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

[Hambone555]

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.

No offence taken at all. I hear you loud and clear. This is why I posted this, was to get some real positive feedback. Which you have and thank you once again

 

[Emilya Green]

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

That's perfect. They will love getting that oxygen way down deep again... they are tired of the monsoons. Same thing is happening here in Missouri... it is weird. Good luck, but you got this now.

 

[Hambone555]

That's perfect. They will love getting that oxygen way down deep again... they are tired of the monsoons. Same thing is happening here in Missouri... it is weird. Good luck, but you got this now.

Do you have a webpage or site where I can follow by chance??

 

[Emilya Green]

I write a lot about pH and over the last year or so have completely explained soil and pH in various threads just like yours. Sometimes I get in a mood and the lucky (or unlucky) recipient of my advice, gets a book or at least a small treatise. Imagine how wordy I am in person! But do a search for my contributions here on and include the keyword pH... capitalized just like that, properly. You should find plenty to read.

 

[Emilya Green]

Do you have a webpage or site where I can follow by chance??

Not yet... I have conflicts with my employers that prohibit me from that for now, but I am working on a book. When I get out of the industry and join the emerging cannabis industry here in Missouri, I will be able to come out.

 

[DaveL]

Emilya, your posts and advice have been awesome and I'm sure helped many people. Myself included. Your knowledge and experience is invaluable.
One thing I noticed from one the OP's earlier threads is that he is using Promix HP M. This is what I am growing in right now. Should we not be aiming for a PH more around the 5.8 mark? (After mixing nutes etc.).

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi DaveL, and thank you for the good catch. Yes, Promix is indeed a horse of a different color.
From their pdf:
High perlite content, peat-perlite based growing medium Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss (65-75%)
pH Incubated:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . < 6.2

So yes, if he is growing in this then this is NOT soil. This is a specially designed grow medium intended to have a base pH of 6.2 This means that hydro rules apply, and any pH between 5.5-6.1 is valid, the center being 5.8, but the sweet spot being just a tad lower than that.

So, Hambone, first... are you a ham operator? I am, so I am curious. Second, forget everything I said about 6.3 pH being your sweetspot. Thanks to DaveL, we now have a very good explanation as to why your runoff ran so clear, and why there are folks advising you to pay attention to runoff. I went on and on about SOIL, not ProMix. Sorry for the confusion, but you are not in soil, and adding anything to the Promix to try to adjust it is ill advised. Follow DaveL's advice, or anyone else on here with a grow similar to yours, but my advice sadly has mostly to do with organic soil grows.

 

[DaveL]

Feels good to actually contribute a little of what I've learned here and from my own endeavours.

 

[Hambone555]

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.

Thanks for tips. Emilya seemed a little shocked by your reply though

 

[Hambone555]

Well.... issues don’t appear to be getting any better. Probably too soon. I haven’t watered them all week.

I may have a fungus nat problem too.... ‍
Has anyone had experience using this pest control?? Was going to mix it with some pure canola oil and foliar spray.

I just re-did all the soil for the 4 plants I have in pots. Got rid of the old soil as much as possible. Used great white for transplant. Soil is approx 80% Promix HP Mycorrhizae, 10%sphagnum peat moss, 10% cattle maneuver and approx a half cup of worm castings as as well dolmataceous earth. Just a light dusting on the mix and mix the soil well.

I watered around the root ball with some mild nutrients. 1/4 tsp. Of fish fertilizer and a 1/4 of Gaia, fertilizer in 5 Litres of rain water. pH after mixture was at 6.15

So that’s all I got for today.

I’m seeing some minor brown spots on se of my plants leaves that are in the ground. Very minimal and a few leaves have been chewed too. I think a pest treatment is necessary. Tried to find Neem oil on Amazon and few of them wouldn’t deliver to me in Canada as well as safe brand caterpillar killer 3 concentrate.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Thanks for tips. Emilya seemed a little shocked by your reply though

Really, in what way was she shocked.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Well.... issues don’t appear to be getting any better. Probably too soon. I haven’t watered them all week.

