Hydrated Lime to Raise Soil PH

ProPheT 216

Well-Known Member
I'm growing in a sunshine mix of mostly peat. My pH has dropped to roughly 6. 6.1 and I would like to take it back up to 6.6. I have hydrated lime and liquid bone meal from the nectar for the gods nutrient line. I just transplanted from 1 liter pots to 7 gal pots. The soil in the 7 gal pots is 90% new and stable around 6.7 or so. The other 10% is the soil in my root ball that was transplanted that's reading like 6 now. Will they leach into each other and level off? Should I adjust pH? Adjust to desired range all at once or do it in stages? How do I make sure not to take my pH to 7 an accident?

Thanks in advance
 

ProPheT 216

Well-Known Member
So this is what I did, hope I didn't hurt any thing. I put 1 Ml of hydrated lime and 2 tsp of liquid bone meal per gallon of water then adjusted pH with pH down to 6.65. Watered slowly to make sure the old soil and root ball got the majority of the mix. I didn't water to the point of run off, just watered each one little by little till my 2 gallons was exhausted. Checked about twelve Hrs later and my pH appears to have adjusted from 6.0-6.1 to 6.3 6.4. Comments and thoughts please. I admit to being new to indoor horticulture, and my biggest challenge seems to be learning how to schedule feeding, flushing, pH adjustments, regular plain water feedings ect all together.

Any suggestions on a routine are very welcome

Thanks like always
 

rockymtnhigh

Well-Known Member
Doing a Demeter's Destiny and Herculean Harvest flush should work better than anything else to bring your ph up. I learned to grow in peat and that's all I ever grew in for 10 years, but I just switched to Nectar for the Gods #4 soil mix--which is coir fiber based--and it immediately solved the low ph problems you get with peat. Peat just doesn't drain well enough to use for optimal plant growth/production. I never used coco because I never saw any that didn't look like complete ass, but this stuff is totally different. It actually looks like peat, but it's not as spongy, so it drains immensely better. Get your grow store to order you a bag of their #4, do a test plant, and thank me later. Also, you don't need to amend it with anything. We use it right out of the bag and just add a little mycorrhiza to the root zone. No need to use nutes for about the first 30 days as its already got everything your babies will need. Trust me.
 
Top