Can the waters PH cause this?

[Dtraderbudz23]

I have been using RO water for the life cycle of my grow. About 2 months in now. I have never PHed the water just used the RO water that filled into the bucket. My plants are in living soil. I've top amended with worm castings and roots organics terp tea. I kept seeing people on videos saying the water should be 6-6.5 and I know my water was in the 9-10 PH range. So I stupidly lowered the PH with a little organic lemon juice to 6.3ish and started watering with that. A week or so later now all my plants are sick with multiple deficiency's would this of been caused by the lower PH, or lemon juice or both? Help! I am going back to my regular RO water non PHed up or down unless somebody tells me thats a bad idea.

 

[freezeland2]

Pics of plants. Have you given any calmag with that RO water?

 

[Aqua Man]

Ph means nothing in RO absolutely nothing. The lack of minerals however does.

Dont fall for the bullshit you hear about using lemon juice or vinegar etc. you DO NOT NEED to PH your water for living soil… your soil will adjust the PH of the water.

 

[Aqua Man]

FYI plants also DO NOT take up organic nutrients. The industry or organics is full of misinformation and half truths.

 

[Aqua Man]

Thats not to say there are not benefits from organic farming just not in the manner of the claims made or information given

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Thats not to say there are not benefits from organic farming just not in the manner of the claims made or information given

@Aqua Man you're not saying enough for me (at least) to follow what you're trying to say. I'm sure there's a point you're trying to make ... Let's hear it friend.

I believe I have better tasting crops using organics although I have larger crops using salts based nutrients.

 

[Dtraderbudz23]

Pics of plants. Have you given any calmag with that RO water?

Look at this disaster. I pulled all the leafs from my plants that have different illnesses. The canopy picture is after I clipped all the diseased leaves so don't let that picture fool you.

 

[Dtraderbudz23]

I have no put anything in the water ever until 2 weeks ago I put lemon juice in my 5 gal ro bucket and brought it down to 6..5 ish and now all these problems pop up.

 

[Aqua Man]

@Aqua Man you're not saying enough for me (at least) to follow what you're trying to say. I'm sure there's a point you're trying to make ... Let's hear it friend.

I believe I have better tasting crops using organics although I have larger crops using salts based nutrients.

Yes I believe your correct. The metabolites produced , symbiotic relationships and a few other key elements are whats responsible for you observations… not nutrients.

See plants can only take up nutrients in ionic form…. A nitrate is a nitrate no matter the processes involved in the breakdown of the source into a nitrate. Organically broken down by microbes into a nitrate or man made processes to do the same.

There is a shot load more to all of this and the benefits and differences… but the n terms of nutrients there is 0 difference be it organically or synthetically derived.

 

[Aqua Man]

I have no put anything in the water ever until 2 weeks ago I put lemon juice in my 5 gal ro bucket and brought it down to 6..5 ish and now all these problems pop up.

Coincidence… there is something else going on… it may well be a ph issue but it will not be from a single use of lemon juice in terms of a ph perspective.

Thats not to say the lemon juice could not have brought pathogen’s or something else.

Could easily be the buffering capacity of the soil… the amount or rate of breakdown organic nutrients in the soil…. More like the impact of watering practices on the microbes in the soil impeding the breakdown and availability of nutrients.

All speculative. Post up aome pics so we can see

 

[freezeland2]

I have no put anything in the water ever until 2 weeks ago I put lemon juice in my 5 gal ro bucket and brought it down to 6..5 ish and now all these problems pop up.

That’s your problem. And it ain’t the lemon juice. Which terp tea are you using for top dress and what amount. Is it the grow formula applied at 1 tsp per gal of medium?

 

[Aqua Man]

Think peat moss for example… as it breaks down organics it produces tannins, hunic and fulvic acids. All of which we know are beneficial but in the the you can use a man made process to speed this up and create the same compounds.

