Rusty you are absolutely correct. I am very aware that it is a live & learn thing. I am normally an outdoor grower but I just moved to a new home & have a nosey neighbor so I decided to try indoors for a change. because of my inexperience I decided to use some seeds from a good bag I had before (unknown strain) & not to use any of my ice or skunk 1 seeds so I wouldn't waste them with the mistakes I knew I would make. My plants are 5 weeks old & they are about a foot tall now. The research I did on my soil had many positive reviews & the pH is supposed to be in the 6.5-6.8 range. I will get a real pH meter asap. The only thing I added was perlite (25%) into the soil. Does that affect the pH level? The plants were doing great till they started twisting & taco-ing in the new growth. My growspace temp is a very cool 70 to 75. My light is a 175 watt MH (only growing 4 plants) & I am using 5 gallon buckets with excellent drainage. I checked around on many forums & everyone states it is likely a magnesium &/or zinc deficiency so I used epsom salt (1/4 tsp to a gallon of distilled water) for the magnesium once about a week ago. I understand that if the pH is high or low that certain nutrients get locked out (maybe you can educate me on which ones?) so I got that cheap probe to check the level... apparently a bad move. I was planning on using fish emulsion for veg & super bloom for flowering but I need to make sure of th pH first, right? im told that many probs stem from a pH imbalance which is why im trying to make sure its right. Just tryin to find someone that wants to help a fellow smoker get it right. I would appreciate any help given to me in order to be as successful as you seem to be... Thx in advance!
skunkystyles Reviewed by skunkystyles on . soil ph too high I am using an organic soil consisting of Kellogg Patio Plus mixed with 25% perlite in 5 gallon containers. I just transplanted my plants about two weeks ago & I have noticed that I cannot get my ph lower than 7.5. my plants were doing fine until a few days ago I noticed that they were not thriving any longer. in fact they are showing signs of mg and maybe zinc defs. I added some epsom salt to help but I understand that if the ph is off then lockout is the likely culprit. Its too late to remix Rating: 5