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whats the correct ph for the water in soil grows im doing 5.8
- Thread starter WARDONE
- Start date
fatboyOGOF
Member
howdy.
i never bothered to check my ph until i decided to pull my head out of my ass (it only took 6 years
)and started checking it. I started using advanced nutrients products about 5 years ago. they recommend a PH of 5.5 or somewhere near that for soil grows (no it wasn't for hydro). i no longer use the AN as i'm not comfortable having something that says it's for growing pot on the bottles but always keep the ph around 5.5.
reading this thread is an eye opener. i'd better do some serious reading. my crops have always been good with a ph of 5.3 to 5.6.
Four crops a year for many years.
jorge cervantes says 6.5 to 7 for soil too. fuck. lol. time for a change.
later
i never bothered to check my ph until i decided to pull my head out of my ass (it only took 6 years
)and started checking it. I started using advanced nutrients products about 5 years ago. they recommend a PH of 5.5 or somewhere near that for soil grows (no it wasn't for hydro). i no longer use the AN as i'm not comfortable having something that says it's for growing pot on the bottles but always keep the ph around 5.5. reading this thread is an eye opener. i'd better do some serious reading. my crops have always been good with a ph of 5.3 to 5.6.
Four crops a year for many years.
jorge cervantes says 6.5 to 7 for soil too. fuck. lol. time for a change.
later
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fatboyOGOF
Member
just for shits and giggles i mixed a batch of nutes. i use botanicare pro grow and pro bloom for soil. thrive alive red, cal mag, liquid karma, black strp molasses (for carbos) and hydroplex for flower.
the ph came out to 5.7. time to buy some PH up!
the ph came out to 5.7. time to buy some PH up!
G
Guest
fatboy just use dolomite lime in your soil mix and dont worry about it,your soil ph will stay near neutral.The PH of the runoff really tells the story.When you use dolomite,if your nutrient ph is 4.5,your runoff and soil ph will be 6.5-7 ph.If your nutrient solution is 8.5,your runoff and soil ph will remain around 6.5-7 ph.I'm not saying its not necessary to adjust your nutrient ph if you use dolomite although I wonder,I'm just saying if you use the dolomite your chances of having ph issues will be nil.
fatboyOGOF
Member
SKELETOR you're thinking much too clearly this early on a saturday.
i concur. i do use dolomite and some bat crap in my soil/perlight mix. the soil ph is typically in the high 6's. with my ferts at 5.7 or so, it might just end up right at 6. i can live with that.
i'm really curious now how much better my crops will be with this raised ph. berry interesting. thanks bro!
i concur. i do use dolomite and some bat crap in my soil/perlight mix. the soil ph is typically in the high 6's. with my ferts at 5.7 or so, it might just end up right at 6. i can live with that.
i'm really curious now how much better my crops will be with this raised ph. berry interesting. thanks bro!
G
Guest
pmorris said:
I would go with this one, perfect!
Hello all,
As I read some of the replies it sounds as if folks try to maintain thier soil at "6.2- 6.4".
I use D.lime and I pH my fert solutions to the low 6's. My runoff is always 7.0. Never wavers from start to finish.
How does one go about maintaining a soil pH at a specific spot such as 6.3 throughout a grow.
minds_I
As I read some of the replies it sounds as if folks try to maintain thier soil at "6.2- 6.4".
I use D.lime and I pH my fert solutions to the low 6's. My runoff is always 7.0. Never wavers from start to finish.
How does one go about maintaining a soil pH at a specific spot such as 6.3 throughout a grow.
minds_I
tests show that the ideal ph for the up take of nutrients when growing in soil is 6.3
The ph in your soil, is controled by the solutions you run through it.It will fluctuate somewhat,but the more ph stable water/nutes you run through, the more stable a ph your soil becomes.
minds_I said:
The ph in your soil, is controled by the solutions you run through it.It will fluctuate somewhat,but the more ph stable water/nutes you run through, the more stable a ph your soil becomes.
G
Guest
Thats a good question minds I,being that I use dolomite my runoff is about 7 no matter what my nutrient solution is.Its been my experience though that whatever my soil ph is,it seems to be perfect when I use the lime.My plants are so much healthier with it than without it,that I wouldnt even care about trying to maintain a 6.3.How accurate are the instruments we use really anyway?A 6.3 on your pen may be 6.7 on my pen,see what I mean?Using the dolomite consistently doesn't result in a soil ph thats a few tenth's of a point away from perfect,IMO the dolomite makes it as perfect as you're gonna get
GREANTHUMB
Member
I usually go easy on the dol. lime... as to not make it overly stable... just in case i like my ph to fluctuate thus accomplishing a wider spectrum to allow maximum nute uptake.i stick @6.2-6.9 soil and @5.6-6.2 hydro... thats just me. you guys all have really good points and insight 
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V
vonforne
My soil is at a 6.8 to 7.0 in the 3d week of flower. I always adjust my water to yellow on the ph scale. Which is about 6.0. Seems to work great. I add dolomite to my mix each time I transplant. This always seems to keep the soil stable throughout the plants life.
