New grower- soil Ph

Aussieaceae said:

I might be missing your point here, so apologies.

Am I assuming right from the first post @still_smoked made, that he hadn't planted yet. That it was the mix reading 7.6 before potting?

P.S. I think i see what you're saying now. That he wasn't measuring his new mix. Only the old / current soil.
That would make more sense.



100% with you now, sorry, gotcha.

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Correct, no plants in pot yet. I was just mixing up the medium with my dry amendment. After I was curious to see what ph was and when measured it came out to 7.6 after adding amendments.

Aussieaceae said:

I don't use any of those probes. But if you're using a soil specific one, then i'd say yes, it's likely pretty accurate.

I'd cut it with some peat moss personally. I'd also soak it some, before adding it to your mix. So that your initial ph change after mixing through your mix, will be a better representation of how it'll be after watering.
Add a little perlite too if you think it'll need it. It probably will if that's what others generally recommend with it.

I'd cut it to around 7. I think 6.5 would be a little too acidic. The peat moss will leach a little too. So expect it to drop a little more as well.
Keep an eye on it the next week or two. If you still need to, you can always top dress a little later.

I'm at the burden of not using the same bagged product. But regardless, it'd be what I'd do myself, if my own bagged mix was 7.6 at transplant.

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Do you use bag of soil for medium? Is it normally best practice to soak medium first? It was pretty moist already.

how do you know if you need more perlite?

PadawanWarrior said:

Add more organic material like compost or EWC and let the microbes lower it. You can also add elemental sulfur.

Watering with acidic water will also help flush out the calcium carbonate that's causing your pH to rise a bit. It will also make it easier to deal with higher calcium levels in your soil. Here's a good read even though they're talking about reef aquariums.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php

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I have worn castings so I can try adding that.

mot was 10gal of medium
About 15% of it was wc

added only 1/4 of rec nutrients.

so that was a valid thought to think acidic water will bring high ph soil?

Kassiopeija said:

These Gaia green amendments must be one hell of an alkaline mix, because BB Lightmix is pH 6.0-6.2, as it's just (2 types of) peat moss + perlite.
Why didn't you just buy Allmix, it's ready to go... Or use products from one company, not mix indiscriminately... BB Lightmix + 5% Premix + 10% worm castings = Allmix. Allmix pH would also be 6.2 to 6.5. You are using a peat based soil, these types should always be slightly acidic, but your target pH is 6.5.

I wonder how high you EC is after letting your mix cook for some days?

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I need to check out the bag to confirm.

mom groing autos and did not want such a hot soil. Wanted to ability to control nutrients.

I only added 1/4 of rec serving of nutrients to medium.

how would I check ec in soil? From run off?
So newbie. What do you mean by cook? Is it normally best practice to soak soil before mixing and potting?

i did think of doing this but there were no directions on bag needing too and it was moist already

Aussieaceae said:

Just to theorize,

If Gaia Green has already been mixed through and that's why the ph is high, I'm not sure any rich organic matter is really going to help, is it?
Sounds super hot already, if that's the case.

I'm going to make the suggestion, that if that's what they have on hand and have chosen to use it. Then they're probably better off buying more light mix to cut the current mix with.
That Gaia Green won't be going anywhere in a hurry, even after composting. If it's that 4-4-4 dry amendment, it'd be better as a top dressing too, in my honest opinion.

I don't personally think more rich organic matter will help here, if the EC is potentially already too high.

What are your own thoughts?

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Makes sense to cut with bag if the ph is lower then what I have mixed up.
Thank you!

PadawanWarrior said:

My thoughts are that the soil microbes will lower the pH with their natural process. It's not gonna happen immediately, nothing really does with organics. Also cut out the calcium carbonate if you wanna get the pH lower.


You have the right tools. What pH have you been feeding with? What's your water source? Is it hard and have lots of Ca?

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What is calcium carbonate and what is it normally in for me to reduce?

no feeding yet since the autos are not yet set. I was mixing up medium and was curious of ph after placing soil in pot. RO Water

Kassiopeija said:

Ah ok, yes, just wanted to show the ingredient relationship from the original line, when one wants to turn a Light-mix soil (EC ~1.0-1.2) to an Allmix (EC ~2.2) type of soil. Basically just +15% dry fert amends.

The EC is sort of the starting point. If its too high some peat+perlite further mixed in, may help. There's peat around with pH of 4-5, black peat etc... this would be suitable then.

If its still too sharp, more sitting time in the open with washing out by rain may help.

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No rain here in California but I will keep this in mind if I need to lower.

thank you!

Thank I’m going to just leave it.

I did water it down with some ro ph 6.5 water last night

tested at 7.1 this morning. Is a half point still concerning?

target is 6.5, this is ideal for soil correct?

Kassiopeija said:

These Gaia green amendments must be one hell of an alkaline mix, because BB Lightmix is pH 6.0-6.2, as it's just (2 types of) peat moss + perlite.
Why didn't you just buy Allmix, it's ready to go... Or use products from one company, not mix indiscriminately... BB Lightmix + 5% Premix + 10% worm castings = Allmix. Allmix pH would also be 6.2 to 6.5. You are using a peat based soil, these types should always be slightly acidic, but your target pH is 6.5.

I wonder how high you EC is after letting your mix cook for some days?

