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Soil PH 5.3 should I Ph up?

  • Thread starter Thread starter zoneman
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Soil PH 5.3 should I Ph up?

zoneman 56 Replies 12,457 Views
Page 2 of 3 · Replies 21–40 of 57
#21
I water, feed, water now. maybe i should water, water, feed, just to be on the safe side. My plant does look very jade looking in natural light
 
#23
BudgetGrower said:
I use compost high in peat moss(low ph) so I can add garden lime and the soil becomes ph neutral.

Good luck, depending on the amount of water the soil is holding, this has a direct effective on the PH level and the EC.
water will dilute the plant food in the soil (ec goes down) and this causes PH to go up.

The room temperature will have a direct effect on humidity and the humidity will have a direct effect on the root mass, airflow also effects the root mass
If you have high humidity you need to grow in smaller pots(so they dry out quicker and release less moisture into the air) with 20% perlite or sand added to the mix
if you have low humidity, use larger pots, this will release some moisture into the air and help to increase the humidity under the canopy, reducing airflow will help.
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For my next potting mix, what’s lime ratio to put in? I’m using 3,3,2 peat moss, cow manure, perlite cube foot
 
#24
zoneman said:
For my next potting mix, what’s lime ratio to put in? I’m using 3,3,2 peat moss, cow manure, perlite cube foot
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Dolomite lime finely powdered, not garden lime ... at about 2 tablespoons per 5 gallon planter.
 
#25
MIGrampaUSA said:
When the OP up-pots, that would be the perfect time to put the plant in a potting mix in the correct pH range. I still think that this would be best.

However, staying with what he has is going to be a better idea than trying to alter pH on the fly. It's the using chemicals part to alter things that has the potential for disaster.

Best practice in soil would be to start with a mix in the proper pH range. Both calcium and magnesium are best absorbed around 6.5 pH. Once the plant is put into flower the soil pH will show itself through calcium and magnesium deficiency in that acidic soil.
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I'm thinking his well water and microbial action in the cow manure might adjust the ph sufficiently by flower time. From a mostly organic gardener's perspective, OP's mix is better than many I've seen. Soil tests can be inaccurate. I'm just going on the beauty of that healthy plant, my motto is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I stand by my advice with 30+ years gardening experience, and I will state: chasing soil ph (unless you have very unusual soil) is some more of the bs big box cannabis grow suppliers promulgate to suck the bucks out of you. If he did have a deficiency at flower, it would be slight, and nearly impossible with his supplemental nutes, because most of them contain ph balancers to guarantee nutrient uptake. The ONLY nutes you need: Master blend, it is complete with trace minerals, and for time release, Osmocote, the one with the trace minerals. The grow store stuff is hyperbole.
 
#26
zoneman said:
For my next potting mix, what’s lime ratio to put in? I’m using 3,3,2 peat moss, cow manure, perlite cube foot
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Dolomite lime may well be the better choice but I use garden lime, without it I get problems, purple stems etc
Its a very fine powder, 1 tbsp in a 5 gallon pot would be OK, I don't think cow manure would be any good in flower(3-2-1 NPK)
nitrogen(N) is for leaf growth, so you want a good amount in veg and early flower, you want to run low by week 3 in flower because it can stunt bud growth, you want the plants to start growing buds at this stage.

phosphorus(p) keeps you plant healthy repairs damage.

potassium(K) root and bud growth

you also need trace plant food, I use seaweed meal.

so at different stages you need different amounts of each, late flower you need 2-7-6 for example ( top dress )
young rooted clones need 5-6-5 but a very cool mix
 
#27
BudgetGrower said:
Dolomite lime may well be the better choice but I use garden lime, without it I get problems, purple stems etc
Its a very fine powder, 1 tbsp in a 5 gallon pot would be OK, I don't think cow manure would be any good in flower(3-2-1 NPK)
nitrogen(N) is for leaf growth, so you want a good amount in veg and early flower, you want to run low by week 3 in flower because it can stunt bud growth, you want the plants to start growing buds at this stage.

phosphorus(p) keeps you plant healthy repairs damage.

potassium(K) root and bud growth

you also need trace plant food, I use seaweed meal.

so at different stages you need different amounts of each, late flower you need 2-7-6 for example ( top dress )
young rooted clones need 5-6-5 but a very cool mix
Click to expand...

Ok, I'm not sure why you wouldn't recommend changing the soil mix once the OP up-pots. It's the perfect time to fix the soil issue. His plant to me didn't look great. The color was off. The OP's words were his plant is very jade looking in natural light. This suggests to me that the soil pH is already playing havoc with nutrient uptake. If this was your plant @BudgetGrower I'd leave this be. However its not, and in my eyes you're leading him down the wrong path. You might have the experience to make this work, but its probably too much to expect from a new grower.

@zoneman Here's a chart showing the pH range that nutrient uptake takes place. Notice the chart specifies the pH of the soil and not the nutrient mix. The soil acts as the buffer here and acidic soil will buffer out of range for proper uptake. If you look at the chart, Ca and Mg are absorbed around a pH of 6.5. This is why once the plant is put into flower and the growth rate speeds up, Ca and Mg lockouts will occur.

