lowering soil ph during veg

[mrgrowmez]

hey IC's,
just wondering what have you all found to be is the best way to lower the ph of your soil during veg? my runoff is a little high and I want to drop down my PH a bit? Ive got a nitrogen def. happening and i want to get my soil PH perfect to make sure its not lockout......
cheers
mr.g

 

[Guest]

I've never seen a high ph runoff,it has to be either the ph of the water/nute mix or something very funky about your medium.Did you use dolomite?Normally with ocean forest and dolomite it doesnt matter what you pour through,the runoff will be near neutral.How are you checking the runoff PH?

 

[mrgrowmez]

Im not using ocean forest soil, Fox Farm isnt sold in my country... im using some medium quality "indoor flower" soil with a standard ph of 5.5 - 6.5 and it has dolomite added.
I made the mistake of watering a couple of times with regular tap water which had a PH of about 8, silly mistake but i thought i had used the ph down when i hadnt.
Today I watered with ph6.5 water and the runoff came out at 7.3ish..

Im testing it with a droplet test kit and colour chart. i catch the runoff and add the drops and look at the colour

 

[Guest]

mrgrow I dont know what could be causing that,unless the ph strips you're using are innaccurate,a high runoff is pretty unusual unless like I said the water or nute mix has a high PH,could you have overlimed?How much did you use?Be aware not to use standard 1 gallon nursery pots as a measuring instrument to measure soil for dolomite,the aversge 1 gal nursey pot is closer to a half gallon in reality,very easy to overlime that way.I'm not sure however that too much lime will cause your PH to exceed 7,that I'm not sure about.Too much lime can result in phosphorous lockout though especially if you use a lot of dolomite then use calcified tapwater.

 

[treehuggers]

Hey mrgrowmez!

I have been testing my runoff water a day or two ago. Using similar soil + I added dolomite lime. My plants look alright (4weeks in flower), generaly no deficenies and nice green colours.... The water i tested with had ph 6.9 and the runoff was 7.4. I did a calibration of the ph meter before the test so that makes the measuring accuate.

What about foliar feeding? It could solve your def fast while not touching the soil, if you are worried.... I reccomend!

All the best,
Tree

btw; nice signature ;>

 

[Guest]

What soil are you using treehuggers?Wow thats two high ph runoffs in a row,I've gone years without seeing a single one its that rare.I wonder what can be causing this.Anyone ever overlimed and had a high soil ph because of it?Its about all I can think of short of the medium itself being too high in phEDIT Just to let you all know if you dont PH increases/decreases exponentially a 7.4 ph is 100 times higher than a 6.4 PH,and a thousand times higher than a 5.4 PH.That high ph runoff really needs to be remedied.A 7.4 is about 100 times higher than optimum

 

[mrgrowmez]

hey trees - like my sig huh?lol i also copied your idea for makin a muffler with my own twist of course!......

BM - i didnt add lime it was premixed in but i do have very hard water with a high ph........aarghhh.....i think thats what did it, i took some water out to use for watering and then later on when i actually went to water i used it without adjusting the PH( stupid me thought i had adjusted but i hadnt)..this happed a couple of days in a row.....so I think thats where the problem started and ive been trying to lower it sslloowwllyy because as you said there is a big difference between 7.4 and 6.4.........

ive been having some problems with my plants they look nut. def as well as some twisted leaves from the ph instability and the only thing i could think it to be is a lockout because of the ph fuck up.....hmmmmmmm

i transplpanted them today and ill keep my (obsessive)eye on them and see what happpens..
still anyone have anygood ideas for lowering soil ph...would some lemon juice work?

peace

 

[treehuggers]

mrgrowmez: yep, you can use almost anything natural to lower ph. Vinegar, lemon juice... tho there are special produts avalible for lowering ph in veg (N based) or flower (based on P)...

ballastman: Yep,, it is wierd. I have noticed that this 'new' soil that i am using has a little more zinc than the one i used before. Seems that plants can manage to swalow that





Sorry for , mrgrowmez



all the best,
tree

 

[Blackvelvet]

Powdered sulfur can be sprinkled on a pot and watered in. Ph will drop rapidly. Try 3/8 teaspoon per gallon of soil mix. Wait a few weeks. Test ph and add more if needed.

 

[Verite]

Powdered sulfur can be sprinkled on a pot and watered in. Ph will drop rapidly. Try 3/8 teaspoon per gallon of soil mix. Wait a few weeks. Test ph and add more if needed.

Come on sproutco.. enough with the dumb shit advice already. You lost the sulfur vs phosphoric acid arguement long ago and burned up two or three of your multi-user handles here doing it. Does Blackvelvet need to be added to the list?

 

[mrgrowmez]

thanks guys.....

trees no worries man and thats a nice setup you've got there, nice fish-eye....

 

[treehuggers]

thanks,

are your plants better? Got a picture?

regards,
tree

edit;i also notice we have the same post count )

 

[mrgrowmez]

I transplanted them, trimmed off the shitty leaves and they seem to be doing much better, i think they were a little bit rootbound...not sure but ive been keeping a close eye on the ph and things are looking up
lent the camera to my brotherinlaw so itll be at least a week before i see that again...ill put some pics on my grow thread if your interested.....peace
mr.g