P deficiency?

CJS SPARTANS

Well-Known Member
Soooooo I just dipped my ph meter into 7ph reference solution and it read 7.7... after the math I've been roughly feeding around 5.6- 5.7..... but last run I had the same issue and it was reading correctly in solution and was feeding around 6.5
 

Blitz35

Well-Known Member
Sorry Blitz, my bad.
We're all here for the same reason, to grow some dank smoke!:) No need for apologies..i come here now only to help when i can, if i can't, i dont say anything, or i clarify that im not sure about a certain topic. Some things i have learnt inside out, and my strongest fortee is how elements behave with each other in soil/soilless mediums. That was what i found to be important to know as when i started i thought holy shit, how does one know if they are missing anyting or have too much of something else, it can take forever to know!!! So i spent about 4 months reading.4-8 hours a day, everyday on only that subject..how elements interact with each other! If you asked me to lollipop your plant, i wouldn't do it as it's not something i spent time on and haven't 'truly' done it. hydro, all i know is ph has to be lower, but i can't help there either. We all have our strengths and weaknesses..and yes, there is way more i dont know than know! lol. Happy growing dude! :)
 

Blitz35

Well-Known Member
Soooooo I just dipped my ph meter into 7ph reference solution and it read 7.7... after the math I've been roughly feeding around 5.6- 5.7..... but last run I had the same issue and it was reading correctly in solution and was feeding around 6.5
maybe you missed the sweet spot, which i've read was 5.8-6.3 for peat moss/coco mediums. Though again..i've had some extra problems with mainly zinc and some iron when the ph stays at 6.2 or above for too many waterings. if you drop it under 5.8 for too long, then you have the oter side giving issues, like cal, mag and potassium, possibly even molybdenum later on, but the plant takes that up the least so it may not show issues. i noticed for me..shifting between 5.8 to 6.0, especially once flowering, helps. During veg..i too haven't had too many issues even with 6.5 waterings..in flowering it's different.
 

Blitz35

Well-Known Member
I grow in pro-mix which is amended with lime, i also add dolomite to it, it had gypsum as well, added extra perlite, some coco and worm castings.
It's important to know as well, that if using our mediums (sphagnum peat moss for the most part), if it's straight moss, meaning not limed, it does become very acidic as it breaks down, the breakdown is evident when you see the yellow run off, that's the color of peat moss breaking down..and as it does, your medium can go as low as the 4's in ph! In such a case, the ph would naturally have to be a bit higher in waterings to balance out the acidity happening already. Its why i add the extra lime and worm castings, to help keep ph balanced closer to 7..and that's why my waterings are best around 5.7-6.0, as slowly the medium will raise it and the shift allows everything to get taken up as it dries up.
 

Blitz35

Well-Known Member
The one i use i got for around 15$ on ebay..with a seperate tds meter lol. I tested it after 1 year of use, it was off by 0.1 according to the test solution. It has a calibrater screw..since then..6 months, its not off yet..ive also noticed that coors light is a constant ph of 4.0 lol...so i will be using that once the 4.0 solution tester is done lol
 

CJS SPARTANS

Well-Known Member
The one i use i got for around 15$ on ebay..with a seperate tds meter lol. I tested it after 1 year of use, it was off by 0.1 according to the test solution. It has a calibrater screw..since then..6 months, its not off yet..ive also noticed that coors light is a constant ph of 4.0 lol...so i will be using that once the 4.0 solution tester is done lol
I got mine on Amazon also but it dosnt have a calibration screw, you have to mix 3 packets with powder and cal that way, garbage..... is yours the yellow color meter I had one of those for years as well till I dropped it In my feed and it stopped working lol
 

Blitz35

Well-Known Member
I got mine on Amazon also but it dosnt have a calibration screw, you have to mix 3 packets with powder and cal that way, garbage..... is yours the yellow color meter I had one of those for years as well till I dropped it In my feed and it stopped working lol
Yes the yellow one with black cap. The few reviews i read about it both on amazon and ebay, all buyers seemed satisfied, i said wth, 15$ for the pair, i'll try them. No complaints to now. im extra careful not to drop either one in my bucket lol..i heard to watch for that as it can break immediately lol.
 

Blitz35

Well-Known Member
I have 2 of the same strains going now, auto's critical kush, and 2 waterings ago..onset of flowering stage (week 6), one got a watering of 6.2 and the other i gave at 6.0. The 6.2 one is showing issues with zinc, the other one is not. my thought is that the 6.2 is not only locking my zinc out, but also making phosphorus less available (some purple petioles on her too), and with the extra P sitting in my medium not being able to get taken up..that's also contributing to the zinc issue..as with too much P, the first element to get locked out is zinc!
Hopefully you get better results with the ph adjustment. It may take a few waterings as the medium will still swing the ph upwards quicker as it dries until it gets saturated more often with a lower ph.
 
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