Run off

My ph is at 6.5 exact. Im using foxfarms ocean forest soil. My run off is at 5.7. I hear about people saying check your run off. What am i looking for?

You want run off to be as close to possible as the water put in

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You don't need your irrigation/fertigation solutions to be exactly 6.5, you don't need to use pH adjuster at all even if it's a bit higher than 7.

So what is the pH of the original solution? Are you using pH down? If you are cut that out now. The actual truth is that any pH right around 6-7 is just fine for soil. Run-off will give you a ballpark pH. If it's about 6 and your plants aren't showing any issues you are fine.

Ive been having what others have told me is a calcium deficiency,but ive been using calmag for a week and shit isn't getting any better. It cant be nute burn,cause im using 1tsp per gallon. So im just trying to narrow things down. Its 1 month and ive lost about 2 dozen leaves already.

My opinion, soil is not as good of a buffer as many believe and the need to PH is highly dependent on your water. When I have gotten lazy with PHing everything that goes in, I have had problems, similar ones at that... Get whatever goes in as close to 6.5 as possible and from my experience, limited as it may be (3 years I think), you will be fine.

Incidentally, I once had this and it turned out to be a bad seed, Damn thing drove me nuts for 3 gens before I figured that one out....

Will i still get some bud out of a bad seed? If thats the case.

GrowinDad said:

My opinion, soil is not as good of a buffer as many believe and the need to PH is highly dependent on your water. When I have gotten lazy with PHing everything that goes in, I have had problems, similar ones at that... Get whatever goes in as close to 6.5 as possible and from my experience, limited as it may be (3 years I think), you will be fine.

Incidentally, I once had this and it turned out to be a bad seed, Damn thing drove me nuts for 3 gens before I figured that one out....

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Soil is an excellent buffer if it has a good cation exchange capacity. Then it will also have good buffer capacity, but in many circumstances you want to add calcitic or dolomotic limestone to the mix for long-term stability, due to materials used in the potting mix.

If you use relatively pure water, rain, RO or otherwise purified to a low TDS water you'll want to do this. If you use hard water that has a higher pH it is most likely due to lime already dissolved in the water. So if that was the case you could probably use water well above pH 7 and do great. Because what you are doing basically is watering in the lime, which provides minerals.

He said he's been giving it at 6.5, pH is still low.

jmatarazzo said:

Ive been having what others have told me is a calcium deficiency,but ive been using calmag for a week and shit isn't getting any better. It cant be nute burn,cause im using 1tsp per gallon. So im just trying to narrow things down. Its 1 month and ive lost about 2 dozen leaves already.

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There's other things going on there by the looks of it. Need more info though, did you add anything to the OF? Are you using pH down? Original pH of the water? How long have they been in the containers for and when did the issue start? What calmag product are you using?

If you want to resolve the pH issue you need to water in something over 7 at this point, or try to water in micronized limestone (will also supply calcium, magnesium).

this is the full rundown with a few pics. my water is right from the tap.i let it sit for a day or two to get rid of chlorine.its ph before i do anything to the water is 7.8. she is in a 6 1/2 gallon bucket.she has been in there for about 2 1/2 weeks. i have been having this issue since she was about 1 week. through these forums ive been told magnesium def. and calcium def. i have the ph down to 6.5 and that is because ive been told thats where it is suppose to be. i use 2 tsp of earth juice cal-n-mag and 1-2 drops of superthrive in a gallon of water on water days and the same plus 1 tsp of general hydroponics flora nova grow on feeding days.i have 4 23 watt (100 watt equivilent) cfl's my tent is 3x3x6.i have a 6inch intake and a 6inch carbon filter exhaust. i also have a small fan on her. all the pics are from now except for one to show how long ive been dealing with this.

Have you been letting the soil dry out between watering/feeding days or have you tried to be on a schedule? That's not a lot of light, they shouldn't need a lot of food. I'd guess that they are mostly overwatered but also maybe a little over fed. I feed a lot but I have intense light and I let them dry out between. I've been growing in commercial soil for years, never worry about Ph, do great.

