Why do people say ph doesnt matter

[xtsho]

Soil runoff pH doesn't matter because it's not an accurate representation of pH at the root zone and the factors that control it. Input pH can matter if that input is way out of line like a very high pH water source.

For coco the only pH that matters is what goes in.

The reason some of us say stop worrying about pH is because many times a grower has plants that are healthy with nothing wrong. Then they check the runoff, think it's out of range, and then start running extreme pH levels through their grow medium to get the runoff to match some number they think it should be. They're trying to fix a problem that isn't there. Or you have those with those cheap $8 soil pH meters that are worthless and should be tossed in the trash.

I don't pH when growing in soil. In fact I use water straight from the tap still containing chlorine and chloramine and the water here is treated to be 8.2 but can range from 7.4 - 8.4. My soil plants grow just fine. I do pH the nutrient solution when growing in coco. But only when I mix it up. I've never once checked runoff pH in my decades of growing because it's not an accurate measurement and as long as you take care of what goes in you're fine. The only time I've ever bothered with testing soil pH in my life is outside in the vegetable garden using slurry tests which is the proper method to use. I also test the soil around my blueberries so I know if I need to adjust the pH because Blueberries are acid loving plants.

 

[Johnny Lawrence]

figured a old lad like you wouldn’t have been able to work a computer back then

Savage!

 

[BegginerGrower]

A lot of people say they go without PHing their water but i have found this impossible for me personally. Even with dolomite in the soil i get crazy ph lockout if i dont ph my water. Ever since buying a bluepen my plants are way better.

This is the exact same with me.. all my mates that grow don’t ph their water..probably don’t even know what ph is but with my Grow’s I always have problems if I don’t check and adjust it..I always used those cheap ph pens before though so this time I’ve gone an bought myself a bluelab ph pen & EC pen.. they are a million percent better an the readings don’t jump up an down like the cheaper ones!

 

[xtsho]

Much of the pH issues people think they're having are not from pH but from over feeding or unbalanced feeding. If you dump too much stuff on your plants you're going to throw everything out of whack. I see so many pictures these days of overfed plants and replies like "Looks great" "It's normal for the leaves to yellow", etc.. Too many people are using way too many nutrients and too many people think that yellow crispy leaves 5 weeks into flower is normal. It's not but if you look at some of the hacks on youtube that many of the newer growers watch it's no surprise that so many don't know what a healthy plant looks like or how to keep a plant healthy. People try and buy a good harvest in a bottle and when the plants have issues they look to everything but the fact they are overfeeding.

 

[andymex]

A lot of people say they go without PHing their water but i have found this impossible for me personally. Even with dolomite in the soil i get crazy ph lockout if i dont ph my water. Ever since buying a bluepen my plants are way better.

In soil it is the alkalinity of soil that determines the ph of the growing media and not the ph of the water. Maybe the ec of your medium is to high.

 

[teddy bonkers]

Much of the pH issues people think they're having are not from pH but from over feeding or unbalanced feeding. If you dump too much stuff on your plants you're going to throw everything out of whack. I see so many pictures these days of overfed plants and replies like "Looks great" "It's normal for the leaves to yellow", etc.. Too many people are using way too many nutrients and too many people think that yellow crispy leaves 5 weeks into flower is normal. It's not but if you look at some of the hacks on youtube that many of the newer growers watch it's no surprise that so many don't know what a healthy plant looks like or how to keep a plant healthy. People try and buy a good harvest in a bottle and when the plants have issues they look to everything but the fact they are overfeeding.

it's harder to keep a plant healthy to the end then it is to fry the shit out of it and hope you can flush out the damage at the end.

 

[xtsho]

it's harder to keep a plant healthy to the end then it is to fry the shit out of it and hope you can flush out the damage at the end.

Actually it's easier to keep a cannabis plant healthy if you just treat it like a plant and feed it what it needs. Many people are convinced that cannabis has all these special requirements and needs a dozen bottles of cannabis specific products. Then they follow some feed chart that has them overfeeding their plants and flushing everything out every few weeks with another one of their magical products which is just 20¢ worth of magnesium sulfate aka epsom salts in a bottle for $20.

 

[Armyofsprout]

water pH alone doesn’t tell the whole story. You also need to consider the alkalinity of the water. Not to be confused with alkaline. Alkalinity is the buffering capacity of the water or it ability to resist changes in ph. If you have high pH combined with high alkalinity, that is where you may get problems. the water over time can raise the media pH. If you have high pH with low alkalinity you generally don’t need to adjust the pH.

never even thought about that

In soil it is the alkalinity of soil that determines the ph of the growing media and not the ph of the water. Maybe the ec of your medium is to high.

If youre constantly watering with water that is out of range if the buffer in the medium runs out it will be out of whack and sometimes that buffer isnt enough depending on your water.

water with ph that is way too high for too Long and your soil PH will be higher than it should be. Same for water thats too low. I watered at 5.8 before because my pen was out of calibration and was reading too high, but in reality i was phing too low (ex: pen reads at 6.5 but water was actually 5.5)..and after awhile my soil was testing at 5.8 and my plant died from lockout. I didnt get my blue pen until it was too late. Luckily i was able to save some other plants.

as soon as i corrected my waterings everything fixed itself.

