need to lower soil ph
- Thread starter rrboss
- Start date
Ou8aCracker2
Well-Known Member
What was the pH of the water or nute solution you poured in to get a runoff reading?
Ou8aCracker2
Well-Known Member
Try flushing with 1/4 strength nute solution pH'd between 6.0 and 6.5.
When you flush you need to pour 3x as much water/nute silution as there is soil ie;
1 gallon of soil needs 3 gallons of 1/4 strength nute solution poured through it.
If that doesn't work,you'll need dolomite lime or hydrated lime but hydrated lime is very fast acting and difficult to use.
When you flush you need to pour 3x as much water/nute silution as there is soil ie;
1 gallon of soil needs 3 gallons of 1/4 strength nute solution poured through it.
If that doesn't work,you'll need dolomite lime or hydrated lime but hydrated lime is very fast acting and difficult to use.
churchhaze
Well-Known Member
Lime will raise the pH to about 8, not lower it. His soil probably already has too much lime if the pH is actually too high.
Ou8aCracker2
Well-Known Member
You're absolutely correct and I'm banging my head on the wall now.I replied in a rush while I was at work lol.
undercovergrow
Well-Known Member
used coffee grounds will bring it down
MMMP Compliant
New Member
man get some jugs of water that are RO or 4.0 PH distilled bottled water and some dechlorinated 7. whatever PH water and mix those suckers until you have your desired PH. Flush vigorously with your perfect PH water and test your runoff and pinch a bit of soil into a BIT of water and PH that sucker. You may also use soil PH buffer amendments like others have mentioned but be careful especially if you are going to use an organic that may have variable quality just using water that PH's itself is the proper way to flush and begin a PH program whatever route you choose. Good luck
MMMP Compliant
New Member
BEWARE if you choose to PH your water with a synthetic substance you must flush properly every week to ensure that your synthetic PH isn't building up in the soil and causing problems for you.
joe blow greenthumb
Well-Known Member
Vinegar is a quick, at home fix to lower your ph. I used that for my entire first ever grow and they came out awesome. Here's a pic of my first soil grow and hydro....both used vinegar to lower my faucet water ph.
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m3d1c1n3man
Well-Known Member
how much vinegar did you use? one time i mixed some vinegar with a gallon of water and it utterly devastated my plants, the leaves started drooping and turning brown. Maybe I used to much, just a "splash" in the gallon. Another time I squeezed half a lemon into a gallon of tap water and the results were not much better...
I'm currently looking to get this ph kit
http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-GH1514-Control-Kit/dp/B000BNKWZY/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_d_1
but not sure how well that works for soil, and also I prefer to use organic stuff not synthetic.
churchhaze
Well-Known Member
Voodoo. Please explain what a "synthetic PH build up" is. Why should people worry about that in particular?
churchhaze
Well-Known Member
That pH down is phosphoric acid based. Same phosphoric acid used in coca-cola. Phosphates are a macro nutrient and phosphoric acid is close to being a strong acid, having a very low pKa.
Using vinegar and lemon juice in order to avoid phosphoric or nitric acid just to be organic has never made sense to me. Your plants eat the same nitrates and phosphates regardless of where they come from.
I feel like a lot of organic growers are so superstitious about everything in life, they're willing to believe that "man-made" nitrate ions are going to be different than organic nitrates ions.
Using vinegar and lemon juice in order to avoid phosphoric or nitric acid just to be organic has never made sense to me. Your plants eat the same nitrates and phosphates regardless of where they come from.
I feel like a lot of organic growers are so superstitious about everything in life, they're willing to believe that "man-made" nitrate ions are going to be different than organic nitrates ions.