New Grower Soil question

[GeorgiaPine]

In terms of reflection man I'd say throw some white paper on em. If ya can't spring for some milar just do that. White paper is better than nothing man. I'm also starting my first grow here soon, I know what ya mean about the community. Great people here man, and great vibes. I've learned so much from this forum and you're so right about how addictive it is. Just think how addictive it'll be when we're growing some nice plants man! Good luck with ya grow, I hope all goes well.

 

[FallingSnow]

thanks a ton and i know. im so interested in the entire process of the plant i cant wait until i have a mature plant to take care of. problem i think ill have it chopping the beauties down T_T i mean its a purple fruity queen. i just don't know if i can kill her when its time.

 

[FallingSnow]

whew well its getting that tiem where i make a store run to build my grow room. i do have a major question though.

i know nothing about ph meters or how to use them but i have heard many time i should get a digital one... well thats fine and dandy but there is thousands of them out there some unreliable other great but wayyyy to damn expensive. i mean come on 100 bucks for a ph meter lol... i have a spending limit of exactly 30 bucks for a ph tester right now. i know thats going too cheap for such an essiential part of my garden but her down the road ill be able to fork out more on it.. so whats a super cheap way to test my ph enough to not kill my baby? im using distilled water right now and probably wont be using nutes for the first 3 weeks or so of my grow since im using of. ont hat note that means ill be just testing the runoff before i plant.


also if distilled water is a ph of 7 then how would i het the soil down to 6.5? do i add something to the distilled water before flushing my soil?

 

[A4]

http://www.amazon.com/Control-Wizar...&qid=1379967734&sr=8-1&keywords=accurate+ph+8

If you can go another few dollars that is an excellent soil meter. Reviewed many times on AFN! The biggest problem you will have with this one is measuring the ph of your water, it will not do that.

To your question about the soil ph. You will need a product called PH Down to adjust the ph of your water or you can use lemon juice as well. It will drop it.

 

[FallingSnow]

thanks for the information. as far as the meter goes i'm thinking of a water tester that way i can test both the water im adding to my soil as well as the runoff which can tell me the soil ph.

yea i got a bottle of lemon juice here already woooot

sorry if it seems like i wrote it off im just extremely low on funds and if im going to get that ima need it to do my water as well haha. thats why im looking towards a water tester. i can get the best of both worlds.

but unfortunately i really cant do more than 30..... sadly i am pushing it there T_T. thats why i think i might just start with simple 5 dollar strips to get a general reading and use basic distilled water and the "super soil" mix someone posted earlier about the oF on bottom then a mix of of and Light warrior on top then take out a portion from pot and put in straight light warrior. i think that will be safe for my seedlings first few weeks easily if i stay on top of the lights and water plus keep a journal on here. but definitely keep recommending items i should add to my grow area. if i cant get it tomorrow ill definitely keep it on a list for when i can afford it ^_^..

im loving the helps and ideas.

 

[krug]

Hope that plan works out for you mate. I`d still have a good ph meter(to test water/feed and runoff) top of my list(but that`s just me ), cos if you`re gonna use lemon juice, then I`d guess accuracy will be rather important. I`d also get a basic soil testing kit($20 or less). Very useful for seeing where your ffof is(ph wise), b4 you start adjusting your water! I take it you`re across the pond(hence the usage of the $). I`m not, so not much point in me recommending any meters! But just so you know... http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/categories/PH-&-Nutrient-Control/PH-&-EC-Control/ is my ph meter of choice(and has helped me decipher so many `headfuck` problems!) All the best FallingSnow

 

[FallingSnow]

yea i really dont want to go that route T_T but due to funds a little something is better than nothing right?

i think anyways lmao

i didnt even think about testing the soil's ph before anything T_T. yesh im glad im actually on these forums.

thank you for that i'll definitely prioritize some decent form of ph control equipment.

 

[Nam80232]

I can't stress a ph meter enough, it will save a lot of headaches and well be able to help out a lot more is we know what the ph is. Best of luck!

 

[A4]

You can probably get away with test strips the first few weeks if you DONT add any ph down to it. You will only be adding water to it the first two weeks anyway. But you really need to have a meter by the third or fourth week when she begins to flower. You can almost guarantee ph fluctuations at that point.

 

[FallingSnow]

well i havent got the seeds yet so all is good with time. i can always just skip ph equipment and focus on the grow area until i ge tthe seeds. by then i should have enough saved up to actually get the good stuff ive been skipping on before they even germinate.....


you know there is no better way to succeed than planning and conversing with others in the same field