PH Problems

MaryJaneAdvocate

MaryJaneAdvocate

Active Member
I am using two different ways to check PH.

The first way I tested it was with those little PH strips people use for pools and spas and what not. This one is telling me I have a PH of 5.5/6

The other method is a General Hydroponics PH test indicator (the kind where you fill a vial with the water and add a few drops of a solution) This one is telling me 8.5.

Which one do I believe? I am confused as all hell lol.
 
MaryJaneAdvocate

MaryJaneAdvocate

Active Member
Actually they are PH test strips for WATER. It says nothing about a pool. That was what I could associate them with so you would know what I was talking about. It is a "Better Health" branded product so no, not for a pool. I would lean toward the GH knowing better, but I needed a second opinion... anyone else's opinions welcome lol.

EDIT: Also, for those of you who have PH up and down products, on avg. how many drops from a dropper do you use to correct the PH, thanks in advance.
 
B

briccksquad

Member
I cant stand the strips I would go with the liquid kit, are you in soil? you can water a good bit with some wood ash to buffer your soil
 
MaryJaneAdvocate

MaryJaneAdvocate

Active Member
Awesome! Thanks a lot, and yes I am in soil. I will need to check out watering with some wood ash, thanks for the idea, I believe I read that somewhere... Anyways thanks for the reply and info, it is well appreciated here!
 
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Well-Known Member
I have used GH drops to test my pH, they are reasonably close, exact accuracy is just not that important
Dr. Jekyll

General Hydroponics business model is making products specifically for MJ growers.
Paper pH test-strips are generally used for fish aquariums, pools and spas, tough call on which one to trust
Mr. Hyde
 
CouchlockOR

CouchlockOR

Active Member
pH testing is pH testing wether you are doing chemistry or gardening. If you plan on really growing ditch the strips and vials and get a pH pen like the one from blue lab. Accuracy is very important.
 
JohnDee

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
MJA,
Odd that they should differ that much. PH is quite temperature sensitive and perhaps the two different tests were on different temperatures of water/nute samples.

I used the strips when I first started hydro many years ago. It was a rough guideline but plants did OK.

Most opinions favor the drop test method over the strips. And of course, a quality electronic tester is numero uno.
JD
 
beuffer420

beuffer420

Well-Known Member
Hanna I believe makes a decent pen for like 30 bucks. IMO 30 dollars is a small price to pay for the health of your plants and satisfaction of knowing where your ph is.
 
Dr. Who

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
Pen this and tester that....BS!

First off...what soil?

What are you feeding? How often? How much?

If you test the run off your ONLY GETTING the pH of the RUN OFF - NOT the pH of the soil...Rule of thumb; Water/feed and your soil will drop a while and as time goes buy it will rise again,,,then balance it's self out....

Soils with coco are more difficult to maintain pH balance....and hold more nutrient "salts" from feedings...
Peat based soils are more forgiving and when compounded properly do not REQUIRE pH monitoring.
Poor or low quality soil's can be amended to quality soil levels of pH consistency.

soils ready right out of the bag/my two favs
Potter's gold
Dr Earths POTting soil

Good healthy soil SELF pH's as long as the living goodies in the soil are cared for too!
 
MaryJaneAdvocate

MaryJaneAdvocate

Active Member
That ph pen by Hanna will need to be checked into by myself.

i am running fox farm happy frog mixed with about 50% perlite. I didn't get the dolomite like in there like I wanted to but o well, next grow will do. I haven't fed at all yet as I am just getting the water to a satisfying enough ph level for the plants. They are seedlings, auto flowers. The nutes I do have will be fed in 1/4 doses at about week 3, maybe even 4. They are jungle juice micro grow bloom and I also have big bud. I plan to help out the lil guys in the soil with some agave nectar, I am not sure when to start doing that though.
 
BigEasy1

BigEasy1

Well-Known Member
I have the red Hannah one. It was like 30 or 40 bucks. I tested my tap water and it was in range and I haven't tested it again in probably a year. I have no issues with water but you still need a PH meter.
 