I may have a fungus nat problem too.... ‍♂
Has anyone had experience using this pest control?? Was going to mix it with some pure canola oil and foliar spray.

I just re-did all the soil for the 4 plants I have in pots. Got rid of the old soil as much as possible. Used great white for transplant. Soil is approx 80% Promix HP Mycorrhizae, 10%sphagnum peat moss, 10% cattle maneuver and approx a half cup of worm castings as as well dolmataceous earth. Just a light dusting on the mix and mix the soil well.

I watered around the root ball with some mild nutrients. 1/4 tsp. Of fish fertilizer and a 1/4 of Gaia, fertilizer in 5 Litres of rain water. pH after mixture was at 6.15

So that’s all I got for today.

I’m seeing some minor brown spots on se of my plants leaves that are in the ground. Very minimal and a few leaves have been chewed too. I think a pest treatment is necessary. Tried to find Neem oil on Amazon and few of them wouldn’t deliver to me in Canada as well as safe brand caterpillar killer 3 concentrate.

You need BTI not BTK.

Try Gnatrol for BTI

Kill Fungus gnats, Spider Mites, White Flies with Bti, Avid and Forbid

$7.95 - Free Shipping. Gnatrol Organic BTI is 100% effective on fungus gnats found in potting soils, hydroponic and greenhouse gardens. Other products available for Spider Mites and White Flies include Avid, Forbid and Floramite.

www.gnatrol.com

 

[Emilya Green]

Really, in what way was she shocked.

I just don't generally like advice like "take all that you have now and throw it in the trash." It is my belief that it is better to try to fix the current grow and help the poster understand what has gone wrong and how to fix it. If they want to try another method on the next grow, that is fine, but a good diagnostician will not throw their hands up in the air and say I have no solution for you other than to start over, and do it my way.

 

[Nunyabiz]

I just don't generally like advice like "take all that you have now and throw it in the trash." It is my belief that it is better to try to fix the current grow and help the poster understand what has gone wrong and how to fix it. If they want to try another method on the next grow, that is fine, but a good diagnostician will not throw their hands up in the air and say I have no solution for you other than to start over, and do it my way.

Umm ok, and other than a tiny pot with about a quart of soil less medium and a soil pH meter which should be pulled from the shelves of all stores because they dont work.

What of value would he be scrapping?

When I see a person with a flat tire on their car my advise is to change the tire, not pump up the flat every 1 to 2 miles.

To me I saw the perfect time to scrap a pot that is woefully inadequate and a pH meter that's leading him off a cliff.
Then suggested a proper pot type and size and soil type where he doesn't have to worry about overwatering or pH.

Thus fixing the current grow.

 

[bobrown14]

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.

This ^^^ - my VEG plants always look like shit when they are root bound.

OP - VERY unlikely its a Sulfur problem in soil. You keep flushing and eventually you wont have to worry about it. There won't be any roots left.

Stop flushing, meter reading and generally over thinking. Its a weed. They are hardy as all get out. Grow best without hoo-man hand in there.

Water and keep the soil moist

Whats you water source??

 

[Hambone555]

This ^^^ - my VEG plants always look like shit when they are root bound.

OP - VERY unlikely its a Sulfur problem in soil. You keep flushing and eventually you wont have to worry about it. There won't be any roots left.

Stop flushing, meter reading and generally over thinking. Its a weed. They are hardy as all get out. Grow best without hoo-man hand in there.

Water and keep the soil moist

Whats you water source??

I know right...!? My first grow last year from clones was great!! I did everything that’s frowned upon in the grow world. I used miracle grow bloom and use tap water....! Lol I got lucky.

This year I grow from seed, nutrients aerated teas, pH’d water ..... and it all goes to shit!! ‍ Hasn’t been a pleasant experience to say the least. My soil pH ( ground) is high in alkaline. 7.7 to 8 and that’s with amendments done to the soil.

Finally brought the pH down a few days ago with citric acid.... got in the sweet spot for a day.... then had insane nute...burns..... so I flushed the soil in the ground today today at a 5.2 pH. Soil was at 7.8pH on three of them and 7.3 on the fourth.

