Just made a complete rookie mistake and need advice!

[guy4]

Hi,

I am new to this so I probably am posting in the wrong place if so please tell me.

What I need help on is a big mistake I made in haste to grow. I have bought a small tent and a Diamond Series DS200 veg - flower light which all seem to be great. The problem is my wife has requested me to use soil instead of hydro as my hydro has overflowed a couple of times and is very heavy to move 5 gal of nut solution when changed. Not a problem I thought but when I bought soil all I could get at the time was Miracle Grow potting soil,not in the least what I wanted but after several people getting busted after visiting a hydro store for no reason I felt I had to go to a reg hardware store.

Anyway I completely forgot to check the water coming into the house as we have moved. After watering I checked the PH and found out it was very acidic between 4 and 5 on my soil meter. I have some very concentrated PH up and down which I used the PH up but didn't know how much I needed as the soil was wet already. As it turned out I over did it and brought up the PH to almost 6 in one application. I checked again this morning and it went down to 5.5 so how should I more gently bring it to normal? I don't know if my seeds have been ruined or not and of course they cost a lot so I will wait and see. I do need to know what to do as the soil is too wet already.

The seeds were soaked in tap water over night so I may have messed them up just doing that.

Any help much appreciated. These are auto seeds if that matters.

This will teach me a lesson on being cheep and not buying distilled water, and checking everything before taking seeds out of the package.

With my PH up being very strong I don't have a clue as to what it should be to move the PH of soil. To give an idea of how strong it is, 2 drops in a quart of water pegs my meter. For hydro this is good as it takes a very small amount for changes in larger nute solutions.

Thanks,
Guy4

 

[Lady Cannafan]

Re: Just made a complete rookie mistake and need help!

Guy4,
I moved your question to FAQ's so you can get more exposure for possible answers.
Good luck and good green to you!

 

[guy4]

Re: Just made a complete rookie mistake and need help!

Hi,

Thanks for moving it.

I did wind up doing something drastic and pulled out the cubes the seeds were in. They are great for hydro but I fond out they don't take up water from moist soil and thus were very dry although the soil was moist. The cubes are the fiberglass type which are not for soil as I just found out. I had some other ones which hold moisture better but they had mold on them so out they went. I used distilled water and PH up to change the overall PH closer to what is should be. It's amazing how much it takes to change soil PH. It's not perfect yet but a lot closer. I couldn't add any more water as it would be way to wet. The interesting part is all 3 seeds have sprouted in one day in water and one night in the cube. I wound up planting them in the soil directly at this point. I will let you know how they do in a week or so.

Thanks again,
Guy4

 

[NCDude]

Re: Just made a complete rookie mistake and need help!

Ater a few grows, and several PH meters, thru this forum, I discovered that if I use Happy Frog, or Ocean Forest, that I do not need to adjust the PH of the water. The soils have lime in them, which 'buffers' the PH water thang. Now, I do have to filter my water because because it is fluoride city water…now the folks at the my local garden store raise their eyebrow, but I've been free of PH solutions for two or three years, and my girls always look healthy…

 

[PeytonManning]

I know you were a hydro grower, but did you ever think of just switching to hempy? Passive hydro without having to change a reservoir. Doesn't hold enough water to make a mess, no soil problems. I grow in straight perlite. Just some food for thought before you get fully invested in a new grow style

 

[guy4]

Re: Just made a complete rookie mistake and need help!

Hi,

Thanks for writing,

Guy4

P. S. Off subject but does anyone know why LED full spectrum lights have so much blue? In my 8th grade class on photosynthesis as I understood it plants reflect light opposite of what they need. As I don't know many plants with red leaves I wouldn't think blue would be a veg color as I did use MH for veg it was much closer to white light then blue. Just wondering not a big deal.

 

[gwhiz]

Re: Just made a complete rookie mistake and need help!

I know you were a hydro grower, but did you ever think of just switching to hempy? Passive hydro without having to change a reservoir. Doesn't hold enough water to make a mess, no soil problems. I grow in straight perlite. Just some food for thought before you get fully invested in a new grow style

Hey bro would you please put some links up about this. Sounds very interesting to me and something that I would def like to learn more about. Much thanks either way bro.

 

[PeytonManning]

Hey bro would you please put some links up about this. Sounds very interesting to me and something that I would def like to learn more about. Much thanks either way bro.

Sent you a pm

 

[youngrob650]

i think to balance out the pH in your soil, bring the water up to 7.8 and the run off should be anywhere between 6.0-7.0 .. 6.5 is what the roots love.