So confused: got some Cal & Mag issues and soil pH is running high

Hambone555

Active Member
Hi guys.

I’ve been fighting with these plants in pots for just over a week now....
White Widow feminized and F*cking Incredible feminized.

Soil ph is at 7.5 just under 8 on these. I flushed them on Friday with a Ph of 6 rain water and the Ph wasn’t coming down. I got some aluminum sulphate Saturday morning and flushed them again with a water Ph of 6.3 - The soil Ph balanced out to 6.5 after the second flush.

Then I gave them some aerated teas on Sunday because the run off /Ppm on nutrients was at 0.0 after flushing for two days. ‍♂️

My plan was to dry them out good this week. But clouds mostly Sunday, good Sunny day Monday mix of sun and clouds Tuesday and hot sunny day yesterday.
The leaves appear to be showing Calcium and magnesium issues at a rapid rate. to say the least as well as Ph... going back up again to 7.5 for 1 plant, 7.2 on the other and 7.8 on the third and stunted growth.

I’m thinking of replanting them and giving them new soil with a flush again. maybe..? I’m not sure. 2 of the plants are still moist to wet.... and the other is close to dry.

I don’t know what to do next. Your help and feedback would be appreciated.

The new growth on two of the plants are gnarly and curly.... which is a result of the Ph issues from what I’ve read
 

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What kind of soil are you using? Runoff from the soil isn’t important. It’s always changing from wet to dry. Keep watering with a low ph. Say 5.5. Add some liquid fertilizer to the water to get fast results. I had basically the same problem and used Neptune’s fish and seaweed fertilizer and within a week they did a complete 180. Your plants don’t look too bad as of now. Your flushing may have killed off some of the microbial life so since you will need to up pot anyway, I’d do it now. 5g or greater. Try to knock off the old soil so the roots meet new soil throughout. If you can’t its no big deal.
 
Awesome! Thank you for the great advice.
I just checked all soil... including the ones I have in the ground. The soil ph meter I’m using is green one and the two prongs.. measures, light, Ph and Moisture. And they were all between 7.5 and 8Ph. I just did a aluminium sulphate, oyster shell and molasses threatment. The soil Ph dropped abit. Closer to a Ph 7 now. I will check it again later and see. I didn’t do fertilizing yet. I make Aerated teas as well as seed sprouted teas with alfalfa. Still trying to find popcorn seed and barely seed in my area. Hasn’t been easy.

I have a bunch of stuff these are some of the liquids and fertilizers that I currently have.
 

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Soil can't give a reading of zero mate. I'm almost postive that's physically impossible lol. Sure you're not growing in coco?
Also you need to up pot, your babies are rootbound. That's why they're only as wide as the pot.

After flushing for two days.... my PPT 0.0 for nutrients. I wasn’t referring to a Ph of zero mate. That would be impossible

Cheers!
 
What kind of soil are you using? Runoff from the soil isn’t important. It’s always changing from wet to dry. Keep watering with a low ph. Say 5.5. Add some liquid fertilizer to the water to get fast results. I had basically the same problem and used Neptune’s fish and seaweed fertilizer and within a week they did a complete 180. Your plants don’t look too bad as of now. Your flushing may have killed off some of the microbial life so since you will need to up pot anyway, I’d do it now. 5g or greater. Try to knock off the old soil so the roots meet new soil throughout. If you can’t its no big deal.

The plants I have run the ground is a blend of Pro-Mix HP Mycorrhizae sphagnum peatmoss and some cattle maneur.
With some glacier dust, alfalfa meal, worm compost, epsom salt and doltamaceous earth.
 
After flushing for two days.... my PPT 0.0 for nutrients. I wasn’t referring to a Ph of zero mate. That would be impossible

Cheers!
Haha yes im aware mate. It was the ppm I was referring to. Thought you meant the ppm of the run off was zero.
It's obviously been a longer day than I thought. Should maybe take myself for a wee power nap lol.
 
