Davidminer
Well-Known Member
If the water I'm feeding it is adjusted to 6.0 is it safe to.asume the ph is ok in the soil? If not and I need to test it what is the best ph meter for soil.
Do I need to test the ph of my soil?
- Thread starter Davidminer
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ChevySwish
Well-Known Member
Here's a good trick, measure the pH of the water before you water, let a trickle of runoff come out then collect about 10-20ml of the runoff and measure the pH (5ml if using GH drops) and take the reading and add it to the water reading and decide by two. 6.0ph water + 7.5 runoff = 6.7-6.8 soil pH. Or go to Lowe's and for $9.99 they have a Ligjt/pH/Water meter. It tells you how wet the soil is, pH level and foot candle Reading
Bernie420
Well-Known Member
No you dont need to. Water in at 6.5 and use a decent microbe product about once a week (just a little) and you should be worry free about any ph issues.
Budzbuddha
Well-Known Member
If you are using a good mix ... it will be buffered already with dolomite lime or oyster shell.
Most are prebuffered to 6.3 . So if you water in at 6.5 it will be fine , even if there is a slight drift.
Most are prebuffered to 6.3 . So if you water in at 6.5 it will be fine , even if there is a slight drift.
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
don't worry about the ph of your medium. if you're putting it in in the right range, the medium will be fine.
you would know immediately if the ph of your medium was off by more than a very small amount. nute uptake would stop dead, leaf tips and edges would start to curl......it would be very obvious
you would know immediately if the ph of your medium was off by more than a very small amount. nute uptake would stop dead, leaf tips and edges would start to curl......it would be very obvious
ColoradoHighGrower
Well-Known Member
My tap water is a ph ~8. I used it to flush the shit out of my last run last few days before chop, and less than 24 hrs i went from pretty lush green to a really nice fade/yellowing.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
that's because at 8.0 you've locked out copper, iron, manganese, and zinc. the plant needs all of those to keep photosynthesizing, so it's cannibalizing itself hardcore.it's taking all of those nutrients that it can from the leaves, and transferring them to the buds, at a higher than usual rate, in response to a starvation stimulus.
this in turn leads to an overabundance of sulfur, nitrogen, potasium, calcium, and magnesium, which can cause other lockouts.
of course, at that stage in the plants life, it's not really going to do much damage, but i wouldn't call that a natural fade
this in turn leads to an overabundance of sulfur, nitrogen, potasium, calcium, and magnesium, which can cause other lockouts.
of course, at that stage in the plants life, it's not really going to do much damage, but i wouldn't call that a natural fade
ColoradoHighGrower
Well-Known Member
So... that was a bad idea? I thought a good flush would entice the plant to use up any stored N and reduce chlorophyll in the leaves/nug, which would be ideal from a finished product quality perspective? Bring me to church @Roger A. Shrubber and others!
ChevySwish
Well-Known Member
A nice flush yes, at 6.5 pH
ColoradoHighGrower
Well-Known Member
I figured a little ph lockout isn't a bad thing in the final days though? Hence acceleration of chlorophyll absorption?
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
i may be wrong. this is what i've gathered from reading, listening, asking.....
flushing produces a starvation response from plants. they pull as much available nutrients into the buds as possible, to put out a last ditch burst of growth in an attempt to get pollinated before they starve. this actually deposits more of the nutrient ions in the buds, that were in the leaves before, so you're actually working directly against the goal you're trying to achieve.
that is my opinion, and i've done a fair bit of study on it, but a lot of the information is old, a lot of it is contradictory, and a lot of it wasn't done with weed, so you have to do some extrapolation, and read through a lot of very dry information to get to the few pieces you actually want.
so i won't say 'this is the way it is, get used to it."....but, i'm pretty sure this is the way it is.....
flushing produces a starvation response from plants. they pull as much available nutrients into the buds as possible, to put out a last ditch burst of growth in an attempt to get pollinated before they starve. this actually deposits more of the nutrient ions in the buds, that were in the leaves before, so you're actually working directly against the goal you're trying to achieve.
that is my opinion, and i've done a fair bit of study on it, but a lot of the information is old, a lot of it is contradictory, and a lot of it wasn't done with weed, so you have to do some extrapolation, and read through a lot of very dry information to get to the few pieces you actually want.
so i won't say 'this is the way it is, get used to it."....but, i'm pretty sure this is the way it is.....
NanoGadget
Well-Known Member
Spot on. The plant doesn't give a shit about anything but getting pollinated while in flower. If you cut off nutrients all together it begins pulling resources from it leaves to keep the flowers viable for as long as possible. The only benefit to letting the plant fade out like that is a slight shortening of the dry/cure process because the plant has already started breaking down and using many of the organic compounds that would normally break down during the dry/cure. Usually results in slightly less weight.
ColoradoHighGrower
Well-Known Member
That makes sense- tbh, i wasn't as impressed with the smoke as the previous run that had no flush...
kiwipaulie
Well-Known Member
IMO don't ever flush. Especially in soil. Alot of soil still has plenty of nutrients in it and you basically do the reverse of what you think you're doing.
neckpod
Well-Known Member
spot on pal... no other crop gets flushed its totally not needed and only starves the plant of the things it needs at a vital ripening time..
The only time a flush is needed is if you fucked up. As the plant needs less i just taper off the strength of my nutrients over the last week or so never making them turn yellow.
The key to all this is nutrients are only really stored in the leaves not the buds and i dont smoke the leaf material lol.
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maxamus1
Well-Known Member
After the last couple days of talking about this i must say that the way you put it makes me actually want to look further into it. I wish more people could learn to approach the subject like you have. No insults or name calling no forcing it down someones throght or im better then you cause im right stuff.
Peace and respect
Maxamus1
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
thnx...i will admit to occasionally calling someone a dumbass, but only after they push me to it.....
maxamus1
Well-Known Member
We all have at one point or another i try really hard to try to see points from all angles. That is why im giving grandmasters flushing techniques a try. Not saying im doing it exactly as he does or that its right but i have always believed in flushing so thanks for putting it under a different light. Not saying im convinced but i will definitely give it a deeper look.
Peace and respect
Maxamus1
ColoradoHighGrower
Well-Known Member
Not necessarily true- coroprate ag practices in places like central valley California and Arizona/southern NM that grow year round do "flush" their fields via excessive flood irrigation once a year in between crop rotations to flush out built-up salts/spent pesticides and herbicides, just like people in cannabis growing (for better or worse). It's required for certain salt- intolerant crops, mainly due to unsustainable ag practices, soil mining, and the need to fert the shit out of crops every few months....