Need help...Massive Ph issue.

Well needless to say this is my first dirt grow and ran into a pretty big problem. To make a long story short I had watered the ladies with a pH pen I did not know was off (not calibrated). The ph pen actually told me my tap water was coming out around 9.4 when it was really coming out at 7.4. Needless to say I pH'd the water around those numbers and watered all the plants with a very low pH'd water. Checked my soil and it came out at 4.0(I bought a soil pH bluelab pen that is calibrated)! Question is do I flush the living shit out of them or can I really up the ph of the water higher and counter the lower numbers? Say if I pH'd the water at 8-9 would it balance out the soil and raise it quicker? I always used an NFT system and could fix this problem fairly quick if it arose but seeing as these are in 5 gallon pots of soil its a hell of alot harder to get these back up to normal range. Any suggestions or ideas? How high can I pH my water to where it would not damage the plants etc?

Id just do a normal ph flush, 2-3x the volume of soil so 10-15 gal in this case. Then id give em a good feed at the correct ph to give back some food.

juts let water set out overnight (de-natured) water and it will be your correct "ph" flush and you can also add nutrients to it

devn00b said:

Id just do a normal ph flush, 2-3x the volume of soil so 10-15 gal in this case. Then id give em a good feed at the correct ph to give back some food.

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Whats strange is that I did do that with quite a few of the plants and after a day of drying etc they hit 5.2. If I continually flush them with more than the 3x of the water at 7.4 I'm not seeing a huge jump in ph. After a day or so they lower back to a 5.0-5.3 range as when I had flushed the hell out of them I was getting 6.3.

Screw them pens man I had one when I first started about 3yeas ago and every now and then it would do that and have my ph jacked up. I started using the 3 drop ph solution tube thingy (don't know the name) and I have never looked back. Haven't had a ph issue since.

LoRd MeGaTR0N31 said:

Screw them pens man I had one when I first started about 3yeas ago and every now and then it would do that and have my ph jacked up. I started using the 3 drop ph solution tube thingy (don't know the name) and I have never looked back. Haven't had a ph issue since.

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Yeah man this thing was $160. It works damn good. I calibrated it to even make sure it was dead on. I am seeing curled leaves and discoloring on some of the plants which basically says they ain't eating/drinking. Seeing as the pH is off completely it explains it. It's a fucking bummer man! Flushing 36 plants ain't exactly easy if you know what I am saying.

I know what you mean I have been there and done it. Ive been growing organic for about a year now so I don't even check ph anymore. I just mix dolomite lime to my soil and that takes care of my Ph and Calmag. Organic is the Best imo way easier and cheaper for better medicine. I just let my water sit out for 24hours so the chlorine will evaporate then I just water no need to check ph.

devn00b said:

Id just do a normal ph flush, 2-3x the volume of soil so 10-15 gal in this case. Then id give em a good feed at the correct ph to give back some food.

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Flush toilets, NOT soil.....
pH of the run off is just that. The pH of the run off, not the pH of the soil.....
Soil self pH's.....Most GOOD soils contain dolomite and or oyster shell. These HELP regulate the soils pH....If you use a synthetic,,you really should use a "zyme" product to keep the living things in your soil THERE. The living things in the soil go a long way to controlling the pH also.

You water or feed and the pH goes up,,,,,as the soil dries back out the pH goes back down.....The range that is covered is controlled by what goes in and the soil it's self (It brings it down to the plants needs)......

Please don't flush, it won't help.....Add a zyme and pH anything going in to 6.5 and simply quit paying attention to the pH..

Dr. Who said:

Flush toilets, NOT soil.....
pH of the run off is just that. The pH of the run off, not the pH of the soil.....
Soil self pH's.....Most GOOD soils contain dolomite and or oyster shell. These HELP regulate the soils pH....If you use a synthetic,,you really should use a "zyme" product to keep the living things in your soil THERE. The living things in the soil go a long way to controlling the pH also.

You water or feed and the pH goes up,,,,,as the soil dries back out the pH goes back down.....The range that is covered is controlled by what goes in and the soil it's self (It brings it down to the plants needs)......

Please don't flush, it won't help.....Add a zyme and pH anything going in to 6.5 and simply quit paying attention to the pH..

Click to expand...

The info I was looking for. Thanks a lot bud. Although I was directly checking the soil's ph at these times and not the runoff. I was hitting 4.0 just ph'ing the soil directly. I got cannazyme. I am using Canna's entire line with Roots Organic Greenlite soil. Always been a winner for me (Canna that is). Will give this a try. Sound's like the best answer yet. Thanks for the information. Anyone have any info to chime in on the subject as well?