Ph and taco leaves help

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Ben690387

Member
I need help with this ph stuff. I had a digital ph meter but it broke. So i bought strips. The instructions say to dip the strip in the water then compare to the chart immediately. If i do that and go by the color of the strip immediately after dipping it it says 6.2-6.8 but if another like 45 seconds or more goes by it turns dark blue which 8.0 and up. So is my ph 6.2-6.8 of is it 8.0 and up? I also tested 5 diff jugs of distilled water from Wal-Mart and they all come out to be 5.0-5.5 and everyone says it should be 7.0 for distilled water. But i checked 5 diff jugs of the stuff with the digital ph pen and the strips and its always 5.0-5.5 no matter how long after dipping the strip in the water. Which also makes me think my tap water is really 8.0 and up instead of the 6.2-6.8 its shows immediately.

Another thing is i ph my run off and it says 6.2-6.8 if i check immediately after dipping it but then turns dark blue after waiting another 40 seconds or so. So starting to think my ph is 8.0 and above. On top of that i bought a meter that tests the moisture of the soil and ph and it reads 8.0 ph in the soil and also all of my plants measure WET even after i havent watered for 9 days. I have tons of drain holes and yet the top 2 inches of the soil dries and the rest stays wet. So im thinking the combination of my soil being too wet/overwatered and too high of a ph is what is causing my taco leaves. My room temp is 75-79° F and humidity is always 45%-51%. Lights are 2 to 3ft above plants. What are ppls thoughts and what should i do to fix this? Some plants are in 70/30 coco perlite some are in miracle grow. Havent fed any nutes at all. Having same issues with all plants regardless of the soil. Sorry for such a long post
 

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hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Ben690387 said:
I need help with this ph stuff. I had a digital ph meter but it broke. So i bought strips. The instructions say to dip the strip in the water then compare to the chart immediately. If i do that and go by the color of the strip immediately after dipping it it says 6.2-6.8 but if another like 45 seconds or more goes by it turns dark blue which 8.0 and up. So is my ph 6.2-6.8 of is it 8.0 and up? I also tested 5 diff jugs of distilled water from Wal-Mart and they all come out to be 5.0-5.5 and everyone says it should be 7.0 for distilled water. But i checked 5 diff jugs of the stuff with the digital ph pen and the strips and its always 5.0-5.5 no matter how long after dipping the strip in the water. Which also makes me think my tap water is really 8.0 and up instead of the 6.2-6.8 its shows immediately.

Another thing is i ph my run off and it says 6.2-6.8 if i check immediately after dipping it but then turns dark blue after waiting another 40 seconds or so. So starting to think my ph is 8.0 and above. On top of that i bought a meter that tests the moisture of the soil and ph and it reads 8.0 ph in the soil and also all of my plants measure WET even after i havent watered for 9 days. I have tons of drain holes and yet the top 2 inches of the soil dries and the rest stays wet. So im thinking the combination of my soil being too wet/overwatered and too high of a ph is what is causing my taco leaves. My room temp is 75-79° F and humidity is always 45%-51%. Lights are 2 to 3ft above plants. What are ppls thoughts and what should i do to fix this? Some plants are in 70/30 coco perlite some are in miracle grow. Havent fed any nutes at all. Having same issues with all plants regardless of the soil. Sorry for such a long post
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Litmus paper is only accurate when results are checked exactly using the time stated. When used correctly they’re more than precise enough for any application growing pot. Runoff pH is a waste of time. Have you checked very closely for insects?
 
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ozziebud

Well-Known Member
what light you running had similar problem was running 1000w de 6k mh bulb was to intense leaves went like that changed back to hps bulb problem went away
 
SuperNutz

SuperNutz

Well-Known Member
Only skimmed thru your post 1st time around lol. Spend 15 bucks and get a new ph meter and make sure to dial it in with the 7.0 solution. You're gonna go broke buying strips.
 
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DOYOUSMELLTHAT

Well-Known Member
Looks like over nute...soo dark green. Been there, done that.

Water from store, distilled, or spring.. Is usually 5.5...I always have to PH up when I use it.
 