 

[Boatguy]

How to Maintain the Proper pH of a Growing Medium | PT Growers and Consumers

Maintaining pH 5.6-6.2 in growing medium requires more than water pH adjustment. Find out what other factors need to be taken into account.

www.pthorticulture.com

 

[Armyofsprout]

How to Maintain the Proper pH of a Growing Medium | PT Growers and Consumers

Maintaining pH 5.6-6.2 in growing medium requires more than water pH adjustment. Find out what other factors need to be taken into account.

www.pthorticulture.com

well its a combination from What i see because the alkalinity of the water could still raise your mediums PH over time.

 

[madvillian420]

Are you reusing the same soil over and over, or buying new shit everytime?

this run is a mix of new and old, actually. My used soil always has a chalky color to it as opposed to the rich black of fresh stuff. Ive heard perlite can be part of the cause

 

[teddy bonkers]

Actually it's easier to keep a cannabis plant healthy if you just treat it like a plant and feed it what it needs. Many people are convinced that cannabis has all these special requirements and needs a dozen bottles of cannabis specific products. Then they follow some feed chart that has them overfeeding their plants and flushing everything out every few weeks with another one of their magical products which is just 20¢ worth of magnesium sulfate aka epsom salts in a bottle for $20.

I have preached this for yrs. I'm a student of Uncle Ben, If you want a great read, check this out

The Never Ending Abuse of Phosphorous (Bloom foods) to Enhance Flowering

I wrote this years ago and thought I'd share it here. The never ending abuse of Phosphorous to enhance flowering A common mistake for growers when they reach the flowering stage is to start hitting the plants with a high P fert like a 10-50-10, continuing to use this blend exclusively, and...

rollitup.org

 

[madvillian420]

Actually it's easier to keep a cannabis plant healthy if you just treat it like a plant and feed it what it needs. Many people are convinced that cannabis has all these special requirements and needs a dozen bottles of cannabis specific products. Then they follow some feed chart that has them overfeeding their plants and flushing everything out every few weeks with another one of their magical products which is just 20¢ worth of magnesium sulfate aka epsom salts in a bottle for $20.

lol tell me about it..... I know someone that "attended oaksterdam university" 10+ years ago, they basically teach you to buy AdvancedNutrients and Gen hydo bottles.

 

[Boatguy]

well its a combination from What i see because the alkalinity of the water could still raise your mediums PH over time.

The chart pretty clearly shows 5.3 ph'd water over a 49 day period, and the soil ph still climbed from 6.3 to 7.4.

 

[teddy bonkers]

if you look at a ph chart, you will see that nutrients are absorbed at different ph levels. As the medium dries, ph will swing. it needs to so the plant can get all nutes at right ph.

https://www.birdmanusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/pH-Nutrient-Absorbtion-1.png

 

[xtsho]

I have preached this for yrs. I'm a student of Uncle Ben, If you want a great read, check this out

The Never Ending Abuse of Phosphorous (Bloom foods) to Enhance Flowering

I wrote this years ago and thought I'd share it here. The never ending abuse of Phosphorous to enhance flowering A common mistake for growers when they reach the flowering stage is to start hitting the plants with a high P fert like a 10-50-10, continuing to use this blend exclusively, and...

rollitup.org

I read his posts years ago when he was still around posting. No nonsense just sound growing practices.

"maintaining the foliage in a healthy state of growth until harvest for maximum yields."

Now all these new growers think your plants should be all yellow with the leaves crispy and falling off at harvest. They call it "The fade" when in fact it's from not feeding your plant properly.

There's still a few growers around that get it and don't fall for all the marketing nonsense and shiny bottles.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

this run is a mix of new and old, actually. My used soil always has a chalky color to it as opposed to the rich black of fresh stuff. Ive heard perlite can be part of the cause

Could be the perlite. I use pumice and lava rock instead. That doesn't break down.

 

[Mr. Cheetah]

if in soil, and its something like canna terra or biobizz, they are buffered, so i wouldnt pay so much attention on PH tbh, just my opinion

 

[Armyofsprout]

It doesnt help that you have people making videos like this With extremely crappy grows and trying to pass it off as something to be worthwhile. It really brings the community down. Heres someone who planted 15 seeds in winter, got three females and yielded a gram per plant. 3 grams with months of time and no equipment and no nutes either i believe.

honestly people dont get that youd just be better off doing things correctly. We try and get the correct information but theres so much misinformation and crap grows spreading across youtube and net like someone said earlier.

 

[Armyofsprout]

Got a few plants in a 4x4 under a 550 in week three of flower. 3 fem sunset travellers and one reg sour mint x banana OG. Dont mind the droopiness they're sleeping. Got lucky and the only regular seed i planted Turned out to be a girl also. I had a MG issue before on the plant in the back but fixing my PH issue fixed that from lockout.