Ph problem

[acidboy]

im having one hell of a time controling the ph of my soil. The ph of the water i feed is 6.0-6.5ph usually, earlier this week my soil ph was in the 8.1 range and i flushed 3 gallons of 6.0ph water through it till the run off was 6.4ph, todat i check the ph of my soil and its back into the 7.4-7.9 range

what can i do to stablze the soil ph for another 8 weeks?

im going compost, or coco after this

[FireTheft]

what kind of soil did you start off with?

you can re-pot your plants and with the new soil mix in some fine dolomite lime....

[acidboy]

right now the plant is in fox farm ocean fox, she is already budding, so i dont want to disturbe her in any way, if i do grow again, im gonna go with a soiless soil like composted cow manure, or coco

shroom cutivation is way easyer than this

[twoguysupnorth]

add a little pete, pete should bring you down a little. cow manure is high. let me know im interested in mushroom manure. i have a compost too, .009

[the image reaper]

how is the plant doing ?

[stinkyattic]

Humic acid (sold as Soil Syrup) buffers at 6.8-6.9.
It also chelates minerals and makes them less likely to interact in harmful ways.
Make up a weak solution in your flush water. Whatever the bottle says for a feeding strength, use 1/4 of that and then flush normally.

[acidboy]

she looks fine almost at 2 1/2 feet tall, she was suffering a def, but once i flushed her and brought the ph back down to 6.3 she was fine, check her soil ph yesterday and was at 7.9, jsut watered her with 6.0ph water and nutes, i went with organic nutes

[twoguysupnorth]

lol, i guess i misread. you werent going to use mushroom compost you said it was easier to grow them.

[acidboy]

no its easier to cultivate mushrooms, that it is to cultivate cannabis

[acidboy]

Humic acid (sold as Soil Syrup) buffers at 6.8-6.9.
It also chelates minerals and makes them less likely to interact in harmful ways.
Make up a weak solution in your flush water. Whatever the bottle says for a feeding strength, use 1/4 of that and then flush normally.

how many flushes you sugest, 2-3?

[PharmaCan]

right now the plant is in fox farm ocean fox, she is already budding, so i dont want to disturbe her in any way, if i do grow again, im gonna go with a soiless soil like composted cow manure, or coco



While you are deciding, keep in mind - composted cowshit is soil growing, Coco is hydro growing. (With coco, for appearance sake, you'd think you were growing in soil - but hydro rules apply.)

What's the source (tap, r/o, etc.) and the pH of the water you are using, before you do anything to it? Just for the hell of it, take a gallon or more of your water, adjust the pH to whatever you use, then check the pH of your water at 6, 12 & 24 hours.

PC :smokin:

[stinkyattic]

flsuh once with that VERY dilute solution, then a coupel times with pH adjusted water @6.8, then once iwth a pH adjusted solution of bloom fert @ 1/4 strength

[acidboy]

source is tap, my tap water is at 8.1-8.9 sometimes it hits 9, i adjust it to 6.0-6.3 and add molasses, if im not feeding, for feeding tap, add nutes, then adjust to 6.0-6.3let sit over night, check again thne feed, test soil usually at 6.2-6.3, then test soil again later in the day which its usually at 6.2-6.3

[PharmaCan]

source is tap, my tap water is at 8.1-8.9 sometimes it hits 9, i adjust it to 6.0-6.3 and add molasses, if im not feeding, for feeding tap, add nutes, then adjust to 6.0-6.3let sit over night, check again thne feed, test soil usually at 6.2-6.3, then test soil again later in the day which its usually at 6.2-6.3

So, does your solution stay at 6.0 - 6.3 overnight or do you have to adjust again the next day?

PC :smokin:

[acidboy]

stayed there over night so i fed it to my plant

[PharmaCan]

Well, if your water is staying where you put it, that should eliminate something in the water as being the source of your problem.

... which is why I was asking you all those silly questions. :jointsmile:

PC :smokin:

[acidboy]

if its not the water then its the soil still retaining its nuts? needs more flushing? from what ive noticed it takes 3-5 days for ph to get into the 7.8 area

[stinkyattic]

if its not the water then its the soil still retaining its nuts? needs more flushing? from what ive noticed it takes 3-5 days for ph to get into the 7.8 area'
Soil is pretty dynamic- you are cycling through wet/dry and oxygen/less oxygen. Plus the addition of fertilizer.
The weak Soil Syrup flush is meant to help stabilize the soil chemistry slightly. You either have something in there that is buffering above your desired range, or there is some interaction among the soil/fert components. Humic acid helps remedy both of those problems, since it is both a buffer and a chelator.

