Major pH Issues, I understand what's wrong I just can't fix it.

OK so there are two parts to this problem, and they will both be gotten to in good time.

This is my second grow, my first one went great bringing in 2oz per plant and while I was great with the pH at first towards the end I didn't screw with it 'till I had problems(which I had a few of), I just pH'd the water and feed.

So here's my issue. I flushed a week before transplanting my 2 month old plants into 3gl pots and got the pH perfect at 6.5, the next week I trans planted and watered and found that the pH was low at 5.5 (here's the first problem but we'll bring it back up later). Since I'm using sunshine mix 4 which has alot of peat I figured I would mix some baking soda into the soil with the rest of the plants in an attempt to raise the pH. I adjusted the soil for the rest of the plants and flushed the soil first and tested. Once the soil got up to 6.5 I put the plant in the now adjusted soil.

Now fast forward a week
I went to water and feed my plants for week 2 of flower and when it started draining out the bottom I tested it and it was over 8! I put too much baking soda in. So once I found out with the first plant I immediately flushe and flushed and flushed till I brought it down to 7(still high but there are only so many hours in the day.

Fast forward one more week
Now thinking that my problem is fixed I fed the first plant again and the pH was back over 8! So I flush again(it took all day)

Fast forward one more week
Same thing....
So now I am bringing every plant up one a day and concentrating only on that plant. My first plant has been under a steady flow of water and draining all day and is now at 6.5.

1st part of questions
Now that I have screwed up what is my best method of fixing the problem?
Can I relax at this point and not dread next week when I go to water this plant and find it's pH back up?

I've noticed the plants aren't doing as well with the bud production, but the plants are bigger with more bud sights(So I hope to bring in at least close to the same yeild) so far this is the only effect I've seen from the pH, if I didn't test the water I would have never known, there are no signs of deficiencies or overdoses.

2nd part of questions
The soil strait from the bag is 5.5 and after a few waterings in the small pots at least the pH stabilizes, a little longer with the larger pots. So I've been flushing pots of soil then it occured to me that the last plants did fine and my trying to fix the problem back fired last time. The way I see it I have a few options.

1)Flush the soil with strait water till the pH stabilizes(a whole day of flushing and we are at like 5.7)

2)Flush the soil with water pH'd at 7.5 to level it off(alot more work than sticking the soil under the tap at 6.7)

3) add baking soda to the soil agiain but flushing thouroughly first to ensure stable pH(Hit and miss could take a long time could be quick)

4) Leaving the soil alone and watering plants with pH of 7.5 till the pH stabilizes(If there is a problem the plants are already in the soil and will be straessed and if I go over it could prolong this process)

5)transplant into the soil and just feed regularly with 6.5 till it comes up on it's own like last time.(could take a while and low pH coud hinder growth in the meantime while waiting)

So what would you do in my shoes? Is a pH of 5-5.5 that does stabilize after a few weeks really going to hinder growth that much?

Any ideas or question shoot them my way. I'm up for anything because at this point flushing plants individuall will take a week at a plant a day and then each plant will be watered individually instead of all at once. Not to mention the last plants will be under stess longer.

i don't do soil but I personally like number 5 the best. I have no idea how long that baking soda is going to sit in your soil and play around with the numbers. You've flushed......i'd get rid of as much of the bad soil as you can. (Feel free to ignore this advice :) )

Chrissy...........grow hydro:D :D :D

BONGER!!!! You (...censored....censored...) dog you!!!! Where the (...censored..) you been???? I've missed you my man. :D :D

Damn Bonger......you clean up nice....:thumbsup:

If you get a chance hop over to my grow log and feel free to offer advice, suggestions etc. I'll be glad you did. ;)

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Originally Posted by bongerstonerd00d

Chrissy...........grow hydro:D :D :D

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It's not flexible enough for me. I'm still working out kings and cycles, once I get to know theses plants a bit more and have more experience I'll probably go hydro, just not yet.

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Originally Posted by Weedhound

BONGER!!!! You (...censored....censored...) dog you!!!! Where the (...censored..) you been???? I've missed you my man. :D :D

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i should ask you the same :p

chrissy, i'm at a loss on this one. i'll pay attention as you go through, maybe i can help....

you shouldn't add baking soda to your soil! You mix correctly ph'd water and wash your plants with that. If you want to buffer the ph of soil...you use pulverized dolomitic lime. when you get a soil that is 5.5 I water with neutral 7.0 water/nutrient solution. Goodluck

I grew in soil for a year and never used a ph meter and my plants produced 24 ounces per 1000 watt light with just nutes and tap water no ph up or down

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Originally Posted by fishman3811

I grew in soil for a year and never used a ph meter and my plants produced 24 ounces per 1000 watt light with just nutes and tap water no ph up or down

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Right here -a reason to start with a good solid soil that is of known pH and contains enough composted humus to HOLD.

