EarthJuice pH runoff in soil HIGH. Is pHing even necessary?

[MrGreenWeed]

I'm on my third grow of the year, just threw the girls in flower yesterday. For three girls I'm using Fox Farm nutes in FFOF soil, steady pH of 6.5 since they were seedlings and growth is healthy and normal.
The two EarthJuice girls were a steady 6.5 pH as well up to the first and second feeding with EJ, I imagine because all girls are in FFOF and received just water and CalMagplus until day 50 something in veg. They also look healthy and great as well

Today's watering which didn't even consist of nutes, just a little humic acid, B1 and CalMagplus which I used EJ pH down to get to 6.2 ph being my last fed over 5 days ago the pH runoff was 7.4 so I thought this would bring it down some. IT DID NOT. Today's pH runoff was almost 8! My meter is good, actually calibrated it just before the final stir.
The following watering I fed it the basic EJ fed for late veg, mild amounts. This is where the pH runoff went from the normal 6.5 to 7.4. What happened?
Then today when I fed water and extras at 6.2, the 7.9 really surprised me. What's even more surprising is they look in perfect condition. They are shorter then the other 3 in FoxFarm but they are indica dominate where as the other 3 in FF are sativa dominate.

I'm a longtime grower who just started back up again late last year after 8 years of not growing, and I never did a full EJ nute lineup in the past, but is it possible the pH runoff in a EJ grow doesn't matter?

This is what they state on the site
"Since 1991 the mass majority, including ourselves, of gardeners who use the Earth Juice Original formulas simply mix with water and use without adjusting the pH. The initial pH of Earth Juice Original formulas will generally be on the mild acidic side, this is primarily due to the natural phyto-acids and amino-acids contained in many of the Earth Juice formulas. These are considered "Weak" acids that will help transport (chelate) nutrients for easy and rapid use by the soil microbes and plants. Earth Juice will adjust and be conditioned by medium and beneficial microbes supported by the applications of Earth Juice".

Anybody familiar with the original EJ formulas being used in soil(I'm using FFOF) please shoot me some personal experience info if possible.

I have always tested soil by testing runoff, should I test the actual soil?

I'm just stumped here as a grower who pHes everything. Thanks

PEACE

 

[supermanlives]

i dont ph ej or bubble it . havent for years now.i have a good soil with castings ,lime and compost.

 

[MrGreenWeed]

Good Deal

Good Deal

i dont ph ej or bubble it . havent for years now.i have a good soil with castings ,lime and compost.

Thanks again. I was worried a bit. When I used supersoils back in the late 90s I never pHed much and eventually never at all because the mix was always sitting around 6.5 when I did test no matter what pH water I put in.

If one looks on the net for my question, the few threads I do find is growers disagreeing at about a 50/50 rate. Like you I know my soil is good to go, I forgot to add I do use dolomite lime at 1-2 TSP per gallon of medium, so no more pHing EJ for me. Peace

 

[supermanlives]

what made ej work well for me is. i started feeding with it every watering at reduced rates and i add protekt to help raise ph a bit. havent checked ph in years. but i have very healthy organic mix.i dont even have a ph meter anymore. i had several once.

 

[MrGreenWeed]

what made ej work well for me is. i started feeding with it every watering at reduced rates and i add protekt to help raise ph a bit. havent checked ph in years. but i have very healthy organic mix.i dont even have a ph meter anymore. i had several once.

Other then my mini flush from going to flower from veg and the one before harvest, I think I will be doing the mild feed every watering with EJ as well. I have seen other posts saying this practice is a good thing. With the Fox Farms nutes I'd like to try this to but from what I've been reading being the Big Grow and Tiger Bloom and the three solubles are not 100% organic it's best not to fed every watering.

Do you eventually go from mild to strong feds at some point? Out of my 5 girls(2 EJ 3 FF) the 2 EJ girls(THC Bomb and Defendu Fruit) look as if they want more then the mild solution. No tip burn at all and neither has ever gotten dark green. It just seems the fine line between under-feeding and over-feeding is quite wide.

I'd give you some reputation but it doesn't seem I'm allowed to give any yet.

Peace

Edit-I'm going to look into that Silicon product, Dyna Gro-Tek? It sounds as if it also helps with wilting so one could let the plants go an extra day or so more then usual. enhances growth, stronger cell walls, increases heat and cold tolerance and on an don. Sounds like good stuff. Do you add every watering from early veg to harvest flush?

