Why is my run off ph so low?

[donie67]

I watered with 5ml bush doctor calmag and 5ml grow big why is the run off so low. The ph of my water going in was at 6.85.

 

[donie67]

When i watered last time i was at 5.6 ph on my runoff. I usually water 2 times with water at 6.5-6.6 then nutes at 6.8ph. And im in a 3 gallon pot of ffof. im at 49 days above soil and the roots are coming out of the bottom drainage holes i noticed. Should i be concerned about that?

 

[PipeCarver]

When i watered last time i was at 5.6 ph on my runoff. I usually water 2 times with water at 6.5-6.6 then nutes at 6.8ph. And im in a 3 gallon pot of ffof. im at 49 days above soil and the roots are coming out of the bottom drainage holes i noticed. Should i be concerned about that?

You can top dress with dolomite lime to bring your ph up. I grow in promix and I use a water/ feed/water/feed cycle through out my grows. Roots out the bottom mean you've a healthy plant and by the size of it now it wouldn't hurt to go into a 5 gal pot. The problem with plastic pots is the roots wrap the bottom and the sides of the pot. Its recommended to drill / burn air holes around your pots, I'd drill / burn 50+ holes around each pot before you use them the next time.

 

[donie67]

You can top dress with dolomite lime to bring your ph up. I grow in promix and I use a water/ feed/water/feed cycle through out my grows. Roots out the bottom mean you've a healthy plant and by the size of it now it wouldn't hurt to go into a 5 gal pot. The problem with plastic pots is the roots wrap the bottom and the sides of the pot. Its recommended to drill / burn air holes around your pots, I'd drill / burn 50+ holes around each pot before you use them the next time.

Ok right on the reason i didnt know if i should repot it since its an autoflower and id flowering. But i did drill like 15 extra holes in the pot before using it. Next grow im getting fabric pots. My main concern was with the ph though. Do you think my plant will have a tough time uptaking nutes at that low of runoff? Plant overall looks really healthy.

 

[alpha.ganjaguy]

Also do you have a way to test that your pen is accurate? Those are well known for being wildly inaccurate. A good ph pen is one of the better investments to make for your garden. Most of us started with the budget ones and learned the hard way

 

[PipeCarver]

Ok right on the reason i didnt know if i should repot it since its an autoflower and id flowering. But i did drill like 15 extra holes in the pot before using it. Next grow im getting fabric pots. My main concern was with the ph though. Do you think my plant will have a tough time uptaking nutes at that low of runoff? Plant overall looks really healthy.

I hear you about the auto and transplanting specially at it size and in flower, transplanting can get awkward. You could add more soil to the top and leave just an inch of space for your water feed...

Auto's are not my thing but those I've grown I treat as photo's any ways...Your border line for problems with ph, powdered Dolomite lime will help bring it up as you water feed...I don't panic until I'm below 6 then I'll lime the top with 1 tbs / pot within 2 weeks my ph will be back up..

 

[PipeCarver]

Also do you have a way to test that your pen is accurate? Those are well known for being wildly inaccurate. A good ph pen is one of the better investments to make for your garden. Most of us started with the budget ones and learned the hard way

A ph pen and test strips to make sure your ph pen is close... If the color on my test strips matches my reading I'm good to go.....test strips are cheap I paid$11 for 2 rolls.

 

[donie67]

Also do you have a way to test that your pen is accurate? Those are well known for being wildly inaccurate. A good ph pen is one of the better investments to make for your garden. Most of us started with the budget ones and learned the hard way

Yeah i actually got 2 of those ph pens and the buffer fluid to calibrate it to 6.86.

 

[donie67]

A ph pen and test strips to make sure your ph pen is close... If the color on my test strips matches my reading I'm good to go.....test strips are cheap I paid$11 for 2 rolls.

I have 2 ph pens that i go off of. And i usually check the calibration on the with buffer fluid 6.86. Ive checked the calibration once every 2 weeks. I just checked it 2 waterings ago. When i measured my tap and my ph going in everything seemed normal. Im going to get some dolomite lime.

 

[alpha.ganjaguy]

I just noticed in your first post you mentioned that your water going in was 6.85. I find it odd that your water going in (w/5ml bush doctor calmag and 5ml grow big) was the same ph as your buffer fluid to calibrate. I am skeptical of that reading and would suggest you start testing those pens. What is your water ph before adding nutes?

Also what do you mean by; "I usually water 2 times with water at 6.5-6.6 then nutes at 6.8ph."