My pH problems ended immediately when I switched to humus as a base for my mix. I eventually just gave up even checking because no matter what I did, the pH stayed constant.

Chrissy you already transplanted but I would have suggested at transplant time making an extra effort to leach out the existing soil, and then go to a very very good quality compost for the transplant.

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Originally Posted by fishman3811

I grew in soil for a year and never used a ph meter and my plants produced 24 ounces per 1000 watt light with just nutes and tap water no ph up or down

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Did I just see you yesterday? You have 50 plants going right now?

I had someone tell me this exact same thing at my growshop, and all I can think is how you could never check your pH because it is so important.

I have two plants going today under drips to flush today. I figure when it comes to the mix right out of the bag I'm just going to let it be and water like I used to.

Me and H were talking last night about an outdoor grow, so maybe I'll use the almost whole bag of sunshine mix to prime the holes.

Stinky what am I looking for in mulch? Brand, Content....

I knw I shouldn't have added bakingsoda of all things but I'm cheap and the thought crossed my mind that I had a pH problem last time and if I fix it my plants will do better. I don't pull noob fuck ups often it looks like I have now, lol, hey it could be so much worse.

Chrissy my all time favorite soil base comes from Agway and is labelled 'composted cow manure with humus'. It's ridiculously cheap and if you mix it with 30-40% perlite, it makes a lovely grow medium. Hunt around for farm supply dealers; chances are you have an Agway location near you.
Of course lately I am becoming a great proponent of coconut fibre... :D

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

Of course lately I am becoming a great proponent of coconut fibre... :D

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Yeah I caught that a few times in the past. Give me the low down on that, I'm imagining something like rockwool but made of coconut fiber, seems it might be a little more pricy though.

When it comes to the humus I'm assuming I would have to alter my feed accordingly, how would I go about doing that because I spent some good money on a somewhat large combination of nutes, but if I wouldn't need them then I would atleast like to use up what I have.

Chrissy, Coco rox ya world. And 12 bux buys you 70-80 liters worth, or close that I think. If I didnt grow 'dro, I'd deff grow in Coco on a drip sys. Its pH neutral, cant overwater, etc etc etc............

I add about 3-4 inches of hydroton in 2 gallon pots then fill with Coco, thats how I keep my mommies. That is not necessary, just what I did. Hell, you could use clean gravel, or whatever if you wanted. Or just plain ole Coco. I have read some mix with perlite (I hate that shit), too.

I do suggest after you hydrate that you soak/rinse Coco well before use. I have read it isnt necessary, but I do it anyways. I want to be positive all the salts n stuff are out of it.

Do a search for Blue Bear's thread on growing in Coco. Its got all the info you need and then some on the "how to's" of Coco growin. You been dirt farmin gurl, you could switch to Coco on the fly with zero probs.:D :D

And 'HOUND......I'll swing by yer place (grow log) later on tonight to see what ya gots going on.:rasta:

Attic, you Coco'in now, too ???????

Enjoy whats left of the weekend, all.
b0nger

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Originally Posted by bongerstonerd00d

Enjoy whats left of the weekend, all.
b0nger

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lol H works fri-sun 12 hour shifts and I'm a SAHM, so today is our friday, Monday and tuesday translate to saturday, and wednesday/thursday is our sunday. So in about 4 hours Our weekend just begins. I love his shift!

(There I go hijacking my own thread,lol)

Chrissy no we didnt talk at the grow shop.Iwent down to Canadian tire and bought their soil mix i think it was called pro-mix or something like that it was peat sphagman and other stuff mixed in.never checked my ph once..good luck

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Originally Posted by fishman3811

Chrissy no we didnt talk at the grow shop.Iwent down to Canadian tire and bought their soil mix i think it was called pro-mix or something like that it was peat sphagman and other stuff mixed in.never checked my ph once..good luck

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What do you know about outdoor growing around here?

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I grew in soil for a year and never used a ph meter and my plants produced 24 ounces per 1000 watt light with just nutes and tap water no ph up or down

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Hey, Spidey! What's the PH reading on your tab water?
My tab water is about 9.5 always so I have to adjust ph.
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Ok.. you don't have a ph meter.. Maybe your tab water is between 6.5 ~ 7.0..

Chrissy you still fert if you use that humus, it's just a lot harder to screw up.

