Medium pH Correction (Soil and Coco)
- Thread starter Renfro
- Start date
She is in veg ! It’s actually do for a top dressing.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
hmmm... as the plants get larger so does their need for feed. what was enough when they were young might not be enough now. I am not experienced with the organic methods so you might wanna seek advice in the organics section before making any changes to the pH.
That said, if you trust the meters pH reading and wish to drop the pH from say 7.8 to say 6.8 then I would give a watering at 5.8 and recheck where it's at periodically between watering again. It should drop down after the watering to say 5.9 or 6.0 but drift back up some ending up closer to 6.8, maybe 7.0 ish when it's time to water again.
Still I don't trust those meters for pH...
Another thing that I know is when the bacteria do their thing they excrete organic acids thus lowering the pH. A thriving colony of beneficial bacteria like Tribus Original would not only help with nutrient uptake but lower the pH some in the process. So this may be something to consider as a long term solution, obviously it's not a quick fix.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
I bought one of those cheap Amazon ones too and sent it back as soon I realized it was worthless. The pH readings they give are useless.
Yup I definitely will tomorrow. Thanks for the info much appreciated!!
Yeah I just wanted to at least get an idea but it definitely seems finicky.
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
The Blue Lab is the shit, but even a simple pH test kit is better than those cheap probes.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
Exactly. A grossly inaccurate meter is worse than no meter at all. Leads you down the wrong path and in turn just creates more problems.
XtraGood
Well-Known Member
In 10-15 gal coco here, I'll probably end up getting a decent soil ph meter soon, I'm looking at the Blue Lab Stick and the Apera Stick (PH60S)
Any reason to pick one over the other or should I be looking to go for the handheld meter versions?
Any reason to pick one over the other or should I be looking to go for the handheld meter versions?
Renfro
Well-Known Member
Well, the PH60S is an excellent tool, the probe is very fragile so thats it's main down point other than cost. It also doesn't get as deep into the medium as the bluelab. The reading is fast and accuracy is 2 points. I use this one a lot, even for just reading nutes.
The bluelab gets a little deeper reading, takes a little bit longer to stabilize. With the apera you can see it moving due to the extra point of accuracy, with the blue lab you just have to wait to be sure it won't jump another point.
The handheld meter is something I will let @DoubleAtotheRON comment on as he has an Apera handheld thats really nice.
I will say that if I had to chose just one of the two I have it would be a tough choice. I would probably side with the Apera but it's a tough decision made a little easier in my mind since bluelab has been jacking their price recently. That just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
DoubleAtotheRON
Well-Known Member
AAhhem!. I heard my name. My experience with Apera. First, don't buy off of Amazon as they are selling older models. I went through 2 with Amazon. Both had Error5 codes which means the probe is getting old. I then bought direct from Apera. No problems since. I do like the fact that the technology is very good and accurate. It has a Swiss glass tip probe that will spear the soil to 4-5 inches. Readings are fast, it has a memory bank, USB upload port if you want to load up your stored readings. It reads both soil, and liquid which makes it handy for reading your liquid mix on the bench. 3 point (7,4,10.1) calibration takes about 2 min to do, but is not necessary very often, but I do it when I think about it. You can just dunk the probe in the 7 solution if you want to do a quick spot check of calibration. The whole unit is waterproof, and comes with backlight display if your checking things after lights out. The cover is a rubber type material, and grips to just about anything. It also had a 45 degree flip out stand for easier visibility on the bench. It also has temp readings of your soil/liquid. It's not the cheapest tool in the shed at $440.00, but I would do it again. I use this thing every single day we have an active grow going on, and it has really helped me to know what counter actions I need to do. Lastly, @Renfro was the one who educated me on the importance of knowing your PH, and Im def glad I ran across his advise. It was my decision to buy what I thought I needed. I know it's alot of cash for a tool, but in the grand scheme of things, it's well worth it. You want to dig a hole with a spoon or a backhoe?
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Renfro
Well-Known Member
I second this... This likely applies to many other things from other manufacturers with Amazon.
Now that I really like. Man Imma have to get one of those down the road. That type setup would be absolutely must have with larger plant numbers. Recording that shit by hand really adds a lot of time to the process.
Definitely high explosive. lol
Reminds me of taking stumps out with my grand father. Back in the day it was easy to buy dynamite for agricultural purposes. Or just mix up some anfo lol. Just don't mess with sticks of dynamite that are sweating, thats nitroglycerin, fart by it and set off the works. At least thats what my grandpa warned me sternly about. Gosh times were different back then. You learned about stuff like that along with learning how to fix the tractor or replace the well pump or shoot your dinner. It was just common sense knowledge, at least in the country.
DoubleAtotheRON
Well-Known Member
Definitely!.. I was 6 when my dad taught me how to mow the lawn.. it wasn't "Here's the pattern you want to shoot for"...it was him taking a stalk of okra out of the garden, and stuffing it under the mower deck, and shit went flying. His words were "If you get your foot caught up in there, that's what's going to happen to it.. now, get after it"...and that was my mowing lesson. .... speaking of tractors, my Grandfather had an old tractor that had a bad kill switch, so his method was to lay his arm across the plugs to ground himself and kill it. People were tougher back then.
XtraGood
Well-Known Member
I try to borrow the backhoes, this I'll buy.
It'll be a short waiting game for me if I decide on the handheld, I'm pretty short on cash that is easy to spend for a couple weeks or until the covid checks show up. I was temped to go for the blue lab stick to get deeper into the 15gals and wait for readings, but Ron's got me mostly sold on the fancy one.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
I love it, stimulus money being put to good use.
DoubleAtotheRON
Well-Known Member
Another one sold @Renfro ! where's my commission check???? LOL!.. but seriously, I've always had this philosophy of you get what you pay for. When I buy sound, I buy Bose. Tractors..John Deere.. People say "Thats too much for a ______", Well, I still have Bose equipment that's kicking ass after 20 years. I like stuff that will last, and sometimes you gotta pay a little more now, or a lot later.View attachment 4532075
I try to borrow the backhoes, this I'll buy.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
Yeah I agree with that 100%. Good tools instead of harbor freight ones lol
DoubleAtotheRON
Well-Known Member
Geez!.. my dad is a HF fool. Last thing he bought was a concrete mixer. About the 3rd time we used it, the keyway broke. We had to haul it down to his shop and weld the drive shaft to the mix bowl. LOL!
Renfro
Well-Known Member
My moms boyfriend liked to buy that crap. Even if you tried to fix that shit you would find cross threaded screws and just all sorts of defects.