Noob Nutrient Issues - Any advice appreciated

the runoff will tell you the soil pH.. you won't have to test separately. soil testers do nothing for you though buddy. spend the 15 bux on a probe.. the $10 3 in 1 tester(moisture light and pH) is even better than soil testers however it's still not exactly accurate but close.. Milwaukee probe tester is cheap enough. or a similar product. it will help you out a lot in the end.

SxIstew said:

the runoff will tell you the soil pH.. you won't have to test separately. soil testers do nothing for you though buddy. spend the 15 bux on a probe.. the $10 3 in 1 tester(moisture light and pH) is even better than soil testers however it's still not exactly accurate but close.. Milwaukee probe tester is cheap enough. or a similar product. it will help you out a lot in the end.

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I've got the probe now...stupid question but I asssume I can use it in liquid also to determine ph?

you only use it in liquid. did you get the 7.0 solution with it?? that's how you calibrate it. place the probe in the 7.0 if it reads 7.0 you're good if not use the screw driver to turn the screw until it reads correctly. MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN YOUR PROBE. people sometimes forget to clean off the probe and can get false readings because of salt buildup on the probe glass. spray it off with some water and let it air dry before placing the cap back on.

Screw the soil tester... it's just going to make you keep second guessing.

You might not have to flush plants... in fact, depending on where you are in your feed/water cycle you might not want to.
Flush them once you know what your run off is based on the results of the run off. So if the run off is lower than 6.0 or higher than 6.5 then you should flush if you don't know why.

It's not a bad thing to just flush them but once you start to get into a routine, you're only going to want to flush them at certain times.

You should be feeding clean water between nutes... 20% run off until you know your issue.

Actual flush = pot capacity x3 water poured through the pot.

Sorry for the confusion. I meant that I've got the soil probe and assumed it would test in liquid...What I use for liquid is the pool dye kit which is not giving me the granularity I need as I'm always lighter than the lightest color on the gauge which is 6.8 My tap water is always higher than the highest level which is 8.2! Sorry for all my confusion but your responses are really helping me thanks for your patience. I'll still do the soil PH test when they wake up in an hour and tell you what it is.

DanKill1 said:

Sorry for the confusion. I meant that I've got the soil probe and assumed it would test in liquid...What I use for liquid is the pool dye kit which is not giving me the granularity I need as I'm always lighter than the lightest color on the gauge which is 6.8 My tap water is always higher than the highest level which is 8.2! Sorry for all my confusion but your responses are really helping me thanks for your patience. I'll still do the soil PH test when they wake up in an hour and tell you what it is.

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Yeah soil probe was pointless....ph kit still reading above 8.2 by color so Ive got the ph down ready. Will flush tomorrow and keep ya posted. thanks
IRwan

DanKill1 said:

Sorry for the confusion. I meant that I've got the soil probe and assumed it would test in liquid...What I use for liquid is the pool dye kit which is not giving me the granularity I need as I'm always lighter than the lightest color on the gauge which is 6.8 My tap water is always higher than the highest level which is 8.2! Sorry for all my confusion but your responses are really helping me thanks for your patience. I'll still do the soil PH test when they wake up in an hour and tell you what it is.

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Remember to always check your soil the same amount of time after watering, as you will get different readings depending how wet the soil is.
Just for an experiment, try dipping right after you water, write that down, then again in a few days right before you water, and compare the two numbers.

Bakatare666 said:

Remember to always check your soil the same amount of time after watering, as you will get different readings depending how wet the soil is.
Just for an experiment, try dipping right after you water, write that down, then again in a few days right before you water, and compare the two numbers.

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Runoff pH with tap after flush was 7.0. Fingers crossed.

DanKill1 said:

I've got the probe now...stupid question but I asssume I can use it in liquid also to determine ph?

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Not a stupid question man........
The stupid question is the question that goes un-asked.

DanKill1 said:

Runoff pH with tap after flush was 7.0. Fingers crossed.

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And if I remember correctly, you said you tap water was PH'ing at 7.0?

Bakatare666 said:

And if I remember correctly, you said you tap water was PH'ing at 7.0?

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Actually higher close to 7.9...

DanKill1 said:

Actually higher close to 7.9...

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LOL, OK, that's what mine is and I haven't adjusted for PH since around October of last year.

How much water did you use to flush Dan? You want to flush a total amount of water times 2-3 the volume of the pot. It's best to only allow 20% runoff so you can get an accurate reading. ie in a 3 gal pour until about 1-2 quarts drain into the tray then test. Let it drain, do it again. I just flush and pour until I'm almost done and use a sample at the end. At 7.0 runoff assume 6.8 in the soil if you've flushed them right. This is ok but still a little hot. Check run off on the next nute. Be careful flushing them. If you do it twice in a row let it dry thoroughly in between or you might cause even more stress to an already stressed plant and make the problem worse.

