High PH and ensuing nute issues-Organic

[Northwood]

Those ecosystems had eons to get it right and we are trying to artificially create environments that echo that same simpatico.

Yeah but luckily unlike eons ago, we don't have to start with bare granite scraped clean by glaciers during the last glacial period. We can cheat a little bit. Lol

The issue is what to do when you have a situation like mine.

Hmm... I know what I would do. I'd stop doing whatever I was doing with my plants that might have made them that way. Since I don't know what you've put into your soil, I'd just stop putting anything into it now and just add pH'd water (just in case that's your issue as you mentioned). If pH is an issue, the biology in your soil might also be affected thus lowering the rate of mineralization in your soil. I'm not sure pH is your issue though since I haven't heard how quickly things decompose and disappear when added as a top dressing/mulch to your soil. If organic material tends to stick around for a long time, there's likely something inhibiting your biology and it could very well be pH. This is especially true if you added lots of soluble calcium sources to your initial soil mix to a peat-based medium that was already buffered by the producer.

 

[Nwtexan]

My initial mix on most of this was a soil base--In this case it was mostly Black Gold organic, which i don't think has a high calcium content. I added some EWC and a little bit of humus, as well as some additional perlite. It tested a bit higher than the other soil.

I top-dressed all of my plants about 5 weeks ago with some kelp meal, ewc, fishbone meal, and some dr earth flower girl 5 weeks ago, when i flippled. The plants responded well,
I was making teas with EWC and a bit of molasses each week, but stopped that when these PH issues first started. I'm thinking there could have been something with that.

 

[Nwtexan]

With my goals being being to both learn how I want to approach my future grows and hopefully have a good, tasty first yield, I am trying to combine a solid understanding of method and result. I would like to do this as organically as I can, though I want my dogma to be a bit more eastern(as in a practice and desire) as opposed to western(where the modality is immovable). The very word "organic" has evolved in what it really means over the last 20 years to where many of our local farmers who are the most concerned with providing healthy food for their community see the term and the way its regulated as not always being the best for either the people who eat the food or for the planet.

Each challenge has been a great learning point for me, and the wide range of information that I get to my questions has been helpful in finding my path forward. I like understanding things, and the knowledge and learning is every bit as important to me as the end product.

I called Botanicare to ask if their Calmag plus killed beneficial organisms. I talked to one of their tech people. He said that it would have no effect on beneficials unless it was severely over-applied. I also asked an organic science friend of mine about using PH up and down. Same--He said the issue would only be if the PH swung out of levels that the organisms could live in. Whether you use lemon juice(citric acid), vinegar(acetic acid) of PH down(acetic and phosphoric acid), they all do the same thing, and none of them affect the "organic" content more than the other.

In any case, I added some vinegar to get my PH down to around 6.5. I have a small amount of Calmag in the water, just in case it is a non PH calcium deficiency.

My plants are just hitting 4 weeks of flower. I need to stabilize the necrosis of these leaves so the G13 can go the full 10 or so weeks.
Its been a good 1 1/2 weeks since the symptoms started and the less invasive methods weren't working.

Thanks again for all info and help.

 

[myke]

My initial mix on most of this was a soil base--In this case it was mostly Black Gold organic, which i don't think has a high calcium content. I added some EWC and a little bit of humus, as well as some additional perlite. It tested a bit higher than the other soil.

I top-dressed all of my plants about 5 weeks ago with some kelp meal, ewc, fishbone meal, and some dr earth flower girl 5 weeks ago, when i flippled. The plants responded well,
I was making teas with EWC and a bit of molasses each week, but stopped that when these PH issues first started. I'm thinking there could have been something with that.

The molasses will drop the pH,I tried 1 tbls to 3 gallons of 7.2 tap water.Stirred in after a day water was 5.5.I didnt see any positive results so Ive quit using it.

 

[Nwtexan]

The molasses will drop the pH,I tried 1 tbls to 3 gallons of 7.2 tap water.Stirred in after a day water was 5.5.I didnt see any positive results so Ive quit using it.

Thanks for the tip. I was using teas once a week that included a bit of molasses. That was the last thing I did when I started having this issue. Not saying it was the molasses, or the tea for that matter, but just trying to eliminate possible issues

 

[MustangStudFarm]

I appreciate that, and am slowly moving forward, I'm actually pretty up on my well water. I have a slightly above neutral PH, around 7.1. I have low mineral content, around 75PPM. I have a chemical test and my calcium is around 40-50PPM, which is pretty low for any water, espeically well water. I was originally using Calmag but as i was looking into organic was advised against it

Right, my well water is around 300ppm, which is borderline high... It's the sodium and carbonate that will cause problems.

 

[MustangStudFarm]

This all makes sense to me. The issue is what to do when you have a situation like mine.
Those ecosystems had eons to get it right and we are trying to artificially create environments that echo that same simpatico.

I am really just trying to find that simple consistent method and style. I grew up deep in the organic world as a kid and I know both the deep wisdom and some of the passed on wives tales that often walk side by side.

I think once I have my soil dialed in and understand how that works with my water, I will feel pretty comfortable with it all.

I will try PH'ing the water, and hopefully find a route out of this situation. There are still about 5 weeks left in flower

Yeah, what he is referring to will only grow a select species of plants. I wonder how a cannabis plant would do in these forrests and grasslands that he is referring to. Northwood tries really hard to sound smart, but it's just all ego in the end.

 

[MustangStudFarm]

In any case, I added some vinegar to get my PH down to around 6.5. I have a small amount of Calmag in the water, just in case it is a non PH calcium deficiency.

Korean Natural Farming uses Brown Rice Vinegar, so I think that you made the right move for Ph adjustment. I have apple cider vinegar which is the next best vinegar.

 

[Nwtexan]

Korean Natural Farming uses Brown Rice Vinegar, so I think that you made the right move for Ph adjustment. I have apple cider vinegar which is the next best vinegar.

From what I'm learning, all of the PH down products, whether organic or not, ultimately use similar acids to achieve their results. I don't know about possible additional positive outcomes from organic products, but it seems logical that outside of being able to say "I am organic", it may in fact be no more harmful to the plant or all the critters.

I did want to also spread a teeny bit of peace. I have noticed a lot of aggression scattered through these forums, which is ironic based on a plant that should be providing folks comfort. I don't take anyone's posts as attacks, and I want to encourage, at least in the threads that I am on, a positive series of interactions. There is a lot of suffering out there. Let's love one another, and appreciate the giving and sharing of information on such a cool subject.

Peace