soil buffer, and ph adjustments

i grow outdoors

i have a question about how soil buffers work, so i've been growing for a few years using terra canna professional which has a ph of around 5.8

i was told that soils have buffers that make it so the ph always stays the same, if that's so, what's the point of adjusting ph before watering? if the soil adjusts itself?


how long do these buffers last? do they get used up with time?


does flushing a plant use up the buffer? i wanna do a flush before up-potting my girls to get rid of excess salts, when i flush i usually run tap water trough the soil for half an hour or so, until the water comes out clear and not yellow


would this consume the ph buffer? i wanna flush before uppotting from a 3gal container to a 10 gal one, and then do another flush a week or so before they switch to flowering.

Soil doesn’t need a buffer other than lime

I grow outdoors in roots organics 707 and I don't ph or flush. I top dress in flower but that's about it.

greentree420 said:

I grow outdoors in roots organics 707 and I don't ph or flush. I top dress in flower but that's about it.

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doesn't really answer my question

I grow in soil, well water runs at 7ph. I don't ph a thing. If your soil is proper and your water is not wacky low or high ph, you're good to go. I should say I test soil periodically. Maybe once a season, no more, often less. Good soil is magical.

lilnug420 said:

doesn't really answer my question

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The buffer might get flushed out. I wouldn't flush your plants no need in soil. Maybe if you're using salt based nutes you might flush I don't know. You can use organic based nutes and top dress and get good results. The soil I use there's no need to ph because it has lime in it. Most good soil's have buffer so there's no need to ph.

i saw this chart online:


considering i'm using ph drops to mesure, so i'm never going to be very accurate, (i have 2 cheap ph meters, but i don't trust them too much, and i cant afford the professional stuff, and even if i did, i'm too clumsy and would probably drop it a month after owning it)

would it be ok if one time i water at around 5/5.5 ph and the other closer to 6/6.5ph?

so i would go trough all the ph ranges where the nutrients are available?

lilnug420 said:

i saw this chart online:


considering i'm using ph drops to mesure, so i'm never going to be very accurate, (i have 2 cheap ph meters, but i don't trust them too much, and i cant afford the professional stuff, and even if i did, i'm too clumsy and would probably drop it a month after owning it)

would it be ok if one time i water at around 5/5.5 ph and the other closer to 6/6.5ph?

so i would go trough all the ph ranges where the nutrients are available?


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In soil just aim for 6.8pH as close as you can. Don't trip on anything else, might fall and bump your head.