Solution for PH problem

[Neville H.]

Hey folks,

I had some ph problems with my soil. I'm growing in FFOF, and started getting some problems once I started to use the Tiger Bloom in flower. Apparently, I have discovered that Tiger Bloom lowers the PH big time. So, much so that I need to use 1 part PH up for every 1 part of Tiger Bloom I feed with.

Anyway, so I've flushed all my plants heavily a couple weeks back, and have gotten the soils PH back up to close to 6.0 (it was at 4.0), but a couple of my plants are still just not doing so well and are obviously still suffering (as indicated by the fan leaves) from a cal or mag deficiency. I am 7 weeks into flower with these and I know my harvest will be much smaller, but I'm trying to stabilize the ph of my soil to a more respectable number and finish these girls off (Kali Mist and Bubblegum, all very sativa phenos).

I'm considering adding a tsp of lime/ gal to my next feeding to try and help with the soil PH. because I'm not getting it any higher with another flush I flushed each plant thoroughly already with PH adjusted water.

Does anyone have any advice on what to do next?

 

[loko17]

How much longer are u planning to flower? What was the ph of water u flushed the plants with?

 

[etinarcadiaego]

Hey man. Lime isn't water solubule, so there's no sense adding it to the water or as a top dressing, plus it takes time to break down and release Ca/Mg and raise the pH, a significant amount of time. Hydrated lime would work faster, but would burn your plants, maybe even badly. Unfortunately lime is something you need to add the soil prior to planting for it be effective.

Sounds to me like you didn't quite flush your medium completely. If it were me I'd hold off on any feedings until the plants recover, a volatile pH will cause availability issues with many nutrients and micros, so it's more likely that there is enough Ca/Mg in your soil, but your plants are having trouble absorbing it while the pH issues are still going on.

How many more weeks of flower do you foresee? I'd try watering them with Distilled water until the pH starts to stabilize, and hold off on any feedings or supplements. If you want you could try foliar feedings . . .

Just my $.02, I've also had pH issues with OF before, great soil, it just needs some lime . . .

 

[montehierba]

easy solution

easy solution

Hey bro lots of people tend to use any kind of lime they can find, but the ONE we all need is

CACO3 that is the real deal buddy,helps soils in a great way so your ph is no longer a subject. .

 

[uefear]

I use FFOF soil and it has a natural pH buffer in it, but it only will last for so long.
Also FFOF tends to be acidic so when first starting out its best to pH your water around 7.3-7.5 so that the runoff will be close to 6.5-6.7

No matter what pH water I put in my FFOF it always comes out .5 lower or more after mixing with the soil.

 

[Neville H.]

I plan on flowering the BG's another 3 weeks.. The Kali's another 6 or so.

I flushed with the water ph'ed at about 6.5, after 15 gallons the runoff was a little under 6.0

Maybe I should just use a higher ph'ed water from here on out like 7.0 or 7.5. The buds are smaller than they should be, but are still packing on resin. It's just the fan leaves look absolutely horrible on a the BG's. The plants with the biggest buds look the worst. The plants with very little bud have fan leaves that look fine.

 

[Neville H.]

So, what do you folks think? Water with a PH of around 7.0-7.5 from here on out with this run?

I think this sounds like a winner, and will try it on my next watering.

 

[otherwhitemeat]

I have found that the FFOF right out of the bags doesn't seem to buffer well. Odd, considering that Dolomitic lime would be the most inexpensive of their additives. I would consider adding some to your next run. I always have lockout issues with FFOF and have since switched. But I have had the same issues and seem to notice that. IME, FFOF seems to go through it's buffer right about the time 12/12 starts (for my genetics anyway), but a good flush and it seems to sort itself out my by middle end of the flowering cycle. I never mess with ph up or down on soil grows, always gets me into trouble. I've killed more crops by adding up/down.

Also, not sure if it's been said...but if you are monitoring ph--are you sure your meter is a good one? Probes are not very effective, test strips are pretty effective, but pens and expensive calibrated probes can be subject to calibration problems.

I would second the advice given by etinarcadiaego, that's my line of thinking too--sometimes we flush, but we don't go a GOOD flush. Literally a few gallons for each pot. For the next grow, consider dolomitic lime and a rest period before planting,,,Hopefully, you can evetually throw away the ph meter. It's the best decision I ever made for soil grows.

 

[ReelBusy1]

Hey folks,

I had some ph problems with my soil. I'm growing in FFOF, and started getting some problems once I started to use the Tiger Bloom in flower. Apparently, I have discovered that Tiger Bloom lowers the PH big time. So, much so that I need to use 1 part PH up for every 1 part of Tiger Bloom I feed with.

Anyway, so I've flushed all my plants heavily a couple weeks back, and have gotten the soils PH back up to close to 6.0 (it was at 4.0), but a couple of my plants are still just not doing so well and are obviously still suffering (as indicated by the fan leaves) from a cal or mag deficiency. I am 7 weeks into flower with these and I know my harvest will be much smaller, but I'm trying to stabilize the ph of my soil to a more respectable number and finish these girls off (Kali Mist and Bubblegum, all very sativa phenos).

I'm considering adding a tsp of lime/ gal to my next feeding to try and help with the soil PH. because I'm not getting it any higher with another flush I flushed each plant thoroughly already with PH adjusted water.

Does anyone have any advice on what to do next?

USE HYDRATED LIME to re-balance the soil PH.
Mixes in water and sprinkle on top of soil and water in.
Dolomite Lime etc takes to long to leach into the soil.
Hydrated Lime is fast acting.