Bonger, yeah, I'm on the coco kick... in fact I tore apart my veg closet yesterday and installed a 1x4 table on which to veg clones... atm it's hand watered with flowthrough to waste but as soon as the fert shop gets the next shipment of emitters, it's going automatic recirc drip.

Ohhh I am sliding down that slippery slope that has at its bottom a big pile of EC meters and pH up and pumps and AAAAAARGH I'll be a dro-grower!!!! :D

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Originally Posted by 18toki

Hey, Spidey! What's the PH reading on your tab water?
My tab water is about 9.5 always so I have to adjust ph.
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Ok.. you don't have a ph meter.. Maybe your tab water is between 6.5 ~ 7.0..

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We're both in the same place and our tap water is about 6.5, maybe a point or two higher.

yes chrissy is right about 6.5-7.0....What do i know about growing outdoors in Transcona?Well i wouldnt do it too many people around here maybe u could find an isolated spot i dont know maybe around the factories around Day street.I wouldnt do it seems like too much hassel and if someone finds them then all that work will be for nothing.Plus their is a lot of rabbits around here too so they might eat them.I dont know?But if u have a few extra clones go ahead plant them and go back in sept and see if they survived.

Hello CC~ This is not gonna be a big help but I just want you to know what you might already know.
I'm in US and I use supersoil.. This supersoil company claims that their soil is PH balanced (5.5 ~ 6.5). I've used 7.0 ph'ed water from the beginning and I never had any problem so far. My TAP water's ph reading is 9+ as I said..
I used 6.5 ph'ed/filtered water last week and some of my plant showed a sign of nutrient deficiency(and possible nute burn, not sure). One of my plant was 6 weeks into flowering so I had to flush anyway. I flushed it today.
I don't trust my PH meter 100% so I have a pool PH liquid test kit as backup. I use PH liquid test kit to make sure that my PH meter reading is correct. I'm gonna buy PH solution to calibrate my PH meter next time. I guess I am just lucky with this soil.. I never ph'ed water that have drained from a pot.
That's all I can say. :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by fishman3811

yes chrissy is right about 6.5-7.0....What do i know about growing outdoors in Transcona?Well i wouldnt do it too many people around here maybe u could find an isolated spot i dont know maybe around the factories around Day street.I wouldnt do it seems like too much hassel and if someone finds them then all that work will be for nothing.Plus their is a lot of rabbits around here too so they might eat them.I dont know?But if u have a few extra clones go ahead plant them and go back in sept and see if they survived.

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space.bar.broken.again...
Not.specifically.trans..We.have.possible.places.in .Anola,Tyndall,Gimli,Rosser(bytheairport),oakbank, dugald,and,cookscreek..A.place.isn't.an.issue.soil .conditions.andgeneral.info.on,growing.in.this.cli mate/area.are..I.need.something.to.start.with.and.alter .it.from.there..

Plants.are.flushed.and.happier..Buds.filling.out.a lot.better.bu.still.a.little.behind..Transplanted. new.plants.into.flushed.soil.pH.at.6..Don't.screw. with.what.works;)

WE GOT STINKY!! WE GOT STINKY!!!!! :D :thumbsup:

Chrissy i couldnt help u out im not an outdoor grower.But with this climate i would wait till june 1 to plant but go talk to a garden guy at revy or somewhere they would be able to help u out more.But i would plant a shit load of clones because alot of them might not make it due to animals eating them.Peace

Chrissy grow hydro ive done both and hydro is alot easier and less work.Plus u get bigger yeilds.

To.go.hydro.I.would.have.to.see.a.se.up.in.real.li fe.and.have.someone.walk.me.through.their.garden.. It's.just.the.way.I.learn..Chev.a.the.hydro.shop.k nows.his.shit.so.I'll.be.stopping.in.on.him.a.the. shop.with.a.joint.and.coffee.to.chat..

Its not really that hard chrissy get a flood and drain table get a pump and timer flood the table 3-4 times a day and thats it.I bought all my hydro stuff at that hydro store they have the same 4x8 flood and drain table that i use set up in the hydro store.

Chrissy I know exactly what you mean. I am EXACTLY that way as well....just sort of telling me how to do things doesn't cut it in my book. For one thing I always have 100 questions about the part that was left out of the instructions. And I always manage to think up some thing to do that wasn't mentioned etc.....It takes me about 3 tries to get anything new done.
But you know what they say.....that's the teacher not the student. ;) :jointsmile:

Buds.are.filling.out.very.nicely.now.I'm.so.glad.I .got.everything.back.on.track.in.time..