The difference is organics is about growing a soil teaming with beneficial microbes; not a plant… these microbes perform a lot more processes than we think and without the food source for these microbes like say a synthetic grow we do not benefit from them.

That is the benefit to organics and why we see the synthetic fertilizer guys looking to the same fulvics humics etc as additives

 

[Dtraderbudz23]

The roots organic terp tea green bag I added 1 cup of worm casting and 2 tablespoons of the dry amendment on top per plant about a week or so ago when I started noticing some minor deficiency

 

[freezeland2]

If you are in living soil you should be feeding the microbes. Have you been doing that? It’s why I asked about that terp tea. I’d recommend going back to non ph’d RO and add some calmag. Get some microbe charge, roots organic makes it. There is also a product called recharge. Feed those microbes and it should help.

 

[Dtraderbudz23]

That’s your problem. And it ain’t the lemon juice. Which terp tea are you using for top dress and what amount. Is it the grow formula applied at 1 tsp per gal of medium?

Also I did buy some blackstrap molasses to start putting in the water once a week

 

[Aqua Man]

Also I did buy some blackstrap molasses to start putting in the water once a week

DO NOT DO THAT… likely thats the culprit. Buy the P and P microbes from terp tea.

 

[Aqua Man]

You may also be over watering

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

@Aqua Man that response makes sense.

The leaves that you cut do look like magnesium deficiency. The RO process strips it completely of all minerals. If your pH is that high, it's because it came from your water company that high ... but there's nothing in the water to buffer it. Because of that, your soil has zero problems with the water itself. However that doesn't mean your not heading towards magnesium issues since it was stripped out during the RO process. I use filtered water, but I also add a teaspoon of epsom salts per gallon of water. I also have cal mag on hand and I've used it plenty ... but I like the epsom salts. It's cheap and it works. Especially if you're not showing calcium deficiencies as well.

Yes, organic growing isn't pour and "poof," the nutrients are available. It's more like feed the soil in advance so the microbes can break it down and make it available for the plant. I use Roots Organic "Microbe Blast." It's in the blue bag. I also use the Terp Tea "Grow" (green bag), "Bloom" (red bag), and "Bloom Booster" (pink bag). It works well as either a top feed or a "brewed tea." However it can take some time for your plants to receive the benefits. Roots Organic posts a feed schedule on their website for both methods.

 

[Aqua Man]

@Aqua Man that response makes sense.

The leaves that you cut do look like magnesium deficiency. The RO process strips it completely of all minerals. If your pH is that high, it's because it came from your water company that high ... but there's nothing in the water to buffer it. Because of that, your soil has zero problems with the water itself. However that doesn't mean your not heading towards magnesium issues since it was stripped out during the RO process. I use filtered water, but I also add a teaspoon of epsom salts per gallon of water. I also have cal mag on hand and I've used it plenty ... but I like the epsom salts. It's cheap and it works. Especially if you're not showing calcium deficiencies as well.

Yes, organic growing isn't pour and "poof," the nutrients are available. It's more like feed the soil in advance so the microbes can break it down and make it available for the plant. I use Roots Organic "Microbe Blast." It's in the blue bag. I also use the Terp Tea "Grow" (green bag), "Bloom" (red bag), and "Bloom Booster" (pink bag). It works well as either a top feed or a "brewed tea." However it can take some time for your plants to receive the benefits. Roots Organic posts a feed schedule on their website for both methods.

Exactly organics is aboit building a good healthy living soil over time and takes imo an extensive knowledge and experience to get right.

Synthetic is far more dummy proof and easier to correct. In the end organics CAN provide a better product but in reality the better product is going to come from where you can grow the healthier plant

 

[BeardedGuyGrows]

honestly my friend with living soil i go water straight out of the tap into 30 gal res. bubbled for 24 hours before use......then use kelp juice to lower my ph to the right level....i dont even ph anymore i just know im in the right spot and no problem....i also grow using living soil and have great looking plants......dont use molasses.....its not needed...just...just water...that is all.