If you want an alternative that won't cause trouble, you can try silica, i have heard that it raises ph and its also good for the plants plant cells.
If you really want to lower your PH then you just raise it through iron sulphate which easily claims to raise PH and also beneficial for plants as well. Comparatively it is nice idea rather then using sulphur.
OK i think I just fucked up my babies buy adding lime!!!! what can i do to get my PH at 6.5 or 6.0 I thought lime was the answer but I guess not grrrrrr!!! I need help ASAP plz
Why do you think lime did this? Did they start to get nute burn? Did you try flushing? If the lime is mixed in with your soil (?) can you gently tug them out and put them in fresh soil?
OMG.....I think that's too much filler for most the newbs on here. What's important is knowing what ph is, what is the ideal ph and how to control it. It's called KISS, keep it simple stoner. Ph is important because various nutes are absorbed at different ph levels. An ideal ph for hydro applications is 5.6 to 5.8. For soil your ideal ph is 6.0 to 6.5. Now when adjusting ph use as little as possible. The most common ph up and down are Potassium hydroxide which if you pay attention is K -potassium and phosphoric acid which is you guessed it P-phosphorous. If you use to much of either(usually ph up most nutes are acidic) you are adding extra nutes to your reservoir and this in turn can cause a mess of lockout problems as a result of a imbalanced nute ratio. The good news is chelation of the nutes, humic and fulvic acids , aminos and beneficials will all help break down the nutes so they are readily avaliable for roots to take up. Still try and keep your ph between 5.5 and 6.5 at the very least. All the above is unnecessary unless your looking to do book work on ph. Were just trying to grow quality product here right! Yes your mediums ph is important but that just takes knowing your medium. Hydroton rocks are neutral, Rockwool is acidic , coco coir(the best lol) is usually 5.5 to 6.5 perfect yea buddy. Soil can range but 6.0 to 7.0 are the most common. Thats most the most common mediums but theres many more. I use coco and hydroton rocks instead of perilite. I like canna because they're chelated plus have humic and fulvic acids.
amazing thread. and i thought i knew my stuff. *knowledge payload DROPPED* thanks for posting this, very good info here
Can I use my pool PH tester for now until I have the funds to order a descent Hanna tester? Would it be alright? Or can anybody recommend a digital meter thats reasonably priced that I dont have to purchase 2 different buffers as well for 20 bucks a piece?!?!? I just am curious about my levels but it looks like Im gonna be spending over $100 for a good meter. HELP!
any meter will do it.. i have a 10 $ meter and works perfect also ppm 10$ will make it its important IF u are using bottle if ur organics u dont need it.
Should I be using a soil ph meter also along with my liquid ph meter?I am using 30% fox farm ocean soil and 70% pro mix.all fox farm nutes. I was told that once I correct the ph in my feed that I should ph the soil too.They said that if I feed with correct ph and I don't ph the soil it will throw the ph of the feed off.i have never checked the ph of the soil my whole time growing and never ran into problems.Any info would b greatly appreciated.thanks
You PH test the water and or nute mix run off with your PH meter for liquids. There are cheap soil PH meters but their not known for accuracy. They will give you a general idea of the soil`s PH but can still be off just enough to where you have problems. Then there are some really accurate soil PH testers but those are hundreds of dollars upto well over a thousand.
you mean the average of the original solution after its been changed by the soil right? ie high Ph water goes through low Ph soil and comes out average Ph
Thanks so much for letting me know that. I would think if your feeding neutral then after a few feedings it should start coming out neutral.Right?