PH help

[Emilya Green]

no... you are not thinking about this correctly. Measuring the runoff pH was a total waste of time and it confused you into thinking that somehow you needed to adjust away from adjusting your incoming fluids to the proper pH of 6.2 -6.5. Runoff pH is meaningless. Stop thinking about it... it is not telling you anything valid. Those who tell you to measure runoff pH in soil are simply confusing a valid test in a hydro system with what happens in soil. Simply water at the correct pH and let the soil do its thing.

 

[Rad420]

Ok....understood....so what I did with the first plant in watering with a ph of 6.5 was better than the next 3 in raising the ph of the solution to 6.8! So from now on all i do is mix my nutrients at a ph of 6.2-6.5 and water. Thanks for the straight up explanation. I really appreciate it. Let me ask you about if I should be figuring out my ppm and also getting into that. Or is that more for hydro as well. Thanks

 

[Emilya Green]

Ok....understood....so what I did with the first plant in watering with a ph of 6.5 was better than the next 3 in raising the ph of the solution to 6.8! So from now on all i do is mix my nutrients at a ph of 6.2-6.5 and water. Thanks for the straight up explanation. I really appreciate it. Let me ask you about if I should be figuring out my ppm and also getting into that. Or is that more for hydro as well. Thanks

Yes, the first plant was done correctly and the next 3 were not. Hopefully its not too much of a shift to make much of a difference this time, but see if you can see the difference in your plants over the next few days. And yes... ppm is also a hydro concern since their medium is water. Yours is soil, which actually has an incredibly high ppm all by itself if dissolved into water ... so measuring your runoff ppm (and ph) is sort of like measuring the strength of coffee out of a percolator... the more water you run through it, the weaker the coffee. The problem with runoff is you don't know at which concentration it actually means anything at all about the state of the soil above... and actually, it never does. In soil, mix using the tsp/gal measurement system and don't worry about the ppm. If you are using nutes designed for hydro that force you to measure ppm, you are using the wrong nutes while in soil, and those nutes probably have hydro pH requirements too. Many hydro grow shops will do this to sabotage soil grows by selling you GH nutrients instead of a soil based program... telling you that it is all the same stuff. It is not.
___________________________________________________________
The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant (in soil) - STICKY
Emmie's Links, Journals and Tutorials
Berry-D'licious No AACT Organic - Grow Journal
Pineapple Chunk Mega Crop Test - Grow Journal

 

[Rad420]

Yes, the first plant was done correctly and the next 3 were not. Hopefully its not too much of a shift to make much of a difference this time, but see if you can see the difference in your plants over the next few days. And yes... ppm is also a hydro concern since their medium is water. Yours is soil, which actually has an incredibly high ppm all by itself if dissolved into water ... so measuring your runoff ppm (and ph) is sort of like measuring the strength of coffee out of a percolator... the more water you run through it, the weaker the coffee. The problem with runoff is you don't know at which concentration it actually means anything at all about the state of the soil above... and actually, it never does. In soil, mix using the tsp/gal measurement system and don't worry about the ppm. If you are using nutes designed for hydro that force you to measure ppm, you are using the wrong nutes while in soil, and those nutes probably have hydro pH requirements too. Many hydro grow shops will do this to sabotage soil grows by selling you GH nutrients instead of a soil based program... telling you that it is all the same stuff. It is not.
___________________________________________________________
The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant (in soil) - STICKY
Emmie's Links, Journals and Tutorials
Berry-D'licious No AACT Organic - Grow Journal
Pineapple Chunk Mega Crop Test - Grow Journal

I appreciate all this info so much. I have learned more about ph and ppm from you in these few posts than I have from reading about it on the dozens of sites out there. I will monitor my plants over the next few days and watch the differences if any. Good way to learn. As for my nutrients. I was recommended Remo Nutrients and not knowing much I went for them. Not too sure if you have an experience with them. Their website FAQ about what medium to use quote is:
"Coco coir is generally what we recommend, as it is very easy to work with and it has very little nutrient charge, so you have complete control over your plants’ nutrient needs. However, Remo Nutrients can be used with any grow medium. Regardless of what you use, it’s best to check whether the medium already has nutrients added before jumping in."
I'm using FF oceans forest but maybe for my next grow I should switch mediums or nutes.

 

[Koolbudz]

With those pics you showed with what looks like eggs.... You better hit those plants before too far into flower or you may lose entire crop.... From what I have learned, during flower is when you want to try to limit your insecticide, foliar treatments to make sure you dont get rot or mildew in/on buds.

Here is how I am doing it and I am also new..... I have harvested only 10 plants or so thus far...... None seem to have been grade A quality, all seem to be a B- and all due to me reading too much from too many. After all my reading and questions have made me understand a lot..... one thing I have found out is different nutrients will show deficiencies differently, yet almost always it is a feeding PH issue when you follow the manufacturers feeding schedules.

I used General Organics for all my previous plants, it seemed to show more deficiencies than my current nutes (Nectar For The Gods). I fought with General Organics chasing deficiencies, when I did get it right it did well, but I wasnt thrilled by the product so I am now trying the Nectar line and as of yet '0' issues.....

I started out from seed in Fox Farms Ocean Forest, used straight well water at first no PH'ing till plant was about 3-4" tall and had a couple sets of leaves. When I did my first feeding I followed the feeding chart to the 'T' but at 25% of feed, then as they got bigger I ramped up the nutes till at flip then they got 100% full nutes PH'd to where the schedule said. I have noticed no issues so far, everything looks great.

I have also found lighting can mimic or exacerbate deficiencies, too much, too little etc, your plants need light to help drink up and utilize those nutes.

Now in my tent I have ac, a heater, a humidifier and dehumidifier....

It is much harder to fix an issue than to prevent.....

I have also found in many statements from around the web, some cal-mag works different with different nutrients, now this could also be a retailers stretch of truth saying you should use our version instead of theirs, but with my nutrients I do not use Cal-Mag, I use their products and so far so good, I would contact Remo and see what he/they recommend for Cal-Mag, he has a YouTube channel.

PS Google VPD