Water runoff from soil low Ph

arson420

Member
So when I am testing the runoff water from my soil I am getting real low PH....I am phing the water when it goes in....Does this mean my rootball is in a unhealthy state if so how can I correct this? I imagine flushing but what I would like to know how to stop it from happening at all.....Should I be phing the water much higher that I water with? Does it even matter what the runoff ph is? ty
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
How old is the plant? It's common to get salt buildup in early- to mid-flower. In that case you'd want to flush with mild nutes. What are the ppms of your runoff?
 

arson420

Member
Usually when this problem starts to occur is mid flower I usually combat this by doing a tiny bit of flushing...well i just water it with plain water then go back to mild nutes. I dont know the ppm.....I dont have ppm or ec tester Im not at that level yet or cant afford it basically lol.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
It sounds like salt build up. Feed less strong. And/or, mix enough that you get 20-30% runoff each watering. If/when it still happens, flush to get about 100% runoff. For example, if you're in a 2.5-3gal container, mix 1.5 gal of weak nutrients (1/4 to 1/2 strength) and pour all that into the soil. Go slow if you can, let it soak, then pour more. I try to give it 30 minutes to pour all that through.

Adding 1-2 Tbsp/gal of dolomite to your soil before planting may help. But, it's not going to fix overfeeding.

I have this ppm meter for $15. When the runoff ppms get up to 1250, I know I'm heading toward a problem. 1150 is ok for me. I don't measure it much now. But, when I was struggling with salt buildup, it was very helpful to see the trend. (Now I feed half what I used to, I try to water for 20% runoff. Or, I accept that I'll have to do a larger-volume runoff in early to mid flower. I might check the runoff ppm in flower.).
 
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