What PH? for nutrients? for soil grow

[BCrocker]

Hello All,

I was wondering what your thoughts on what PH to use for the nutrients for the different stages of growth.

Currently I am doing

Veg - 6.3 to 6.5 ph

Flowering - 6.2 weeks 1 to 7 , then 5.8 week 8 (water only this week)

I usually PH my flushes/waters as well. So straight water, PH'd down to 6.2

What are your thoughts?

 

[Shredder]

Ok, my thoughts. I think with a proper soil mix the ph of your nutrients is not important. When your soil mix has a decent amount of humic content (ewc, compost) the soil and the plant will adjust on the fly. To go further I feel your much better to add amendments to your soil, then to try to correctly feed them bottled nutrients. Some do it and are successful, but my mojo lies in the soil. When your soil is right, you may just feed water or the occasional compost/ewc tea. If and when you feel the need to add something you can top dress, and if those phantom yellow leafs come and your not sure why, a top dress of ewc usually straightens things out in a day or two......shredder

 

[Shredder]

I'll add good water is important. If your water has a super high ph, like 8-9, I would consider using citric acid to bring it down. You can find citric acid in the canning section of a grocery store, mix up a spoonful to a water bottle with a squirt top. Give it a good shake then give your water bucket a squirt or two, then check until you get it in range.......shredder

 

[hiboy]

6 for hydro all the way thru,
6.5 for soil
hiboy

 

[BCrocker]

I'll add good water is important. If your water has a super high ph, like 8-9, I would consider using citric acid to bring it down. You can find citric acid in the canning section of a grocery store, mix up a spoonful to a water bottle with a squirt top. Give it a good shake then give your water bucket a squirt or two, then check until you get it in range.......shredder

The water ther comes out of the tap at about 7.0 and 100ppm. I let it sit for 24 hours before using. I use "PH Down" to get the PH down after nutrients are added and mixed.

6 for hydro all the way thru,
6.5 for soil
hiboy

6.5 all the way through for soil? Is this strain specific?

 

[CT Guy]

Shredder is exactly right. Forget about pH and concentrate on the microlife in your soil. It will buffer the pH (along with humates), allowing the plant to be happy.

I've never once pH'd my plants. The only time I'd ever consider it is if water was way off.

 

[woodchuck]

I was wondering with all that is said about water and needing to let it stand and that to get the bad stuff out, has anyone tried using the water conditioner you use for your fish and frogs that kills the bad stuff they are so sensitive about? Woodchuck

 

[phillip]

yes i let my h2o sit over nite open also then add ph if needed..works grat

 

[OGONLY]

Letting water sit out over night or even 2 days will not rid it of chlorine. Adding air stones to the bucket will help to accelerate the evaporation of chlorine in water.

 

[Shredder]

You can also neutralize the chlorine with a pinch of compost/ewc or molasses, sunlight will work as well.

BCrocker, have you settled on your soil mix? Whatever you go with, try to give it some cook time, to establish a good micro life, before using it with plants. That will help you down the road. I plan out my grows months in advance, in fact i have soil that has been cooking for a month that will be used in mid sept......shredder

 

[Shredder]

The water ther comes out of the tap at about 7.0 and 100ppm. I let it sit for 24 hours before using. I use "PH Down" to get the PH down after nutrients are added and mixed.
specific?

You water sounds fine, be aware some ph adjusters can cause harm
to your soil. Not only can they kill microbes but they can build up in the soil causing long term problems. Again concentrate on your soil at the start, then the grow becomes so easy it seems almost boring. You will see time after time the ph rebounds on it's own, and after a while, you just stop checking, boring......


It will take some adjustment in your way of doing things, but in the long run, the end game makes it all worth it. One day you may even be free of the hydro store routine completely, wouldn't that be nice? Shredder

 

[BCrocker]

Thanks for the reply Shredder. What do you suggest I use for soil? Currently I am only using Pro-Mix HP. I soak it with water and B then plant away!

 

[phenotyper]

I was wondering with all that is said about water and needing to let it stand and that to get the bad stuff out, has anyone tried using the water conditioner you use for your fish and frogs that kills the bad stuff they are so sensitive about? Woodchuck

My city uses chloramines to filter water, and it's really clean, but chloramines do not evaporate out of the water when left out overnight. So, I use some stuff I found at the pet store for fish that 1) it's damn near impossible to overdose otherwise fish would die 2) removes chorline and chloramines. I usually mix it in before I add any sort of beneficial life to my nutrient mix.

 

[BCrocker]

Pheno, thanks for the advice, I will look into that.

 

[Shredder]

Thanks for the reply Shredder. What do you suggest I use for soil? Currently I am only using Pro-Mix HP. I soak it with water and B then plant away!

If you want simple, you could use the pro mix, buy some espoma tone (bio tone, plant tone, flower tone, there all good but the bio tone has your mycos covered ) dry ferts, use as directed,(3 cups per cf) 2-3 cups of powdered dolomite lime,( I use two then add a cup of epsom salt) and with your water at ph7, I'd use 1.5-2 cups of dolomite lime, a bag of compost and or ewc, (about 20% of your mix), a medium bag of large chunk perlite, mix it thoroughly, wet it, let it sit at least several weeks, a month is better, then use on started plants.

If you want more complicated there are any number of recipes using various meals, but if you investigate, the espoma tones have a good selection of meals already.....shredder

 

[Shredder]

I did not want to junk up your other thread but if you were to use this mix, you could shit can your nutes for the most part. May use your humic/fulvic acids on occasion, and if they look like they need something, a top dress of ewc, and that's about it. If you absolutely think you need to add nutes, back off the dry ferts and use at highly diluted rates. But after saying that, your better off to just provide your plants a diverse selection, then let them decide what and how much they need, IMHO this works much better than trying to use some arbitrary nutrient schedule.....shredder

 

[woodsmaneh]

you want your Ph around 7 for soil, the reason for this is the amount of available nutrients the plant can have access to. Look at any chart and you will see what I mean. Most ProMix is around 7 but can drift up, don't worry about it just pH your feedings to around 6.0 and it will keep the level around 7.0 +- 4.

As a rule of thumb I don't chase pH I set a range for my growing and only act when it goes above or below the point's. So for example in my RDWC it goes from 5.4 to 6.2 pH and in my dirt which I never have to pH is 6.6 to 7.4. I use 20% wormcastings and never have to adjust my soil pH in 8 years. I quit testing it 3 years ago.