soil ph

[michaelpeg]

anyone know of any soils that have a good ph to begin with i am sick of soil being way off and having to adjust it when it screws up my plants

michaelpeg Reviewed by michaelpeg on 02-13-2008. soil ph anyone know of any soils that have a good ph to begin with i am sick of soil being way off and having to adjust it when it screws up my plants Rating: 5

[Orzy]

Foxfarm ocean forest is pretty much where you want it. I recently did a grow with it and never had to mess with the ph. It isn't cheap, though.

It's probably smarter to spend your money on a good ph meter and ph up/down solution rather than pricey soil. There are better/cheaper soils out there that might need a bit of correction, but in the long run will be better since you're not dropping $40 on soil every grow.

When growing cannabis it's pretty necessary to check and maintain your ph level. With cheaper kits it turns the minor hassle into a huge pain in the ass, so.. invest in a decent kit and stay away from peat based soils.

[michaelpeg]

yea i guess i will have to go with a ph meter as i cant get my hands on the ocean forest in canada, do you or anyone else have any experience with the non digital cheap ass ph testers or have any idea how accurate they are?

[daihashi]

I used a color test kit and didn't like it so much.

I bought a 60 dollar digital ph meter and have been happy ever since.

get one off ebay. They can be had for like 10-20 bucks.

I bought mine locally, hence the price markup

[daihashi]

forgot to mention I also used an analog one, but the meter never seemed to move.

[michaelpeg]

lol sounds like my crappy moisture meter the pin would stay at dry unless i basically put it under running water even then its only barely moist

[Twentyinches]

As Orzy said Foxfarm is nice stuff but you will pay for it. And if they don't have a store that carries it where you are at then you pay out the bung for shipping...
No matter what soil you use with whatever pH it is, once you start adding fert's etc. the pH will most likely change after a while, so you will want to adjust reguardless. Some can grow without their soil pH changing much however.

Nurseries can have some good stuff, then with a trusty pH meter you can adjust. But if you guys are talking about a soil tester you stick in the soil then forget those, they are junk.

[michaelpeg]

man people have been so much more helpful than in the past, can you guys tell me how to rep up someone?

[stinkyattic]

A soil that has composted HUMUS as its major component instead of peat will have a naturally more stable pH, buffering at 6.8-6.9 due to the content of organic acids that your plants will really love.
I see you are in Canada and I don't know what the farm supplies sell there, but you might try calling a couple and asking for a 'humus-based potting mix or soil amendment'. Then add perlite and you have a decent medium. Bonus, it's usually WAY cheap.

[michaelpeg]

THANK YOU STINKY