Water ph question.

[Mr Green.]

Hello, I am currently on my first grow, I am using fox farms ocean forest with a super soil amendment mixed in the bottom 1/3 of the pot. I'm growing heavyweight seeds wipeout express.

The seeds sprouted on the 13th of january and so far look like they are doing great with just watering.
Based on the instructions from both soils I only need to water through the whole grow. My concern is my waters ph, I'm using tap water that I fill in a bucket and let sit for a few days to de-chlorinate, I don't have a ph meter to test my tap water but I do have a cheap soil meter that I use per instructions.

My initial testing of the soil showed what I thought was a soil ph after watering to be around 6.8, as it turns out I was reading the meter wrong and the ph is more around 7.2, I have very poor vision from a cornea disorder.

Despite the plants looking very healthy so far, I'm concerned once flowering occurs the high ph will cause nutrient problems or at the very least a smaller yield. I decided to invest in a decent quality ph water meter and ph up and down solution. I will be trying to get the tap water to 6.5 based on what I've read as a good ph for the water and soil.

My question is since I've been watering with a ph over 7, will it be OK to water on my next watering with a ph of 6.5 or will the sudden drop cause a ph shock to the plants? Would it be better to do a gradual drop of a couple points at each watering until I reach the proper ph?

Thank you for any help.

 

[Jraven]

I don't believe it will shock them...I'm not very scientific but the soil should be able to buffer that. I would not put a lot of faith in the soil meter those are known to be shakyIf you get a journal going folks can keep an eye on your progress and offer suggestions

 

[DTOM420]

What Jraven said.

A good pH meter/pen will be an invaluable tool to your growing. I use mine almost every day. Even in organic soil I am pHing my water and I like using things like fish hydrolysate at times, which is very acidic. So, a pH pen helps me correct the pH on those occasions. The Apera PH20 is what I use and I think it was like $50ish on Amazon. If that’s out of the question, get one of the General Hydropnics PH test kits that uses a few drops of a solution in a tiny container they send with it. It’s very cheap and will give you a decent idea what your pH range is - it’s color coded. I’d do a slurry test to check your soil pH. It’s much easier with a pH pen but you CAN do it with the drops. At least it would tell you if your soil pH is anywhere near what you think it is. Those probes are notoriously inaccurate.

 

[Mr Green.]

Thank you for the suggestions guys. I just wanted to be sure the sudden drop wouldn't hurt the plants. I feel better assured now.

I actually got the Apera PH60, though in hindsight I probably would have been just as good with the PH20 and saved 30 dollars, the 60 has a few things the 20 doesn't but probably needless things for what I need it for.

 

[Mr Green.]

Edit. I'm glad I bought one and didn't spare the expense. After setting up the meter as per instructions I got a measurement of my tap at 7.7, now I just need to wait for the ph down to be delivered.

 

[Arthur]

There are many here that vary the pH of the feed slightly thru the grow to make different things more available I normally run between6.2 early to 6.8 late.
Ran two photos outdoors a couple years ago, no pHing, ran low 7s the entire grow. Wasn't great looking, but she finished and put out a great fruit.
One slip won't be an issue.

 

[Mr Green.]

Thank you arther. I can't imagine the high ph has made a big impact so far as the plants look as good as I could ask for, especially being my first go at it. I suspect the quality of the soil helped a lot. I'll have to do a bit more researching to learn more about those that use varying ph throughout the grow to see if that will be good for me to use.

 

[Waira]

not a problem man, the soils have pH buffering minerals in them,.. BUT I strongly recommend you get soil inoculants and an enzyme product, to keep the herd robust and happy, and keep the nutrient cycle wheel spinning well,... super key for organic growing! .....lots of products out there, but many folks and myself have found Recharge to be a good value product, not stupid $$, loaded with counts and diversity, plus humic-fulvic and molasses (feeds the herd)... Speaking of which, I'd add humic-fulvic to that list along with a Si supplement... Go check out the Reference section for good info on these,....
When you get your meter, be sure you also have calibration (7.0 at least, 4.0 too IMO) and storage solutions, and read up on it's care; they are pretty fragile instruments, easily damage from dry-outs, improper rinsing between uses, etc.,.... Now, these are for liquids only, not in-pot pH, and that's the most important pH to monitor and control! I'd look into an Accurate 8 soil pH probe, trust me it'll pay for itself! What you put in is no reflection on what the actual in-pot pH is, but keeping your inputs adjusted goes a long way to helping in-pot pH stay in range,...
Another very useful tool is an inexpensive TDS meter,.. you won't need it every day, but it provides vital info about your water and any nutrient solutions you may use,... Knowing the hardness of your water in very important, as it's pH and buffering influence is directly proportional to the amount of TDS in there, mainly CaCO3,.. it's the carbonate part that's involved with pH buffering,.. it is possible to get a cumulative overload of such minerals if the water is hard, which will start to drive pH up out of range, and cause a host of problems....
For pH adjusting, you can use citric acid for a ph down, a more gentle way to adjust it vs. most of the hydroxide based products,...
A word of caution about soils, OF especially.. they are in general the most problematic soils I see here, usually badly acidic. thier quality control is a joke these days, IMO, though some folks still get OK bags which I chalk up to regional sourcing differences,...

 

[Eyes on Fire]

and an FYI layering tends to keep the PH swinging since the life(assuming its a live soil) is mostly at the bottom and gets ran through with water so leaching more nutes than should be and flower and later veg will wain.So next time with whatever amounts your using for said pot size,mix it up well then pot it up.layers dont work as well.I dont care what manufactures tell you.I have seen the results from three ways of layering and a total pot mixed up has always worked better for me and more stable too.

 

[Mr Green.]

and an FYI layering tends to keep the PH swinging since the life(assuming its a live soil) is mostly at the bottom and gets ran through with water so leaching more nutes than should be and flower and later veg will wain.So next time with whatever amounts your using for said pot size,mix it up well then pot it up.layers dont work as well.I dont care what manufactures tell you.I have seen the results from three ways of layering and a total pot mixed up has always worked better for me and more stable too.

Forgive me but I'm a little confused on what your saying. If I am understanding you correct, I believe I'm doing what you sugested, if not please correct me. The super soil I'm using was from nature's living soil for autoflowers , the instructions were to use one pound bag per 3 to 5 gallon pot size. It suggested to put 1 pound of the super soil in the pot and followed by enough organic soil to fill the pot 1/3 of the way to the top, then to thoroughly mix the organic with the super soil and fill the remaining 2/3's with just organic soil.