Soil pH range
 
#28
MIGrampaUSA said:
Ok, I'm not sure why you wouldn't recommend changing the soil mix once the OP up-pots. It's the perfect time to fix the soil issue. His plant to me didn't look great. The color was off. The OP's words were his plant is very jade looking in natural light. This suggests to me that the soil pH is already playing havoc with nutrient uptake. If this was your plant @BudgetGrower I'd leave this be. However its not, and in my eyes you're leading him down the wrong path. You might have the experience to make this work, but its probably too much to expect from a new grower.

@zoneman Here's a chart showing the pH range that nutrient uptake takes place. Notice the chart specifies the pH of the soil and not the nutrient mix. The soil acts as the buffer here and acidic soil will buffer out of range for proper uptake. If you look at the chart, Ca and Mg are absorbed around a pH of 6.5. This is why once the plant is put into flower and the growth rate speeds up, Ca and Mg lockouts will occur.

View attachment 1982439
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Sorry felow but your over stepping the line, zoneman is asking me a question about his next soil mix, I have said Dolomite lime would be a better choice( give your views respect) but I have been using garden lime for the last 3 years,
(over 20 crops), I have not tried Dolomite, It could be a better choice idn, have you tried garden lime in your soil mix? Did you get bad results, where is this coming from?
I can only share my experience and tell grower what works for me, "might work for them"
 
#29
BudgetGrower said:
Sorry felow but your over stepping the line, zoneman is asking me a question about his next soil mix, I have said Dolomite lime would be a better choice( give your views respect) but I have been using garden lime for the last 3 years,
(over 20 crops), I have not tried Dolomite, It could be a better choice idn, have you tried garden lime in your soil mix? Did you get bad results, where is this coming from?
I can only share my experience and tell grower what works for me, "might work for them"
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I haven't over-stepped. You've given bad information. You told him basically "not to worry about it." "That the plant will fix itself." I'm paraphrasing but that's how I view your recommendation.

The chart I posted says enough to show that you're barking up the wrong tree and your advice is in direct contradiction to resolving this issue. Can a grower work around this? Possibly ... but not without a lot of experience. Easiest path to fixing this is re-pot in the correct soil mix.
 
#30
MIGrampaUSA said:
I haven't over-stepped. You've given bad information. You told him basically "not to worry about it." "That the plant will fix itself." I'm paraphrasing but that's how I view your recommendation.

The chart I posted says enough to show that you're barking up the wrong tree and your advice is in direct contradiction to resolving this issue. Can a grower work around this? Possibly ... but not without a lot of experience. Easiest path to fixing this is re-pot in the correct soil mix.
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Next potting mix, not the current one and the advice was to use Dolomite lime. Why do you think garden lime would damage a plant, have you had first hand experience?
 
#31
BudgetGrower said:
Next potting mix, not the current one and the advice was to use Dolomite lime. Why do you think garden lime would damage a plant, have you had first hand experience?
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Because its too strong. Caustic ... in agriculture, its typically used in a lbs per acre situation based on the results of your soil test. It's fine at that kind of concentration. In a small container, even 1 tablespoon of garden lime is A LOT!

Dolomite lime really isn't "lime" in the most traditional sense. It does not have the ability to raise the soil pH out of range. Garden lime keeps on working well past pH of 7.0 ... especially with multiple feedings.
 
#32
K
MIGrampaUSA said:
Because its too strong. Caustic ... in agriculture, its typically used in a lbs per acre situation based on the results of your soil test. It's fine at that kind of concentration. In a small container, even 1 tablespoon of garden lime is A LOT!

Dolomite lime really isn't "lime" in the most traditional sense. It does not have the ability to raise the soil pH out of range. Garden lime keeps on working well past pH of 7.0 ... especially with multiple feedings.
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I reused the same compost for more than a year(6 crops) adding 1-2 tbsp of garden lime to every pot, the mix was on the sandy side on the last crop but the plants where green and healthy. Garden lime can knock the ph out of range.
 
#35
Harpua88 said:
Darn it!! I used actual limes......well, I hope my plants like tequila..... ;)
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If you don't use any more garden lime this grow and you'll probably be just fine. This gives you time to put powdered dolomite in your tool box.
 
#38
BudgetGrower said:
I forgot I also put 1 tbsp of sulphur powder to raise the ph level.
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Sulphur when mixed with water forms sulfuric acid. It's a "soil acidifier" and what people who grow blueberries would use to keep the soil pH of their mixes between 4.8 and 5.2.

What does this mean? It means you were giving the lime something to react with and might be the very reason your soil pH didn't get out of control.
 
#39
MIGrampaUSA said:
If you don't use any more garden lime this grow and you'll probably be just fine. This gives you time to put powdered dolomite in your tool box.
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I used to have some way back and used very little like every other watering. I don't have any now, but it's easy to get. Right now I don't have a Ph issue........I could go for some limes and tequila though. ;)
 
#40
BudgetGrower said:
So

I use lemon as ph down 😆 🤣
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Sweet......I mean....tart.

I've read about things like coffee grounds, banana peels, making various teas. I tend to agree that we often make Ph a bigger issue than it probably is. If you've got a Ph problem that's really out of line and affecting the plants, there's probably something more fundamentally wrong that needs to be fixed. A real water problem........too much fertilizer/buildup, bad soil.....and these things are not easily "fixable". They could require a re-start. Minor Ph adjustments are probably more for "dialing it in". If you're at 6.8 or 6.1 and want to get it into a zone you're striving for.
 
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