[acidboy]

got to put an order in for that soil was at 6.5 this morning any recomended places to order, unless lowes or home depot may carry that

[stinkyattic]

Naw, box stores don't have it. It's hard to find in the States.
So wait, now your soil is down to 6.5?
This is a weird problem.
You know, the simple, cheap, easy, never-happen-again solution is switch to a humus COMPOST. I feel like I am saying th same thin in every thread about soil pH problems, but find a local Agway, get a 40 lb bag of the store-brand composted cow manure with humus and a 6-8 qt bag of perlite. Mix the two. Repot. As long as you water with pH'd water, you will never have this problem again.
Your original COMPOST idea is correct.
I am also wondering if your plants are root bound- excess root mass for inadequate soil can wreak havoc. One gallon soil per foot of main stem.
You generally should repot right before flower anyway... here... look up your local farmers supply...
Agway - Farm Products (http://www.agway.com/Farm/Farm.htm)
Enter your zip in the top R corner. Get some compost.

[acidboy]

cant fit a bigger pot in my closet, im pushing it with the one i have now, if i grow again ill use compost, or grow hydro, soil is jsut to complicated

plant is almost 3 feet high, pot is 8-12"inches around and 12 inches high

[stinkyattic]

Uh oh so wait, how big across is your pot, and how tall is your plant?

[acidboy]

if my calculations are correct i have a 4.13gal pot

is this the compost your refering to stinky
compost (http://www.agwaycatalog.com/catalog/product/12849)

[stinkyattic]

Dat's da shit.
So what's your plant size? How tall, and how many noteworthy stems?

Here's a pic of the shit- thanks acidboy, now I can post it. F'real, I should make that my new avatar, lol!

[acidboy]

i counted 11 branches and 17+ budding spots with hairs already
and she is a few inches shy of 3 feet as of today

[stinkyattic]

Yup, she's potbound.
Shit. Time to get creative! She's gonna at least double in size by harvest time, and will want to finish in -sorry to be the bearer of shitty news- in a 5 gallon pail.
Do you have ANY other options for a flower space?

[acidboy]

and her i though the strech was the first 3 weeks of flowering, if i keep her in this pot what damage will it do, i dont thing the 5 ga l would work not drainage right? this is the only area i have as this grow that thrown upon me had no time to prepair, so this is my learning exp, if i deside to gro again, i seriously need to find a shorter strain

[Forwhat420]

what strain is it

[Forwhat420]

just reading along and curious? im having the same problem with fox farm ph levels. white widow rolling upwards slightly but no other signs of defficiency. early in veg though

[stinkyattic]

rolling upwards=acute heat stress.
acidboy, damage you will see as the plant suffers being rootbound is leaves curling under like canoe leaves, difficulty maintaining a balance between def and burn, SEVERE impact on yield, and general malaise. Plus after reading this whole thread over again, I think that inadequate soil is DEFINITELY hurting your ability to maintain pH. It will also mean you will have a bitch of a time keeping the plant properly watered.
5 gallon pails do not come pre-drilled, but that's what a 1/2" paddle bit is for.

[acidboy]

dont know strain, she looks satvia, im not worries about yeald as my father already claimed that the fruits of my labor are for him only effects ive seen is the leafs are curling down, ill take some pics tomorrow, i know the siol is killing me i shoud have stuck with the jungle growth i started with, insted of switching to ocean forest...if it aint broke dont fix it... is should listen to my self more often

[acidboy]

is there any 5gallon planter/pots that are the same diamiter all the way around

[stinkyattic]

Just scrounge up a 5-gallon pail from out back of a restaurant or construction site. They get thrown out with th e rubbish all the time.

[acidboy]

ive been reading diff opinions on the pot capacity vs hight, some say 1/2 gal per foot, some say gal per foot, if those are correct i should be good for another foot no?

[stinkyattic]

Height is not all you have to take into consideration. Those rules apply to a plant with a single main stem that has not been topped or trained.
Once you get into a plant with some side growth, you have more leaf mass to support with those roots, and you need more of them.
I think that the problem you are having is actually related to, or worsened by, your plant already being too big for its pot.
That's why I asked about how many stems you had on your plant.

[acidboy]

i need to look into indica strains that stay short, im not up for this tall plant crap lol, right now she is to big to repot without raising eyebrows, so she is gonna have to stay in that pot, it kills me ive babies this plant for so long, but i take it as a lesson in this hobby that was thrust upon me, if i grow again, ill take all these lessons and put them to good use,

thanks stinky attic

acid