Adjust your water pH to 6.3 then water or feed using that water. Soil PH means nothing in soil. When you get ready to feed, mix your nutrients in your water stir it very good be sure to add calmag to the mix and then check your pH last, make any adjustments necessary using ph up and pH Down , and then water or feed your plants until you get about 20% runoff. Capture that run off and throw it away. Wait until the pot gets very light again before you water / feed again.
 
My advise would be to take that pot and soil pH meter and throw them in the trash.
Then get either a 7 gallon fabric pot and do a super soil in bottom 3rd and Clackamas Coots soil recipe in the top 2/3rds, inoculate with mycorrhazae.
Or get at least a 15 gallon fabric pot minimum and fill to the brim with a Clackamas Coots soil recipe, inoculate with mycorrhazae, add a few hundred worms and start a cover crop.

Then transplant and never have to worry about pH as long as your water is between 5 and 8 pH.
 
The plants I have run the ground is a blend of Pro-Mix HP Mycorrhizae sphagnum peatmoss and some cattle maneur.
With some glacier dust, alfalfa meal, worm compost, epsom salt and doltamaceous earth.
HOLD UP ..... peatmoss? NOT soil that is soiless medium ph @ 5.8 if im correct I use the sunshine advance mix peatmoss/ coco/ perlite always ph like hydro. Hope that helps .
 
Hi guys.

I’ve been fighting with these plants in pots for just over a week now....
White Widow feminized and F*cking Incredible feminized.

Soil ph is at 7.5 just under 8 on these. I flushed them on Friday with a Ph of 6 rain water and the Ph wasn’t coming down. I got some aluminum sulphate Saturday morning and flushed them again with a water Ph of 6.3 - The soil Ph balanced out to 6.5 after the second flush.

Then I gave them some aerated teas on Sunday because the run off /Ppm on nutrients was at 0.0 after flushing for two days. ‍♂

My plan was to dry them out good this week. But clouds mostly Sunday, good Sunny day Monday mix of sun and clouds Tuesday and hot sunny day yesterday.
The leaves appear to be showing Calcium and magnesium issues at a rapid rate. to say the least as well as Ph... going back up again to 7.5 for 1 plant, 7.2 on the other and 7.8 on the third and stunted growth.

I’m thinking of replanting them and giving them new soil with a flush again. maybe..? I’m not sure. 2 of the plants are still moist to wet.... and the other is close to dry.

I don’t know what to do next. Your help and feedback would be appreciated.

The new growth on two of the plants are gnarly and curly.... which is a result of the Ph issues from what I’ve read
ok... lets get some common sense flowing in this thread. No, you are not dealing with the pH issues that you think you are.
First of all, soil pH is intentionally adjusted to the high end of the soil pH range of 6.2-6.8 pH. this is so that when you water with a 6.3 pH solution, as the soil dries back out it drifts upward toward the base pH, allowing your plants and the nutes to see the entire range of pH usable in soil.
Testing your runoff in soil for pH or PPM is a waste of time, and exercise in futility and proof that you still don't understand soil. Think of runoff as coffee out of a percolator... the more you let run out, the more diluted the readings will become. At what point, 5%, 10% or 20% runoff, is the reading correct? None of them. Runoff pH measurements in soil are totally and completely arbitrary and meaningless. Anyone telling you otherwise has no idea what they are talking about.
Now you have added something to drive down the soil pH. This was a mistake. Good luck in the rest of your grow if that stuff stays in there and keeps your soil from being able to drift. Whoever advised you to do that should get a swift kick in the shins.
Then you talk of drying out the plants. That is a good reaction to what is happening to your plants, and the puffy leaves show me that they have been overloaded with frequent waterings with all that rain, and your plants have the classic overwatered look. Yes they need to dry out, and surprisingly, this was probably the only problem you were having before you started trying to "fix" things. Now that you have adjusted to unconfirmed ghost problems, you have made the situation worse. The wet/dry cycle is supremely important in a container grow, especially in veg, whether you are inside or outdoors. If the rain wont stop, sometimes it is necessary to block the rain from that container using foil or some other method, and allow the plants to USE all of that water saturating the soil. The soil doesn't dry out because of the hot sun, it dries out because the roots suck all of that water into the plant. Since your plants have been wet so long, the roots are trying to protect themselves and metabolism has slowed down. Be patient, keep from adding any more water or flushing or any of this other nonsense, and give the plants time to use all of that water. The puffiness will eventually disappear and the leaves will gain some lift.
Whatever you have been reading, I am sorry to inform you that you have been getting some very very bad advice. Try reading my work on how to properly water, linked in my signature lines. This sticky, endorsed by hundreds and hundreds of the 55,000+ readers, will provide you with some additional insights. Do I think you need to repot? No, I think you need to stop trying to mess with these plants and figure out why this is happening to you. Stop thinking you need to try every bad idea some unknown poster online tells you to try. Common sense... why would a perfectly good soil mix and rain water be harming you? It isnt that you alone somehow found that in your garden, that soil wont work without adjustments and that somehow the manufacturers sabotaged your grow. The whole problem all along was all the rain. :peace::love:
 
