7.5 ph day 14- yikes!

luckylady88

New Member
I eagerly started my grow in a medium made of coco, mushroom compost, worm castings, and perlite. I put my seedlings in 4” pots before testing the ph of the medium as my meter was broken. I tested tonight and it’s reading at 7.5, and it really shows as my seedlings at 13 days are pretty sad looking. Is there any way to amend this now or should I start over? I made a ton of this mix and would like to have it be organically more acidic. I’m just starting out and feel like I messed up by my diy mix.
 

amneziaHaze

Well-Known Member
you can put eggshells treated with vinegar that will give your soil calcium and lower the ph.
sulphur good for plants(no idea how much of it) allsoo reduces ph
blood meal allsoo lowers ph but high in nitrogen and your soil looks like it has enough
you can piss in it depending on your diet
"Although you can add any organic matter like compost, manure etc., sphagnum peat moss and pine bark mulch are particularly effective in reducing the pH of the soil. "
used coffee....
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Cut your entire mix with a simple bagged peat potting mix. Mix thoroughly . Sounds like you were trying to use coco as the dominant medium but you added the compost .

So , by flipping the script and mixing your mix into full bag of potting soil will work into your benefit as that ( RTU ) ready to use soil ( happy frog / fox farm / EB stone or similar ) will come prebuffered for ph and all will be fine. As a matter of fact , you could pull seedlings from your mix and put them into a solo cup of happy frog and that would start them proper with nothing else.

THEN
, when ready to transplant, your new mix in larger containers will be ready to go.

GL :weed:

Side note : this is by far EASIER to correct than you chasing your tail trying to “ fix “ your DIY MIX.
 

ProPheT 216

Well-Known Member
I eagerly started my grow in a medium made of coco, mushroom compost, worm castings, and perlite. I put my seedlings in 4” pots before testing the ph of the medium as my meter was broken. I tested tonight and it’s reading at 7.5, and it really shows as my seedlings at 13 days are pretty sad looking. Is there any way to amend this now or should I start over? I made a ton of this mix and would like to have it be organically more acidic. I’m just starting out and feel like I messed up by my diy mix.
What meter? Slurry test would serve you better.
 

ProPheT 216

Well-Known Member
7.5 is high (if that's even a fact) but even at 7½ they are seedlings. They should have plenty of what they need available, are you sure your not drowning them?
 

luckylady88

New Member
Thank you! I had juuuuust watered them about an hour or so before taking the picture. It had been a couple days, but I’ll cut back. I took your advice and repotted them, and will add peat to my remaining mix. I’ve been watering with distilled water, though I’m not sure if that’s really necessary. I’m using an Apera ph20 tester with a slurry to test ph. I’m also just sort of figuring out humidity, so that may play a role, too.
 

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