G
Guest
vonforne I used to be real serious about ph my water and nute solution to yellow(General hydroponics ph test kit) and the runoff is always about 6.8 to7 (neutral)Then I started experimenting I used tiger bloom without ph up(about 5.5 ph with my tapwater per teaspoon) and the runoff was still exactly as it would be had I adjusted nutrient ph.Then I tried straight tapwater(which is a sick blue with GH Ph test kit)real high without any ph down and still my runoff was exactly green(7.0 approx).This is telling me that as long as you have dolomite,nute or water ph adjustment is just a waste of time.I dont do it anymore except when I use 5-1-1 fish emulsion which drops it below 4 normally,I havent got the balls yet to use that straight up.I think I will soon though because when dolomite is present in enough quantities,I think this whole balancing nutrient and water PH is just not necessary
G
Guest
I'd say yes your soil ph and your runoff ph should be about the same so I dont really think it matters what your ph is of the water or nute solution.I'm not balancing water or nute ph on this grow and everything is proceeding as usual
6.3 ph It allows proper uptake of the nutes for your plants in soil.
Also 6.3 is a safe setting for pH when growing in soil, that helps prevent pH related deficiencies due to lock out of nutrients. 5.6 ph allows proper ph for hydropnics. This has been tested.
spectrum said:
It does matter.. you want to give your plants the best chance to take in the nutes when you feed/water. And your run off is going to be higher because your plants are taking in the nutes which raises your ph but that is expected and isnt as important as the initial ph for feeding/watering.
SKELETOR said:
They are accurate if you use them correctly and are calibrated. I Ph pen is a good investment instead of guessing...
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In this thread I have seen references to 2 tablespoons of dolomite per gallon of peat (or gallon of total soiless mix) and 2 teaspoons per gallon.
I've always heard it was supposed to be 2 tablespoons per gallon.
Even If I won't be using 2 tablespoons, more like 1 tablespoon per gallon can someone please confirm that the standard rate is usually expressed in tablespoons (TBS, Tbsp) and not teaspoons (tsp).
I've always heard it was supposed to be 2 tablespoons per gallon.
Even If I won't be using 2 tablespoons, more like 1 tablespoon per gallon can someone please confirm that the standard rate is usually expressed in tablespoons (TBS, Tbsp) and not teaspoons (tsp).
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G
Guest
Yes,Ive always used 2 tbls per gallon soil mix,especially with promix.I've always used 2 tbls with my ocean forest too,but I might be changing that to 1 tbls to see if I can get a slightly lower runoff like around 6.5.pmorris I'm sorry bro I cant agree with your assumption that nutes will have anything to do at all with the runoff,I've verified this with experiments.I suggest you try this,Ph some water to around 8 or higher if you like and pour slowly through a container containing 2 tbls per gallon dolomite lime,you'll see the runoff is neutral.Now go ahead and ph your water to 5 and do the same,you'll see the results will be identical,this is telling me that whatever I run through the soil ph wise,its going to come out neutral because my soil ph stays neutral.Granted neutral isnt perfect,but its pretty damn close and makes for perfect plants
GREANTHUMB
Member
word^^^
meduser180056
Active member
Seems to me that you would get the best nutrient uptake in soil
by having a Ph drift from 6-7.
If you water in with 6.0-6.2PH water and the runoff is 7 cuz of the lime then that seems like that's a PH drift right? Or does the lime buffer the nutes to 7 too quickly for the plant to absorb the nutes at different points over the PH drfit?
I've always heard a slight PH fluctuation is good because of the fact that different nutes are more available at different PH's.
by having a Ph drift from 6-7.
If you water in with 6.0-6.2PH water and the runoff is 7 cuz of the lime then that seems like that's a PH drift right? Or does the lime buffer the nutes to 7 too quickly for the plant to absorb the nutes at different points over the PH drfit?
I've always heard a slight PH fluctuation is good because of the fact that different nutes are more available at different PH's.
G
Guest
Thats a good point but it seems pretty immediate to me.It doesnt take long to test the runoff out of the tray and each time I've tested,no matter what the ph is that I put in,it always comes out neutral