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ozziebud

Well-Known Member
shouldnt be 400mh to close definitely grab ya self a digital ph meter i had a dodgy one when my leaves went like yours so could have been ph to got bluelab one now do you have good airflow not getting to hot at tops of plants sorry about the dissapearing act hotrod
 
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Ben690387

Member
ozziebud said:
shouldnt be 400mh to close definitely grab ya self a digital ph meter i had a dodgy one when my leaves went like yours so could have been ph to got bluelab one now do you have good airflow not getting to hot at tops of plants sorry about the dissapearing act hotrod
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i bought one from Wal-Mart for like $30 the glass node broke when i put it in the calibration solution. Then i ordered one from amazon dame issue. Bought one from the grow shop for $50 and it quit working after 2 weeks. So that's why i bought the strips they were only 9.99.
I have a window ac in the room and an oscillating fan blowing above the canopy and one blowing on the bottom. Plenty of drain holes in containers. Humidity is always 40%-50% and room temp is 70-79 F. No bugs got rid of them had silk worms. Only bugs i have now are soil mites. Freaked me out when i seen them until i figured out what they are. Havent watered plants in 11 days but they are still wet in the soil. Half of my plants are in miracle grow and those ones are the worst. I believe the soil clumped up and isnt draining. I transplanted 3 of them outside in the ground and they are doing a bit better. I'm hoping once the rest of the plants in miracle grow dry out i can transplant them into the ground with some coco perlite mix and get them back on track. What do you think?
I already started 6 new seedlings in 70/30 coco perlite in hopes of being able to transplant all my other plants into the ground outside and just let them flower whenever nature decides its time and keep the new seedlings i started inside in veg.
 
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ozziebud

Well-Known Member
Ben690387 said:
i bought one from Wal-Mart for like $30 the glass node broke when i put it in the calibration solution. Then i ordered one from amazon dame issue. Bought one from the grow shop for $50 and it quit working after 2 weeks. So that's why i bought the strips they were only 9.99.
I have a window ac in the room and an oscillating fan blowing above the canopy and one blowing on the bottom. Plenty of drain holes in containers. Humidity is always 40%-50% and room temp is 70-79 F. No bugs got rid of them had silk worms. Only bugs i have now are soil mites. Freaked me out when i seen them until i figured out what they are. Havent watered plants in 11 days but they are still wet in the soil. Half of my plants are in miracle grow and those ones are the worst. I believe the soil clumped up and isnt draining. I transplanted 3 of them outside in the ground and they are doing a bit better. I'm hoping once the rest of the plants in miracle grow dry out i can transplant them into the ground with some coco perlite mix and get them back on track. What do you think?
I already started 6 new seedlings in 70/30 coco perlite in hopes of being able to transplant all my other plants into the ground outside and just let them flower whenever nature decides its time and keep the new seedlings i started inside in veg.
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sounds like ya doin everything right just keep ya eye on them fans arent blowing to hard constantly at plants it seems a lot of shops are stocking cheap ph meters went through 3 in 6 months so bought bluelab ph meter much better holds calibration
 
Guydude1991

Guydude1991

Active Member
Sounds like you got bad drainage use more peat moss and pearlite and use some sort of mulch broken up to hold your moisture if your going that long without needing water you’ve got no root intake and oxygen so they prob have taco leaves with what almost looks like wind burn I’ve just dealt with that problem and had to completely soak my roots in phd water to repot with better mix of a super soil I made good luck to ya My plants took it ok but it’s gonna break your heart to see all the roots that break up... also that’s a drastic measure my soil was mud by the root ball mass and nothing else could be done to fix it I gave the new organic Miracle grow a chance and it was practically mud from the start It worked well with a good super soil mix but if you are mixing anything and going straight into the pot with it good luck to you...
1 day after the transplant to new soil after total rinse
 

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Ben690387

Member
I transplanted these into the ground about 5 days ago. I watered with plain ph 6.3 water after transplant. The soil is miracle grow garden soil with some coco and perlite i added to help drain. All new growth is still tacoing. Stems are either red or purple or striped. Some leaves are twisting upside down as well. What are my issues here? Ive tried so many different things ppl suggest and yet nothing is changing
 

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Guydude1991

Guydude1991

Active Member
I’ve noticed you’re worried about the pH and drainage and everything which is good you should be but your most common problem with going from indoor controlled environment to outdoor is the heat they probably went into shock a little bit and the heat outside Is to much for them...
Honestly I’d like to go from indoor towel door by putting the plant slowly in increments of an hour to three hours to five hours outside in the spot it’s going to be for about a week or two before so it gets used to the new environment and temperatures give it two weeks to fully Adjust and if nothing changes or worsens find a better spot a much cooler spot if possible or consider greenhouse over the area with some kind of climate control
 
Guydude1991

Guydude1991

Active Member
If you can’t afford some greenhouse glass or structure find yourself a couple furring strips and Get you some screen from like a pool cage or something and give the plant a little more shade It will cool it off a little bit good luck to you bro keep me posted on what happens
 
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Ben690387

Member
It ended up just being the ph problem with poor drainage. A week after transplanting them and getting ph under control all my leaves opened up again and they started growing again
 
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