Soil ph question??

weednurd420

Well-Known Member
if you have a plant all ready in soil, what is the best fastest and safest way to raise and lower the ph of the plants soil
 

ryan s

Well-Known Member
I'm no expert but if I were doing it myself I would use pH 8 water to rise it and pH 5 to drop it a little faster than just flushing with regular water. I think if you use too high or to low solution to buffer your pH it could damage the roots. ALTHOUGH my autos did sit in pH 4 water for a few days and were completely recovered about 3 days later:bigjoint:
 

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
I'm no expert but if I were doing it myself I would use pH 8 water to rise it and pH 5 to drop it a little faster than just flushing with regular water. I think if you use too high or to low solution to buffer your pH it could damage the roots. ALTHOUGH my autos did sit in pH 4 water for a few days and were completely recovered about 3 days later:bigjoint:

Flushing soil is the fast road to more and worse problems.
Flushing will make your plant sit in bad pH levels for extended periods of time.

Flushing is for toilets

The use of high and low pH value water will have NO LASTING effect on soil pH........The soil must be amended to actually "change" soil pH.

Water the problem away (what your "flushing" for) with plain water or water with a Ca/Mg and pH that to 6.5 - 6.7 for 1 week and resume nutrient use....keep pHing the in going to the given value and be fine...

Jorge has his head up his ass on this topic!
 

ryan s

Well-Known Member
Flushing soil is the fast road to more and worse problems.
Flushing will make your plant sit in bad pH levels for extended periods of time.

Flushing is for toilets

The use of high and low pH value water will have NO LASTING effect on soil pH........The soil must be amended to actually "change" soil pH.

Water the problem away (what your "flushing" for) with plain water or water with a Ca/Mg and pH that to 6.5 - 6.7 for 1 week and resume nutrient use....keep pHing the in going to the given value and be fine...

Jorge has his head up his ass on this topic!
If you pH that calmag water to 6.5 - 6.7 wouldnt pH correcting some calmag water to a higher value change the pH of the soil more quickly? I would like to run an experiment.

By flushing I mean running a healthy fluid through the system that will in-turn raise the pH. After the "flush" I would suggest you add your normal nutrient solution at the correct pH and using enough of that until you start getting a lot of runoff from the nute water.
 

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
If you pH that calmag water to 6.5 - 6.7 wouldnt pH correcting some calmag water to a higher value change the pH of the soil more quickly? I would like to run an experiment.
Dude.

You water the soil and the pH swings one way.
As it dries out.
It swings back again.

The ONLY way to make a permanent "adjustment" to the soil pH is to amend the soil....
The pH of any liquid is the pH of the liquid, not the "potential" pH of the soil.....ANY effect the liquid pH will bring to the table will have no real effect after the next watering - no matter what that liquid pH is either....

Once you have a soil in "range"......pHing all in going to 6.5 - 6.7 and forget the soil ph.....This is true for synthetics and to a lesser need (phing in going) organics.....

I would venture it to be more important to keep the micro heard as active as you can in synthetic use.

Most bagged soils are pH set.
It can be wise sometimes to add a slow release lime agent to bagged soils for long runs.....a good handful or 1/2 cup works wonders.....FF soils are ones I would do almost no matter how long I use them....

Doc
 

weednurd420

Well-Known Member
I'm no expert but if I were doing it myself I would use pH 8 water to rise it and pH 5 to drop it a little faster than just flushing with regular water. I think if you use too high or to low solution to buffer your pH it could damage the roots. ALTHOUGH my autos did sit in pH 4 water for a few days and were completely recovered about 3 days later:bigjoint:
but I don't flush I don't even ph my water after adding nutrients To it, I did ok on my last grow but had some problems
 

sunny747

Well-Known Member
Soil has a higher tolerance for PH than hydro.. I'm not positive there is a way to accurately measure soil PH. I guess if you are making your own soil it would be of concern.
 

weednurd420

Well-Known Member
Soil has a higher tolerance for PH than hydro.. I'm not positive there is a way to accurately measure soil PH. I guess if you are making your own soil it would be of concern.
What I do is when give my ffof soil it's first watering I check the run off I know there soil ph is close to 6.5 so what ever the run off tested at on the first watering, i try to keep it that way the hole grow, it is usually stays stable till flower..
 

dcoukeking

New Member
You need to balance and maintain the nutrients in the soil throughout the course of the marijuana plant’s life. This may be easier if you are using store-bought fertilizer and planting in pots because the mix may already be PH balanced (pH 7, neither too acidic nor overly alkaline).
 

2Hearts

Well-Known Member
Soil has a higher tolerance for PH than hydro.. I'm not positive there is a way to accurately measure soil PH. I guess if you are making your own soil it would be of concern.




Soil on its own is a solid and solids do not have ph. You can measure its cation exchange capacity and work out the charge of the lime but until you add water there is no free potential hydrogen/ph.

Soil is a buffer for the water in a sense.
 

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
Soil has a higher tolerance for PH than hydro.. I'm not positive there is a way to accurately measure soil PH. I guess if you are making your own soil it would be of concern.
Oh there is!
Its a lab quality soil Ph meter.....This one would be the place I would start....Portable or Table top......Excellent probe! Made for Farmers, Fruit/Nut growers and Greenhouse operations of all kinds......

http://shop.hannainst.com/hi99121-ph-meter-for-direct-soil-measurement.html
(SHIT the link wont work - "security reasons" GOOGLE Hanna hi99121 pH meter)

Around $500 US

Shop around and find them for about $325 US

NOTHING is as accurate or reliable until you hit table tops......So, all those soil "pens" you can find for 130-200 are really crap as far as performance,accuracy and durability!

This is what I have for the farm. It gets used for building soils in our application too. I monitor the soils pH as it "cooks" till done...Once the pH is stable - The soil is done cooking....

Doc
 
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2Hearts

Well-Known Member
This reads like you can check ph of dry soil not in solution?

We use to make tabletop ph meters in science class, its just an electrode and simple electronics, not really a lot of difference in readings.

Oh there is!
Its a lab quality soil Ph meter.....This one would be the place I would start....Portable or Table top......Excellent probe! Made for Farmers, Fruit/Nut growers and Greenhouse operations of all kinds......

http://shop.hannainst.com/hi99121-ph-meter-for-direct-soil-measurement.html

Around $500 US

Shop around and find them for about $325 US

NOTHING is as accurate or reliable until you hit table tops......So, all those soil "pens" you can find for 130-200 are really crap as far as performance,accuracy and durability!

This is what I have for the farm. It gets used for building soils in our application too. I monitor the soils pH as it "cooks" till done...Once the pH is stable - The soil is done cooking....

Doc
 

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
This reads like you can check ph of dry soil not in solution?

We use to make tabletop ph meters in science class, its just an electrode and simple electronics, not really a lot of difference in readings.
No. There has to be moisture present to some degree to get accurate readings......Other major factors are getting down deep to represent the "root zone" is key too! I have tools that take a soil "core" and meter at differing levels.....Use of a "dibble" like tool gets you to depth's not reached by the probe.....Hanna supplies you with a tool like that for that reason, with that meter!

NOT accurate to actual needs! Cool though!

Doc
 
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