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Vinegar to adjust ph level

Colacody

Colacody

Active Member
Hey guys....question about adjusting ph level with vinegar. I'm using tap water for watering my 2 babies out back. Fish fertilizer and some banana peel tea sometimes with some Epsom salts (1tblsp per 4litres or 1gal).

My tap water is 7.4ph. I've read that you can adjust the ph level down with vinegar and was wondering if it is safe to use on the plants.

Also what do you guys use for testing the ph of the soil?
 
5BY5LEC

5BY5LEC

Well-Known Member
Someone correct me but I think that is fine in dirt.
In hydro you could end up growing the vinegar mother in your res LOL!
 
Colacody

Colacody

Active Member
5BY5LEC said:
Nice plant btw.
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Thanks man! First time and it's going nicely. Can still fuck it up so I'm trying to do my best and research everything I can.

5BY5LEC said:
Someone correct me but I think that is fine in dirt.
In hydro you could end up growing the vinegar mother in your res LOL!
Click to expand...
I would assume it's ok but want to again do some research and make sure I dont destroy months of love and care by assuming.
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Colacody said:
Hey guys....question about adjusting ph level with vinegar. I'm using tap water for watering my 2 babies out back. Fish fertilizer and some banana peel tea sometimes with some Epsom salts (1tblsp per 4litres or 1gal).

My tap water is 7.4ph. I've read that you can adjust the ph level down with vinegar and was wondering if it is safe to use on the plants.

Also what do you guys use for testing the ph of the soil?
Click to expand...
Nothing at all. Don't test the ph or try to adjust it your plant looks like it's doing just fine. To test actual soil ph at the root zone you need an expensive soil ph test probe like from bluelabs but you don't really need it. I don't have one and have been growing in organic soil for several years. Ph can fluctuate in soil but microbial activity acts as a buffer. Don't worry about ph just keep adding organic material and compost to your mix to keep it active.
 
Colacody

Colacody

Active Member
Richard Drysift said:
Nothing at all. Don't test the ph or try to adjust it your plant looks like it's doing just fine. To test actual soil ph at the root zone you need an expensive soil ph test probe like from bluelabs but you don't really need it. I don't have one and have been growing in organic soil for several years. Ph can fluctuate in soil but microbial activity acts as a buffer. Don't worry about ph just keep adding organic material and compost to your mix to keep it active.
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Right on man. Thankyou.

What does it look like when your ph level is off tho? Just a saggy not so green plant?
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Your plant would look like it was starving; starting out with severely yellowing fan leaves. You would then keep trying to feed more and more but nothing seems to help. If ph is out of range the plants root system will not absorb nutrients from the soil; aka nutrient lock out. This doesn't happen quickly. It would be very gradual as each nutrient locks out at a slightly different ph value. Even if the ph were to be thrown off in a soil grow which can happen plain old water is usually the cure. A "droopy" plant btw is almost always from either not enough or way too much moisture in the soil. Keep an eye on the freshest new growth; that will always tell you where your plant is headed. If it's a nice uniform green like your plant exhibits it's all good.
Ph is not something you should ever need to worry about when growing in soil unless you are feeding lots of bottled chelates. Stay with organic materials like worm casting & liquid fish and ph will never be an issue. Bottled nutrients can throw the ph off an organic grow by introducing way too much npk value for the micro life and myco fungi to handle. Anything with an npk value higher than 10 has no business in an organic soil but for let's say a hydroponic medium this is fine because there is no microbial population present to upset.
 
mr_c

mr_c

Well-Known Member
Plants look great for first grow.

Colacody said:
I've read that you can adjust the ph level down with vinegar and was wondering if it is safe to use on the plants.
Click to expand...
Answering the question: yes, vinegar is fine to use as pH down. Use at end after all other nutrients are mixed into the solution. Whether to use it or not depends on the application. I and DTW in coco and use white vinegar when I don't have pH down.

Peace
 
Colacody

Colacody

Active Member
mr_c said:
Plants look great for first grow.


Answering the question: yes, vinegar is fine to use as pH down. Use at end after all other nutrients are mixed into the solution. Whether to use it or not depends on the application. I and DTW in coco and use white vinegar when I don't have pH down.

