Increasing Ph in Soil

Pimpjuice9906

Well-Known Member
Can you please elaborate on this?
I thought my issue was related to a low ph. I gave 2 plants water with baking soda. They look great. Better than the rest.

Should I water today? Pots are still heavy. I want to keep the soil moist. I usually allow it to dry out.

I'm also wondering should I top dress the plants? Plants were over fed a couple of weeks ago.
 

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
I thought my issue was related to a low ph. I gave 2 plants water with baking soda. They look great. Better than the rest.

Should I water today? Pots are still heavy. I want to keep the soil moist. I usually allow it to dry out.

I'm also wondering should I top dress the plants? Plants were over fed a couple of weeks ago.
Don't look at top feeding, as feeding the plant. It's not. Not directly at least. Top feeding is adding organic matter to the soil, feeding the microbes and fungus in the soil. In short, the microbes consume the organic matter, and their excrement, becomes the nutrient. There's a lot more to it than that, but that's a basic idea. In essence, you feed the soil. The soil feeds the plant.

If you top dress often, you want to use less amendments. If you top dress less often, then add more. It takes time for it to break down. Anywhere from a couple weeks to a month for some organic matter. Some takes years to fully break down, so you want to anticipate when the soil is going to start getting too depleted. You can add compost worms to help speed up the process a bit, as well.

Use teas if you think theres a deficiency, and give the soil a lil boost. Ferments work good for a boost, also.

Look up a book called "teaming with microbes". It explains the soil food web and how it works.
 

Pimpjuice9906

Well-Known Member
Don't look at top feeding, as feeding the plant. It's not. Not directly at least. Top feeding is adding organic matter to the soil, feeding the microbes and fungus in the soil. In short, the microbes consume the organic matter, and their excrement, becomes the nutrient. There's a lot more to it than that, but that's a basic idea. In essence, you feed the soil. The soil feeds the plant.

If you top dress often, you want to use less amendments. If you top dress less often, then add more. It takes time for it to break down. Anywhere from a couple weeks to a month for some organic matter. Some takes years to fully break down, so you want to anticipate when the soil is going to start getting too depleted. You can add compost worms to help speed up the process a bit, as well.

Use teas if you think theres a deficiency, and give the soil a lil boost. Ferments work good for a boost, also.

Look up a book called "teaming with microbes". It explains the soil food web and how it works.
Book was ordered. Coming tomorrow
 

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
Potassium Hydroxide (KOH). Lime can work but you can very easily overshoot and have a serious problem where KOH can be flushed out relatively quickly.
 
Top