How does 1 properly PH?

[Weed4Life]

I am about to buy the necesary items, but I am stuck without the knowledge of properly PH'ing my plants soil. I am using soil as my medium.

Can anyone tell me the exact directions for testing the ph with this

http://www.plantitearth.com/store/pr...id=63&catid=65

Also I am going to buy a PH meter to stick in the soil. I know I need to test the nuted water, either raise or lower the PH with up or down PH. but how do I adjust the soils PH level?

Weed4Life Reviewed by Weed4Life on 06-29-2006. How does 1 properly PH? I am about to buy the necesary items, but I am stuck without the knowledge of properly PH'ing my plants soil. I am using soil as my medium. Can anyone tell me the exact directions for testing the ph with this http://www.plantitearth.com/store/product.asp?pid=63&catid=65 Also I am going to buy a PH meter to stick in the soil. I know I need to test the nuted water, either raise or lower the PH with up or down PH. but how do I adjust the soils PH level? Rating: 5

[stinkyattic]

You're going to want a small glass container 10-50mL, a funnel, a coffee filter, a kitchen sieve, and a pint glass or something.

Put a handful of well-mixed soil in the pint glass.

Cover it with distilled water.

Swirl, let sit.

Pour off through the sieve, filter paper in funnel, and into small bottle.

Add several drops of indicator.

Swirl and read color.

[stinkyattic]

Okay, now you know the pH of your soil.

When you originally mix up a batch of soil, test first.

If it is high, you can add peat, ferrous sulfate, cider vinegar, etc. to bring it down.

If it is low, you can add dolomitic lime to raise it.

Test again.

Repeat until desired level is attained.

[Garden Knowm]

hey weed...

you are definitley on the right track... I suggest you puchase a high quailty organic soil and not worry about the ph of your soil...
maybe even enquire in advance what the ph of the soil is.. get a soil that starts at 6.5 - 7.0...


and then you simply need to check the ph of your water... which is a very easy task.... the directions are on the bottle.. it takes less than 30 seconds to test water...

iloveyou

[Weed4Life]

Hey Knowm, can you tell me a couple of high quality organic soil that would have the desired ph level? So what you are telling me Knowm is get that organic soil with the desired PH, add my nutes to my water, then test my nuted water right? Do you think adding distilled water with my cured city water will help any? Is Superthrive worth all the hype? Okay last question. During Veg. stage the plants require more Nitrogen and in flowering they require more potassium, right?
I tried to buy PH equipment here in town, but no store carries it. I guess I'll buy the one I just showed you guys.

[Garden Knowm]

Hey Weed..

I have e-mailed a couple soil companys and asked for specs on their soil. I have always used Black Gold or Miracle Grow. Miracle Grow is a testy soil and its PH is 5.0 i belive.. I have not heard back from them to confirm this.
When I have used Miracle grow I water with 8,0 water and I have had PERRRRRFECT results...

There should be no need to use anything besides city water for SOIL grows.. If you go HYDRO or Aeroponic.. there may be a need to filter your water.. depends on the PPMs of your water as it comes out of the tap.

Yes, NITROGEN when vegging... I have used SHultz, Miracle Grow, Super Thirve and have seen NO difference.. others may claim different.. I have also used fish emulsion, bat guano etcetera..

The most imporatnt elements are, PH, LIGHT (proximity to plant), TEMPERATURE, and adequate FOOD/nutrients... With proper PH, it is easy to tell exactly what a plant needs... when the PH is off, the gardner gets confused and can't tell if the plant actually needs more NITROGEN or if it just can't access the nitrogen that is already in the soil...

you can also get a PH tester in the POOL section at Home Depot.. I purchased one there today for a friend..

iloveyou

[Weed4Life]

So lets just say I used MG soil and half perlite should I mix the two or have the perlite on the bottom or what? SO if MG is 5.0 ph and your water is at 8.0, you shouldnt have to check the ph on the soil anymore right? How many days can I keep the nuted watered that I tested?

[Garden Knowm]

Hey weed.. I have now contacted MG twice. They will not give me any detailed information regarding MG SOIL.. They told me that all of their soils are between 5.5 and 7.5. They could not give me specifics about particular soil mixtures.

very odd..

MG soil usually has a decent amount of perlite in their mixture.

You should check the PH of your water before each watering.

[mscaboo]

mg is a good soil, i have recently switched to promix,but i had great results using mg.i added 20% percent perlite and 2 tablespoons of dolomite lime per gallon of soil.never had ph problems even gave up checking ph.the dolomite lime really helps stabilize the ph.also ph of mg soil is 6- 6.5.also i would suggest getting the moisture control with coir

[Weed4Life]

Alright here is where I am at now-
I am going to test the nuted water I have mixed up and get my desired PH range-6.5-6.8 and my question is when I test my soil and find out that it is too high or low, can I adjust my nuted water somehow to get the soil to a PH level of 7? If so How does 1 adjust it. You are awesome Garden Knowm! Thanks alot. I got my PH tester kit yesterday along with the superthrive I ordered. Can I add superthrive during the flowering stage and if so how much for 5 plants (1 gallaon jug of water)?I am going to succeed at this indoor growing if it kills me.
Also, I already mailed off my money to Nirvana for Papaya and bubblicious!! Woo hoo! Garden Knowm- Do you think that a temp of 86-89 is too high for those strains of Indica? I was thinking of growing good genetics to get a feel for sum killer buds!