Dr. Who

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
OK,,nothing bad there.
Sprinkle or stir in as possible the Lime to help out the soils ability to maintain a pH consistently.....
Auto flowers,,,fussy feeders and like proper CalMag levels....
Use an AACT every now and then to keep your bio's in the soil at peak levels - THIS WILL KEEP YOUR SOIL SELF pHing!
Agave nectar? why? I would use blackstrap molasses instead!
Might think about some form of kelp extract.....I like sea green!!! GREAT STUFF
 
Nullis

Nullis

Moderator
Do they have happen to have separate color correspondences that you might be confusing? What is the range on either product (e.g. pH 4-9)? Was the temperature of both samples the same? Are there high levels of chlorine in the water?

AFAIK both the test strips and the liquid drops are actually the same indicator agent, which is called phenol red (phenolsulfonphthalein). This method of testing should actually be more accurate than most cheap electronic pH pens. Chlorine and excessive bromine can actually interfere with the results of the test, though.

BTW in soil it is much better to use dolomitic limestone or garden lime in the soil than fuss with pH drops that don't provide a long-term solution. Wood ash could be used but I would use lime, you just can't use any old ash though. How much lime to use would depend a bit on the soil, and your water source (often water has mineral bicarbonates dissolved in it- solubilized lime basically).
 
MaryJaneAdvocate

MaryJaneAdvocate

Active Member
No, I know not to ph run off, I was just trying to PH my tap water in a gallon jug so that I know how many drops to do to make it as stable and as good as possible when I am watering. Agave nectar for the sweetness and the carbs in it for the little micros and the plant. Yea I really wanna make sure that these plants are getting their calmag. I know those micro nutes have calmag in it, but it is not sufficient throughout the growth as there are high nitrogen levels in it. Best PH for marijuana is like a 6.0 to a 6.8 correct? I am going to check those products out!!
 
MaryJaneAdvocate

MaryJaneAdvocate

Active Member
Nullis said:
Do they have happen to have separate color correspondences that you might be confusing? What is the range on either product (e.g. pH 4-9)? Was the temperature of both samples the same? Are there high levels of chlorine in the water?

AFAIK both the test strips and the liquid drops are actually the same indicator agent, which is called phenol red (phenolsulfonphthalein). This method of testing should actually be more accurate than most cheap electronic pH pens. Chlorine and excessive bromine can actually interfere with the results of the test, though.

BTW in soil it is much better to use dolomitic limestone or garden lime in the soil than fuss with pH drops that don't provide a long-term solution. Wood ash could be used but I would use lime, you just can't use any old ash though. How much lime to use would depend a bit on the soil, and your water source (often water has mineral bicarbonates dissolved in it- solubilized lime basically).
Click to expand...
They do have separate color correspondence, but I match it to the bottle every time so that is not a concern. There may have been a water temp difference, but now the water has set over night so I am going to test it again here in a second, same temps, different tests again.
 
Nullis

Nullis

Moderator
Dolomitic limestone has calcium and magnesium. Calcitic lime is just calcium carbonate and supplies calcium.

Yes pH effects nutrient availability, but in soil and especially living soil (as soil should be) there are a lot of other things going on that influence both pH (in specific areas) and nutrient availability. In soil, just because the pH is 6 in one place doesn't necessarily mean it is the same in another, or in other words it isn't homogenous. Soil itself resists sudden changes in pH, due its cation exchange capacity. It is limed to bring the material pH up near neutral (as some materials used e.g. sphagnum are acidic), supply Ca and Mg and further help the potting mix resist pH change by neutralizing acids in the media over time.
 
MaryJaneAdvocate

MaryJaneAdvocate

Active Member
Maybe I am just paranoid as all hell then, lol. I just want the grow to go well, lol. Tap is 7 when it comes out I believe. This is with a little PH down.
 
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