Haha yes im aware mate. It was the ppm I was referring to. Thought you meant the ppm of the run off was zero.
It's obviously been a longer day than I thought. Should maybe take myself for a wee power nap lol.

That is what I meant. The run off of my flushes were 0.0 at the time I did them on Friday and Saturday. At the most it was a PPT of 0.1on 1 or two plants.
 
it appears to have been stabilized for now....it could be a touch lower.

I’m not a fan of this meter...I’m going to have to get a digital one soon me thinks.

Thank you to everyone for their feedback
30E67B45-83AE-4128-8E71-36C8C04F6234.jpeg
 
well, I take it back. Your measurement actually showed you something. You have proven that everything that was loose in that soil is now "flushed" out. Now you have the original soil again, plus whatever is left from that aluminum stuff that you added. This is good. Now, let the plants dry out and when they need watering, give them nutes properly at 6.3 pH. Drying out is what they need, and with the damaged roots it is going to take a while. Don't stress if it takes a week. Wait for it... your roots need it. After a couple of cycles of this, all of your problems should go away.
 
ok... lets get some common sense flowing in this thread. No, you are not dealing with the pH issues that you think you are.
First of all, soil pH is intentionally adjusted to the high end of the soil pH range of 6.2-6.8 pH. this is so that when you water with a 6.3 pH solution, as the soil dries back out it drifts upward toward the base pH, allowing your plants and the nutes to see the entire range of pH usable in soil.
Testing your runoff in soil for pH or PPM is a waste of time, and exercise in futility and proof that you still don't understand soil. Think of runoff as coffee out of a percolator... the more you let run out, the more diluted the readings will become. At what point, 5%, 10% or 20% runoff, is the reading correct? None of them. Runoff pH measurements in soil are totally and completely arbitrary and meaningless. Anyone telling you otherwise has no idea what they are talking about.
Now you have added something to drive down the soil pH. This was a mistake. Good luck in the rest of your grow if that stuff stays in there and keeps your soil from being able to drift. Whoever advised you to do that should get a swift kick in the shins.
Then you talk of drying out the plants. That is a good reaction to what is happening to your plants, and the puffy leaves show me that they have been overloaded with frequent waterings with all that rain, and your plants have the classic overwatered look. Yes they need to dry out, and surprisingly, this was probably the only problem you were having before you started trying to "fix" things. Now that you have adjusted to unconfirmed ghost problems, you have made the situation worse. The wet/dry cycle is supremely important in a container grow, especially in veg, whether you are inside or outdoors. If the rain wont stop, sometimes it is necessary to block the rain from that container using foil or some other method, and allow the plants to USE all of that water saturating the soil. The soil doesn't dry out because of the hot sun, it dries out because the roots suck all of that water into the plant. Since your plants have been wet so long, the roots are trying to protect themselves and metabolism has slowed down. Be patient, keep from adding any more water or flushing or any of this other nonsense, and give the plants time to use all of that water. The puffiness will eventually disappear and the leaves will gain some lift.
Whatever you have been reading, I am sorry to inform you that you have been getting some very very bad advice. Try reading my work on how to properly water, linked in my signature lines. This sticky, endorsed by hundreds and hundreds of the 55,000+ readers, will provide you with some additional insights. Do I think you need to repot? No, I think you need to stop trying to mess with these plants and figure out why this is happening to you. Stop thinking you need to try every bad idea some unknown poster online tells you to try. Common sense... why would a perfectly good soil mix and rain water be harming you? It isnt that you alone somehow found that in your garden, that soil wont work without adjustments and that somehow the manufacturers sabotaged your grow. The whole problem all along was all the rain. :peace::love:

WOW!! That is good to know Emilya! Thank you for that. This year is my first year growing from seed. Last year was my first year period with clones. And did amazing with very little effort. Lol this year. I’m trying to hard.

