hydro guy with a stupid question about soil

when watering,, should the water be ph'd? and if so, to 6.2-6.5? or just use plain old tap thats been sitting for a day?,,
if it makes a difference, i'll be using FFOF watered down a bit with some regular potting soil and perlite.
looking to dive into a small soil project just to get my feet wet
thanx in advance!

markybuds said:

when watering,, should the water be ph'd? and if so, to 6.2-6.5? or just use plain old tap thats been sitting for a day?,,
if it makes a difference, i'll be using FFOF watered down a bit with some regular potting soil and perlite.
looking to dive into a small soil project just to get my feet wet
thanx in advance!

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6.2-6.5 is the right place to be!

I found it's better to address the soil than the water. You can take and test soil samples with litmus paper or a pH kit. If the soil is acidic, add powdered lime, about 1 tsp per gal of soil, top dressed and watered in. If the soil is too base, use bone meal or an azalea fertilizer with ammonium Sulfate. Avoid sulfur-coated urea as it can burn the plants.

Serapis said:

I found it's better to address the soil than the water. You can take and test soil samples with litmus paper or a pH kit. If the soil is acidic, add powdered lime, about 1 tsp per gal of soil, top dressed and watered in. If the soil is too base, use bone meal or an azalea fertilizer with ammonium Sulfate. Avoid sulfur-coated urea as it can burn the plants.

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so,, your saying,,
if i were to take your advice, i can water with just plain tap thats been dechlorinated with no worries?

Budist said:

6.2-6.5 is the right place to be!

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do you use regular ol' GH ph down?

That would be taking half of my advice. If you follow the full advice and monitor the pH of the soil, and make adjustments to the soil as needed, you can disregard pH'ing your water every-time you water the plants, as long as the water is not extremely base or acidic. Also, I don't worry about chlorine in the water, unless your water contains large amounts of it. I've found that using straight tap water was more beneficial for seedlings and clones, as it seems to ward off diseases.

markybuds said:

so,, your saying,,
if i were to take your advice, i can water with just plain tap thats been dechlorinated with no worries?

Click to expand...

markybuds said:

do you use regular ol' GH ph down?

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Thats for hydro systems. pHing the water for a soil grow is a waste of time, it will not correct the issue that's causing the soil to swing base or acidic.

i don't ph my water , the soil will buffer it to it's ph , all i do is dolomite lime . i also have never let my tap water sit out , straight from the tap to the soil after adding dynagro.

i usually go with 6.3 to 6.8 and sometimes when i ph my soil it says 7 and my babies are HEALTHY. i guess it depends on the ppm of ur tap.. the tap water in my area is alot cleaner than others kuz my tap ppm is around 60ppm and it says drinkable is under 400. im starting to think water is water and ph doesnt matter as much as ppl think.

axionjaxson said:

i don't ph my water , the soil will buffer it to it's ph , all i do is dolomite lime . i also have never let my tap water sit out , straight from the tap to the soil.View attachment 2104883View attachment 2104884View attachment 2104885View attachment 2104886View attachment 2104887View attachment 2104888

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nice plants there

how much lime do you add per gallon of soil?
serapis said 1 tsp,, just wanna see if and how much it varies from grower to grower.. thanx

I use refined ashes on base acids.

bird mcbride said:

I use refined ashes on base acids.

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WTF are base acids?

markybuds said:

nice plants there

how much lime do you add per gallon of soil?
serapis said 1 tsp,, just wanna see if and how much it varies from grower to grower.. thanx

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when i added it i was already quite a ways along in veg so i did 2 1\2 tbs on the top of my soil in my 5 gal home depot containers and watered it in , people say it takes a while but when i checked with my soil tester the next morning all was good , remember to make sure and get dolomite lime though .

Base acids are on the other end of the scale from acids. I see both sides of the ph scale as acids. Domolite lime will reduce acids and refined ashes will reduce base acids. Both of them working against each other will provide nessesary gasses for root growth and garantee that your plants get the required micronutrients.

bird mcbride said:

Base acids are on the other end of the scale from acids. I see both sides of the ph scale as acids. Domolite lime will reduce acids and refined ashes will reduce base acids. Both of them working against each other will provide nessesary gasses for root growth and garantee that your plants get the required micronutrients.

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That makes no sense, lol!

Base Acids?? That's contridictory.

Whatjubeensmokin Willis??

Both ash and lime are used to neutralize acids, raising ph to a more alkaline, aka: base, level.

Also, by "refined ashes" are you referring to cremated human remains? That's frickin creepy.

Refined ashes will act like ph up and domolite lime will act like ph down. The ashes are powdered and screened. In eg if you have a ph of 5 you can raise it with ashes to the desired ph level.

markybuds said:

so,, your saying,,
if i were to take your advice, i can water with just plain tap thats been dechlorinated with no worries?

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I do and over 4/5 the time I don't even de chlorinate and no worries.

Wet

thanx for everyones input!

a few more stupid question tho lol

im gonna be doing autos in my veg room to break my soil cherry i have no room in my flower chamber and just enough space in my veg spot to fit an auto,, cant fit anymore equipment and have no more available outlets. just enough space for a 3gal smart pot, so why not right. plus i'd like to get some soil experience under my belt

any thoughts on my pot size? i've read 1gal of soil per month of growing is a good rule of thumb. i have 2 and 3 gal pots to choose from and autos are around 60+ days. any thoughts?

also, do you think i can live off of the ffof for the entire grow?,, or should i get some tiger bloom?

and finally, if i do add tiger bloom to the waterings, i still dont have to PH the water before feeding? lol sorry i guess its hard to break away from something i've lived with constantly in hydro haha

thanx in advance!!

bird mcbride said:

Refined ashes will act like ph up and domolite lime will act like ph down. The ashes are powdered and screened. In eg if you have a ph of 5 you can raise it with ashes to the desired ph level.

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Negative, lime will sweeten a soil, bringing the pH up.

markybuds said:

nice plants there

how much lime do you add per gallon of soil?
serapis said 1 tsp,, just wanna see if and how much it varies from grower to grower.. thanx

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*I* use 2tbl/gallon of mix, or 1cup/cf of mix.

It all depends. My peat based mix is very acidic.

Here's the thing, lime (the kind we want anyway), is nothing but ground up rock (limestone).

I have grown plants (not mj), in nothing but coarse crushed limestone. Wasn't intentional or an experiment, just all I had at the moment. Had a dump truck load of it in the side yard.

The drainage sucked, but it sure answered any question about using too much. LOL Normally I would use a shovel full or 2 per wheelbarrow full of mix, ~2cf.

Wet