Any help greatly appreciated!
- Thread starter Scar17
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2013
- Messages
- 17,204
- Reputation
- 6,019
- Reaction score
- 55,537
- Points
- 0
- Currently Smoking
- fine-ass '22 harvest!
Scar-- the soil dryness is likely behind any symptom advancement; new growth looks fine, and that's what matters... Dry-ish soil has less moisture to dilute whatever solubles there are in there, often driving pH down, and increasing relative concentration of dissolved nutes,... keep moisture even and consistent... did you make that run-off test pot yet?
Did you get calibration solutions for the meter, and a storage solution? these are critical to keeping the meter in good working condition, and accurate,... even out of the box, if the bulb/electrodes got dry, it's wise to double check calibration,... that said, the meter is always the better measure! The pH drops are very rude in accuracy, and the indicator dye will not change the color by using 3 vs. 4 drops,... keep in mind, pH is a logarithmic scale, meaning each step of 1.0 is in fact a 10-fold increase/decrease in H+ ion conc.! So even decimal point level changes are in fact, big ones.... Consider getting a TDS meter (not expensive at all), or EC meter.. this will measure the amount of dissolved ions in the water and nute solution; not something you need every day, but for example, your water, at 7.8, looks to be fairly hard, meaning it has a lot of dissolved CaCO3 in it,... this is relevant to adjusting your pH and moderating your Ca-Mg inputs... CaCO3 is a pH buffering mineral (carbonate part is what's acting on pH, not the Ca directly)... some is great, a lot is not! Cumulative hard water inputs can drive pH up out of proper range,... Also, consider getting an Accurate 8 soil pH probe-
this is the best way to test actual in-pot soil pH.. the run-off method in general is lousy, even the modified version here in the sticky section above this one! ...it can offer crude assessment, that's all,.. the soil test I asked about above will at least give a ball-park look at the soil's pH without stressing the plant with water saturation which any run-off test will do...
For gnats, any product that has that bacterial agent (Bacillus thuringiensis) in it will work them over big time! granules are available, easier to deal with than dunks/pucks,... if you get them (most any store with garden/pond supplies will have them; Bonide makes a good one) let me know and I'll show you a trick to get them activated and cranking fast!
Did you get calibration solutions for the meter, and a storage solution? these are critical to keeping the meter in good working condition, and accurate,... even out of the box, if the bulb/electrodes got dry, it's wise to double check calibration,... that said, the meter is always the better measure! The pH drops are very rude in accuracy, and the indicator dye will not change the color by using 3 vs. 4 drops,... keep in mind, pH is a logarithmic scale, meaning each step of 1.0 is in fact a 10-fold increase/decrease in H+ ion conc.! So even decimal point level changes are in fact, big ones.... Consider getting a TDS meter (not expensive at all), or EC meter.. this will measure the amount of dissolved ions in the water and nute solution; not something you need every day, but for example, your water, at 7.8, looks to be fairly hard, meaning it has a lot of dissolved CaCO3 in it,... this is relevant to adjusting your pH and moderating your Ca-Mg inputs... CaCO3 is a pH buffering mineral (carbonate part is what's acting on pH, not the Ca directly)... some is great, a lot is not! Cumulative hard water inputs can drive pH up out of proper range,... Also, consider getting an Accurate 8 soil pH probe-
this is the best way to test actual in-pot soil pH.. the run-off method in general is lousy, even the modified version here in the sticky section above this one! ...it can offer crude assessment, that's all,.. the soil test I asked about above will at least give a ball-park look at the soil's pH without stressing the plant with water saturation which any run-off test will do...For gnats, any product that has that bacterial agent (Bacillus thuringiensis) in it will work them over big time! granules are available, easier to deal with than dunks/pucks,... if you get them (most any store with garden/pond supplies will have them; Bonide makes a good one) let me know and I'll show you a trick to get them activated and cranking fast!
Happy Saturday Waira,Scar-- the soil dryness is likely behind any symptom advancement; new growth looks fine, and that's what matters... Dry-ish soil has less moisture to dilute whatever solubles there are in there, often driving pH down, and increasing relative concentration of dissolved nutes,... keep moisture even and consistent... did you make that run-off test pot yet?
Did you get calibration solutions for the meter, and a storage solution? these are critical to keeping the meter in good working condition, and accurate,... even out of the box, if the bulb/electrodes got dry, it's wise to double check calibration,... that said, the meter is always the better measure! The pH drops are very rude in accuracy, and the indicator dye will not change the color by using 3 vs. 4 drops,... keep in mind, pH is a logarithmic scale, meaning each step of 1.0 is in fact a 10-fold increase/decrease in H+ ion conc.! So even decimal point level changes are in fact, big ones.... Consider getting a TDS meter (not expensive at all), or EC meter.. this will measure the amount of dissolved ions in the water and nute solution; not something you need every day, but for example, your water, at 7.8, looks to be fairly hard, meaning it has a lot of dissolved CaCO3 in it,... this is relevant to adjusting your pH and moderating your Ca-Mg inputs... CaCO3 is a pH buffering mineral (carbonate part is what's acting on pH, not the Ca directly)... some is great, a lot is not! Cumulative hard water inputs can drive pH up out of proper range,... Also, consider getting an Accurate 8 soil pH probe-
For gnats, any product that has that bacterial agent (Bacillus thuringiensis) in it will work them over big time! granules are available, easier to deal with than dunks/pucks,... if you get them (most any store with garden/pond supplies will have them; Bonide makes a good one) let me know and I'll show you a trick to get them activated and cranking fast!
Information overload considering my wake and bake... soil went from very wet (first soak to compact soil prior to any seeds being dropped in) to very dry...fucking gnats........ so yeah I did horrible job keeping the soil consistently moist. I was always shown dry the soil out and let those little roots search for water, makes me stronger. But either way know I know and can do the right thing. Run off pot I did not do yet...
I have both calibration solutions and storage solution, small samples came with the kit and I bought an additional bottle of storage solution. Direction say add on drop to cap before putting away once a week. My local shop said add one drop every time I use it and that's what I do.
Regarding the dunks I crushed half and added to water, I crushed other half and added it topically to the soil. I have need oil, stickies and now sand. Thanks for the great info. Now I'm gonna hit google and find out about hard water, CaCo3, and call my shop for that soil prob.
Good day
Hi Scar I have a gnat hatch going on also I put down a layer of DE and surfing around a found a thread were Waira suggested a dunk solution to pour into the soil I just gave them a bath in that.I think the sand my be better than the Diatomaceous earth every time I poke a finger in to test for moisture I get a finger full of glass shards or whatever it is lol.got my girl to put up a couple pictures pc illiterate here.
Looks good Fisher. Looks like they outgrew this clear containers, make sure you vent them. I put 8 holes in each on of mine.
your right they are to small im trying to find a bigger alternative.will vent those thanks Fishercat13 cat
Last edited:
Similar threads
