Out of the bag PH tests

I am a newb grower and have had some issues with PH lockout of nutes. I have always been very carefull with my watering and feeding, but when I tested the soil / runoff - the PH was in the low 5's. So I have been playing around with some mixes and they have been testing low in PH as well. I decided to test each main component of the mixes seperately to see which one(s) may be causing it to drop. I tested Ocean Forest, Happy Frog and an organic planting mix that is put out by a local organics company in the Charlotte NC area.

Here are the results of two tests. I ran the 2nd one because the water PH in the first one was a bit inconsistent. I checked the calibation on the machine (Milwakee 802) which was fine, and tested again. The results seem pretty consistent.

Test 1 Water PH Run Off PH
Fox Farms Happy Frog 7.8 5.3
Fox Farms Ocean Forest 7.5 6.6
Local Organic Mix 7.4 6.5

Test 2 Water PH Run Off PH

Fox Farms Happy Frog 7.1 5.3
Fox Farms Ocean Forest 7.1 6.5
Local Organic Mix 7.4 6.7

Sorry about the results table. Not coming out the way I type it. In any event, in my testing the Happy Frog was coming out VERY acidic. So I guess the big bag I just picked up will be used outside around my azaleas.

Add some lime, dolomite or calcitic. End of problem.

ANY peat based mix is going to be acidic and needs lime added to keep the pH stable. FFOF starts off good but drops after ~6 weeks or so. They add a buffer, just not enough of it. IIRC, they use oyster shell flour for the buffer.

Wet

I had added lime to my test mixes and it never seemed to raise the PH much at all. I added, tested, added more, tested, added more, tested, etc. Maybe it takes time for the lime to "work it's magic?"

pickmybud said:

I had added lime to my test mixes and it never seemed to raise the PH much at all. I added, tested, added more, tested, added more, tested, etc. Maybe it takes time for the lime to "work it's magic?"

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I would allow at least a week after it is first moistened.

It's ground up rock. Yes, it does take some time.

Wet

Thanks man. Appreciated. Will try it out.