Ph problems?

[BBPac]

first grow is having some user error that I don’t know how to fix.
In the beginning of the grow i was watering with bottled purified water (now I know that was a mistake for not checking ph before), but after getting a run off ph of 4.86 I noticed that the ph going in was 5.55

When i noticed that i changed to dechlorinated tap water (ph at tap 7.26). After watering run off is now 5.21

Why is my run off ph dropping so much?
Do I just use ph up? Or is there something wrong with microbial life

Details of grow:
Ffof mixed with perlite
3 gallon fabric pot
No nuts yet
HLG 135 rspec LED
Light is 18/6
Day 17 of growth

 

[Wizzlebiz]

Its because testing runoff in soil does tell you truth.

Soil has pockets of nutirents and pockets of no nutrients. When you run water through that you get no real answers.

Can you post some pics of the plant so we can help you recover whatever is going on?

 

[Wattzzup]

Stop checking runoff.

if you have living soil don’t ph your water. Plain tap is fine. The microbes will take care of it for you.

 

[BBPac]

Its because testing runoff in soil does tell you truth.

Soil has pockets of nutirents and pockets of no nutrients. When you run water through that you get no real answers.

Can you post some pics of the plant so we can help you recover whatever is going on?

 

[BBPac]

Stop checking runoff.

if you have living soil don’t ph your water. Plain tap is fine. The microbes will take care of it for you.

Awesome, didn’t know that.

 

[hotrodharley]

Looks overwatered.

 

[BBPac]

Looks overwatered.

Probably is. When watering I wasn’t getting any runoff. So I continued till I saw it start coming out.
Now that I know that was a waste of my time I won’t water so much

 

[osowhom]

Probably is. When watering I wasn’t getting any runoff. So I continued till I saw it start coming out.
Now that I know that was a waste of my time I won’t water so much

let it dry out all the way in between waterings the pot should feel light when you lift it then water if its a 3 gallon pot i would say 1 gallon every 4 days or so

 

[BBPac]

let it dry out all the way in between waterings the pot should feel light when you lift it then water if its a 3 gallon pot i would say 1 gallon every 4 days or so

That’s generally what I’ve been trying to do, last watering was the 12th. I was just trying to get enough runoff this time to check ph / ppm this go round.

 

[thisbuds4u101]

Get your ph right before watering don’t worry about the dang runoff. Concentrate of what’s going in not coming out!
good luck

 

[Richard Drysift]

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You don’t have a ph issue. Plant is lush and green ....just water as needed. No need to ph anything growing in soil; the soil composition itself keeps ph balanced. Checking runoff tells you nothing. The droopy-ness is either from a lack of moisture or too much. Since you added extra perlite I’m guessing not enough; lift up the pots to gauge dry-ness. If you want to keep the soil active w/microbes add worm castings either as a top dressing or in tea form. Add granular mycorrhizae in the hole at each transplant; assists w/absorption.

 

[BBPac]

You don’t have a ph issue. Plant is lush and green ....just water as needed. No need to ph anything growing in soil

Stop checking runoff.

if you have living soil don’t ph your water. Plain tap is fine. The microbes will take care of it for you.

Good to know.
Probably a noob question, but growing in a 3 gal pot I’d assume I’ll need to add something to keep the medium alive / plant fed at some point? what should I be looking for as a good indicator for both microbes and nutes?

Knowing that FFOF doesn’t need anything but water, i’m just trying to plan ahead for when it does. I’m paranoid of nuking my first plant. I know less is more, but I also don’t want to starve it

 

[Richard Drysift]

Yes, worm castings. Look to keep your plant green and healthy; an indicator of this is a perky plant with flat leaves pointing skyward. Compost teas will help with this and giving them teas you’ll never have to worry about burning plants. You can prolong the viability of any mix just by adding back microbes in the form of compost regularly. This one simple thing can help eliminate a slew of potential issues such as ph lockout.