Have read many threads on this and can't find one that really pertains to my problem. My plants are about 6 weeks old from seed And still in veg. Soil is fox farm ocean with added perlite. I put some Pelletized lime in it I got from lowes. Said it was garden lime. Have only feed once so far with fox farm nutes. water ph was 6.5. My run off is below 5 accordin to my color chart ( its orange) I flushed my 5 gal pots with close to 5 gals of ph 7 water and it's still the same color (5ph). Am I doing something wrong or dose it take more than one flush to bring the ph up fromthat low.
PH help. PLEASE!!!
- Thread starter cwv
- Start date
ismokealotofpot
New Member
dont worry about your runoff just ph your water. you want the water to be 6.5 to 6.8 dont add anymore lime.ffof shouldn't need it
ismokealotofpot
New Member
sorry add your nutrients to the water then ph the water. that lime will take a while to break down.
So you don't need to worry about correcting the run off ph? Almost everything I've read says that the run off ph should be no lower than 6. Mine has to be close to 5. I really don't know. I'm new to this and my last few grows could use improvement and this is one thing I didn't take notice of the Last grows. So just want to make sure I am covering all the basis I know of. Still got a lot of learning to do. Lol. Thanks for the input.
ismokealotofpot
New Member
why correct something that's leaving the plant? what happens is fertilizer salts can change the ph. i never water a plant till the water runs out of the bottom that's way too much water it takes the plant too long to dry out and causes root rot or mold. I think ffof has fertilizer in it already. i would just ph the water your giving it, or after you add the nutrients. Ill give you an example of what im doing. I use a promix no soil at all. my water out of the tap is 7.5ish if I decide to just use plain water or if im adding mg 20 20 20 fertilizer i would have to add 40 drops of acid or damn near half teaspoon. if im using flower nutrients they will drop my ph so I only need 20 drops of acid to change my water sample to the same color. you will have salt build up in your soil and will cause a ph change but before you flower you will transplant rite? if thats case you don't need to flush the plant.the only time i have to flush until i have runoff is a week before harvest or if I really messed something up.
I hear ya. Since I am new at this I try and read as much as I can and this seems to be something a lot of people say needs to be monitored. I feel if your going to do something it needs to be done right. Is there ever a time you check you run off? If so what do you find it normally is? Thanks for your help and advice.
Because that is the measurement of what is really going on inside the pot (where the plant actually is!). For God sakes, check the run-off!
Anything you add to the soil only tells half the story. The Ph of the water can change as soon as it hits the soil. Then the plant is left to deal with whatever Ph that the combination of soil and water result in.
The whole purpose of adjusting the Ph is for the benefit of the plant. Don't you think you should be more concerned about the Ph where the plant actually meets the medium? The water, nutes and soil are seperate ingredients with seperate Ph's; when they combine together they produce the actual Ph that effects the plant - I'll call it the "Combined Ph". That's what the run-off is, it's a combination of everything the plant is actually exposed to and it reflects the "Combined Ph".
The Ph of the water (before it's added) is only relivent to the point of how it effects the "Combined Run-off". That's why cooks taste the food they're cooking - not the individual ingredients!
TH. please see my first post and see if it makes since. Ph of water going in is 6.8-7. Run off is close to or under 5. 5 gal pots and I ran 5 gal oh ph 7 water thru them and ph didn't change a bit still at about 5. Hell I even put the plant in the shower and just let the water run through them for a good min or so and still no change. I'm so confused. Ha ha
Too much flushing will tend to wash away at your Ocean Forest soil until it's just compost, so be careful.
I have no experience with "Pelletized" lime; but if it is garden lime it shouldn't make much difference. I don't know how much you mixed in to the soil (my guess is, not enough). You might want to try adding more lime, maybe twice the amount, next time. You could also try adding lime directly to the soil surface and scratching it in. The "right amount" of lime is a slippery slope because every soil Ph is different, even the same brand can differ from one run to the next.
If additional lime doesn't bring the run-off Ph into your "target zone", you can still jack up the Ph of your incomming water/nutes. In your case, I would say to about 7.5 or 8 for starters; then see what you get from the run-off and adjust accordingly until you get the Ph you're looking for. Some people have a real knack for maintaining a "perfect" Ph (not me), maybe someone can chime in that knows a few tricks for adjusting Ph.
I have no experience with "Pelletized" lime; but if it is garden lime it shouldn't make much difference. I don't know how much you mixed in to the soil (my guess is, not enough). You might want to try adding more lime, maybe twice the amount, next time. You could also try adding lime directly to the soil surface and scratching it in. The "right amount" of lime is a slippery slope because every soil Ph is different, even the same brand can differ from one run to the next.
If additional lime doesn't bring the run-off Ph into your "target zone", you can still jack up the Ph of your incomming water/nutes. In your case, I would say to about 7.5 or 8 for starters; then see what you get from the run-off and adjust accordingly until you get the Ph you're looking for. Some people have a real knack for maintaining a "perfect" Ph (not me), maybe someone can chime in that knows a few tricks for adjusting Ph.
ismokealotofpot
New Member
- Too much flushing will tend to wash away at your Ocean Forest soil until it's just compost, so be careful.
there you go your six weeks in vedge he even said dont flush you will be transplanting soon. just like I said don't worry about the runoff. im a medical mj caregiver and I would say ive grown 1000s of plants in my life time.
- I have no experience with "Pelletized" lime;
there you go again lime acts as a base and will raise you ph back up over time so again like I said dont worry about your runoff.
- If additional lime doesn't bring the run-off Ph into your "target zone", you can still jack up the Ph of your incomming water/nutes.
what did I tell you dude.
- Some people have a real knack for maintaining a "perfect" Ph (not me), maybe someone can chime in that knows a few tricks for adjusting Ph.
dont listen to him first of all your soil probably has a buffer in it to begin with second the runoff is concentrated fertilizer salt witch has a low ph. your plant will die if it stays too wet. just ph the water nutrient solution like I said.
Nice Ol Bud
Well-Known Member
Like your sig..
ismokealotofpot
New Member
Look dude why dont you do a google search and then judge me. 1 his plant is six weeks in vedge he will be flowering soon 2 most soils have a buffer in it, 3 he never said he had lockout issues. I never said anything about ignoring runoff you only need to to check runoff once a month . you were contradicting yourself you said you don't know anything about pelletized lime. lime takes a bit of time to work your not going to see results rite away adding more will hurt you. this will be my last post I dont need some snot nose shit face trying to be troll.
HeartlandHank
Well-Known Member
So, how do the plants look?
That's a good point! I'm sorry, we seem to have gotten a little sidetracked here.