Is the PH of the RunOff An acurate measurment of the soil PH?

Just wondering cuz For example. My grow shop owner brought this to my attention. I mentioned that I am anal about the Ph and checking the runoff etc. And he kinda looked at me and pondered...

I told him I have the cheepo Soil tester and a PH Oakton Pen that I use to measure the water before I feed and the water that runOff the plant.

I had told him I kinda stopped using the cheepo soil meter cuz I was using the The Oakton Pen and testing the RunOff and then he said "Is that really giving you a measurement of the soil PH? I said Thats what I thought. "He looked at me kinda funny, and said whats wrong with the cheepo meter?"

he said measuring the runoff really isn't giving me an accurate reading of the soil Ph. He said cuz im using ProMix and It has buffer added it will be in the range of 6.5 and 7 and if its lower or higher at any given time it will always be trying to get back to that range.

He said just cuz my runoff is for sake of example 5.5 and my water is 7Ph before I feed it to the plant. that does not mean that my soil PH is 5.5

He says all that is telling me is that after it goes through my soil thats what its at. He said cuz I know ProMix is usually around 6.5 to 7 Ph I can use the runoff to do an estimate of what my soil Ph would be.

Is he correct in this? I have had my runoff fairly low (5.5Ph) I had adjusted the water up to about 8Ph to try and kick it back up Most times I found my Runoff still sitting at about 5.5 to 6.0 regardless of what the Ph of my water was before it went through the soil.

Am I missing somthing Or is he sorta missleading me?

I still Ph my water up to 7 or a bit above and my runoff is at about 6.0. When I stick the cheepo Ph Soil meter in the soil It reads Just below 6.8Ph
Do I trust the Cheepo meter? Or trust the Runoff? Or use both?

Regardless What I am doing now is working... Thats all; that really maters to me at this point. But If I can improve my skills by better understanding Ph and plants in general it makes me a better gardener. Thats why I figured I would ask some people their thoughts on the Board...

Hydo keeps looking easier and easier eveyday... hahaha

Let me try to get my mind around this.
Shop guy says your dirt should be 6.5
Your runoff is 5.5
Your water is 7-8
Yes, there is buffering capacity in soils. HOWEVER that doesn't add up!
It would make sense if your SOIL was 5.5 and the RUNOFF was 6.5 with neutral water.
Cheapo meters are unreliable, but if you can get a cup of dirt, and a bottle of distilled water, and mix them and let them stand for a while, you can get a better idea of where the soil starts.
The only explanation for your really low runoff that I can come up with offhand is that the runoff includes soluble salts, which may be acidic.

Again, why I avoid peat moss and lean towards leaf humus... how is that compost project coming there big guy? :D

The health of your plants is going to be the final judge. After 2 years of growing, low soil pH is one of the most apparent problems to me now, having lost an entire crop to it once... that just gets burned into your mind! So I'm super sensitive to the symptoms... obvious Mg lockout, blotchy weird colored low leaves, strange colors in other places... purples and yellows where they shouldn't be...

I think you are going about this right by pHing the water first. It's going to save you some headaches down the road.

Anyway yeah.. sorry I've been so out of touch in the last couple weeks! I'll get an email off to ya soon, promise!

I knew I could count on you Stinky.,......

I jnew you would be the first to reply

thanks... I knew that all the information can get blury... I'm just going to continue doing my thing they way that I do..

I have noticed since I stoppped paying as much attention to the Ph of my water I have lost moire leaves. hahaha BUt flowering is finishing up so leaf lose is normal...

send me AN EMAIL when you get a chance hope you like the music and DVD the church one is cool....

kd

Stupid ex boyfriend took the TV...dvd watching temporarily on hold... I've got another old busted one that just needs hooking up. Then this weekend the psychotic bastard stopped by and kicked by cellar door down. Gotta love that, huh?

Now I know why you got a Stinky Attic,and not a Dank Cellar! He's gotta be a real prick to had broken in!

Ga Grown!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GaGrown

Now I know why you got a Stinky Attic,and not a Dank Cellar! He's gotta be a real prick to had broken in!

Ga Grown!

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Next on my list of construction projects:

A moat full of crocodiles and of course a drawbridge
A razor wire fence
Doorknobs wired with 10,000 volts

That is pretty bad he couldn't just call you and let you know he was comming by to pick up some stuff eh....

whata lamo Good luck with the MOAT

Crocs are awsome pets... Just watch your doggy/..

kd

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

Next on my list of construction projects:

A moat full of crocodiles and of course a drawbridge
A razor wire fence
Doorknobs wired with 10,000 volts

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You GO Gurl!!!!!

Ga Grown!