Slurry test? Fox farms happy frog!

[WallyWhite]

Yikes, 4.9 was that new soil coming in that low?

I'd like to ask you other folks using the FF stuff are the buffers that hard out the gate or could we be looking at a pen calibration issue?

You got the right idea, applying some "Kentucky Windage" to get that soil pH fixed. Your 7.6 going in shouldn't be an issue but it's a little trickier to set a particular input value and expect a specific output value back.Whether you need to go up or down, I would suggest you just decide on a safe input number and work longer with more water than use an unsafe input value to correct. Hopefully that makes sense.

The concern is if your pen was off... if that 4.9 was really a 5.8, then that 7.6 water you put in would have really been 8.5. I've had bad pen experiences so I have trust issues. independently test some water with a pH test solution and then see what the pen says.

On a separate note, I appreciate the compliments but I'm no expert at this shit and if I come across that way, mea culpa. Most of what I have to share is rather simple gardening advice, and if that helps anybody else, that puts a smile on my face.

You don't want to put me on a pedestal. What's the lyrics from that Tool song? I will elevate you.. Just enough to bring you down

I got a fresh bag of HF downstairs.
If poster will lay out his slurry test method I will test my bag.
If the way he tests is not the same as mine I will also slurry the way I do it and post test results as well as described test method.

I like that, that would be awesome JIMKSI64! I’ve attached two pictures showing me calibrating my 7.0 pH as well as my 4.0 pH that I just did right now. I’m going in the garage to grab my bag of happy frog soil and I’m going to do a one part soil, and one part distilled water, and mix and let set for 30 minutes. Then I will strain out the runoff water from the soil and test with my pH pin. I will perform this right now and I will keep you posted. Thank you so much. Talk to you soon.

 

[WallyWhite]

View attachment 2573461View attachment 2573462View attachment 2573463

I like that, that would be awesome JIMKSI64! I’ve attached two pictures showing me calibrating my 7.0 pH as well as my 4.0 pH that I just did right now. I’m going in the garage to grab my bag of happy frog soil and I’m going to do a one part soil, and one part distilled water, and mix and let set for 30 minutes. Then I will strain out the runoff water from the soil and test with my pH pin. I will perform this right now and I will keep you posted. Thank you so much. Talk to you soon

View attachment 2573461View attachment 2573462View attachment 2573463

I like that, that would be awesome JIMKSI64! I’ve attached two pictures showing me calibrating my 7.0 pH as well as my 4.0 pH that I just did right now. I’m going in the garage to grab my bag of happy frog soil and I’m going to do a one part soil, and one part distilled water, and mix and let set for 30 minutes. Then I will strain out the runoff water from the soil and test with my pH pin. I will perform this right now and I will keep you posted. Thank you so much. Talk to you soon.

View attachment 2573461View attachment 2573462View attachment 2573463

I like that, that would be awesome JIMKSI64! I’ve attached two pictures showing me calibrating my 7.0 pH as well as my 4.0 pH that I just did right now. I’m going in the garage to grab my bag of happy frog soil and I’m going to do a one part soil, and one part distilled water, and mix and let set for 30 minutes. Then I will strain out the runoff water from the soil and test with my pH pin. I will perform this right now and I will keep you posted. Thank you so much. Talk to you soon.

So my soil slurry test results after 30min came out to 5.0ph.. again I used one cup of happy frog soil to one cup of distilled water, mixed, let set for 30 minutes, strained out the water from the soil, and tested at 5.0 pH. I’m wondering how long you do your slurry test for before testing your pH level?

 

[WallyWhite]

View attachment 2573461View attachment 2573462View attachment 2573463

I like that, that would be awesome JIMKSI64! I’ve attached two pictures showing me calibrating my 7.0 pH as well as my 4.0 pH that I just did right now. I’m going in the garage to grab my bag of happy frog soil and I’m going to do a one part soil, and one part distilled water, and mix and let set for 30 minutes. Then I will strain out the runoff water from the soil and test with my pH pin. I will perform this right now and I will keep you posted. Thank you so much. Talk to you soon.

Came back with 5.0ph..

 

[JIMKSI64]

Will run test later today.
To be as correct as I can I need to go get a gallon of distilled water. I left my RO filter on for a day and a half and wore out my filter. Still using for my grow as it is only at 60 ppm but it had been 4 ppm.

The only difference in our methodologies is that I measure the soil and water in weight. Using volume as a ratio like a cup is dependant on compaction of the soil and moisture content.
I also do not strain the mix as the results are the same but my first nutes were a liquid organic and I found out how carefully I needed to clean the probe after use or accuracy suffered.
In fact every calibration was due to tip goo.

