Still having PH problems. Is PH Perfect a solution?

Hi Guys

I posted a thread on my ph issues previously and received some great information and advice to try in correcting it.

I have three plants. One I believe will be male and two have shown themselves to be female. All plants were planted from seed on April 3. Side note: There seems to be some alternating views on whether or not you can pre-sex a plant. Well, in my specific experience you can. at present age, much to my surprise, the two assumed females shot out a few pistols at the higher nodes. But that is going in a different direction than what the original purpose of this post is for.

So, for set up. I have one blackstar 240W led and 1 - 6 bulb, 325W T5HO fixture running 4 54w bulbs at 6500 and 2 at 2700 (will switch all of them over when I switch to 12/12. Nutrients being fed (they have only been fed twice and at 1/4 strength due to the ph issues and me not wanting to over nute the plants and cause a lock out in addition to the PH issue) is the flora series by GH. soil was miracle grow moisture control with added perlite (yes, I know. I learned my lesson on that one ).

I have tried everything to try and correct the issue. from flushing with neutral water, to flushing with Ph8 water, to adding hydrogenated lime, to adding dolomite lime, to adding Cal/Mag. With the amount of corrective substances I've added, the soil should have a high ph of at least 8 or 9, but alas, I can not, for the life of me get it past Ph5.3.

Now, I suspect that there is a lack of organic material in the soil as I've read that if organic matter is low, so will the PH of the soil. Can any one else verify this?

Also, being that I feel I have tried just about everything I can, shy of either repotting them or rinsing the roots and trying to safely move to hydroponic (yes, I know how much this would stress the plant if not done very cautiously), would switching nute to Advanced Nutrients PH Perfect Micro Grow Bloom Base correct this issue and allow my plants to get the nutrients they need?

Up to now, they have been able to get the amount of nutrients they need, barely. But now that they are at the beginnings of maturity, they are starting to show MAJOR signs of nutrient deficiencies such as Cal, Mag, Nit, Phos, Potash, etc.... Just about everything.

So my question, does any one have any experience with these PH perfect nutes and are wiling to share how it corrected, stabilized or otherwise controlled any pre-existing PH problems that couldn't be solved by normal or typical methods.

I am at a total loss here as this is my first grow. I've been told the mere fact that I have got the plants to maturity shows I am doing something right. But, I worry that if I dont get this PH issues under control before I flip them, they will not survive until harvest.

Any help is very appreciated!

I think you're stuck with repotting.
A lime drench has some pH-stabilizing effect, but it is so much more effective and long-lasting to admix dolomite lime to the soil before potting. And adding lime etc. is just "top-dressing" as you can't get it into the root ball without harming it. I would be very careful with hydrated lime ... it is strongly alkaline. You might have singed the roots.

Afaik "pH Perfect" is intended for hydro grows, and soilless to a lesser extent.

An across-the-board deficiency can be several different things: pH, water, maybe root pests. A friend's grow manifested broad-spectrum deficiencies late in flower, and it turned out to be a raging infestation of thrips too small to see with a magnifier!

The trouble is, treating each cause of plant sickness is different, and the right thing for one cause can be the wrong thing for another.

But drenching the plant and soil with insecticidal soap is a safe thing to try, maybe; take with grain of salt. cn

Whoa whoa whoa...How are you testing the ph? Are you checking runoff?

Maybe the soil has nutrients in it and you are burning them by adding more? I thought in soil PH really wasn't an issue?
Different nutes aren't going to solve your problem if you have shitty medium.

After you flushed how long did you wait before trying to feed? Did the plants give an indication that they needed food?

I think you might be trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist and in doing so you are creating a problem.

Hi Cannabineer,

Thanks for your response. You bring a value idea that I hadn't considered... Thirps are very much a possibility I think. After doing some quick reading, they do lower soil PH and that could explain why regardless of how much I flush them with, the run off will only hit a peak of 5.3; even when flushing with ph8 water.

I have some sort of solution sample that was given to me by my local grow store that is supposed to kill any soil pests. I will try that tonight and provide na update next week to update on their progress (and maybe post some before and after pics).

Repot with a good grade indoor potting mix. The soil is always stabilized at 7, which is relatively easy to adjust, and don't forget to add lime to the new soil and you should be fine.

Hi SlaveNoMore - I test the PH with a Milwakee 600 testing ph. I do test both the input water and the run off. The run off has never gone above 5.3.

As for feeding, over the entire month and a half, they have only been fed twice with 1/4 strength nutes. With the PH the way it was, I didn't want to worsen the situation before correcting the ph issue. I figured there was no sense in adding nutes ot the soil if the ph is out of range to make those nutes available to the plant.

So I guess the next question, if it turns out it isn't thirps and it is just shitty soil, how does one safely repot a plant that is already in a 3 gal pot without destroying root mass? I dont think the roots would be anywhere near developed enough to hold the soilmass together during transplant.

Jimdamick - Agreed. Any future grows will be done with medium less soil. F*ck this Miracle Grow crap! lol

Any suggestions on what a good medium to use for a noob with no experience growing pot but lots of experience with growing vegetables indoors(pot seems to be much more finicky than tomato plants LOL)

You can repot into a 5 gallon and just shake off as much soil as possible....Coco all the way for me.

cannabineer said:

Afaik "pH Perfect" is intended for hydro grows, and soilless to a lesser extent.

Click to expand...

This is true. So unfortunately for your problem the pH Perfect nutes won't be the answer. At least not the whole answer.

Ditch the Miracle Grow, that's for mom's petunias. Re-pot into something decent and most of the problems should be solved. If not, pH Perfect may solve the rest of them.