Me and PH just dont like each other...could use help

Hey guys for some reason Ive been fighting with low PHs since I started playing around with growing. my PH keeps getting really low in the 4's and 5's. my water coming out of the tap is 8.7 and even flushing with that I cant get the damn PH up for some reason. I normally set my water PH to 7. last night i flushed them till the PH of the run off was 7.3 and i check the soil today and im around 5.4....WHAT AM I MISSING?!?!?

thanks for the help guys

What are you using to test? Changing soil PH is a slower process than other medians.

some fertilizer will drop ph real bad

What steps do you take when adjusting your pH? What was the original soil mix? What stage are your plants in? What are you feeding them?

Your playing around with the ph and there is no need to in soil. Get some hydro nutes ,use every watering (buffers keep PH to about 6.5) and every 6th -7th watering/feed flush with just Ph'd water, thats the only ph reading to take.

fox farm ocean forest soil, fox farm ferts, plants are about 5 weeks into flower now.

I use PH up and down for adjusting my water PH. I water and feed with a PH of 6.5 after any additives. trying to raise it i just flush with 2-4 gallons of tap water that comes out at 8.7.

I use a rapitest digital PH meter and a milwaukee digital water PH meter.

when doing the soil runoff test does the PH of the water coming out indicate the PH of the soil??

Thanks for the updated info. Just a tip with regards to pH and pH meters: double check the pH with a cheap pH dropper system, it will always be the correct pH because it is a chemical reaction, not just an electric meter reading (i love the meters, just check with the meter, then double check with the dropper test). Also, try to stay away from mixing pH up and pH down into the same solution, or even separate solutions that will be then mixed later, it can cause pockets of pH inconsistencies and precipitates. 6.5-7.0 for soil is best.

What is in your tap water? How many gallons are your soil buckets?

i have the water and dropper tester and the same thing that works with soil as well. the meters are correct. what do you mean what is in my tap water? <<tap water is 240 PPM if that helps. 1 and a half gallon pots. plants are 3 months old

Yea, thats good, I was just wondering what the PPM was of the tapwater. The runoff pH is important as well. I believe if you put in lets say 7 and it comes out at 6 then your pH of the soil right now should be at 5... I haven't worked with soil in awhile to be honest. I too had pH problems, but flushing worked for me. Next time around if you use the same nutrients, try to cut them with something that will have the medium's pH be a little higher. The pH in soil does matter, pH issues in soil will take longer to see than in hydro. You can get a plant to stay alive with bad pH in soil, not so much in hydro. I wouldn't get hydro nutes personally for soil, stay to organics with organics if you can. Stick to what you have, put your feed water in at 7.0, and I would keep feeding it at 7.0.

Dude it's simple, you add the fertilizer before testing and changing PH you must use a PH pen and not a ph test kit as they are "wank"
Use a babies medicine syringe to inject the PH down

Here is a wonderful website with many tips on pH and fert issues: always pH last, and verify. Never mix pH up or down directly into a solution, it can/will cause precipitates.

http://urbangardenmagazine.com/2008/12/know-your-hydroponic-nutrients-rights-and-wrongs/

Yeah, pH comes last, only followed by a final EC check. Don't take any notice of the guy who swears by electronic ph testers. The drip kits do fine and many a grower has discovered the shortcomings of his electronic one by using them. My electronic (Hydrogarden essentials) pH tester has long been destined for the dustbin. I only really use it now to make sure there is nothing majorly wrong with my drip kit, which has only happened twice. Guess which was to blame?

100% behind cues. I'll use a pH meter to test, but always end up verifying with the drop tester. I had a plant die in bloom when a meter stopped working and showed "7.0" constantly.

ok well im still a little lost on the runoff test... water going in is 8.7 water coming out is 7.3 so what would my soil PH be by these numbers? my soil meter says im in the 5's. can you guys see why im confused? goes in 8.7, comes out 7.3, but soil meter says 5.4...

dolomite lime will nuetralize your soil and bring to a solid 7

ya i bought some HYDRATED lime on accident but never used. i was told not to. still need to get some. but for now i still need to get this fixed. its causing issues and im still confused

Bayou bud said:

Meters are not very reliable, need to be cleaned properly, stored properly, and calibrated. I had a soil meter tell me I was in the 7's when it was really low 5's as well. Did you mix your own soil? Adjust your pH in your water to 7.0 Only water at 7 from now on, and see about getting rid of that meter. If the pH coming out it is 7.3 and going in is 8.7 then there is no reason for it to be at 5 I believe. 8.7 is too high for watering IMO. Look up a pH chart availability of macro/micro nutrients.

-also, I agree on cutting those nutes next time.

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i always keep my meters clean but have never calibrated one but they are all only a few months old. the soil is just fox farm ocean forest soil with a handful or 2 of perlite. as for the water coming out at 7.3, going in at 8.7 and being around 5 ya i agree theres no reason for that to be right. well at least from what i know and have been reading and thats why im confused. i have that chart and have been watering at 7 other than the 8.7 flushes trying to get my PH out of the lows. ill test all my meters and soil with chemical meters and see what i can find as far as soil PH accuracy and ill get back with you guys. it'll only be a few mins

Sounds good man, I really wouldn't be surprised if the meter was to blame. And if it isnt, then I guess we will all have something new to learn/worry from. haha

so heres what i got. 2 digital soil meters showing me a PH around 5 BUT the chemical soil tester tells me im at 6.5. and both chemical and digital water PH meters show the same results so thats good.

so are BOTH of my digital soil meters crap or could the chem test be wrong? its gonna cost me a bunch of money if i have to use chemical soil testers on all my plants all the time...