Are you saying you *ex. water today plain water, then 2-3 days from now plain water, then 2-3 days water with nutes?
---
here is some info I found that may be helpful for you; "Low runoff pH usually comes from 3 things. One is microbial growth in the substrate. This growth can come from beneficial bacteria and fungi as well as serious problems like root diseases. If your plants don’t look healthy, have poor drainage or are over-watered, root diseases could be the problem and proper fixes should be implemented quickly.
The second reason for low pH is your plants are favoring cations over anions. Cations are positively charged elements in your nutrient solution and Calcium and Potassium are the major ones. If your low pH is caused by absorption, increasing Nitrogen (Grow) can help with increasing the pH of the root zone.
The third reason relates to amendments and substrate buffers. Depending on what you’re growing in, different substrates can have a strong influence on the pH of the root zone. Something like peat moss is naturally acidic (4-5 pH). Amendments like dolomite lime are used to increase the pH of the peat and make it much more root zone friendly. Over time these amendments, like dolomite, will break down and the peat moss will become acidic again. Substrate buffers are very strong and in a situation like this, a re-amendment with something like dolomite lime or oyster flour is usually necessary."

 

[donie67]

I just noticed in your first post you mentioned that your water going in was 6.85. I find it odd that your water going in (w/5ml bush doctor calmag and 5ml grow big) was the same ph as your buffer fluid to calibrate. I am skeptical of that reading and would suggest you start testing those pens. What is your water ph before adding nutes?

Also what do you mean by; "I usually water 2 times with water at 6.5-6.6 then nutes at 6.8ph."

Are you saying you *ex. water today plain water, then 2-3 days from now plain water, then 2-3 days water with nutes?
---
here is some info I found that may be helpful for you; "Low runoff pH usually comes from 3 things. One is microbial growth in the substrate. This growth can come from beneficial bacteria and fungi as well as serious problems like root diseases. If your plants don’t look healthy, have poor drainage or are over-watered, root diseases could be the problem and proper fixes should be implemented quickly.
The second reason for low pH is your plants are favoring cations over anions. Cations are positively charged elements in your nutrient solution and Calcium and Potassium are the major ones. If your low pH is caused by absorption, increasing Nitrogen (Grow) can help with increasing the pH of the root zone.
The third reason relates to amendments and substrate buffers. Depending on what you’re growing in, different substrates can have a strong influence on the pH of the root zone. Something like peat moss is naturally acidic (4-5 pH). Amendments like dolomite lime are used to increase the pH of the peat and make it much more root zone friendly. Over time these amendments, like dolomite, will break down and the peat moss will become acidic again. Substrate buffers are very strong and in a situation like this, a re-amendment with something like dolomite lime or oyster flour is usually necessary."

Im sorry for the confusion but no i do that. water plain water wait 2-3 days another plain watering then wait 2-3 days then water with feed. My tap waters ph comes out at 9.6 really high. I verified this by looking at my municipalities water contaminants and such. And when i use my ph pen it comes out to what my municipalities website claims it to be.

When i do my buffer fluid i get a 250 ml measuring cup of distilled water add the buffer fluid and it brings it to about 6.86. I also have buffer fluid 4.0 but i dont use that one as often when i calibrate. Next time ill calibrate using both. 4.0 in one cup and 6.86 in a other cup. I usually calibrate them every 2-3 times i use them.

Im pretty sure the pens i have are accurate if not just off by like a .01 margin. After calibration i test my water and it reads about what it normally does. Then after ill ph down to what i need it to be.

My ph runoff is fine when watering plain water. i think whenever i use the nutes it drops the ph really low in the root zone.

When i make my water with feed i check ph first then i add nutes let them sit for at least a hour so they can mix. Then i ph my water after letting nutes mix for a hour atleast it usually bring the waters ph down to 7.4 just about. And i very slowly adjust it using ph down until i get it to 6.85.

 

[donie67]

I just noticed in your first post you mentioned that your water going in was 6.85. I find it odd that your water going in (w/5ml bush doctor calmag and 5ml grow big) was the same ph as your buffer fluid to calibrate. I am skeptical of that reading and would suggest you start testing those pens. What is your water ph before adding nutes?

Also what do you mean by; "I usually water 2 times with water at 6.5-6.6 then nutes at 6.8ph."

Are you saying you *ex. water today plain water, then 2-3 days from now plain water, then 2-3 days water with nutes?
---
here is some info I found that may be helpful for you; "Low runoff pH usually comes from 3 things. One is microbial growth in the substrate. This growth can come from beneficial bacteria and fungi as well as serious problems like root diseases. If your plants don’t look healthy, have poor drainage or are over-watered, root diseases could be the problem and proper fixes should be implemented quickly.
The second reason for low pH is your plants are favoring cations over anions. Cations are positively charged elements in your nutrient solution and Calcium and Potassium are the major ones. If your low pH is caused by absorption, increasing Nitrogen (Grow) can help with increasing the pH of the root zone.
The third reason relates to amendments and substrate buffers. Depending on what you’re growing in, different substrates can have a strong influence on the pH of the root zone. Something like peat moss is naturally acidic (4-5 pH). Amendments like dolomite lime are used to increase the pH of the peat and make it much more root zone friendly. Over time these amendments, like dolomite, will break down and the peat moss will become acidic again. Substrate buffers are very strong and in a situation like this, a re-amendment with something like dolomite lime or oyster flour is usually necessary."