You are doing a good job checking your runoff in your ffof. When i used that soil, it would drop and drop the ph as i went. You want to make the water you put in to make the ph of the water going out at 6.5. I ran into this problem about 2 or 3 weeks in so i top dressed with 1 teaspoon per gallon of dolimitic lime. after about 3 or 4 weeks it will make your runoff 6.5-7.0 as long as you put in something below that. 2tsp of calmag seems way too high.

If you're putting in 6.5 and coming out with 5.7 then the ph in your root zone must be lower than 5.7 (probably more like 5.0) try a few wateringgs at ph7 and see what ur run off is. I use rockwool but I buffer it to 5.0. I water with 6.2 and my run off is usually around 5.5.

I started with 1 tsp of cal mag and increased it as i saw absolutely nothing happening. Instead of adding lime. Could i use the ph up that i already have. Donr know where to get lime in less than a 25-50lb bag. I usualy wait till i see that the top of my doil is dry. Then i finger her..lol. if its still pretty damp under the dry soil i wait an extra day. And i only have been using 1 gallon at a time. Sometimes a bit less. I usually add water a bit at a time till i see some run off. ...

I'm going to make this real easy for you: disregard what everyone else is telling you. Stop using pH down.

Your tap water is 7.8 because it is hard water; it has stuff like calcium and magnesium bicarbonate dissolved in it already. Water in your tap water as is, WITH NO PH DOWN. Then check your run-off.

Soil can be real easy to work with/grow in but what actually goes on in soil can get a bit technical in terms of the kinds of reactions that take place in soil and between soil components. Soil isn't hydro. You don't need your pH to be exact and watering in water that is 6.5 wont guarantee the soils actual pH will be anything near that. If your pH is 5 and you water in 6.5 it is not going to bring it up much at all.

Listen to Nullis. pH up and down are not meant to be used in soil.

FFOF will continue to drop as it goes, so the watering with no PH down is the best idea for now, but i strongly suggest finding some dolomotic lime somewhere (amazon, ebay?) to combat the problem as you get into the later stages of flowering.

j matarazzo said:

M y ph is at 6.5 exa ct.. Im us keing foxfarms ocean forest soil. My run off is at 5.7. I hear about people saying check your run off. What am i looking for?

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You can directly test the ph of your soil by putting 1 Part soil in a glass with 3 parts water. Wait half an hour and then
test it. Also keep your meter calibrated.

Yo

jmatarazzo said:

this is the full rundown with a few pics. my water is right from the tap.i let it sit for a day or two to get rid of chlorine.its ph before i do anything to the water is 7.8. she is in a 6 1/2 gallon bucket.she has been in there for about 2 1/2 weeks. i have been having this issue since she was about 1 week. through these forums ive been told magnesium def. and calcium def. i have the ph down to 6.5 and that is because ive been told thats where it is suppose to be. i use 2 tsp of earth juice cal-n-mag and 1-2 drops of superthrive in a gallon of water on water days and the same plus 1 tsp of general hydroponics flora nova grow on feeding days.i have 4 23 watt (100 watt equivilent) cfl's my tent is 3x3x6.i have a 6inch intake and a 6inch carbon filter exhaust. i also have a small fan on her. all the pics are from now except for one to show how long ive been dealing with this.

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You can let your water sit, which will get rid of chlorine, but it does not get rid of chloramine, which may be in your tap. Ideally you should invest in a reverse osmosis unit, they are expensive but remove dissolved solids and chloramine from the tap.

Couldnt i just use distilled water?

Just listen to Nullis......

Doc

jmatarazzo said:

Couldnt i just use distilled water?

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Distilled water isn't great for plants, it is absolutely devoid of minerals. And the pH of it still wouldn't be enough to bring your soil pH up enough. Plus that could get expensive depending how many plants you're growing.

Please, I am begging you, use your tap water as is and check the run-off. The fact that you're using hard water and have been adding CalMag along with pH down only complicates matters. If your soil pH is indeed closer to 5 the minerals are present, the plant just has poor access to them (lock out). By using pH down in this manner I imagine your soil matrix has become saturated with H+ ions and is now harboring reserve acidity. Your tap water is actually a perfect remedy.