In all honesty it all went to shit when I had the defective ph meter that I returned and the following day the plants very dry and made the bad decision to star them anyways while eye-balling my ph down. Then new ph meter came in two days later.

I hope I haven’t screwed those ones up too badly.

This one too is showing serious nutrient deficiencies. Soil ph reading for this one today is at approx 7.2...
88FCFD1B-C1D5-42B6-A266-5F2B33F2EB3E.jpeg
E3EBD24A-3C98-4F5A-9D37-BDA35E738302.jpeg
 
it appears to have been stabilized for now....it could be a touch lower.

I’m not a fan of this meter...I’m going to have to get a digital one soon me thinks.

Thank you to everyone for their feedback
30E67B45-83AE-4128-8E71-36C8C04F6234.jpeg
that cheap $6 meter is NOT telling you accurately what is going on. I am glad that reading makes you feel better, but that is NOT how soil pH is measured.
I know it feels like I am ragging on you, but I am only trying to help. Trust the science. Trust the soil manufacturers. What incentive do they or the nutrient companies have for you to fail? This isn't that hard and there are only a few basic concepts that need to be mastered.
Understanding that the pH of the soil is different in different parts of that container, mainly based on the pH of the incoming fluid and the base pH of your soil, is the key to trusting the science. Don't overthink this, that just causes you to make assumptions that may or may not be true. This, if left on your own to figure this out, would be called learning by trial and error. I am attempting to give you the advantage of having a shortcut, by trusting in my desire to share my extensive knowledge about soil and the growing of this weed. Trust me. Many have, and over the many years I have been doing this, my reputation remains intact and I have a huge base of followers. I only want to help. :peace::love:
 
That is what I meant. The run off of my flushes were 0.0 at the time I did them on Friday and Saturday. At the most it was a PPT of 0.1on 1 or two plants.
Hmm... @Emilya I'm genuinely trying to get my head round this soil stuff so I can stop getting into unintentional arguments with people lol.
Can you please explain how soil run off can be reading zero ppm? I thought I was getting it but I'm confused again now. How is this possible? Genuine question, not on the bam.
 
Hmm... @Emilya I'm genuinely trying to get my head round this soil stuff so I can stop getting into unintentional arguments with people lol.
Can you please explain how soil run off can be reading zero ppm? I thought I was getting it but I'm confused again now. How is this possible? Genuine question, not on the bam.
To answer that, let me quote this from just above...
well, I take it back. Your measurement actually showed you something. You have proven that everything that was loose in that soil is now "flushed" out. Now you have the original soil again, plus whatever is left from that aluminum stuff that you added. This is good.

So at the end of a proper flush, all that should be coming out is pure water. Again to the coffee analogy, imagine making 5 pots of coffee with the same grounds and how weak that last one would be.
 
well, I take it back. Your measurement actually showed you something. You have proven that everything that was loose in that soil is now "flushed" out. Now you have the original soil again, plus whatever is left from that aluminum stuff that you added. This is good. Now, let the plants dry out and when they need watering, give them nutes properly at 6.3 pH. Drying out is what they need, and with the damaged roots it is going to take a while. Don't stress if it takes a week. Wait for it... your roots need it. After a couple of cycles of this, all of your problems should go away.

Yeah.... awesome!! Thank you Emilya. I will. It’s pouring rain again right now. So I tucked the plants under the our table in the yard so they don’t get flooded anymore.

We’re supposed to have three good days of sun and heat starting tomorrow.

I will keep you posted. Thank you for your advise, Rios and recommendations. It is greatly appreciated
 
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