Adjusting Ph in compost tea

[mrgrowguy]

Hey guys, old thread, sorry. Love that search function.

To start off, I'm not one to care if I'm 100% organic or not, though I'd say I'm close.

I just wanted to say fwiw, that I totally and completely disagree with the people saying never to ph compost teas. At least not in every situation. Some teas may not need it, but to advise others without knowing all aspects of their situation for sure is dangerous. It almost seems like people think every one's situation is the same. I can say for sure that the ingredients i use in my teas result in a super low ph. My tea is proven, so I know the ingredients are fine and not that issue. The ingredients are definitely the cause of the low ph but the tea provides everything the plant needs. But my tea would naturally run at sub 4.0 ph. As an experiment, I did not ph my teas. I checked the run off and it came about the same as it was going in and the plant stressed from it. For this test multiple applications were given over the course of months.

My options: I could pre add a lot of dolomite lime to the soil, OR i could ph my tea.

If you say it's not necessary to ph tea, even if it reads under 4.0 ph, I'd say you're crazy, in a fun way of course, but still crazy :)


This is one reason i like to be super careful on the advice i give since it would kill me to know that my advice was responsible for causing problems in the grow room.

Now, I'm not saying that everyone should ph their teas, nor that no-one should. Just that it is possible and MAY be required. Also, a lot of methods can be used that won't upset the biology too much. Like ph early and the bacteria will still bloom. You could spike the ph before adding any tea/pouch. Or use dolomite lime in the tea pouch of ph is low like mine. Etc. Etc.

 

[Bannacis]

You may be right, concerning your style. I am referring to TLO True Living Organics. with the proper recipe of medium and with a bubbled tea, all within your soil is good. when fungi feed and or bacteria feed and die off, they releases specific nutes into the soil that the plants uses when needed. when the population of said micro beasties die off and what not, the ph in medium will fluctuate accordingly. that's when the plant will take its needed food. the ph has to move up and down for this to take place. So if you add ph solution, you will be conter-productive.
Take in mind now, I'm referring to TLO... if you're doing it right...no need to ph your teas. Now if you just throw in a bunch of stuff into your teas (cause you don't care) then you could have problems.

 

[Seamaiden]

Great posts, I think your ideas and reasons are presented well and they make a lot of sense. I am in some agreement with you, @mrgrowguy

 

[Bannacis]

That's the beauty of our favorite plant, there is so many ways to grow it, so many different technics. So much information out there, one must be careful on what one reads. the Farm here has such good info in its forums, if you can't find it here... o_O

 

[Michal]

My tea is proven, so I know the ingredients are fine and not that issue. The ingredients are definitely the cause of the low ph but the tea provides everything the plant needs. But my tea would naturally run at sub 4.0 ph.

It almost always turns out to be the molasses or it's concentration. Either Earthjuice or another brand and/or the infamous "dollop per gallon/litre".

Store bought BSM and following a solid recipe (re: Tim Wilson) gives a near neutral pH.

 

[mrgrowguy]

@Michal thanks man, in going to look into that recipe then, can't hurt to read more experiences!

 

[JoDurt]

Answer to the question::
Plants change the PH by themselves after we give them "PH" water anyway. If you where to cut a plant root zone open you would find that the plant has ph levels from as low as 5.5 to as high as 11 PH. Compost tea is taking it back to Mother Nature, Mother Nature never had to PH so it is correct when they say leave it alone. Hydroponicsystems may be different that's why I went back to soul. She does a much better job then I could ever do.. Lol takes the guesswork out. Go to YouTube (Dr. Elaine Ingham) it will help explain and help you understand much better then I can. If an Oxford Dr. Of soul tells me to not worry about it then I'm not concerned. Humic acid will nutralize the clorine in water before brewing in order to protect the biological life and nutralize the water. As long as it's real compost you can compost tea every time because it is not nutrients, it's biology. Just passin through.. Jo-Durt

 

[JoDurt]

That's the beauty of our favorite plant, there is so many ways to grow it, so many different technics. So much information out there, one must be careful on what one reads. the Farm here has such good info in its forums, if you can't find it here... o_O

Answer to the question::
Plants change the PH by themselves after we give them "PH" water anyway. If you where to cut a plant root zone open you would find that the plant has ph levels from as low as 5.5 to as high as 11 PH. Compost tea is taking it back to Mother Nature, Mother Nature never had to PH so it is correct when they say leave it alone. Hydroponicsystems may be different that's why I went back to soul. She does a much better job then I could ever do.. Lol takes the guesswork out. Go to YouTube (Dr. Elaine Ingham) it will help explain and help you understand much better then I can. If an Oxford Dr. Of soul tells me to not worry about it then I'm not concerned. Humic acid will nutralize the clorine in water before brewing in order to protect the biological life and nutralize the water. As long as it's real compost you can compost tea every time because it is not nutrients, it's biology. Just passin through.. Jo-Durt

 

[sKully]

When you say no liqued ferts...what if i am using NFTGs organic nute line that is liquid? also what if i am adding liquid seaweed (kelp)....bad?...

