Armyofsprout
Well-Known Member
Right now I use no nutes and don't PH my tap water. But I'm Just wondering if I used PH up and down will my grow still be considered organic? If not what are some organic ways to PH water?
Is using ph up and down organic?
- Thread starter Armyofsprout
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- organic ph buffers ph up
ganga gurl420
Well-Known Member
When you say you are growing organically... do you mean you bought a organic bag of dirt.. or you made a super soil?
Reason I ask is if there is a ton of compost in it...then you dont havr to ph anything.
If you are just using bagged designer dirt....then you may have to.
I do know most liquid silicas are high ph... and earth juice (at least there bloom if you do not bubble it) is a super low ph.
Reason I ask is if there is a ton of compost in it...then you dont havr to ph anything.
If you are just using bagged designer dirt....then you may have to.
I do know most liquid silicas are high ph... and earth juice (at least there bloom if you do not bubble it) is a super low ph.
Armyofsprout
Well-Known Member
Combo of FFOF FFHF and ewc and per lite with added super soil concentrates and bacteria.
ganga gurl420
Well-Known Member
I would go into the organic section and ask them boys then. I dont use the "organic dirt" I use compost so I'm not sure if you would have to ph or not. I do know there are organic products you can use for up and down tho.
OGBudz
Well-Known Member
I haven't tried myself but i know you can use baking soda to raise PH and you can use lemon juice or vinegar to lower PH
Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
The soil is ph balanced; not the water. Adjusting the ph of the water does not effect the actual ph at the root zone. Runoff ph in soil tells you nothing useful. To adjust ph of soil:
To adjust the ph + up add D-lime
To adjust the ph - down add organic material like compost, pine needles, leaves, etc
You need a decent quality soil probe to measure ph at the root zone with accuracy. It is the activity of microbes in the compost breaking down organic material that makes a mix more or less acidic and that activity can change from one area to another in a container. When you recycle soil to reuse it you add compost and other amendments that typically drops the soil ph slightly acidic. Just letting it set for a month normalizes ph back to a proper range. It's pretty much automatic if the soil is properly limed and active with compost. That's why adjusting the water in a soil grow does nothing; it is the soil itself that sets ph. Of course in a hydro medium there are no ph buffers so then you need to adjust the water for proper absorption.
Absorption in natural soil occurs through fungal activity. Myco Fungi can be easily upset by high npk values resulting in what can resemble ph lockout. That's why just plain water always works best.
So no using ph up/down is not only not organic but also basically pointless in a soil grow. If after each run you simply add some D-lime along with ewc and let's say a fertilizer to your mix and let is sit for 30 days to recycle it you should not have any ph issues.
To adjust the ph + up add D-lime
To adjust the ph - down add organic material like compost, pine needles, leaves, etc
You need a decent quality soil probe to measure ph at the root zone with accuracy. It is the activity of microbes in the compost breaking down organic material that makes a mix more or less acidic and that activity can change from one area to another in a container. When you recycle soil to reuse it you add compost and other amendments that typically drops the soil ph slightly acidic. Just letting it set for a month normalizes ph back to a proper range. It's pretty much automatic if the soil is properly limed and active with compost. That's why adjusting the water in a soil grow does nothing; it is the soil itself that sets ph. Of course in a hydro medium there are no ph buffers so then you need to adjust the water for proper absorption.
Absorption in natural soil occurs through fungal activity. Myco Fungi can be easily upset by high npk values resulting in what can resemble ph lockout. That's why just plain water always works best.
So no using ph up/down is not only not organic but also basically pointless in a soil grow. If after each run you simply add some D-lime along with ewc and let's say a fertilizer to your mix and let is sit for 30 days to recycle it you should not have any ph issues.