water. in the past if my pH was too high i'd pH the feeding water down to 5.0 and check the run off. and repeat. i wasn't sure if that was the proper way to do it or just pH to what you want the soil pH to be. is there a difference? for example say my ph is 7.5 would it be better to pH the tap water down to 5.0 then water and check runoff. OR would it better to just pH to say 6.5 or 6.3 and water with that and the problem will slowly fix itself by using water with the correct pH?
what i would do in that case would be the 6.0 and go from there.. if no difference then go to 5.5 also give in a day in between flushing with high/lower PH water to make sure the water isnt sittin in the bottom of the pot.. u dont want root rot or mold either... would be best if u had a 5 gallon bucket to let it drain into so u can get an idea of how much has drained... example mark on the 5 gallon bucket where a gallon would be and when it drains if u get a gallon of water back then u know its draining right.. theres no guessing. like i said b4 by all means im no expert.. im on my first grow as it is but ive spent months and months reading and learning all i could b4 attempting to grow. im sharing what has worked for me and others who have posted. usually when u flush u want to use 3 times the amount of water then your pot is.. IE if u have a 3 gallon pot u should use 9 gallons to flush.. give it a day then if not much better repeat. your not a pain in the ass lol ur just new to growing.. no question is a dumb question.. its all apart of the learning process.. what would be dumb is not asking anything and letting your babies die due to lack of knowledge.. hope this helps... if u need anything else let me know.. if i dont know the answer i could help research it with u...
thanks for the reply/tip. im gonna try it. and im not too new to growing (im not sure what number grow im on but its my 4th year of growing) im just usually lucky w/ pH in the sense that i rarely have to check it as everything is running smoothly. Im assuming my pH is off as it doesnt look like any type of nute deficiency or nute burn and its not that the plants look too bad...they just dont appear to be as perky and "reaching for the light" as usual. you know what i mean when the top fan leaves look like they are a set of hands praying.
also. would it be ok to check and put Ph up or down directly (by testing/using pH up/down) in my actual gallon of water i intend on feeding the plant? thats what ive done in the past but not sure its the "correct" way.
yeah thats what i usually do.. its safe to mix in same jug.. just do it one at a time.. dont mix the nutes and PH fluid togather.. but pouring it one at a time in same jug is ok.. i was always told never to mix the chemicals unless its in water. even with nutes.. always mix in a jug of water.. its ok to mix nutes as long as its with water and not just mixing them in a seperate container togather then dumping it in water.. some chemicals cant be mixed unless diluted first
lol that was my last grow where i had a fam emergency come up and couldnt finish the journal. thanks for checking it out tho
lol no problem.. glad i can help more then one person... if u have any questions feel free to ask.. i wont tell u something that i havent had experience with.. if i dont know the answer i can help find someone who does.. im not the type that will pretend to know what she is talking about just to look cool lol alot on here will but im not the type.. its all a learning experience and i love to learn!
well thanks for the kind words.. if ya like me that much u can rep me lol im just being me.. im a simple gal who likes to learn and help others..
I played with my pH tonight. first things first i checked the pH in my tap water. not so good. 7! which is more than likely means I was right and my ph is probably off/high. then i began to adjust my water (its been sitting out for a few days already) i attempted to pH every gallon to around 6.0-6.5 Since i just watered recently I decided not to check my runoff and instead wait till my next watering.
also im gonna let them veg for 2 more weeks before 12/12. Good for me my plants are more than mature enough to flower already as in the nodes are alternating now and i see preflowers. Ive also had the pleasure of topping some (half) of my plants twice! So it should be a good flower stage once i adjust the pH back down.
i just topped a few of my plants as well and lst'd one.. my first lst hope it turns out good.. was my strongest plants so it should be all good..lol.. hope things are good for you and your ladies... keep me posted.
thanks a lot. I will. Turns out tomorrow is watering day actually its feeding day. So i intend to add food to my water then pH it down to around 6.0 maybe 6.5 or a middle ground (hard to tell sometimes with the dropper method) Ill let you know how that goes. I found with LST it goes best if you start them early. I find if you wait too long it takes longer to get the plant how you want it. do you have pics?