 

[cannafarmer420]

Folks always saying don't slurry, don't pH, don't bother with EC you are in soil you'll be fine.

Screw that! If you're new to the game, then yeah, stick a pen in it! Collect data! Lots of it. You will learn a lot from just watching that data. What you DON'T want to do is make any moves if you don't know how to interpret that data. And that comes with time and experience.

The first 30 days with soil is a honeymoon. You shouldn't see any issues. After some time, the roots have spread out, minerals have been depleted and replenished a few times by the microbes and mycos, water has been passing through the soil and gravity taking everything soluble (like your pH buffers) with it, and if you decide not to watch it you have no idea what's going on when things start to drift and the plant starts showing symptoms of it. And if you do nothing but just WATCH the data you are collecting, you are going to begin to see trends, like when your soil is ready for a recharge or an amendment. After a little bit of time you won't need the pens, you will have collected data that gave you a ballpark idea of when stuff just has to be done, like clockwork.

That can really over complicate things for new people, just throw some gaia green and worm castings in the happy frog then top dress before flower. Do an initial ph and ppm on your water, if its off just filter it with a brita or whatever a couple passes and it will.fix it. Dont add use ph up and ph down, its a waste of limited resources (phosphorus) Have a good day and have fun growing dont make it work

 

[Ninjadogma]

That can really over complicate things for new people, just throw some gaia green and worm castings in the happy frog then top dress before flower. Do an initial ph and ppm on your water, if its off just filter it with a brita or whatever a couple passes and it will.fix it. Dont add use ph up and ph down, its a waste of limited resources (phosphorus) Have a good day and have fun growing dont make it work

Or Megacrop 1 Part for that matter... Both are on my list to try, but yeah if you are just getting into this stuff, get the shit made for cannabis. But when they're not watering right they're still gonna have nutrient cycling issues, channeling leading to uneven soil, etc.

I've spent about a year on this site now reading about the problems growers run into, and the most common one is nobody ever bothered to take 5 minutes and explain how to properly water. Beginning to think the most valuable tool for a new grower would be one of those bladder donuts that you fill with water and put around the plant and it releases evenly through the soil at a flow rate of about 2GPH.

 

[Ninjadogma]

Will run test later today.
To be as correct as I can I need to go get a gallon of distilled water. I left my RO filter on for a day and a half and wore out my filter. Still using for my grow as it is only at 60 ppm but it had been 4 ppm.

The only difference in our methodologies is that I measure the soil and water in weight. Using volume as a ratio like a cup is dependant on compaction of the soil and moisture content.
I also do not strain the mix as the results are the same but my first nutes were a liquid organic and I found out how carefully I needed to clean the probe after use or accuracy suffered.
In fact every calibration was due to tip goo.

Tip goo Mine are always stained slightly brown from testing final solutions with seaweed or molasses in it.

 

[Ninjadogma]

View attachment 2573470
Came back with 5.0ph..

Try taking another reading with two parts water and one part soil, let it sit for half an hour and then take a reading and see what you get. There's some potential nuances with slurry testing where the salts and ions in a more concentrated mix can mess with the readings. The expected value with Fox Farm based on what I looked up should be roughly around 6.5 (ranges from 6.3-6.8). @JIMKSI64 is doing a separate test, will be interesting what that grower gets as a reading.

 

[JIMKSI64]

Try taking another reading with two parts water and one part soil, let it sit for half an hour and then take a reading and see what you get. There's some potential nuances with slurry testing where the salts and ions in a more concentrated mix can mess with the readings. The expected value with Fox Farm based on what I looked up should be roughly around 6.5 (ranges from 6.3-6.8). @JIMKSI64 is doing a separate test, will be interesting what that grower gets as a reading.

Rofl.
Waaaaaay ahead of ya.
Doin 50/50 and 1/3 more same water.
I can not just do one test for something like this. I need data!
Sitting now 30 minutes.

 

[JIMKSI64]

Ok slurry test open bag of fox farms soil. Opened oct1 for my current grow. 3 cf about 1/2 used.
Ph tool apera 60
Water measurement graduated cylinder.
Soil mesurment digital scale accurate to .1 g
Both tests done with distilled water
First test.

This is the first bag of HF that has tested under 6 pH.
2nd test

The last test setup of 40 grams and 30 ml of water have a mud patty that would not separate vrs the first test which would separate enough by tilting the cup and spooning it up the side. The pH was of the mud pie.
Did let stuff sit another 20 minutes and no change.
From the original op post he used a volume of soil not the weight of soil. I suggest he run a test based on weight of all components.
And anyone suggesting I used a volume of water and not weight review the metric system.

