Is 5ph too low for soil?

Dr. Treez84

Dr. Treez84

Well-Known Member
Just tested my soil and the ph came out to 5 on each pot I tested. The res I keep my water in tested 5.5 and so did my tap water which it is filled with. I've found a lot of stuff on lowering PH but not raising it. Should I add some Dolomite Lime to the water to raise it? or Will they be ok at the lower PH?
 
greenlikemoney

greenlikemoney

Well-Known Member
Checking your pH runoff ( in my opinion ) is worthless in soil. Bringing EVERYTHING you give to your plants in soil to the proper pH is way more important. If you feed/water at the proper pH and your plants are healthy, well, there you go !!!
 
FresnoFarmer

FresnoFarmer

Well-Known Member
That is pretty acid. Are you growing organic? Either way I would add something to buffer that a bit. My water out the tap is 8-9 ph.so I try to add molasses every other watering to keep the ph at a decent level. I just play it by eye tho really. If it aint broke, don't fix it.
 
Dr. Treez84

Dr. Treez84

Well-Known Member
Yeah, everything I do is 100% organic. Looks like i'll be running to the grow store tomorrow for some dolomite and something to calibrate the ph meter with. Just got it in the mail earlier, was only 25$ off amazon. Maybe its off and i'm fine... i guess we'll see. They all seem to be doing well besides a few spots here or there. Few of the clones I transplanted seemed to of gotten a little burnt, but that just might be the new soil.
 
FresnoFarmer

FresnoFarmer

Well-Known Member
Yeah. Ph doesnt matter as much in organics in my experience. But it still matters. I had a couple plants i recently threw in the ground get a little leaf tip burn too. I only cooked my soil for 2 weeks so I am just glad they didn't get fried lol. Good luck bro. Hope it is just your meter.
 
mwooten102

mwooten102

Well-Known Member
Not to hijack but... dolomite lime, it raises the ph right? Will it only raise it to a certain ph ? Or can you overdose?

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FresnoFarmer

FresnoFarmer

Well-Known Member
mwooten102 said:
Not to hijack but... dolomite lime, it raises the ph right? Will it only raise it to a certain ph ? Or can you overdose?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Rollitup mobile app
Click to expand...
You can overdose from what I have read. I think it could add too much magnesium and cause a lockout. I think that is the issue. And if you are top dressing with it I guess it can cause salt build up in the soil. I don't use lime though. So don't take my word on this one.
 
greenlikemoney

greenlikemoney

Well-Known Member
Are these plants in flower? If so, they need a little dose of N and you need to back off the P a little. 6.5-6.8 pH in soil.
 
foreverflyhi

foreverflyhi

Well-Known Member
Hey sorry for what im aabout to say.
NO dolmite lime either topdress or put in water will NOT raise your pH. Thats not how true organics works. Your best bet is too keep adding worm casting / compsost. You can raise you water ph and it might help raise ph but not guarenteed. Also try adding oystershell in low amount as top dress, that can help buffer.

Fix your problem by adding a good lime mix assuming your soil is peat based ( for next run, assuming your going to recycle and or start a new batch)

Also keep in mind, in true organics, fast pH swing will kill microbes, has to be done in time. PHing is not very important in true organics, at least not like traditional hydro.

Also, ph runoff on soil is not accurate, nor is most ph probes, (dont waste your money if you plan on staying true to organics) the only accurate way to test is by sending a sample to a university.

My advise comes from ROLs or indoor permacultre which is backed by academic research, not bottle bro science.

Rols
https://www.rollitup.org/t/recycled-organic-living-soil-rols-and-no-till-thread.636057/unread
 
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bud nugbong

bud nugbong

Well-Known Member
I grow in a piney area so im pretty sure the ground is a bit acidic, and the water I use is about 5.5. so when I just give straight water (only a few times a year if it doesn't rain) I will add about a tsp dol. lime per gal....I like to mix a bit in or sprinkle the area in the fall to kindof fight the acidity. seems to be working alright. last year I used growbig and tigerbloom for nutes and it worked good.
 
foreverflyhi

foreverflyhi

Well-Known Member
bud nugbong said:
I grow in a piney area so im pretty sure the ground is a bit acidic, and the water I use is about 5.5. so when I just give straight water (only a few times a year if it doesn't rain) I will add about a tsp dol. lime per gal....I like to mix a bit in or sprinkle the area in the fall to kindof fight the acidity. seems to be working alright. last year I used growbig and tigerbloom for nutes and it worked good.
Click to expand...

Once agian, adding dolmite to water or as a top dress does not higher your ph. This is false.
 
