Finding My Ph

[Conorfarmer]

ok so i just got this ph up and down stuff that i bought and it also came with an indicator, i want to find out my Ph but i don't know how?? I have a little bottle that says pH 4-10 Acidity, i took a little sample of soil and put it in the vial... added the solution and a little bit of water but its sort of brown ish, im not sure if thats because of the soil or thats the ph??

 

[growone]

it's better to take some of the water that outflows after watering
also good to test the water before going in, gives you more info
there are ph strips that are designed to be used in dirt, i use the ph drops

 

[Conorfarmer]

it's better to take some of the water that outflows after watering
also good to test the water before going in, gives you more info
there are ph strips that are designed to be used in dirt, i use the ph drops

ok ill try using the excess water that comes out from the plant, and ill test it before it goes in aswell. ill reply when i find out.

 

[r1tony]

Man ditch that tube color crap.. especially if your doing hydro anything. PH meters are cheap and they prevent you from actidentially killing your plants with all the time and money too down the drain. I tried to do the color/tube thing for a few months and was spending **WAYYY** to much time trying to meausre, pour, take sample, measure pour, etc.. and even AFTER that I was not sure of the right measurement.. just an "approximation". FUCK that... now I just dip the digital meter in read it, adjust done.

 

[Conorfarmer]

my water before adding to the plant is green, is that good? and what should the pH of my plant be?

 

[growone]

Man ditch that tube color crap.. especially if your doing hydro anything. PH meters are cheap and they prevent you from actidentially killing your plants with all the time and money too down the drain. I tried to do the color/tube thing for a few months and was spending **WAYYY** to much time trying to meausre, pour, take sample, measure pour, etc.. and even AFTER that I was not sure of the right measurement.. just an "approximation". FUCK that... now I just dip the digital meter in read it, adjust done.

drops are a bit of a trick, some outflow's can be a bitch to gauge - hard to argue against a good meter, except for the cost

 

[growone]

my water before adding to the plant is green, is that good? and what should the pH of my plant be?

you need to match the color to the ph on the chart provided, sounds like it might be a bit high
outflow water would be good if it's below 6.5

 

[phillk6751]

If you got the same kit I have, which you probably do that's like 7 or above you need to raise the acidity. I would personally use either vineger or lime/lemon juice instead of whatever carbonic/sulfuric or whatever acid is in those bottles. I usually gotta ph up from the 5s after adding nutes and I wear gloves so I don't get burns. I wish I knew something household/safer other than baking soda to raise the ph though

 

[growone]

If you got the same kit I have, which you probably do that's like 7 or above you need to raise the acidity. I would personally use either vineger or lime/lemon juice instead of whatever carbonic/sulfuric or whatever acid is in those bottles. I usually gotta ph up from the 5s after adding nutes and I wear gloves so I don't get burns. I wish I knew something household/safer other than baking soda to raise the ph though

if you have access to wood ash(i.e. good hard wood ash), that is good and cheap
basically free potassium carbonate, which is as good as you get for raising ph

 

[Conorfarmer]

ok, i just watered my plant and collected the water that came out from the bottom and it's more or less the same colour as my water...

 

[growone]

ok, i just watered my plant and collected the water that came out from the bottom and it's more or less the same colour as my water...

can't see the color so this is just guessing, but from your description it doesn't sound bad, maybe not quite as low as you might like
but if this things are going well, may want to keep what you're doing(for the moment)

 

[nickman]

if i can remember correctly, when i was using the drops b4 i got a ph meter for around 35.00... B4 i put the water into the soil and B4 i fixed the ph of it , it was always a lightyellow or green...
I also would spend way too much time mixing those drops trying to get it right...
Get a meter...

 

[TheDudeNextDoor]

Just bought a Milwaukee ph600 from Amazon for about $30 shipped. Haven't tried it yet, but it gets pretty good reviews.

 

[r1tony]

drops are a bit of a trick, some outflow's can be a bitch to gauge - hard to argue against a good meter, except for the cost

Well.. a 80 dollar meter works great! So if 80 dollars is too much, stop growing now.

 

[Conorfarmer]

im ordering a digital pH tester but until then im going to have to do with the liquid shit. I added some pH down and now the pH of my plant is red, what colour SHOULD it be?

 

[growone]

im ordering a digital pH tester but until then im going to have to do with the liquid shit. I added some pH down and now the pH of my plant is red, what colour SHOULD it be?

red is a color zone i don't recall, but that doesn't sound good, maybe too low
i'd be cautious using that, if the plant is doing ok maybe it's better to wait for the meter

 

[Conorfarmer]

ok well, im just going to leave it for now until the electric tester comes and pray it doesn't die :/

 

[growone]

ok well, im just going to leave it for now until the electric tester comes and pray it doesn't die :/

if it's drying out to the point of dieing, well, i'd think you'd want to water
just use the water you've been using - if plant was growing OK, one more watering should be ok

 

[PeacefulKid1992]

ok kid, no tap water unless ur whole house is filtered,use the water u buy at the store that u pay or use rain water,get a ph tester from homedepot lowers ($ that water should be good already,with the soil i used miracle gro seedling starter for my seedlings and i used mg organic choice for right now,they are 3 weeks old.
yeah hope it helps