Ph issue in flowering

Growing in fox farm ocean forest.
I have been using the fox farm dirty dozen and following schedule.
I always ph my water to 6.5 ph
Using distilled water with cal/mag added every feeding 4ml/gal

I’m going into week 4 of flowering and some of top leaves are showing problems. I tested my soil directly for the first time and it shows about 5.5.....

What steps should I take to get her back on track? Should I do a boomerang flush then feed with normal nutes? Or should I just flush with correct ph water?

Flush it with about 9 PH at 2 times the volume of the pot, retest. Feed at 7 PH to run off. Retest. Should settle in the mid to upper 6's.
Link to how I correct mid 5's... This is all assuming you have a good quality direct soil probe meter, like an Apera, or good BlueLab pen, and you are really at 5.5

Feed 6.8-7.0 from here on out.

plain tap if you do water only.

Thanks for your reply’s. I have two other plants showing similar symptoms.

Most likely what happened is your soil is too acidic. And the advice that @DoubleAtotheRON gave about watering with high ph will change that.

Im usually not a fan of flushing. But if everything is so acidic you may have no choice. Try doing just plain tap water till runoff on one. Then you will know the solution for next time

So hard flush some and plain water some. See what reacts better. This is where you practice trial and error

Yep... not knowing more about your setup, looks like it's starting to lockout.

DoubleAtotheRON said:

Yep... not knowing more about your setup, looks like it's starting to lockout.

Click to expand...

Is their a specific soil or nutrient line you would recommend? My tap water is so bad I have to start with R/O water.
Fox farm has been trouble for me.

Wattzzup said:

Feed 6.8-7.0 from here on out.

plain tap if you do water only.

Click to expand...

This 6.5 number for feeding IN SOIL is such a misnomer...it should be stated as the low side. Feed and water @ the same ph...I run mine anywhere from 6.5 to 7.0...usually the higher side of 6.7-6.9....plants thrive.
Mixed leds, high 70's low 80's temps at ALL TIMES...even lights out.
Lots of air movement/ exchange.
Good luck.
FF

FastFreddi said:

This 6.5 number for feeding IN SOIL is such a misnomer...it should be stated as the low side. Feed and water @ the same ph...I run mine anywhere from 6.5 to 7.0...usually the higher side of 6.7-6.9....plants thrive.
Mixed leds, high 70's low 80's temps at ALL TIMES...even lights out.
Lots of air movement/ exchange.
Good luck.
FF

Click to expand...

When you look it up it says 5.5-6-5 on google.

I have flushed with 8 gallons of 9 ph water and runoff is still 5 ph... not sure what to do

Leave it alone to dry. And from now on use tap water.

As stated above, let the pots dry out, not completely but pretty dry. Fill a same Sze pot with same mix...pick up, get a feel for it.
Water it as if watering a plant, wait til drainage stops, pick it up.
This is how you know when to water.
This wet -dry cycle allows the ph to change and usually lower as it dries.
This allows a good ph range for nutrient uptake.
Hth's...
FF

JoshKet said:

Is their a specific soil or nutrient line you would recommend? My tap water is so bad I have to start with R/O water.
Fox farm has been trouble for me.

Click to expand...

I've recently switched to the Flora Trio line... love it! Very easy to mix, and customizable. I wouldn't rely on run off ph, it's not going to be accurate. You need a good soil probe meter.

DoubleAtotheRON said:

I've recently switched to the Flora Trio line... love it! Very easy to mix, and customizable. I wouldn't rely on run off ph, it's not going to be accurate. You need a good soil probe meter.

Click to expand...

Do you use any salts during flowering like the fox farm line? Or is it just the trio and that’s it?

If your soil is acidic, you can add some dolomite lime. It will increase the pH and add calcium and magnesium at the same time.

@JoshKet ..Just the Flora Trio.. I do add Cal mag and Mammoth P, but that's it. Here’s something that may be of help. We do ALOT of run off when feeding. I know it sounds like a waste of nutes, but I do this for a living, so the cost is worth it for the production.
You will realize there are 3 variables going on here. First, what’s going in. Second, what’s coming out, and finally, what the soil buffers at.
Here’s what is going in...

And here’s what’s coming out (the runoff)
Notice how the PPM’s is higher?, but not like ALOT higher?.. that because I am semi flushing all the time, every time, and that's what keeps the PH more stable, and also flushes out salt buildup.
And here’s the 3rd variable, the root zone PH as it buffers with the feed in mix.




And just to give you an idea of how much runoff we get, here’s a link to the runoff of 8 fed plants on this tray....

I know this may not be applicable to your grow, but im just showing how the variables work. If you don't have good runoff, you're going to build up salts (eventually raising your ppm runoff when you don't flush often), keep your PH locked in low, and not create a stable medium.

DoubleAtotheRON said:

I know this may not be applicable to your grow, but im just showing how the variables work. If you don't have good runoff, you're going to build up salts (eventually raising your ppm runoff when you don't flush often), keep your PH locked in low, and not create a stable medium.

Click to expand...

Rep+ on this^^^^^ Bro.
FF

Wattzzup said:

When you look it up it says 5.5-6-5 on google.

Click to expand...

People who tell you 5.5-6.0 is a good value don't know what they are talking about. There is a huge difference in using soil or other grow medium.
This Image shows you that 6.5-7.0 is the best value for absorbing nutes. I never ever go below 6.5 myself and never have any issues.


As you can see on the graph 6.5 is the best point for absorbing all nutes.

GrowingAbroad said:

People who tell you 5.5-6.0 is a good value don't know what they are talking about. There is a huge difference in using soil or other grow medium.
This Image shows you that 6.5-7.0 is the best value for absorbing nutes. I never ever go below 6.5 myself and never have any issues.

As you can see on the graph 6.5 is the best point for absorbing all nutes.

Click to expand...

I believe this to be the reason for so many deficiencies for new growers.
Soil acidity increases due to always putting in low ph constantly, salts buildup, lockouts due to antagonist traits of micronutrients.
Raise the ph...simple really.
Never need calmag, but I am on town water.
FF