Sheesh420 said:

How much water did you use to flush Dan? You want to flush a total amount of water times 2-3 the volume of the pot. It's best to only allow 20% runoff so you can get an accurate reading. ie in a 3 gal pour until about 1-2 quarts drain into the tray then test. Let it drain, do it again. I just flush and pour until I'm almost done and use a sample at the end. At 7.0 runoff assume 6.8 in the soil if you've flushed them right. This is ok but still a little hot. Check run off on the next nute. Be careful flushing them. If you do it twice in a row let it dry thoroughly in between or you might cause even more stress to an already stressed plant and make the problem worse.

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The girls are in two gallon pots so I did 6 gallons per plant give or take an ounce or two. I have to admit guys I have no patience and the way these girls look I was anxious so I went ahead and flushed them with the tap without the wait time. After all the discussion on the water and pH checked the soil runoff and with my 7.9 or so tap water going in it came out 7.0 or slightly lower. I just checked today and they've already showed signs of growth at the flowers but I'm still wondering when the leave will look better. I know it's only been a day but should I expect rapid change or slow change to know if my flush worked. By the growth I've noted just overnight I'd say yest but I want some input from the experts. If you can't tell already I'm already paying too much attention to this grow

My plan is to feed tap water until I see improvement or another problem. I'm going to leave the guano alone at this point although I don't believe in contributed to the lockout more than the nutes at 3/4 to full strength and the Chaching additive. Looking back I see it all clearly now How long should I give it? I'll post after pics based on the recommendation.

IRwan

Unfortunately, leaf damage does not 'heal', like a cut on your arm or something.
What you WILL see when the problem is resolved, is new growth that is normal, and no more progression of leaf damage.
Your runoff sounds good, and now just let it dry out good, wait for your next water, and enjoy the new growth.
If it was me, I wouldn't feed anything else until you start seeing some different discoloration, like lightening of leafs, or brown or yellow spotting starting to appear.
Those would be signs she is getting hungry.
IDK if I gave these already, but just in case.View attachment 2740356
.

Bakatare666 said:

Unfortunately, leaf damage does not 'heal', like a cut on your arm or something.
What you WILL see when the problem is resolved, is new growth that is normal, and no more progression of leaf damage.
Your runoff sounds good, and now just let it dry out good, wait for your next water, and enjoy the new growth.
If it was me, I wouldn't feed anything else until you start seeing some different discoloration, like lightening of leafs, or brown or yellow spotting starting to appear.
Those would be signs she is getting hungry.
IDK if I gave these already, but just in case.View attachment 2740356
.
View attachment 2740357

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You are so my hero. Appreciate it.

Don't call me a hero until you harvest, LOL.
Right click on those charts, and you can save them so you don't have to keep coming back to your thread if you want to look.

Dgringo69 said:

I have to agree with the addition of the dolomite lime. I have used this technique before and it has turned plants around. The lime will also take care of your calcium.

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Not trying to step on anybody's toes but doesn't lime/dolomite lime RAISE the ph???? Im pretty sure it does, the only home remedy to lower PH that I've found works is white vinegar and it only works as a temporary fix until you can get some ph down. Good luck and I hope you didn't use any lime!!

propertyoftheUS said:

Not trying to step on anybody's toes but doesn't lime/dolomite lime RAISE the ph???? Im pretty sure it does, the only home remedy to lower PH that I've found works is white vinegar and it only works as a temporary fix until you can get some ph down. Good luck and I hope you didn't use any lime!!

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Lime will raise slightly, if applied as a top dressing, but if mixed into the soil before planting, helps keep PH from dropping for the most part.
And, yes, Distilled white vinegar is a temp, about 1 capful of the Heinz cap per liter of water will bring you down about 1.0 or so.
I would put 2 capfuls into a 2 liter bottle, and come down from 7.9 to about 6.8 or 6.7
Since October of last year though, I have not done it at all, and had no problems.

I just bought some "super soil" additive, mainly guano, bonemeal, blood meal, and dolomitic lime. Well I mixed it a little lighter than recommended just so I didn't fry my babies but didn't read the fine print to "mix all ingredients thoroughly, wet down and let sit for at least 30 days" and for some reason I didn't check the ph before transplanting 20 cuttings. 3 days later all of my leaves were curled and the plants weren't looking health so upon finally checking the ph I found it was @ 3.5!!!Holy shit I'm done for now!! Well I went and purchased a bag of dolomitic lime and added it as a top dress and it raised it up to a comfortabl 5.5 and I thought I was in the clear. Now 45 days into it and I'm constatntly battling my raising ph do to the lime that was already in the mix. I can run 4.5 ph water and it will only drop my runoff to a 5.9 for the first few days and then back up to 6.8 to 7.5 by day 5. Should I try flushing the shit out of them or is there any other solutions you all can think of? I mean Ill keep ph downing them each week but its a real PITH!! Thanks yall!!