Ph levels going into ffof.

Hey all I have autos in ffof in beginning I was ph ing my water to 6.5 then I had issues Then was told on this site to not ph and give plant my 8 ph tap water? Seem like chem in my ph down may have caused the leaf issues. Does anyone ph the water or feed before going in on ffof ? Or any experience here ? Any buffering advice ? Curious for future Maybe auto issues ?

Herb potman said:

Hey all I have autos in ffof in beginning I was ph ing my water to 6.5 then I had issues Then was told on this site to not ph and give plant my 8 ph tap water? Seem like chem in my ph down may have caused the leaf issues. Does anyone ph the water or feed before going in on ffof ? Or any experience here ? Any buffering advice ? Curious for future Maybe auto issues ?

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In organics I wouldn't ph unless it is very hard or soft. If yours is 8..honestly I might lower it to the mid 7s personally. However you need to be careful what you use to adjust ph. I recommend Earth Juice PH down, if you are going to do it. If you are watering now non-phd and the plants seem to be recovering then I wouldn't worry about it.

It's kinda a funky topic.

Yes FFOF had buffers but buffers don't last forever.

Same with microbes. Imo pHing the water is dependent on how the plant reacts and or importantly the stage the plant is in.

Basically if you are not doing anything to recharge the microbes in the soil to help deliver nutrients to the plant once its in flower there is a good chance the bulk of the microbes are gone.

Without microbes I pH. Again the buffers only last so long. Especially if you water to runoff.

Yup, funky topic...
To the whole bag - add a heaping 1/2 cup of Dolomite lime.

Just what FFOF needs most...

dbz said:

In organics I wouldn't ph unless it is very hard or soft. If yours is 8..honestly I might lower it to the mid 7s personally. However you need to be careful what you use to adjust ph. I recommend Earth Juice PH down, if you are going to do it. If you are watering now non-phd and the plants seem to be recovering then I wouldn't worry about it.

Click to expand...

I have gotex up and down I think that’s what it called. And also I think that’s what’s fucked with my plants too. I don’t wanna buy more stuff if I can avoid. Lol. I heard using white vinegar or baking soda or lime juice works good. What do u think or this ? I heard it on growcast from an organic grower

Dr. Who said:

Yup, funky topic...
To the whole bag - add a heaping 1/2 cup of Dolomite lime.

Just what FFOF needs most...

Click to expand...

And then 8 ph water will be fine whole grow ?

Wizzlebiz said:

It's kinda a funky topic.

Yes FFOF had buffers but buffers don't last forever.

Same with microbes. Imo pHing the water is dependent on how the plant reacts and or importantly the stage the plant is in.

Basically if you are not doing anything to recharge the microbes in the soil to help deliver nutrients to the plant once its in flower there is a good chance the bulk of the microbes are gone.

Without microbes I pH. Again the buffers only last so long. Especially if you water to runoff.

Click to expand...

3 plants are roughly 6.2-6.8 ph in runoff. Other plant runoff is 5.9 ph and thats the one I had to flush 3 weeks ago due to ph down issue it is very light green in compared to the rest so when’s I fed her last 2 times I have extra N

I ran into a similar problem. However I did mix FFOF and FF Strawberry Fields. Didnt realize i was mixing coco and soil at the time. But I stopped using ph down in my water and my new growth has been looking much better. Hopefully it all works out for you

Herb potman said:

3 plants are roughly 6.2-6.8 ph in runoff. Other plant runoff is 5.9 ph and thats the one I had to flush 3 weeks ago due to ph down issue it is very light green in compared to the rest so when’s I fed her last 2 times I have extra N

Click to expand...

Testing runoff out of soil just misleads you.

There will be pockets of salts that get flushed thru when you have runoff. They will give many false readings. What goes in is really what matters.

Herb potman said:

And then 8 ph water will be fine whole grow ?

Click to expand...

Is this before adding the nutrients or after?
That high could be an issue day in and day out. Depends on pot and plant size.

Wizzlebiz said:

Testing runoff out of soil just misleads you.

There will be pockets of salts that get flushed thru when you have runoff. They will give many false readings. What goes in is really what matters.

Click to expand...

He's right. Testing the run off Ph is simply telling you the Ph of the run off NOT the Ph of the soil..

Dr. Who said:

Is this before adding the nutrients or after?
That high could be an issue day in and day out. Depends on pot and plant size.



He's right. Testing the run off Ph is simply telling you the Ph of the run off NOT the Ph of the soil..

Click to expand...

Slurry test gave similar results

7.9 ph out of tap before adding nute. After nute it is 7.4

Dr. Who said:

Yup, funky topic...
To the whole bag - add a heaping 1/2 cup of Dolomite lime.

