changing water ph, but run off stays constant....

Hey everyone!! I mix my own soil and it has worked Great for me so i decided to get a larger quantity.... So the thing is I switched from small bags of sphagnum peat moss ( which im guessing are targeted toward potted plants) to these bigger brick types (since its more for less) that seems to be for the yard...well I have had horrible issues trying to get my run off ph above 6.1 and I can see the damage since my plants are almost a month old and TINY... To even get to the 6.1 run off the water i use is around 8.1-8.5 which is Crazy!! The smaller bags i used to use i hardly even had to check the ph since it always stayed around .1-.2 difference from the water... Yes I know the solution is too drop this bigger bag and stick with the other, but my question is... why the heck is this happening .. they seem the same in every aspect (looks,texture...even smell lol)... is there anything i can do for my plants that are using it now?

Moss holds a lot ...A LOT of water for it size, in that water you have compounds that are fuck'in with your Ph... you have 2 choices, continue playing with that soil and have no bud, or go get a bag of perlite and Ocean Forest, and potup, you may get some bud ...doing this, as more theory is required at this stage on your study of soils

I didn't add what i use totally but yes thats one component of my mix the ONLY thing i've change that could hv effected it like that... really odd too since u can keep raising the ph and it hardly does anything to the run off my main components are moss, perlite, vermiculite. Also one has just been transplanted from the party size cup i usually use to start.... is there any way to help them out? (add in my reg moss? or somehow change it out lol)

peat moss is acidic. stop chasing ph and just let it grow. it will, if you let it.

6.1 runoff is not bad. leave it alone.

not bad? thats the only thing ive change and have used these seeds before (by now they usually are atleast a foot tall) and for a month....there not even 6inch...lmao but i'll give it a try I hv a few more seed just n case i guess............... Thanks for the feedback!

imvho, the ph of the run off tells you nothing, other then the ph of the run off, meaning, it's a useless pos number.. i've never, not once, checked the ph of my run off as it tells me absolutely nothing about my plants, and from what i've seen, it causes people more issues chasing some number and damages plants more then anything..
my $.02

ya might be true... just driving me nuts that out of no were there seems to be stunted growth and thats the ONLY thing that ive changed.... THANKs all for the feedback gonna try a couple things you guys hv all really helped out...got me thinking

I agree with Racer 100%. Now with that said.

How about you give us this "formula" for soil mix that you use and we can see from that what the problem MIGHT be.

I don't see dolomite lime or any rock dust that help in that and other area's.
I might run my BASIC soil as 3 equal parts of Canadian peat,perlite and worm castings.
Then you add dolomite lime for pH control.
To go super soil style, you then add Kelp meal, an organic fert mix of your choice that you mix, rock dust, alfalfa meal.

You're giving them water with a pH of 8.5 and are wondering why they're stunted? Ignore the runoff ph, just make sure its getting fed the right pH.

Try to get your dirt mixed up a good month or two before your next grow so you have time to adjust ph if needed. Lime should be in your recipe to buffer. Agree with tip top^.

Although a LOT of people seem to think pH runoff tells you nothing, including people I have the utmost respect on here for, I have to disagree. When taking a class on advanced horticulture in college, I remember that all we did was test the pH of runoff because the professor taught us that it gave a more accurate representation of how the soil and your water are reacting together. I don't believe however that you should be changing your waters pH to compensate for the pH of your runoff. The reason your runoff has such a low pH is most definitely because of the peat moss. Most likely you used too much of it without adding proper levels of a buffer such as lime to the mixture

as mentioned, "chasing," ph is a mistake, and will drive you nuts!!! i too never mess with my run-off ph, for the most part, it means nothing. as long as you properly ph "everything," you put in/on the plants, you shouldn't have to worry about run-off ph. i can't remember if you said you're plants are displaying any issues. if the plants look happy/healthy, why mess with r/o ph??? in soil, i always allow for a bit of run-off (r/o.) of course the ph is gonna be different coming out, versus going in. the r/o is washing out built up nutes from your medium, which will effect your ph. unless my plants are really messed up looking, i don't check the r/o ph, no reason to.