Too alkaline
- Thread starter CanDoit
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OldMedUser
Formerly Known as LabRat
A pH of 1 is not too alkaline, it's way too acidic! In fact it's at the highest level of acidity you can get so are you sure you're measuring it properly? 7 is neutral and 14 is the top for alkalinity.
You need to sweeten the soil if your measurement of pH is accurate. Dolomite lime and others can be added to raise the pH. How your pH could have got so low is freakin' weird so I would likely start with some different soil. Most bagged soils are around pH 6-7 right out of the bag.
I'm no soil farmer but I am a chemist and IMHO go with new soil or double check your testing equipment and methodology.
Any dirt farmers out there want to chime in and help this feller out as my knowledge of soil grows is lacking.
ABCDEFG
DWC works good 4 me!
CharlieMopps
New Member
You need to get a new way to measure your ph. I think you need a permit to get anything like that with a ph of 1. I'm talking hydrochloric acid, battery acid. Theres no way it is 1, measure again.
Retired One
420 Member
Ph of one would eat the skin, flesh and muscle right off your body. You didn't say if you were indoor soil or outdoor. If you are indoor, test the runoff after watering. If you are in soil outdoors, you can buy a soil test kit from Lowes/Home Depot for about 7 bucks.
Aussiebonger
New Member
Skin eating acid..mmmmm sounds like a horror movie.....f#$@ that.
Lil Neutrino
New Member
I don't see how that's even possible unless you dug up some dirt where someone poured the acid out of a car battery at and even then it would not be that low. How are you measuring your pH? What are you using to measure it?
You can use baking soda to temporarily raise the pH but it will not buffer the soil and consequently will cause massive pH fluctuations. Do as LabRat said and mix some dolomite lime in to help buffer it around a pH of 7...but first get your equipment and measuring technique figured out.
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- #7
Whoops I did read it wrong. I have a 3 in one meter and everything but the ph level goes in numerical order and read it backwards. This particular meter reads from 8-3.5 and it was falling on 8 so it is obviously too alkaline, but I said it in the wrong way. so with that said.....
Lil Neutrino
New Member
Ok, so you need to lower it...a quick temporary solution is to add some lemon or lime juice to your water or some vinegar to your water. Add a very small amount at a time until you get it where you want it. I used some concentrated lime juice once...5-6 drops in a gallon of distilled water dropped the pH from 7 to 4! I even added another half gallon of distilled water and it only raised it 0.2-0.3....so go slow 
However, these are just quick fixes and do nothing to buffer the pH of the soil to keep it where you want it. To do that you'll need to add some dolomite lime as LabRat mentioned or possibly get some pH Down from a hydro store (not the kind used in aquariums).
However, these are just quick fixes and do nothing to buffer the pH of the soil to keep it where you want it. To do that you'll need to add some dolomite lime as LabRat mentioned or possibly get some pH Down from a hydro store (not the kind used in aquariums).
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- #9
Lil Neutrino
New Member
Ideally you would mix it in as it can take a while for the lime to work its way down if you just sprinkle it on top. I would be hesitant to remove the seedling just to redo the soil mix unless you're going to move it in to a larger pot while you've got it out. How old is it? My seedlings had elevated pH levels for just under a week and were fine after I got it under control. If it's a week or so old I'd say go ahead and transplant it to a larger pot while you're at it.
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- #11
Lil Neutrino
New Member
Hmmm...I wouldn't go to a larger pot just yet. You could try and mix the lime in to the top layers of the soil without going too deep and possibly damaging the roots. Might try the forum search engine and see what pops up, seems like I've read another thread or two pertaining to your situation...probably in this same subforum (Indoor Soil Cultivation), or maybe in the Pests & Problems subforum.
OldMedUser
Formerly Known as LabRat
Have to agree. A four inch pot is good for a 12" plant. Keeping plants in smaller pots 'till near root bound then moving them to pots about 3x capacity makes for a fuller root ball. Move them again if you have to.
Putting small plants in big containers gets them to send tap roots down and fan out the side roots. Leaves lots of roots in the top of the soil and lots wrapping around the bottom of the container with huge pockets of great medium chock full of nutes and no roots to feed.
