Help Me Determine Proper Ph, Pics Attached

[jinxjj]

Trying to get my pH dialed in before my next watering, pictures attached. I took a 1L bottle and then took pics of 1-4 drops of pH down drops added so i can scale it up to larger buckets when needed.

 

[3G Labs]

It's a matter of individual judgment with those drops. Everyone will interpret the readings a little different. Remember it's a range, not an exact number.
It's consistency that matters, try and stay the same tint of yellow every watering. The goal is to stay in the 6.0 range.

how's the seedlings? hope your letting that soil dry out between watering

 

[jinxjj]

Soil is really dry today, all the cups feel light too so i think i'm due for watering. Stuck my finger in and soil is DRYYY pretty far down. The ones i planted directly in soil exploded over night and are looking great today. Most of the others i started out in Jiffy pucks are still struggling or dead. Will throw some pics up shortly. If 6 is where i want to be my guess is 2 drops picture is closest to that. And i did each test with 1L of water so i could scale this up and keep it consistent with each watering.

 

[sixstring]

if you really want to get dialed in you need to grab a cheap ph meter as your next purchase.but as far as adjusting goes you must mix your nutes first then test for ph and adjust as needed.most decent nutes will bring ph into an exceptable range unless your water is really whacked out.

 

[sixstring]

i been using these meters for at least 4 years maybe 5 now,they are good for the money.calibrate mine about once a month,use it daily on about 10 dif mixes.just dont step on them or drop them in res's :)
http://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Ins...1417617859&sr=8-3&keywords=milwaukee+ph+meter

 

[jinxjj]

Think i ended up around 6-6.5, pics attached. Pretty much all cups were dry to my 2nd knuckle.

 

[Seamaiden]

IMO/E, the colorimetric drops are fine as long as you're not trying to measure pH of nutrient mixes, especially if you're using something that stains the water a good bit (think: Floranova). Yes, it's a range, but it'll get you there until you can get a meter.

Your first pH readings are (in my opinion), in order:
6.0+ (I'd guess about 6.2)
6.0
5.0
4.5

Your last pH reading I see as a solid 6.0, assuming you're measuring in good light.

 

[jinxjj]

Thanks Seamaiden, always like to get an extra set of eyes on things since mine suck!

 

[Seamaiden]

I spent MANY years in the aquarium trade, and we used nothing but colorimetric and titration tests. ;)

 

[3G Labs]

Soil is really dry today, all the cups feel light too so i think i'm due for watering. Stuck my finger in and soil is DRYYY pretty far down. The ones i planted directly in soil exploded over night and are looking great today. Most of the others i started out in Jiffy pucks are still struggling or dead. Will throw some pics up shortly. If 6 is where i want to be my guess is 2 drops picture is closest to that. And i did each test with 1L of water so i could scale this up and keep it consistent with each watering.

They sound thirsty , good observations you've got it,

 

[3G Labs]

Maybe those pucks were too acidic? were they rinsed before you planted the seed?

 

[jinxjj]

I think the Jiffy pucks are known for being too acidic, does that appear to be what the issues is with the crappier plants? I didn't wash them, just soaked them in hot water until they expanded then popped a seed in and covered it lightly with peat.

 

[sixstring]

IMO/E, the colorimetric drops are fine as long as you're not trying to measure pH of nutrient mixes, especially if you're using something that stains the water a good bit (think: Floranova). Yes, it's a range, but it'll get you there until you can get a meter.

Your first pH readings are (in my opinion), in order:
6.0+ (I'd guess about 6.2)
6.0
5.0
4.5

Your last pH reading I see as a solid 6.0, assuming you're measuring in good light.