 

[Putthataway]

Ok slurry test open bag of fox farms soil. Opened oct1 for my current grow. 3 cf about 1/2 used.
Ph tool apera 60
Water measurement graduated cylinder.
Soil mesurment digital scale accurate to .1 g
Both tests done with distilled water
First test.
View attachment 2573666View attachment 2573667View attachment 2573668
This is the first bag of HF that has tested under 6 pH.
2nd test
View attachment 2573669View attachment 2573670View attachment 2573671
The last test setup of 40 grams and 30 ml of water have a mud patty that would not separate vrs the first test which would separate enough by tilting the cup and spooning it up the side. The pH was of the mud pie.
Did let stuff sit another 20 minutes and no change.
From the original op post he used a volume of soil not the weight of soil. I suggest he run a test based on weight of all components.
And anyone suggesting I used a volume of water and not weight review the metric system.

Any reason for the bottle of weed killer? Left rear.

 

[pnwbluntman]

Ok slurry test open bag of fox farms soil. Opened oct1 for my current grow. 3 cf about 1/2 used.
Ph tool apera 60
Water measurement graduated cylinder.
Soil mesurment digital scale accurate to .1 g
Both tests done with distilled water
First test.
View attachment 2573666View attachment 2573667View attachment 2573668
This is the first bag of HF that has tested under 6 pH.
2nd test
View attachment 2573669View attachment 2573670View attachment 2573671
The last test setup of 40 grams and 30 ml of water have a mud patty that would not separate vrs the first test which would separate enough by tilting the cup and spooning it up the side. The pH was of the mud pie.
Did let stuff sit another 20 minutes and no change.
From the original op post he used a volume of soil not the weight of soil. I suggest he run a test based on weight of all components.
And anyone suggesting I used a volume of water and not weight review the metric system.

What I was thinking about today earlier on this, idk if he used distilled water, Rather water from the faucet? The faucet water would throw the initial test off.

 

[pnwbluntman]

Any reason for the bottle of weed killer? Left rear.

That looks like the ortho home defense, he probably sprays the outside of his house and around his vents like I do, it just helps keep pests out the house away from your grow

 

[JIMKSI64]

Any reason for the bottle of weed killer? Left rear.

I grow food outside so there is sevrin , jacks, neem and Ortho home defence. I also buy straight agricultural veg killer in 10 gallon containers and I have a trailer mounted spray system. Add to that the copper sulfate for the pond and the bio crap to reduce the muck I guess I got some chemicals laying around.

The home defence is pet friendly and it is used on my outer band of my IPM.

 

[WallyWhite]

Rofl.
Waaaaaay ahead of ya.
Doin 50/50 and 1/3 more same water.
I can not just do one test for something like this. I need data!
Sitting now 30 minutes.

Ok slurry test open bag of fox farms soil. Opened oct1 for my current grow. 3 cf about 1/2 used.
Ph tool apera 60
Water measurement graduated cylinder.
Soil mesurment digital scale accurate to .1 g
Both tests done with distilled water
First test.
View attachment 2573666View attachment 2573667View attachment 2573668
This is the first bag of HF that has tested under 6 pH.
2nd test
View attachment 2573669View attachment 2573670View attachment 2573671
The last test setup of 40 grams and 30 ml of water have a mud patty that would not separate vrs the first test which would separate enough by tilting the cup and spooning it up the side. The pH was of the mud pie.
Did let stuff sit another 20 minutes and no change.
From the original op post he used a volume of soil not the weight of soil. I suggest he run a test based on weight of all components.
And anyone suggesting I used a volume of water and not weight review the metric system.

Ok ima do exactly that then, man this def opens up my eyes on other possibilities of why my soil ph is potentially testing so low. I’m def gunna try next slurry test by weight and see what it says rite away because I wanna water with a good offset ph that will bring me to that happy medium I want! Thanks again brotha!

 

[WallyWhite]

Try taking another reading with two parts water and one part soil, let it sit for half an hour and then take a reading and see what you get. There's some potential nuances with slurry testing where the salts and ions in a more concentrated mix can mess with the readings. The expected value with Fox Farm based on what I looked up should be roughly around 6.5 (ranges from 6.3-6.8). @JIMKSI64 is doing a separate test, will be interesting what that grower gets as a reading.

You were exactly rite man, ima do my two part water and one part soil tomorrow and get back with yall!