ph root zone
- Thread starter shehulk
- Start date
Flush with enough water for runoff that's about equal to your container size. If you want to be cautious, get about 50% runoff. If you're using a good soil, its probably acidifying from overfeeding which results in salt accumulation. Feed 50% strength nutes and see where the runoff ph and ppm goes, and if the plant shows signs of needing more nutes.
In the future you could add 1 tbsp/gal dolomite to your soil. There is a common perception commercial soils don't have enough. But, if you're overfeeding you probably don't need it. I.e., dolomite won't correct salt build up.
In the future you could add 1 tbsp/gal dolomite to your soil. There is a common perception commercial soils don't have enough. But, if you're overfeeding you probably don't need it. I.e., dolomite won't correct salt build up.
scunkworm
Active Member
what brand are you using at the moment? I've had the very same problems with my last 2 grows but when looking back I think that because there was so much nutes already in the soil it accumulated at the bottom of my pots, everything water, feed's etc was ph'd to 6.5-6.7 but the run off was way down in the 5's!
I even had dolomite lime added as a ph buffer but still the low run off, given that I think its good to have a weekly flush just to get the shit salt out the bottom of the pots and ready for you next feed with the added fact that your medium isn't gonna get something more of one and not the other and throw everything of track.
Well that's my 2sent of the matter plus I know from my own grows it can do your head in but just keep adding ph'd water and the ph will even out and b right, hope you have a really good grow my friend and just remember thres loads of people here who love to help out fellow growers. scunk
I even had dolomite lime added as a ph buffer but still the low run off, given that I think its good to have a weekly flush just to get the shit salt out the bottom of the pots and ready for you next feed with the added fact that your medium isn't gonna get something more of one and not the other and throw everything of track.
Well that's my 2sent of the matter plus I know from my own grows it can do your head in but just keep adding ph'd water and the ph will even out and b right, hope you have a really good grow my friend and just remember thres loads of people here who love to help out fellow growers. scunk
I don't think you need a flush agent. Just 50-100% runoff (compared to container size). Just a pure-water feed followed by half-strength nutes would probably turn it around quickly too.
You don't need to ph the flush water because it won't have enough buffering capability to hold that ph. I.e., it's a waste of time. Whatever you ph the water to, it will quickly give way to the ph of the soil (the salts, the materials in the soil which interact with water). Since your soil is acidic, if you were going to ph your water, ph it to 7.5 to help pull the soil higher. But, like I said, if it's low-ppm (pure water) it's going to have an insignificant effect on the ph of the soil, which will have a far stronger effect on the water's ph.
It's good you caught the acidity when you did. When my runoff went below 5.4, that's when I started having serious problems. Keep in mind that the soil ph rises as it dries. So, just because you see 5.4 when it's wet doesn't mean nutrients are locked out. If you let the soil dry adequately it will go up to 6.4. (After you get the salt problem fixed, and runoff is more like 5.8-6.0, the soil will go as high as 6.8-7.0 as it dries.).
If you're really into dialing in your soil ph, get a Control Wizard Accurate 8 ph probe. They cost $60. It's more accurate than those cheap probes sold at Home Depot. It's not completely accurate, but like monitoring runoff, you see trends as you take readings at different levels of dryness, different locations in the soil, etc. It's handy info in *addition* to runoff ph. Both runoff and probe measurements are a waste of time if you have your soil/nutes dialed in. But, the two together are useful when dealing with unknowns.
scunkworm
Active Member
If I remember rightly canna flush is used at 10% Canna flush to 5-10ltrs of water?