Nearing Harvest - Need Advice

[RetiredFF]

Thanks again. Tomorrow I will begin the new technique. I'll be sure to get before and after photos for you. Oh, I do have a Ph kit, but I think it is pretty inadequate. Also, I have not tested the Ph of my water. I'll be more prepared next season! I'll be purchasing some quality equipment later this year.

[elway07]

Wait...woooahhh You HAVEN"T been testing the ph of your water?? What kind of ph kit do you have?? That is up there with THE MOST important part of growing... Seriously getting one now is not too late.. They are not that expensive get a simple kit from General hydroponics from your local hydro store. It comes with everything you need. PH up and down, tester solution and a plastic container to put your water in to test it before you put it in the soil. You want to see a huge difference in your plants, that is the FIRST place to start!

[Dutch Pimp]

...a cheap moisture meter is handy too...couple of bucks at Walmart....:smokin:...

[RetiredFF]

Elway and Dutch, I tested the PH of the water. It's between 7.6 and 7.7

[RetiredFF]

OK now I am ready to decrease the PH level of the water. 3 drops per gallon will take it down to 6.9. I have read that the ideal PH for pot is slightly acidic, at about 6. What do you guys recommend?
1. Should I take the PH of the water down all at once?
2. What PH level do you recommend?
3. Can I add the fertilizer to the adjusted water the first time or should I wait until the second watering?

[elway07]

FF- This is what you do. Well, what I do anyway and have never had ANY problems. Well, once in a couple years.. Anyway. Get the gallon jugs out that you will be using to water your plants. Measure out your nutes (ferts) and put it in, add whatever else (molasses or whatever) fill it up halfway with water, give it a good shake, then fill it up all the way. Check and balance your ph as needed. Do it for all the water you feed. You will be able to get to a point to know exactly what you will need for the right ph, but always test it anyway just to make sure....
as far as the ph, the lower it is, the more nutes you baby will take up but as you know it will lockout if it is too low. 5.8-6.3 is pretty good. I personally ph it to 6-6.3
EVERYTHING that you put into your plants soil needs to be ph balanced!! And remember, more gallons are better than less! Seriously. Good luck and get back to me..
Elway

[RetiredFF]

OK, balance the ph of the water after I add the nutes to the water. Makes sense! Thanks.

[elway07]

Your welcome. Remember to flush a few of those nuted, and balanced gallon jugs through!! Did you get a new ph kit??

[RetiredFF]

I borrowed one. Trying to decide what kind of PH kit to get. I was looking at the Milwauke units. Discovered that we have a major hyponics store locally. They recommended another brand. It's less costly. They recommended to test the water going in and coming out. I thought that I needed to test the soil. A unit with a probe should do both.

[elway07]

I have never tested my soil...Because I water so much when I do, I know that I am flushing out any buildups when I water. I know that when I am done watering, the only thing in there is ph balanced water, nutes and molasses or whatever I have added. Seriously the best thing to get underneath a PH pen (expensive) is General Hydroponics kit. As I said earlier in one of my posts, it's inexpensive and works great. I also like that the bigger bottles of Ph uo and Ph down and the solution itself for refills later on are also inexpensive. I always look in the long run for cost effectiveness. If you run 5-6 gallons through those buckets, your soil and runoff ph will be just as you put in it in the first place. By doing it that way (a lot of water at a time) literaaly is preventing a lot of issues in the future as well as giving your plant FRESH nutes and water each time. Otherwise it gets some of what you put in and some of what was leftover, then the two combined will change your soil ph and could potentially cause lockouts and burns etc..
I honestly think that if you just flush a lot of water through with balanced water and nutes, all the other will be fine. At least it has with me and I have been doing it that way since shortly after I began growing. I don't test soil ph nor do I test runoff water and my plants are extremely healthy. I also baby them and spend a lot of time with them. After you have been growing a bit, you will begin to be able just to listen to them and know by looking at them, exactly what they need or don't need. I know it sounds weird, but it's true. Keep me informed, and let me know how it all is working out.
Good luck,
elway