I think sea has the most experience here and I agree with her readings.but these will not be much use when you add nutes so unless you plan to grow in all organic soil and use water only I would plan for a meter soon.
as for jiffy pucks, I never had one problem with them for seeds or even putting clones in them which I did for a while.i would look to your water, maybe because you used hot water, you have a high % of something like calcium or mag or even lime in your hot water tank.try plain cold water next time maybe.also what brand ph up and down are you using? I have seen the gh brand of down make my seeds and clones unhappy, now I use r/o water and 200 to 300ppm grow nutes on all small stuff with peat/coco mix and no ph required because most nutes put that mix @ 5.8 to 6.2ph every time.gl jinx

 

[Seamaiden]

I think sea has the most experience here and I agree with her readings.but these will not be much use when you add nutes so unless you plan to grow in all organic soil and use water only I would plan for a meter soon.
as for jiffy pucks, I never had one problem with them for seeds or even putting clones in them which I did for a while.i would look to your water, maybe because you used hot water, you have a high % of something like calcium or mag or even lime in your hot water tank.try plain cold water next time maybe.also what brand ph up and down are you using? I have seen the gh brand of down make my seeds and clones unhappy, now I use r/o water and 200 to 300ppm grow nutes on all small stuff with peat/coco mix and no ph required because most nutes put that mix @ 5.8 to 6.2ph every time.gl jinx

Oh man, I think you're right!

I failed miserably with the pucks, but my dad uses them to awesome (chili pepper & veggie) results.

 

[jinxjj]

I have direct hot water from an oil burner so no issues with old hot water tank sediment. (and my burner was just cleaned)

I bought the GH brand pH down. I was a fool and thought my water was fine and it was probably around 7-8pH when i watered them all previous times. I just watered today and this was the first time i pH adjusted the water. From now on i will adjust to this range and let the water sit out over night. I think im gona just pick up a cheapo pH meter and be done with it since i will be using a little bit of nutes later on.

 

[sixstring]

Yeah im using an old hot water tank as my r/o storage and we had a hell of a time getting it cleaned out, and it was a good lookin used tank lol.so much gunk and slime was in it I almost gave up and tossed it.but we ended up putting a few gal of water and some CLR in it and rolled it around my yard, rinsed out well and has been fine for years.i wanted this because it holds pressure from my ro system where a plastic ag tank wont.plus it was free :)

 

[3G Labs]

I think the Jiffy pucks are known for being too acidic, does that appear to be what the issues is with the crappier plants? I didn't wash them, just soaked them in hot water until they expanded then popped a seed in and covered it lightly with peat.

I thought they were either too acidic, or that nutrients were being fed.
After reading your grow log, sounds like they're life so far has been a little inconsistent. Maybe too many lumens/ or too close to the light had an effect also.

 

[sixstring]

I have direct hot water from an oil burner so no issues with old hot water tank sediment. (and my burner was just cleaned)

I bought the GH brand pH down. I was a fool and thought my water was fine and it was probably around 7-8pH when i watered them all previous times. I just watered today and this was the first time i pH adjusted the water. From now on i will adjust to this range and let the water sit out over night. I think im gona just pick up a cheapo pH meter and be done with it since i will be using a little bit of nutes later on.

do you know the ppm/ec of your tap water, cold and hot?
imo container growing all starts and hinges on water source.the unknown of tap can make or break a good grow.outside in the ground natural soil and its foodweb of bugs n fungus will buffer ph of some pretty bad water but indoors in pots it can build up and destroy our hard work right quickly.

 

[MGRox]

Maybe I could add a couple things here too as possibilities. Peat has a unique property in that it gives off hydrogen in proportion to how wet it is; in addition to also giving it off as it breaks down. Peat is considered a hydrogen producer, so that's why it tends to have lower pH and such. It may very well be that you over-wetted the pellets and thus caused a larger amount of hydrogen to be given off; which can then be problematic.

One of the reasons that peat pellets CAN work good for small specimens is that they also have the special characteristic of having an Antiseptic naturally. The semi-lower pH and antiseptic ( I feel / believe) could be reasons why some / many like sprouting in pellets. Certain fungus or bacteria are taken out of the equation of possibility for occurrence that you would not have with other mediums.

 

[jinxjj]

Really appreciate all the replies!!!

I did a water test kit before i started all this and here were the results:

Total Iron: 0
Total Hardness: 50-100PPM
Total Chlorine: 0
pH: 6.5-7.5 (my eyes suck and i hate these color tests)

I will admit, they had a rough start (the ones in the pucks) since i transplanted the pucks pretty early since i thought they were causing me issues. Just an FYI this is a soil grow, not hydro. Will let you guys know how i make out with the light a little farther and the correct water pH.