Peace
Click to expand...
Thanks man. They seem to love the water here and I've only been using basically food I have in water blended or boiled into it and fish goop from a bottle which is 5-1-1.
Richard Drysift said:
Your plant would look like it was starving; starting out with severely yellowing fan leaves. You would then keep trying to feed more and more but nothing seems to help. If ph is out of range the plants root system will not absorb nutrients from the soil; aka nutrient lock out. This doesn't happen quickly. It would be very gradual as each nutrient locks out at a slightly different ph value. Even if the ph were to be thrown off in a soil grow which can happen plain old water is usually the cure. A "droopy" plant btw is almost always from either not enough or way too much moisture in the soil. Keep an eye on the freshest new growth; that will always tell you where your plant is headed. If it's a nice uniform green like your plant exhibits it's all good.
Ph is not something you should ever need to worry about when growing in soil unless you are feeding lots of bottled chelates. Stay with organic materials like worm casting & liquid fish and ph will never be an issue. Bottled nutrients can throw the ph off an organic grow by introducing way too much npk value for the micro life and myco fungi to handle. Anything with an npk value higher than 10 has no business in an organic soil but for let's say a hydroponic medium this is fine because there is no microbial population present to upset.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the information. Ya these plants look healthy and doing good. The top growth I've noticed is either "full salute" or sad ish looking. When they're sad I give em water and they pop back.

What's a good flowering recipe that's good to use other than banana tea? Was thinking to go buy groceries and I'll eat what they eat sorta thing hahaha.

Cheers
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Liquid fish is real good stuff and is pretty much all I give my plants besides water and the occasional worm tea or leachate. Fresh worm casting directly on the soil works good too. For a flowering top dress add a little kelp meal to ewc; maybe w/some fish bone meal.
I give each of my plants 2 Jobes organic ap spikes just before the flip which feeds for 8 weeks. I don't bother with teas much anymore but that is only because my recycled mix is super active to the point I no longer need to provide much soluble npk. Start up a worm bin and you can literally feed the plants veggie and fruit scraps you would have tossed out anyway. Best move any soil grower can do imo.
 
Colacody

Colacody

Active Member
Richard Drysift said:
Liquid fish is real good stuff and is pretty much all I give my plants besides water and the occasional worm tea or leachate. Fresh worm casting directly on the soil works good too. For a flowering top dress add a little kelp meal to ewc; maybe w/some fish bone meal.
I give each of my plants 2 Jobes organic ap spikes just before the flip which feeds for 8 weeks. I don't bother with teas much anymore but that is only because my recycled mix is super active to the point I no longer need to provide much soluble npk. Start up a worm bin and you can literally feed the plants veggie and fruit scraps you would have tossed out anyway. Best move any soil grower can do imo.
Click to expand...
For the sake of my wife....lol....how much does a worm bin smell and how big do they have to be?
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
It doesn't smell at all or my old lady wouldn't let me keep it in the basement. She even helps feed them. We have reduced the amount of trash that gets hauled to the curb and we actually eat more fruits and veggies because of the worm bin. There is a large ziplock in the freezer where we keep food scraps and coffee grounds until there's enough to fill up a tray. I probably feed them about every couple weeks.
My worm factory 360 is 18" square but extra trays were added to get faster compost. You can even get away with using just a 10g smart pot but the tray style design worm bins make it easier to harvest castings without making a mess.
 
Obepawn

Obepawn

Well-Known Member
Richard Drysift said:
Liquid fish is real good stuff and is pretty much all I give my plants besides water and the occasional worm tea or leachate. Fresh worm casting directly on the soil works good too. For a flowering top dress add a little kelp meal to ewc; maybe w/some fish bone meal.
I give each of my plants 2 Jobes organic ap spikes just before the flip which feeds for 8 weeks. I don't bother with teas much anymore but that is only because my recycled mix is super active to the point I no longer need to provide much soluble npk. Start up a worm bin and you can literally feed the plants veggie and fruit scraps you would have tossed out anyway. Best move any soil grower can do imo.
Click to expand...
You use Jobes organic spikes? Would like to hear more about it, when get time. You are the first I’ve met that use spikes.
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
I used to diy my own but Jobes AP organic spikes for garden vegetables work just as well. They are made of mostly blood & bone meal & cost about $8 for 50 pk. They last awhile and I just buy them instead of the raw amendments. Plug in 2 per container and go to flower room...feed for like 8 weeks; perfect for bloom phase.
 
Obepawn

Obepawn

Well-Known Member
Richard Drysift said:
I used to diy my own but Jobes AP organic spikes for garden vegetables work just as well. They are made of mostly blood & bone meal & cost about $8 for 50 pk. They last awhile and I just buy them instead of the raw amendments. Plug in 2 per container and go to flower room...feed for like 8 weeks; perfect for bloom phase.
Click to expand...
What size pots for two spikes? No flushing with those like regular organic amendments?
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
I flower in 10g smartpots. They are made of regular organic amendments just pressed into cute little "cat turds;" no flushing needed. Works the same as if you made up your own diy spike w/ blood and fish bone meal; maybe they release a bit slower.
 
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