You CAN mix your Nectar right in with the Compost Tea. You CAN brew them together as well.
Liquid kelp is completely fine as well.

You CAN use ph up or ph down with your compost tea's. YOU MUST MIX IN THE PH UP OR DOWN SLOWLY. IT IS THE PH SWING THAT KILLS YOUR MICROBES. IF YOU ADD TOO MUCH TOO QUICKLY THE CLOUD OF PH LIQUID WILL DESTROY MICROBE LIFE WHEN MAKING CONTACT VIA CORROSION

Phosphoric acid and potassium hydroxide are both caustic, but when diluted, they are not able to oxidize your solution, thus not harming any beneficial microbial life.

I do not currently PH my compost tea's as the bacteria have a mechanism in place to regulate soil PH in amended organic soil.

Bacteria secrete an "ooze" or Bio Film. This Bio Film is PH'ed at a neutral 7.0 which is the exact PH the bacteria need to survive. When you have several millions and millions of these bacteria closely packed together the congregation of Bio-Film overtime, actually begins to swing the PH towards 7.0 ultimately balancing the soils PH.

Bacteria in a well balanced compost tea are one of the key components to getting away with growing a plant from start to finish without ever having to check the PH of it's feed water.

While growing with nectar, hitting your plants with a a compost tea that isn't PH'ed in between consistant PH'ed Nectar feeds will not affect the plant in a negative way. The key is getting the microbial life into the soil while doing as little damage as possible. In this case, if you want to PH the compost tea because you've brewed the Nectar and the Tea together you would want to add your PH DOWN or UP slowly, get it to the range you need, and water away.



-sK

 

[One drop]

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.

I do the same with a vinegar to drop mine a bit I'm on very sandy soil that has a slightly high ph so it seems to work for me

 

[Bannacis]

You CAN mix your Nectar right in with the Compost Tea. You CAN brew them together as well.
Liquid kelp is completely fine as well.

You CAN use ph up or ph down with your compost tea's. YOU MUST MIX IN THE PH UP OR DOWN SLOWLY. IT IS THE PH SWING THAT KILLS YOUR MICROBES. IF YOU ADD TOO MUCH TOO QUICKLY THE CLOUD OF PH LIQUID WILL DESTROY MICROBE LIFE WHEN MAKING CONTACT VIA CORROSION

Phosphoric acid and potassium hydroxide are both caustic, but when diluted, they are not able to oxidize your solution, thus not harming any beneficial microbial life.

I do not currently PH my compost tea's as the bacteria have a mechanism in place to regulate soil PH in amended organic soil.

Bacteria secrete an "ooze" or Bio Film. This Bio Film is PH'ed at a neutral 7.0 which is the exact PH the bacteria need to survive. When you have several millions and millions of these bacteria closely packed together the congregation of Bio-Film overtime, actually begins to swing the PH towards 7.0 ultimately balancing the soils PH.

Bacteria in a well balanced compost tea are one of the key components to getting away with growing a plant from start to finish without ever having to check the PH of it's feed water.

While growing with nectar, hitting your plants with a a compost tea that isn't PH'ed in between consistant PH'ed Nectar feeds will not affect the plant in a negative way. The key is getting the microbial life into the soil while doing as little damage as possible. In this case, if you want to PH the compost tea because you've brewed the Nectar and the Tea together you would want to add your PH DOWN or UP slowly, get it to the range you need, and water away.



-sK

Your talking True Living Organics...it does it all. key is having good water.

 

[Bathtubfarm]

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.

I know they say not to adjust the tea but I recently made a Bach that wasn't doing anything. It was just bubbling black water. I thought at first that it wasn't warm enough but that didnt help. So I checked the pH and it was too alkaline so I added some vinagar and it reacted. Then I waited an hour to test it again an
d saw it was foaming! And the pH was at 7.

 

[Bathtubfarm]

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.

I know they say not to adjust the tea but I recently made a Bach that wasn't doing anything. It was just bubbling black water. I thought at first that it wasn't warm enough but that didnt help. So I checked the pH and it was too alkaline so I added some vinagar and it reacted. Then I waited an hour to test it again an
d saw it was foaming! And the pH was at 7.

 

[Bathtubfarm]

Ph is usually good maybe a touch higher than what i put in 6.2.+or-.1 I generally only refer to my runoff after i flush to insure the med is clean so I'm reallynot getting much ppm info there.
As far as med goes its a home made blend of coco, peat ,grow stone ,perlite and castings. The castings i make on site.

No matter what you put in, it's what comes out that tells you what your plant is living in.

 

[Seamaiden]

I know they say not to adjust the tea but I recently made a Bach that wasn't doing anything. It was just bubbling black water. I thought at first that it wasn't warm enough but that didnt help. So I checked the pH and it was too alkaline so I added some vinagar and it reacted. Then I waited an hour to test it again an
d saw it was foaming! And the pH was at 7.

Foaming only means that you're essentially filtering DOCs (dissolved organic compounds) via foam fractionation. Capulator did a thread about it, let me see if I can link you. Scoping is really the only way to tell what's happening in your teas.

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community...am-why-isnt-my-tea-foaming-is-that-bad.55656/