what's this

groweraua

Member
This is just my limited experience. I have bought soil that claimed ~6.5 or so. I stab the bag with my Apera, and it reads 5.1 I bought it anyways, because even FF reads low 5's. I will start off by taking a reading (not a slurry test or paper).. If I get around 5, I will feed in my mix at ~12 ph for 2 feedings. I will then take it down to 9 on the next one and monitor it. By the 4th feeding, Im getting high 5's, to low 6's... I will then level it out to ~6.5 by feeding in at 7.3ish I have never fed in at 6.5 because the soil im in will want to crash the PH as it dries out. So, I over shoot it a bit and it settles fine at 6.8 really wet, and 6.3-6.5 as it dries out.
hey guys seems like my PH is lowon al 3 plants ..... what should i do?

see pics

2.jpg

3.jpg


i did water yesterday with just water ph at 6 after repotting and toping
 

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
Those meters are useless and very inaccurate. You need an Apera 8500, or something similar to get accurate readings. I know they’re expensive, but it’s one of the best tools you can have in your grow. You can even check liquid with the 8500, and it reads down to the 100th of a point. www.aperainst.com This is the one I have..
0376FA80-EE6D-4CE2-8C2E-E8CD3A88EB17.png
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
I would do as Aaron suggested and start corrective feeds ASAP. The plant looks terrible and you shouldn't wait to get a better meter.

This is just my limited experience. I have bought soil that claimed ~6.5 or so. I stab the bag with my Apera, and it reads 5.1 I bought it anyways, because even FF reads low 5's. I will start off by taking a reading (not a slurry test or paper).. If I get around 5, I will feed in my mix at ~12 ph for 2 feedings. I will then take it down to 9 on the next one and monitor it. By the 4th feeding, Im getting high 5's, to low 6's... I will then level it out to ~6.5 by feeding in at 7.3ish I have never fed in at 6.5 because the soil im in will want to crash the PH as it dries out. So, I over shoot it a bit and it settles fine at 6.8 really wet, and 6.3-6.5 as it dries out.
 

groweraua

Member
I would do as Aaron suggested and start corrective feeds ASAP. The plant looks terrible and you shouldn't wait to get a better meter.
i have changed it to new soil today lets what would that do,

the thing think is e repotted yesterday with some soild i made like 3 months ago with NPK and perlite..... and it was sitting thing there maybe it was 2 strong for the plant
 

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
i have changed it to new soil today lets what would that do,

the thing think is e repotted yesterday with some soild i made like 3 months ago with NPK and perlite..... and it was sitting thing there maybe it was 2 strong for the plant
I hope you're not missing the point here. If your soil was hot, you would see burning from the tips inward. You have an even degrading of leaf material to the inner veins. This is a result of PH being too low. If your PH is too low, your plant cannot, and will not, take up nutrients no matter what you do. You have to know your PH going in. Later is not the time to find out (ask me how I know). Your plant is not taking up NPK, that's why it is choking out. I promise you, if I probed that soil with my pen, it would read ~4.7 Look at your oldest leafs, they are the "wise men" that will tell you what is going on with your plant. The new growth looks ..meh..ok. But rest assured, they will look like the old wise men soon enough. If you cannot afford a good pen, get something better than that China probe you got. A good pen will sting for a moment, but will reward you greatly.
 

groweraua

Member
I hope you're not missing the point here. If your soil was hot, you would see burning from the tips inward. You have an even degrading of leaf material to the inner veins. This is a result of PH being too low. If your PH is too low, your plant cannot, and will not, take up nutrients no matter what you do. You have to know your PH going in. Later is not the time to find out (ask me how I know). Your plant is not taking up NPK, that's why it is choking out. I promise you, if I probed that soil with my pen, it would read ~4.7
so what should i do? just water it with 6.0 phd water
 

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
so what should i do? just water it with 6.0 phd water
If your PH is already at 4.7ish (guessing) 6 ph is going to be like throwing a lounge chair off the Titanic, it won't matter. You need extreme PH changes to fix this. Read what I said earlier, and feed in at 12ish PH. But, you're not going to know how to counter act your feed in if you don't have a good meter/pen. You could guess at it, but I wouldn't recommend that. To fix 4.7PH, you need to feed in at 12ish ph. I have found that if you want to move the PH in soil, you have to more than double your PH feed in for a couple of feedings with a good flush, and then monitor it. Start dropping at feeding 3 to 9ish, then keep feeding in at 7.3-7.5 to maintain your desired 6.5-6.8 PH... assuming you are in a peat/mulch based soil.
 
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DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
my tap water ph is 8.5 and i do not have ph up

i think this plant is done
Yep!.. Sorry bud!... Your runoff PH will typically read higher than what is actually in the soil because of your higher tap water. So your soil was prob low 4's... No worries tho!, just start again. These plants grow fast, and you'll be back up and running in no time!.. just take the advise, and know your PH going in... it's alot easier on your stress level. On the cheap side, you can use baking soda for PH up, and white vinegar for PH down.
 

groweraua

Member
Yep!.. Sorry bud!... Your runoff PH will typically read higher than what is actually in the soil because of your higher tap water. So your soil was prob low 4's... No worries tho!, just start again. These plants grow fast, and you'll be back up and running in no time!.. just take the advise, and know your PH going in... it's alot easier on your stress level. On the cheap side, you can use baking soda for PH up, and white vinegar for PH down.
mm ok

so go ahead and throw that plant away....

now what should i do with the other 2 that do look ok but more likely has a low ph also but is not as bad as the one on the pic?

how can i keep my ph at 6.5?

for example if my soil is like a 6 when planting the seed and when i go to veg i started using nutes but i need to phd the water to 6.5 and the soil i 6 or les, what to do?

this stuff has me confused i am about the throw away the plants and start new with rdwc system
but i have 4 plants that are ok 2 big one and 2 seedlings
 

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
mm ok

so go ahead and throw that plant away....

now what should i do with the other 2 that do look ok but more likely has a low ph also but is not as bad as the one on the pic?

how can i keep my ph at 6.5?

for example if my soil is like a 6 when planting the seed and when i go to veg i started using nutes but i need to phd the water to 6.5 and the soil i 6 or les, what to do?

this stuff has me confused i am about the throw away the plants and start new with rdwc system
but i have 4 plants that are ok 2 big one and 2 seedlings
First thing you need to do is get a good meter. If you dont have one, it's flying blind. Even if you go DWC, you still need to know what your PH is. I wouldn't even invest in a DWC system till you have a good meter. The one you have there is still not accurate. I've gone through 10 of those things... they are always off compared to a good pen/meter... like the old saying "You get what you pay for" It's like doing heart surgery with a Cresent wrench.
 
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