i have purple stems so i have to determine whether i need to lower or raise the ph what substances could i use to change the ph up or down. could i just make the water more basic or acidic or would i need to have something on the soil thanks
try both. rain water is naturally acidic and i know that the soil around here in new england, is generally acidic. i do landscapin for a dude with alot of land and flower beds. he does the ph for his lawns and he said its between 4.5-5.5. very acidic. i would try powdered limestone. not too much. a lil here and there. tap water i think is usually alkaline. depemds of its private well water or public i think.
look for your leaves to tell you about ph problems. how do they look? if they're not displaying problems then i wouldn't worry about it. purple stems might be a pheno of what you're growing.
I have been castigated before for saying this, but I NEVER measure pH, or add any pH adjusting chemicals - I am an outdoor only soil grower, so I can only talk about that. It just seems to correct itself. And last year my 4 girls gave me 72 ounces of dried/cured.
I agree, for outdoor at least, pH balancing is not entirely important. As long as you are not growing in a pine forest, dont worry too much about you pH.
even in a pine forrest just spread a lil lime and youll do okay. ive never paid much attention to PH either. but since i am growing in a pine forrest lol i used some granular lime. i wanted powered limestone but granunlar was all they had.