I wonder if its because the fox farm ocean forest has a good amount of peat moss in it. In the statement you posted above it says peat moss can lower soils ph. So with that being said i think the dolomite lime will be a good thing to put in there. Overall the plant is in great health and looks strong. Nice thick stalks and stuff.

 

[alpha.ganjaguy]

And i very slowly adjust it using ph down until i get it to 6.85.

I would expect the plain water to lower it not the feed water, your feed water has a higher ph to it going in. I think all of the plain water in between feedings is flushing out any ph buffer the soil had and setting you up for major issues in the future honestly. Not to mention you are saying to your plants, heres some food, then taking it away from them

I am also curious about your feeding routine, you are only feeding calmag and grow big?

I run ocean forest but with biobizz and I do not run into this issue but I also like many people don't bother testing runoff..

I think the suggestion above of top dressing with dolomite may help but be careful playing too much with your ph, your plant appears healthy right now, you don't want to do something that causes a negative effect and end up chasing your tail..

 

[donie67]

I would expect the plain water to lower it not the feed water, your feed water has a higher ph to it going in. I think all of the plain water in between feedings is flushing out any ph buffer the soil had and setting you up for major issues in the future honestly. Not to mention you are saying to your plants, heres some food, then taking it away from them

I am also curious about your feeding routine, you are only feeding calmag and grow big?

I run ocean forest but with biobizz and I do not run into this issue but I also like many people don't bother testing runoff..

I think the suggestion above of top dressing with dolomite may help but be careful playing too much with your ph, your plant appears healthy right now, you don't want to do something that causes a negative effect and end up chasing your tail..

Ok so my feed schedule is like i said with the water and stuff.for week 1-4 maybe 5 i only gave it water and calmag. The first time i fed nutes i tried the big bloom and tiger bloom since it started flowering. But some of the leaves towards the middle and lower parts of it got burnt and i only used about 20ml big bloom with 4 ml of tiger bloom. So thats why when i fed after that i Just gave it the grow big instead to avoid it burning my plants leaves. No negative signs after just giving the grow big and cal mag. Just have the low ph runoff when i feed it seems. Ive heard people say the T.B is real acidic.


since the plant looks healthy and seems to deal with this hiccup everytime i feed should i even worry about it?

And should i even feed it. Cause it really didnt look like it had deficiencies before i did. I just said to myself "ok im 4-5 weeks in when i started feed and shes starting flower so she has to be getting hungry heres a little head start" when i started feed she looked 100% healthy. I was just giving calmag in water for the first 5 weeks literally.


I can try 1 water then 1 feed if thats what you think is best for them.

 

[alpha.ganjaguy]

Ok so my feed schedule is like i said with the water and stuff.for week 1-4 maybe 5i only gave it water and calmag.

You should not need to feed calmag that often in veg. I think whatever N is in your calmag has been the major source of nitrogen to feed it not including what your soil already had.

The first time i fed nutes i tried the big bloom and tiger bloom since it started flowering. But some of the leaves towards the middle and lower parts of it got burnt and i only used about 4 ml of tiger bloom. So thats why when i fed after that i Just gave it the grow big instead to avoid it burning my plants leaves. No negative signs after just giving the big bloom and cal mag. Just have the low ph runoff. Ive heard people say the T.B is real acidic.

use a lower dose if you notice burn or start lower than you previously have.

since the plant looks healthy and seems to deal with this hiccup everytime i feed should i even worry about it?

And should i even feed it. Cause it really didnt look like it had deficiencies before i did.

unless it is the lighting it looks a little hungry/light green to me. maybe just increase the grow big from 1/4 strength just a little. The concern is soon if not already the soil will run out of nutrients, usually you get a few weeks with ocean forest without uppotting. when that happens you need to be adding it or the issues will begin to pile up.

I don't want to suggest any major changes as she does not look bad by any means but I worry where you will be 1,2+ weeks from now if you continue with this same schedule.

 

[donie67]

You should not need to feed calmag that often in veg. I think whatever N is in your calmag has been the major source of nitrogen to feed it not including what your soil already had.

use a lower dose if you notice burn or start lower than you previously have.

unless it is the lighting it looks a little hungry/light green to me. maybe just increase the grow big from 1/4 strength just a little. The concern is soon if not already the soil will run out of nutrients, usually you get a few weeks with ocean forest without uppotting. when that happens you need to be adding it or the issues will begin to pile up.

I don't want to suggest any major changes as she does not look bad by any means but I worry where you will be 1,2+ weeks from now if you continue with this same schedule.

Alright thank you all great info i will take into consideration.