Ph issues???

[RedEyeBallz]

Whats up canna culture? I need some help understanding this ph thing. Soil ph should be between 6.0 -6.8 with 6.5 being the sweet spot, we all agree? Ok. I ph my water( after mixing nutes) to 6.5, when i test my run off, its at 7.0. So on another plant, i ph the water to 5.0 in belief that it should bring down to 6.0.( i like 6.0 so it gradually works it way up until next change). Well, the run off was still at 7.0. What gives??? Does it matter what my run off ph is? Seems like not as long as my ph going in is what i need it to be. And So should i go re-ph the plant i just threw the 5.0 in??? Thanks in advance

 

[Beachwalker]

PH swings are not good, do not water soil at such a low PH, maintain 6.5 for best results. Why are you checking your run off to begin with? Also if you're using the same soil why would there be such a discrepancy to begin with? Have you done something different to one plant than the other?

 

[Jimster]

What growing medium are you using? What you are seeing is called buffering, which is usually a good thing. Buffering helps to keep the Ph into a proper range despite the acidic stuff that gets poured into it. Buffering and alkalinity are related topics, but different. An alkaline material is used to raise the Ph, while a buffer CAN raise the Ph, it is mostly used to keep the Ph in the proper range without having to directly modify the Ph with an acid or an alkaline material. I use Promix, which is buffered and usually keeps the Ph in the acceptable range. Hydro and other growing methods that don't have buffers can suffer from Ph swings from fertilizers and nutrients.

 

[MIMedGrower]

Simple explanation is the lime or oyster shell (like ocean forest) is mixed to maintain a certain ph. 6.3-6.5 is most common for our purpose.

Is your water alkaline? If it has a lot of calcium watering to good runoff each time can help keep the roots clear.

If it is very hard it may be raising your ph a little each time. Because it would be adding excess calcium each time.

If it is low alkalinity or ro water the soil may be limed to 7.0. Pro mix (premier horticulture) warns to check ph before planting to make sure the mix is not accidentally over limed. Which i have not seen happen in many different bags and bales.

 

[Jimster]

Pro mix (premier horticulture) warns to check ph before planting to make sure the mix is not accidentally over limed. Which i have not seen happen in many different bags and bales.

I wasn't aware that they had a warning out, although I have never had a problem with their products for over 3 decades either. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[MIMedGrower]

I wasn't aware that they had a warning out, although I have never had a problem with their products for over 3 decades either. Thanks for the heads up!

It was part of one if the articles in the education center on the website. Takes some time to weed through all the different topics and no marijuana info but i learned a lot. And it is professional info for vegetable and flower producers.

 

[MIMedGrower]

Oh @Jimster i forgot to say the reason for rare over liming is just clumps of lime. passing through the system and ending up in the mix.