Missy Green

Missy Green

Member
I had a big PH problem growing in soil. It was about ph 5 and couldn't figure out why it was so low (my water is ph 7). My plants were not liking it at all. I kept getting rust spots and they were overall not in good shape. I added some dolimite lime on top of my pots and it really seems to help. It's been about 3 weeks since I started to add lime and they are much greener and healthier. My runoff is about 6.5 now.
 
foreverflyhi

foreverflyhi

Well-Known Member
Missy Green said:
I had a big PH problem growing in soil. It was about ph 5 and couldn't figure out why it was so low (my water is ph 7). My plants were not liking it at all. I kept getting rust spots and they were overall not in good shape. I added some dolimite lime on top of my pots and it really seems to help. It's been about 3 weeks since I started to add lime and they are much greener and healthier. My runoff is about 6.5 now.
Click to expand...
Lol ok seems like people arnt taking me serious.

1st runoff is NOT a valid way to check your ph. Probes dont work as well. The only true way is by getting it tested in a lab, want to know whats your soils npks and ph? Send in a sample to a unuveristy.

2nd dolmite lime does NOT magically "sink" into the soil and raises or adjust ph by topdress or in water.

Not trying to say you are wrong about your plants getting healthier, but this can not be linked to your dolmite lime being top dressed. More like maybe your soil is finally balancing itself out with other biological factors.

The reaaon why i keep repeating myself is because adding dolmite to your water and or topdress is a waaste of money, but even more important it can potentially harm your soil food web.

In you must, add oystershell as a topdress, but even better, add compost or worm castings, that will pretty much solve all problems in organics

Heres a post i found that can explain why, without going into deep science academics.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RanchoDeluxe
Question
So how does any of that mean the Ca and Mg are readily available to the plant. As I understand it, Ca and Mg are metals and therefore are not water soluble. In my mind it is the equivalent of putting gold dust into water.

I guess what you're getting at is it can raise the pH of water quickly. What I should have asked is why the Mg and Ca in dolomite lime take so long to become available to the plants?"

Awnser from the cootz
"Carbonates are not water soluble - all the collective stoner science can't change an immutable universal law of chemistry.

If these compounds were water soluble then you couldn't possibly have mollusks, crabs, lobsters, shrimp since they're shells are 96%+ Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) and they live in water therefore their shells would have to be made from another compound.

Stoners have tried to redefine Botany, Biology and now they're making a run at BASIC (like in it's very basic) law of Chemistry.

CC"

Still not getting it?

Dolmite is not water soluble and will not drain into the soil and magically raise ph.
 
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Missy Green

Missy Green

Member
I'm not using a probe. I'm using a water ph sample kit (collected water in a vial+drops=colour) and have been checking intakes and out.
My soil PH was incomprehensibly way too acid (Promix w/mycorizha)+organic soil but most importantly my plants were stunted and sick.
I added natural dolomitic lime to try to neutralize the acidity which it did according to my samples and most definitely to my plants health. Anecdotal evidence? In any case I'm glad it seemed to help my greens!
 
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L

LIBERTYCHICKEN

Well-Known Member
foreverflyhi said:
Lol ok seems like people arnt taking me serious.

1st runoff is NOT a valid way to check your ph. Probes dont work as well. The only true way is by getting it tested in a lab, want to know whats your soils npks and ph? Send in a sample to a unuveristy.

2nd dolmite lime does NOT magically "sink" into the soil and raises or adjust ph by topdress or in water.

Not trying to say you are wrong about your plants getting healthier, but this can not be linked to your dolmite lime being top dressed. More like maybe your soil is finally balancing itself out with other biological factors.

The reaaon why i keep repeating myself is because adding dolmite to your water and or topdress is a waaste of money, but even more important it can potentially harm your soil food web.

In you must, add oystershell as a topdress, but even better, add compost or worm castings, that will pretty much solve all problems in organics

Heres a post i found that can explain why, without going into deep science academics.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RanchoDeluxe
Question
So how does any of that mean the Ca and Mg are readily available to the plant. As I understand it, Ca and Mg are metals and therefore are not water soluble. In my mind it is the equivalent of putting gold dust into water.

I guess what you're getting at is it can raise the pH of water quickly. What I should have asked is why the Mg and Ca in dolomite lime take so long to become available to the plants?"

Awnser from the cootz
"Carbonates are not water soluble - all the collective stoner science can't change an immutable universal law of chemistry.

If these compounds were water soluble then you couldn't possibly have mollusks, crabs, lobsters, shrimp since they're shells are 96%+ Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) and they live in water therefore their shells would have to be made from another compound.

Stoners have tried to redefine Botany, Biology and now they're making a run at BASIC (like in it's very basic) law of Chemistry.

CC"

Still not getting it?

Dolmite is not water soluble and will not drain into the soil and magically raise ph.
Click to expand...

In acidic water, dolomite lime, oyster shell, and calicum carbonate will dissolve , But it does not even have to dissolve in water to be effective the small particles are washed into the soil (like the shake in the bottom of the bag)

oyster shell = calcium carbonate
lime = calicum carbonate
dolomite lime = calicum carbonate with small amount of Mg. 5 - 14 %

Besides the small Mg. content of dolomite lime I fail to see any difference where PH would be concerned ? ?
 
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