 

[supermanlives]

i use pro tekt from seedling stage to flush. its a must have. and yes i tweek the nutes as needed. thats why i love ej . the bloom has no n.

 

[MrGreenWeed]

i use pro tekt from seedling stage to flush. its a must have. and yes i tweek the nutes as needed. thats why i love ej . the bloom has no n.

Just picked up some of that pro-tekt. Thanks for the advice.

Got another thread up with pics, having issues. Stop over and comment if you have time.

 

[Space Ghost]

I use a modified version of the main EJ line and I haven't touched a pH meter in years or had pH issues... I love the stuff... (soil blend, hand watered, limed)

 

[MrGreenWeed]

I use a modified version of the main EJ line and I haven't touched a pH meter in years or had pH issues... I love the stuff... (soil blend, hand watered, limed)

Hey Space

I'm just using the original EJ lineup and the runoff of the two plants I have been feeding the EJ to in FFOF have been a steady 7.5 and rising. Even when I'm only using water the runoff is still 7.5 or higher. Other then my overnute issue which I am correcting with waterings only, I see no real issues with such a high pH other then a twisty leaf here and there. pH must not matter in organics as a few others have pointed out to me here. I did many supersoil type grows years ago and I never pHed then and the only issues i ever saw were the occasional overnute issues when a mix was too strong in early to mid veg. As for my plants in FoxFarms nutes, I can keep them at a steady 6.5 no problem.

 

[Space Ghost]

huh.... I've had almost the exact opposite experience... I ditched the fox farm because it was messing with my pH (this was years ago...)

Are your plants growing rapidly and healthy looking? if yes, quit checking the pH.... and reap the rewards....

 

[mtbazz]

I also stopped using FFOF years ago because of pH issues. My grow store stopped carrying it for those reasons also.

As far as EJ goes, for veg mixtures I don't pH.

For flower solutions, EJ bloom makes it too acidic for me (often pH 3.5-4.5), so I add enough ph up to bring it to the 6.0 - 7.0 range.

hope this helps.

 

[MrGreenWeed]

Space-Ya I always read FF and EJ has low pH issues so it was a surprise. I took my last pH of runoff for my EJ girls yesterday, they are down to 7 now but like you or someone said, I don't think pH matters in organic and I don't think pH meters read organics accurately. Yes, both EJ and FoxFarm girls are looking great so I'm done with pHing for the Ej girls.

mtbazz-I did the EJ Up thing in veg, brought it to 7 or more thinking it would help being EJ nutes are low pH, maybe this is why they read so high so long??? I'm no longer going to be pHing EJ because growth is great, only see some twisty leaves here and there. But even when I fed EJ and it does sometime get down to 4 pH, I'd fed and the runoff would still be over 7 so again that leads to me to believe pH meters are useless on organics. How else could a plant do great, even after being over-nuted about 2 weeks ago, and be fed 4 and have a runoff of over 7? I'm just iffy about what I can say about EJ, but I can say it's working and will continue to as long as I don't keep over-nuting them.

 

[izzybud]

im using ffof and the 3 nutes from ff. i check my water ph and also the ph whenever i mix nutes to feed. i decided to check my run off 1 day and it was around 4 for one and 5 for the other. figured something was wrong or they just used up all the nutes. they are growing like they should with no problems. decided to leave it alone and just make sure what i was feeding was the correct ph.

i did notice a couple of seedlings experiencing a little burn but not sure if its from the nutes, cause i gave them a lil taste not paying attention it was week 4 veg solution instead of water, or the dirt. either way they are chugging along. my water is 7 and the nutes have been keeping it between 6-7. got ph up & down to control if not.

 

[MrGreenWeed]

I've gotten as low as maybe 5.7 with runoff, usually early on. That's why now when I'm only feeding with water the first 4 weeks in veg I fed with a pHed water of 6.8 or higher because it is a low pH mix and the dolomite doesn't kick in until flower. All of my girls in FFOF are always a steady 6.5 by week 5.
I use the Earth Juice pH up and down, ironically, I use it with the FoxFarm girls and not the Earth Juice girls being I don't even bother pHing the EJ ladies due to they are 100% or near organic and from what I'm learning all organic in FFOF or in general requires no pHing.