Major problems result. If you water from the top and don't get run-off the tap roots starve and they are the roots that go big for water. The side roots are the scroungers that are looking for nutes. Without a good spread of both roots throughout your grow medium you'll end up over fertilizing your plant because they'll look like they're starving while lots of nutes are sitting doing nothing.
I was out tonight hooking up peas to the fence and relating my decades of cannabis culture to my wife's garden.
Sure am glad I don't have to deal with all those bugs in my world! LOL
Get everything straightened out with your girls in the pots you've got before you start moving them to a place that may hinder their future growth. JMHO
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- #14
One more thing. I'm sure yall are familiar with the 3 in 1 meter with the light, ph, and moisture. Dealing with the moisture scale with a range of 1-3 (dry), 4-6 (moist), and 7-10 (wet) I keep it between 4-6 in the middle (moist). Is that good enough or maybe a little more water would be necessary? Also, when i do transplant it to the 12 inch pot i think it might hold 6 cups of soil seing that the 4 inch holds 2. this mix im using right now is one and a half cups of scotts moisture guard potting soil (best i can find at lowes) and half cup of sta greens vermiculite. I cant get decent soil here as far as my experience goes and home depot didnt even have anything decen. all the dro shops are in houston and my car, Im afraid wont make it that far and i need a few trips at least to keep up with the plant so im stuck in town not to metion this damn reccession and cant get a damn fast food job...its sad yes but im doing what i can do or it will never happen and college kinda prevents me from getting jobs that need 100 percent of my time. as for the dang question maybe i can use this mix for the 12 inch pot and tell me if theres anything i can do to make this mix better please let me know.
4 parts soil, 1 part vermiculite, and 1 part dolomite.
4 parts soil, 1 part vermiculite, and 1 part dolomite.
Lil Neutrino
New Member
I'm not too versed in making your own soil mix so I can't help there. As for your moisture level you need to let it get pretty dry before watering again, they like a wet and dry cycle. I would let your meter drop to at least a 3 but how is your plant doing right now? Any signs of overwatering? You can poke your finger in to the soil a couple inches and see if the soil is still moist there. If it is don't water, if it's fairly dry go ahead and water it.
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- #16
I looks a little limp and a bit dark in the middle of the stem and two true leaves are starting to show (not the cotyledons). I cant get a picture from my pc since the webcam is inside the thing and idk how to get cell phone pics on here. ill have to look it up and then try to get a pic on here.
OldMedUser
Formerly Known as LabRat
Swap the vermiculite for perlite and reduce the dolomite by 75% and you'll have a winner.
OldMedUser
Formerly Known as LabRat
Not to bust your balls or anything but lemon juice can be pH 1.0 and stomach acid is hydrochloric, HCl, battery acid is sulphuric, H2SO4. On a scale of 1-10 for strengths of acids. Lemon juice/vinegar, (organic acids), are 1, HCl is around 3.5 and H2SO4 is up around 10. If you're soil growing and need to acidify your soil, (sour), a nice organic apple cider vinegar will let you tweak your pH and give a nice little boost of micronutrients to your girls. Inorganic acids like HCl and H2SO4 will only change the ph. And unless they are reagent grade are likely not very pure. Vinegar sold for human consumption will be fine for plants. My mom always dug used coffee grounds around the rose bushes and we had the hugest roses in a neighbourhood of gardening junkies. Mom said the soil was too sweet and the grounds would sour it a bit and help build the soil. We always had the best veggies and fruit trees and cupboards full of home preserved food in mason jars. Whaaaaaaa! I wanna be 10 again!
Fourty five years too late for that.
Just babbling at this point but the point is that we all pull together to make this glorious hobby as easy or complicated as you'ld like but with the precise information that can guide you to your ultimate goal.
Smoking the best herb on any planet in the known universe!
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- #19
Lil Neutrino
New Member
Why....would you post that without providing some reasoning with it? Hydro is not known for being the easiest or cheapest route either, something some people have to contend with Nothing wrong with soil once you get the procedure down...just like with hydro.
Nothing wrong with soil once you get the procedure down...just like with hydro.Similar threads