 

[Hdinkleman]

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.

yup they are junk.
youll just end up chasing your own tail

 

[Hdinkleman]

just use tap water and stop tinkering with everything.
dont even use nutes until you can go one wholegrow start to finish on tap water.
thats my next goal

 

[Barney86]

I know right...!? My first grow last year from clones was great!! I did everything that’s frowned upon in the grow world. I used miracle grow bloom and use tap water....! Lol I got lucky.

This year I grow from seed, nutrients aerated teas, pH’d water ..... and it all goes to shit!! ‍♂ Hasn’t been a pleasant experience to say the least. My soil pH ( ground) is high in alkaline. 7.7 to 8 and that’s with amendments done to the soil.

Finally brought the pH down a few days ago with citric acid.... got in the sweet spot for a day.... then had insane nute...burns..... so I flushed the soil in the ground today today at a 5.2 pH. Soil was at 7.8pH on three of them and 7.3 on the fourth.

I sometimes experiment to see how badly you can do things and get away with it.
Example- i grow in coco. People freak that the ph must be bang on 5.7 for veg and 6.3 for bloom.
Most also freak about leaving the plants in run off.
So, i got some 4inch tall tubs and sat my coco plants in them.
My nutes come out at around ph7 for grow and bloom and i just put them straight in and filled the pots till the tub was full....
Absolutely perfect grow nutrient wise but i did lose the lot due to a light timer malfunction lol.
Not something id ever recommend but it does work remarkably well for me. Well other than the light timer

 

[Hambone555]

Hi guys, just wanted to share the progress from a few months back. I screwed up quite abit whith that whole pH thing earlier in the season.

With all the positive feedback, help and support I received on 420Magazine.com I wanted to share the latest update.

I ended up buying a pound of recharge as suggested by Emilya. Thank you once again for your tips advice and patience. Lol I stopped messing with the pH. I totally sh*t the bed in that department. “There are no successes without failures.”

Been giving them aerated tea every ten days approx. and using the a double dose of recharge every second watering. Which was about every 6 days for the month of july. They are getting thirstier now. So they are getting a dose of recharge every 5 days now... as well as some of it in the aerated teas.

They are nowhere near what I was hoping and/or expecting. However it’s better than nothing and I have learned a ton this season.

Planning on experimenting with clones this fall even re-vegging a plant as an experiment, maybe two. We’ll see.

The following were all feminized seeds from mjseeds in BC.

1. Master Kush (free seeds) > which was the most problematic to be honest. It took forever to catch. I found that it likes the nutrients ALOT. (Maybe because I shocked it so much earlier on) so she started to take off when I increased its dosage mix July. *thumbs up it’s about 18” high. Pretty small.

2. Fucking Incredible (purchased) > this one was the most vigourous for everyone who had her. A buddy of mine’s is 8’ feet others are at 6’. MINE. Approx. 3’ feet. Did a lot of pinching and super cropping experimenting with the trellis/SCROG. Which isn’t working out so well I don’t think due to the movement of the sun. It would be better if it was an indoor light (stationary) not sure if I will do it this way again. I had just readjusted all the branches thru the squares and pulled a few of them down to get more light inside.

3 & 4. white widow (paid) > I am very surprised how small and bushy they are. Once again I screwed up big time in June. My buddy’s turn out great over 6’ full bushy and healthy. (He picked his up at the right time) these two are at approx. 2’ feet in height. I’m hoping for short dense colas on these. *fingers crossed. I’m guess-timating 4 to 5 weeks of more veg growth during flowering.

My aerated tea recipe will be changing once they go into flower. As well as using a mung bean sprouted tea.

And 5. white widow (my rescue) lol > this was pretty much dead..... trimmed her down to a 3” stem/stalk and cut all the leaves off and she sprouted back. Lmao
Thinking of putting her under a 24 or 18 hour light cycle soon to see what she will do in the off season.

Once again a big thank you to everyone for your advise and support and a big thank you to 420magazine.com for creating and bringing us growers from all walks of life together, one post and thread at a time.