Got a Little Question

[Shonuff504]

I got a question for whoever is listening... I gave my plants some baking soda trying to raise the ph of the water and i also used tap water. Based on what you said above i'm guessing the baking soda raised the Calcium level in my medium, causing my plant to be MG Def. I gave them Epsom salt today thinking that it was just Mg def. My question for you is was this the right thing to do. Or should i just have flushed them. Well let me know. I'm about to go smoke a blunt and wait for an answer

 

[Seamaiden]

Wait.. how did you use the sodium bicarbonate? You've also added more sodium (chemical salts) with the Epsoms. What was the base pH of the source water?

 

[Budsworth]

WHY NOT GET THE PROPER ph UP AND DOWN??? YOU WORK HARD AT GROWING. ITS
NOT THAT EXSPENSIVE.

 

[Seamaiden]

Baking soda is FINE for bringing pH down, calm down. Problem may lie in how it was used.

 

[Shonuff504]

I was going off of some information i got off a thread. The information is listed below:

"Because of the tapwater,
you already have too much Calcium in your nutrient solution,
and when you use baking soda,
you are just increasing the Ca content of your nutrient solution
to a level that is unhealthy for your plants.

This is a problem.

Ca and Mg(magnesium) are molecules that will bond.

If you have too much Ca it will "lock out" the Mg,
and your plant will become Mg deficient."

All 4 of my Plants showed signs of MG Def about a day after i gave them the tap water mixed with the baking soda and also some Tiger bloom nutes (I forgot to mention the nutes before Oops). But anyways, my guess is that the calcium shit happend and now my plants are mg def. So my question is do i fix it by giving it epsom salt or flushing.

 

[Shonuff504]

Wait.. how did you use the sodium bicarbonate? You've also added more sodium (chemical salts) with the Epsoms. What was the base pH of the source water?

The Base ph of the water was 7.2 after i added the tiger bloom nutes it was at 6.4 I added baking soda until it was back at 7.2. I tested the run off from the soil and the ph was at 6.8

I didn't give the plants epsom salt until they started showing signs of mg def.

 

[Seamaiden]

I honestly would have left the pH under 7. In any event, it sounds like you have the problem nailed down at this point. I would go ahead and give some Epsom salts, but I would not mess with the pH again. Watch, and be ready to flush if it burns. I hope this helps.

 

[NewGrowth]

Wait.. how did you use the sodium bicarbonate? You've also added more sodium (chemical salts) with the Epsoms. What was the base pH of the source water?

Yep "cheap" Ph fixes like baking soda or vinegar are a bad idea. They cause salt build up in the soil and as a result nutrient lockout. The fix flush the soil with Ph corrected water.

 

[nz.dak.smkr]

or you could just get ph up and ph down..

 

[Seamaiden]

There is, in principal, nothing wrong with using these products. The big problem is pH bounce, which you'll get with the pre-made products. As I learned with all those fish it's really better to just not mess with it.