What's the best way to adjust pH?

[Pass That Shit]

Pet Store or Swimming Pool supply store should carry the water pH adjuster. It might even be available at most box stores, but I never looked for it.

[mellogold]

the fish store ph up and down sucks, its cheap but blows really bad when it comes to lowering and raising the ph, it take alot of it and then the ph doesnt hold very long

[latewood]

OH my God! ph for soil plants should be 6.5 5.8 for hydro. This can vary, but it is pointless to vary if you don't know what you are doing...there are reason's and times to vary the ph.

buy bottles of ph up/down...mix with your water. let it sit for 20 minutes ...put the runoff in a glass and test the ph. but, I usually just keep my water at 6.5 and everything grows great.

as for lime. It is called crushed dolomitic lime...It is to be mixed somewhat like mention above. It buffers the soil ph to keep it consistent. You just mix in soil. once or 2wice if you repot.
It also adds needed magnesium to your soil.

hope this helps.

[babystarbud]

just to add, pre-packaged PH up and PH down solutions are designed for hydrophonics, and should be used very carefully in soil or hydro.

if you take PH to far in either way, you are better off scrapping the soil and starting over. in other words, you should never use PH down to compensate for adding too much PH up and vice-versa.

your better using a "softer" natural ph adjuster added to the water slowly over time.

[OmegaVermelho]

Rain water has the right pH for every plant :thumbsup:

Let´s just think about this for a minute,

Rain water has the right ph?
Yes in most cases it does have, but u should allways test it 1st...

What other elements can u find in rain water???
That really depends where u live doesnt it???I´m pretty sure that if u live in a very industrial area you will find lots of chems in the water that are not suitable for your plants, and the water ph might not be what u are looking for...

I have tested rain water ph many times and i can tell u the ph its not allways the same, i never had the chance to send it to a lab and test it but some users in the forum have and the results werent to good...

So this is what i allways do....

1st - Get tap water, let the water rest in a bucket for 24 hours so the clorine can evaporate.

2nd - After test the water ph (allways)

3rd - Use Ph up and Ph down solutions to get the Ph between 6.3 and 6.8.
Phosphoric acid to raise pH and potassium hydroxide to lower pH.

4th - Do not use fish chemicals to adjust pH.Toxic buildups can occur.

This method has been described in books such as:

Greg Green´s - "Cannabis Grow Bibble"
Todd McCormick´s - "How to grow Medical Marijuana"


So unless u have ur rain water properlly tested NEVER use it ...

[babystarbud]

good point,
of acid rain...it wont burn your skin off or anything that dramatic, but it is responsible for a lot of problems in northern european forrests.

[latewood]

that's not actually true...good point OmegaV...I forgot that one.
ph/up down is not made exclusively for hydroponics...and you never just dump it in the pot full of soil...You mix with ro/distilled water and ph it 1st.

and if you did screw up your soil...you can leach it...that means to flush it with 3-6 times tthe capacity of pot...If you are using 3 gallon pot, then you must use 6 gallons of ph'd water to flush it completely...some old schoolers put the whole plant in the shower for 20 minutes. If you do, make sure you do it early in the photoperiod, so that the buds have time to dry out..peace

I would take heed of the info you have here; Some of it is "WRONG".

goodluck read read read

[babystarbud]

whats "not actually" true?

[orangeman]

I heard in a video that I saw that Rain water has the right pH balance for the Cannabis plant, so when it rains, put a bucket or something to catch that rain and theres your solution ...

Yeah, it's ok I guess as long as you dont live in a place that has acid rain .

[mellogold]

gerneral hydroponics ph up and down is not jsut for hydro, you can use it for any plant al l its doing is raising or lowering the ph