Just what FFOF needs most...

Click to expand...

Do this to every bag you buy. You'll have a much better chance that dont happen again.

FFOF is fairly inconsistant but its a great medium. its my go to but not my favorite.
You may have run across a shitty batch of FF mix. I get a shitty batch about every 10th purchase. Just add lime to the new bag to prevent that from happening in the first place.

Herb potman said:

7.9 ph out of tap before adding nute. After nute it is 7.4

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That is fine for FFOF ....you should never have a problem with those numbers.

getogrow said:

Do this to every bag you buy. You'll have a much better chance that dont happen again.

FFOF is fairly inconsistant but its a great medium. its my go to but not my favorite.
You may have run across a shitty batch of FF mix. I get a shitty batch about every 10th purchase. Just add lime to the new bag to prevent that from happening in the first place.

Click to expand...

WHat type or brand of nutes to U recommend for ffof. There trio is too expensive in Canada and hard to find ? Synthetic or organic?

Dr. Who said:

Yup, funky topic...
To the whole bag - add a heaping 1/2 cup of Dolomite lime.

Just what FFOF needs most...

Click to expand...

And this will also solve a good bags issues or a bad bag issues any other info u go is great cuz I will use this soil for a few grows cuz it’s whats available to me. Any dif with autos and photos with this soil and what nutes u suggest if I decide not to use fox farm trio and I think may want to go organic I red easier with organic soil like ffof ? Help

Do you "need" to ph your water? No.

Would it be beneficial to add a bit of ph down to your water? Yes.

Will microbes ph the soil for you? Yes.

Will the microbes do it immediately? No.

Do the microbes have better things to do for your plants other than use their energy adjusting the ph for you? Yes.

Be kind to your microbes and give them adjusted ph. They are your pets, not your slaves.

Don't be lazy. Adjust ph.

*disclaimer: I don't generally adjust ph, because I run RO water and my nutes put the ph in range already.

PJ Diaz said:

Do you "need" to ph your water? No.

Would it be beneficial to add a bit of ph down to your water? Yes.

Will microbes ph the soil for you? Yes.

Will the microbes do it immediately? No.

Do the microbes have better things to do for your plants other than use their energy adjusting the ph for you? Yes.

Be kind to your microbes and give them adjusted ph. They are your pets, not your slaves.

Don't be lazy. Adjust ph.

*disclaimer: I don't generally adjust ph, because I run RO water and my nutes put the ph in range already.

Click to expand...

Other guy said ph it just a bit Til 7.5 ph. what do u suggest I ph my water to ? In ffof

Herb potman said:

And this will also solve a good bags issues or a bad bag issues any other info u go is great cuz I will use this soil for a few grows cuz it’s whats available to me. Any dif with autos and photos with this soil and what nutes u suggest if I decide not to use fox farm trio and I think may want to go organic I red easier with organic soil like ffof ? Help

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Organic vs synthetic is really just a choice.
Organic grown will have more flavor but, not much more then soil and synthetic use.
The idea that the use of living bio teas not doing it right for synthetic nutrient use is patently wrong.
I took that idea so far that, I was growing with 50% less given nutrient and watering with only tea's in a rotating style.
I warn you that you will suffer some burnt plants learning this method but, the result is very nice.
Yet I can do it with either organic or synthetic use.

Your getting the same ions in the plant as you would with organic as you use synthetic. The thing is there are other influencers that organic brings to the table that synthetic lacks to some points.

Auto's are not my choice but, I have done some work with them.
I find them fussier then photo's but, it's easy to dial them in anyway.


For synthetic use? I prefer Botanicare - KIND line. Not used much in veg as I up pot and use the 30 days (aprox) of nutrition in the soil... If I see a need, I use some.
In bloom? I don't use the charted value's. I use 10ml of each per gallon.

I also supplement my own home made sulfate compounds at specific times in the run.

getogrow said:

Do this to every bag you buy. You'll have a much better chance that dont happen again.

FFOF is fairly inconsistant but its a great medium. its my go to but not my favorite.
You may have run across a shitty batch of FF mix. I get a shitty batch about every 10th purchase. Just add lime to the new bag to prevent that from happening in the first place.

Click to expand...

They "mine" the product from 3 different locations around the US.
They amend and the soil mined can shift. They don't catch that and correct for it enough.
Not to mention the differing needs of that soil from the 3 different places. Requires 3 different amending formula's to get the product as "uniform" as they can.

They do do a damn good job for what their doing and the size of the operations doing it.....

A good "gardener" reads his plants needs as they grow and adjust at his end to cover their needs.