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Tested out the bag about 6.4 (what I stopped at, it probably would have dropped a few more points but when it showed below with my mix then that is how I will lower ph is to throw more medium within.

thank you!

i just went through this i say leave it be dont start adding or worrying just ph your water and let them grow overthinking kills a lot of plants

still_smoked said:

I have worn castings so I can try adding that.

mot was 10gal of medium
About 15% of it was wc

added only 1/4 of rec nutrients.

so that was a valid thought to think acidic water will bring high ph soil?

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i used worm castings bat guano and bone meal in my medium plants are happy happy

Give it Brawndo! Its got what plants crave!
Should be able to find it online or at any grow store near you. Use code :Imjoking to get 0% off. Sorry I'm just bored this morning. But for real if your worried about the pH being too high mix in or top dress some peat moss to lower it. Which you really can get almost anywhere. Ace, home depot, grow stores.

Gtjoker420 said:

Give it Brawndo! Its got what plants crave!
Should be able to find it online or at any grow store near you. Use code :Imjoking to get 0% off. Sorry I'm just bored this morning. But for real if your worried about the pH being too high mix in or top dress some peat moss to lower it. Which you really can get almost anywhere. Ace, home depot, grow stores.

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I ended up testing the bag and it was in the lower 6 range. I’ll end up just mixing the soil from bag into my mix

thank you!

still_smoked said:

I ended up testing the bag and it was in the lower 6 range. I’ll end up just mixing the soil from bag into my mix

thank you!

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Sweet. Maybe try and just use the soil straight out the bag next time and just applying your fertilizer as a top dress instead of mixing into the whole mix.

Gtjoker420 said:

Sweet. Maybe try and just use the soil straight out the bag next time and just applying your fertilizer as a top dress instead of mixing into the whole mix.

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That method seems more responsive then proactive, no? I am growing autos in the biobizzlight with 1/4 of rec serving of gaia green 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 mixed
Just to confirm, what you are saying is don’t mix fertilizer only top dress.

when to top dress would be my next question then?
When the plant shows signs? Time (every 2 weeks)?

osowhom said:

i used worm castings bat guano and bone meal in my medium plants are happy happy

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That’s the only thing you use with your soil as in no other nutrients/fertilizer?

medium?

Don't grow Autos as newbie, you'll most likely end with plants that are just 30cm in height.... get some photoperiodics, then you can veg them as long as you want, and send them into flower once they seem happy, and also learn plant manipulation.

Automatics are a marketing gag from inserious breeders who know they can't be kept as keepers (mothers) so it increases their revenue, as you have to constantly buy new seeds. Autos make some sense in outdoors or indoors if you can't spearate vegroom from flowerroom, but you need to have your grow dialed in to make something of worth out of them.

It would also be better to stick to bottled nutes and then you can change whatever your plant gets on the fly.

still_smoked said:

how would I check ec in soil? From run off?
So newbie. What do you mean by cook? Is it normally best practice to soak soil before mixing and potting?

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make the earth humid, then let sit in a somewhat warm place, in order for the microbes to build up. These are your little helper which transform the organic compounds into plant-ready minerals. The longer you let it "cook" the more has turned, and makes the soil sharp, although these basic minerals are water-soluble, so they can be washed out by water/drain. The organic hard-ferts not, these stay right inside your soil...

The official BB guidelines state you should prepare the soil 1 day before you transplant, by making it humid and leaving it in a place at room temperature.

Kassiopeija said:

make the earth humid, then let sit in a somewhat warm place, in order for the microbes to build up. These are your little helper which transform the organic compounds into plant-ready minerals. The longer you let it "cook" the more has turned, and makes the soil sharp, although these basic minerals are water-soluble, so they can be washed out by water/drain. The organic hard-ferts not, these stay right inside your soil...

The official BB guidelines state you should prepare the soil 1 day before you transplant, by making it humid and leaving it in a place at room temperature.

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Thank you!

Kassiopeija said:

Don't grow Autos as newbie, you'll most likely end with plants that are just 30cm in height.... get some photoperiodics, then you can veg them as long as you want, and send them into flower once they seem happy, and also learn plant manipulation.

Automatics are a marketing gag from inserious breeders who know they can't be kept as keepers (mothers) so it increases their revenue, as you have to constantly buy new seeds. Autos make some sense in outdoors or indoors if you can't spearate vegroom from flowerroom, but you need to have your grow dialed in to make something of worth out of them.

It would also be better to stick to bottled nutes and then you can change whatever your plant gets on the fly.

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I would just like to say, unlike some, I did my research before investing my money in getting my gear for the grow.
Which included types of plants. I’m limited on space and i am sharing the growing space with other plants (vegetables). I can’t run photos with my plants (that I know of) where if I were to flip, the 12/12 won’t affect my other plants production. Though I think other plants would be considered autos too since there’s more of just minimum light required.

Also I went with autos for my first run is because they have shorter harvest times and since it’s my first grow I have no stock. Was trying to pile up with some autos and then move to photos.

If I was able too, I would start with some photos with the autos too. That way I can get some mother plants and run clones. <—Dream setup

I do have some photos though.. I have a bad habit in buying brand names, so I have some dying breeds, in house, and lempire

But don’t want to pop them until I have the space. And who knows when that will be but I had to get those seeds.

I have got sucked into horticulture and found that I have an addiction with buying/shopping for seeds.

Mind you I have not yet had 1 complete grow under my belt.