Adjusting Ph in compost tea

[SNAX]

So I see that some compost tea recipes say to ph it and a lot dont mention anything about Phing compost tea.

1. Is it even necessary to ph compost tea?

2. If it is necessary, can I safely use Earth Juice (organic) ph down to do it?

 

[OctoberDee]

Your ACT should be neutral. . I would not add anything to my tea to drop the ph. As far as my understanding of Compost Tea, the point of the tea is to feed the soil which contain microbes, fungi, and bacteria. Adding ph down (acid) to your tea would kill a lot of the beneficials in the tea, being counter productive.

 

[Blaze]

Totally unneeded, you cant get an accurate PPM or pH reading with tea anyway.

 

[Bannacis]

No ph adjustments for teas, if your water is good..(no chlorine or chloramine) your tea will be living.
once its bubbled and added to soil it will populate and amend the soil. the plant will draw the nutes it needs,
and the ph will fluctuate up and down allowing specific types of nutes to be used at different levels.
and the micro life will balance out the soil, mainly ph worry free....so as long as you feed the soil, no bad water and no liquid
ferts, except fish emulsion.

 

[woodsmaneh]

don't bother pHing the tea, not required.

 

[We Solidarity]

No need to PH it. I went through a phase where I would PH my tea, pretty sure the citric/phosphoric acid in my down was fucking with the microlife.

 

[LexLuthor]

If acids fuck with microlife, does a 1/2 ml of vinegar fuck with caps bennies?? I've used it a couple times to get my pH down to 6.0, but I use less then 1 ml white vinegar per gallon of nutrient solution.

 

[kushluvr]

do not ph..........pointless to do so IMO.............i have better results not ph'ing Caps bennies........the plants love it!

 

[LexLuthor]

do not ph..........pointless to do so IMO.............i have better results not ph'ing Caps bennies........the plants love it!

Are you in coco?? I don't want to water in at 6.5 with nutes because I don't even have any pH buffer in my coco and could cause a lockout. I'm using synthetic salts which make it more important to pH the solution, even with Caps bennies, right??

I could just raise the EC of my solution which will drop the pH closer to 6.0 and water twice a day to keep the EC from rising in the medium, do you think that would work??

 

[kushluvr]

no im in soil!

dont ph the tea to 6.5 like cap says...........just put the ingredients in and bubble for 24hrs...........then add to water n feed! i do a fed tea fed tea program....

i know ppl in coco, that never ph as well, as long as your ph is low 4.5-5.5, you are ok IMO, its better to be low and let the ph rise on its own in the coco/soil!

when i mix my nutes up, it comes to 4.8-5.0.............i just let it sit for a few and feed, i never add ph up, and if you do, dilute it in water first, as its to alkaline for the nute solution straight!

i read a study done by NASA, and they proved that feeding plants at 4.5 ph vs 5.8 ph had ZERO effects in growth....food for thought!

 

[Animal Chin]

Just to be clear Cap tells you to ph after the molasses but before adding any other ingredients which also includes before brewing. That way nothing dies in the process. I dont need to ph at all being that Im in a living soil but I just wanted people to be clear that Cap says to ph the water before you start not after.

 

[kushluvr]

true...........

and thats what i was referring too! theres no need IMO...........for any medium!

 

[Animal Chin]

true...........

and thats what i was referring too! theres no need IMO...........for any medium!

Just checking because you said don't ph the tea like Cap says and Cap doesn't say to ph the tea. He says ph the water. I understand you don't think either is necessary...that wasnt my point. You are misquoting Cap. Not to mention if you ph the water first it might not be necessary but it won't hurt. If you ph the tea you've killed the tea. I also understand you know all this but newbies might not so I don't want anyone thinking Cap says to ph teas. ;)

 

[kushluvr]

;)

 

[caveman4.20]

When ph is too low the compost is to concentrate and diluting will or should bring ph back up... My best advice is get familiar with organic or synthetic but don't mix or try to minimize synthetic....with familiarity with each ingredient and how it's ph affect solution you will figure out what is driving it too high or too low.... FWIW a nice compost tea recipe will not be radically high or low if it does end up too low or high brew for a day check and dilute if necessary make sure everything is mix up good and filter out solids then check again.... Heavy rooted areas usually read more neutral even alkaline on healthy plants..... Is your environment pristine?

 

[caveman4.20]

Your avatar is intense! Nice.

 

[LexLuthor]

Kushluvr, do you know if the NASA study was done in soil or hydro, organics or sterile?? I think that would make a difference.

 

[iscrog4food]

You really don't need to ph it but if you are like me and you are anal about phing everything that goes in to your girls you can use Mad Farmer's NUTS humic acid to drop your ph with no harm to your benes.

 

[Bannacis]

If your synthetic, IMO you should ph for sure, no teas gonna help. don't mix synth with living teas.
I think if you ph the water before making teas, Your water my have hazards in it that may harm the micro beasties in your soil. use R/O water, rain, spring
I prefer the (TLO) True Living Organics method. By adding specific amendments to your soil or teas it will
supply the needed nutrients plus change ph either up or down. and at different levels and durations.
try to get as close to nature as possible.

 

[bstilwell1988]

I'm glad I read this.. good thread!