as for using baking soda and vinegar for ph up/down, does anyone use this or know if you use it alone or dilute it with water? if so how much parts should i mix and how much should i use? should i soak the soil with it or just moisten throughly until it is stable? also i was wondering if anyone knew where i could get a digital ph meter that works for soil grows? is the only way to measure the ph in soil with a digital meter is to check the run off water? if you flooded the pot to the point to where it runs out the bottom wouldn't that flush the nutes out of the soil leaving a inaccurate reading, for what actually remained in the soil? could you take like a layer of nuted soil and mix it with water to get a better accurate reading? can i even do this? thanks for any help...
Do NOT, repeat NOT use baking soda. It will certainly raise the pH, but a product of this reaction is salt - that will quickly kill your plant. Buy a proprietary pH up product. If you don´t have a grow shop a pet shop sells pH up for aquaria, that will work fine. Vinegar is OK for pH down.
hey thanks for the reply...do u know how much vinegar to mix with the water or do u even have to dilute it? also any thoughts on the digital ph meter question, anyone? thanks for any help...
You answered your Q on the Meter and when you water it should have run-off, that is how you know you have given it enough. Second, while viengar will lower your ph, only use it in a emergency, agan like spanish said get the right stuff, same place you got the PH-UP they have the PH-Down. Lastly, before you go adding/adjusting your ph, find out what it is first.
hey thanks for the replys...so should i also have run-off when feeding as well?thanks for any help...
yes, run-off is important in replacing the stale air in your grow medium and to insure that the whole root system is watered.
the reason that i haven't been watering/feeding until run-off, is becaz normally when i water i put my moisture meter in all the way and it says its wet, so i don't proceed to make it run-off, becaz of fear of overwatering? so should i go ahead and do it anyway? should i just let it dry completely then soak it until it runs off? thanks for the help...
also on the ph meter what should it be calibrated to? i know its either neutral,acid, or alkaline, but i'm not sure what i should do since its soil based? i don't know if my soil is more acid, or alkaline, so should i just use the neutral? i really don't understand the difference in the calibrating solutions so if anyone could help me out i would appreciate it? i am using distilled water if that helps any? thanks for any help...
Ok first a moisture meter is for testing to see if you need water not for testing to see if you have put in enough. I'm not sure what you mean by ph meter being calibrated. If your talking about getting it ready for use, you need ph calibration solution(7.01) If your talking about what your run-off and water/solution being added. Simple MJ is happy with 6.2 - 6.8PH, so try maintaining 6.5. When the run-off measures low or high then adjust your water to nuetralize it back to 6.5.
don't panic about ph in soil. Doesn't matter at all imo. Grown in soil for years without ever adding any ph stabiliser. Same with hydro - it's no way as critical as people make out. i'm away a lot & leave mj plants for days / weeks & they are thriving on the lack of attention. I set ph to 5.8 when i change out & then it's left until next change. Just to experiment, I've had plants as low as ph 3.2 & as high as 9.5 & they are all still budding well with not a single sign of nute burn ph stress, pest attack etc. Don't beleive the shite off people who probably haven't done shit before
Num, I very much agree with that. I bought a pH meter, used it a couple of times, the pH never seemed to change, the tap water I use is always the same pH, so I haven´t actually measured the pH for about 3 years. The plants don´t give a damn, they just keep on getting bigger each year. Much too much fuss is made of pH, as you say. I have only ever had one plant die on me, that was in my first year growing in Spain, I think the roots got too hot.