ph

i am growing in dirt using sunshine advanced mix 2 and the flora series nutrients, my ph runoff is at 5.2 however the ph of the water going in is 6.8. Should i be setting the ph to
around 8.3 or so trying to acomplish a runoff ph of 6.5?
Also how often should i be watering?

Water the plant until you get run-off, then feel the weight of the pot. Let it dry out well, and feel the weight. That is the best way to get the "feel" of when to water.
As for pH in soil, what goes in and comes out is really pretty much immaterial. It's the actual pH of the soil you are concerned with. Check my journal post on pH. It may help you understand it better.

Jack Harer said:

Water the plant until you get run-off, then feel the weight of the pot. Let it dry out well, and feel the weight. That is the best way to get the "feel" of when to water.
As for pH in soil, what goes in and comes out is really pretty much immaterial. It's the actual pH of the soil you are concerned with. Check my journal post on pH. It may help you understand it better.

Click to expand...

how should i be testing the ph? I was testing the runoff. the runoff is 5.3
What should the ph of the mix be before watering?

The pH of the SOIL should be around 6.8. It tells how to check that in my journal.

do you have a link to your journal post?

Bk4mr said:

do you have a link to your journal post?

Click to expand...

Click his display name and then click "View journal entries"

I found it

i don't worry about the ph in soil grows if i start with a good potting soil mix.

Are you saying my choice of grow medium is not the best? what kind if soil do you use?

Always best to use neutral soil, nothing pre-nuted or enriched time released soils etc..., so you can control the application of nutrients yourself.

i use sunshine advanced mix 2 for grow medium. the real problem here is the leaves are curling under during the vegging and flowering cycles. so most likely there is a ph problem blocking
one or more nutrients to the plant. the water is ph'd to 6.8 but the runoff is 5.3
How do you change the ph of the soil when the plant is a month old and you cannot just mix a little of dolomite in with it?

how old are your plants, what are you feeding them?

Bk4mr said:

i use sunshine advanced mix 2 for grow medium. the real problem here is the leaves are curling under during the vegging and flowering cycles. so most likely there is a ph problem blocking
one or more nutrients to the plant. the water is ph'd to 6.8 but the runoff is 5.3
How do you change the ph of the soil when the plant is a month old and you cannot just mix a little of dolomite in with it?

Click to expand...

In all probability the pH of your soil is fine. It is no where near as critical in soil as it is in hydroponics. The water you put in will be buffered to the pH of the soil as it sits in contact with the soil. Runoff isn't really an accurate measurement, as it wasn't in prolonged contact with the soil itself.

Jack Harer said:

In all probability the pH of your soil is fine. It is no where near as critical in soil as it is in hydroponics. The water you put in will be buffered to the pH of the soil as it sits in contact with the soil. Runoff isn't really an accurate measurement, as it wasn't in prolonged contact with the soil itself.

Click to expand...

i bought into all the bullshit of ph'ing your water for soil grows, then i learned how to grow and now i have 3 expensive ph meters sitting on the bookcase collecting dust and my plants are loving me for it.

Bk4mr said:

i use sunshine advanced mix 2 for grow medium. the real problem here is the leaves are curling under during the vegging and flowering cycles. so most likely there is a ph problem blocking
one or more nutrients to the plant. the water is ph'd to 6.8 but the runoff is 5.3
How do you change the ph of the soil when the plant is a month old and you cannot just mix a little of dolomite in with it?

Click to expand...

you cant.

you can only replant them. there is already lime in that soil. your ph is not that off, check your moisture levels first. if they are curling up then they are staying too wet.

you need to get your water schedule down first ....... then while your growin , read, read , an read more about plant nutrition ect....

there is NO true way of testing the soil ph without sending samples to the lab. runoff does not tell you anything at all. there are other ways to get "close enough" to tell if there is big swings , but even still it wont be accurate.

your peat will hold its ph (6-7) for a long time before it changes , no matter what you feed it. after a few months (give or take) the lime will beak down an no longer buffer the peat for you , so the peat will naturally go back down to its original ph of around 4-5.

usually the sunshine will last just long enough to get through a whole cycle of reefer. but if they are in the peat for an extended period then the ph will gradually start going down, fuckin up your babies. IF they do get that far , then it wont hurt to top dress with a lil more lime.

you are using the perfect food for that junk peat your using. (no offence , a lot of the "best" use the same your using ) so your babies are havin food probs/moisture probs. using that food an that peat is a very tried an tested method , so your good there.

(real soil holds a usable ph , so after you run out of peat mix , you might wanna try real dirt, but like i said , your peat an food go good together)

VERY good info jack









soil

Jack Harer said:

The water you put in will be buffered to the pH of the soil as it sits in contact with the soil. Runoff isn't really an accurate measurement, as it wasn't in prolonged contact with the soil itself.

Click to expand...

This is REAL info, from someone who knows enough.






soil

A meter is good to have around, just in case, but really do not stress out over pH in soil. It's gotta get pretty far out of whack to affect much.

i must be overwatering then.

Easy enough to do, my friend.