My first ever no till cycle.

[mista sativa]

I will take another look at the soil at the weekend ive just ordered a better ph meter with calabration fluid. On a slurry test is it best to just leave to settle then test or can i filter it? I will flush that dying one see what sort of run off im getting off that too. Ive seen something called optic folair spray that looks the ticket. Ill get some on order. Thanks again.

Yes i have thought about that Mista Sativa i was going to make my own out of pvc pipe and landscaping membrane. With a sub irrigation option. BUT im still a rookie so im trying to get my soil mixed right etc as i didnt want to fill up a big bed and find out id done something wrong. 100% will move to that eventually these are 5gal i know thats bare minimum

Also, living soil done right, will naturally find the proper ph. The beauty of living soil, is after the initial investment and work, you don’t have to do too much. Im new to the game myself. 4th grow and have yet to have any disease or pest. It’s self sustaining

 

[ShLUbY]

it's better to filter the water. pre-rinse a coffee filter with RO water, and then filter your slurry through that, and then check the pH. This is how we tested pH of growing medium in the lab at university. 5g of soil, 30ml of RO, shake the hell out of it for 5 min, filter and check the liquid pH.

 

[Jesselikes2grow]

it's better to filter the water. pre-rinse a coffee filter with RO water, and then filter your slurry through that, and then check the pH. This is how we tested pH of growing medium in the lab at university. 5g of soil, 30ml of RO, shake the hell out of it for 5 min, filter and check the liquid pH.

I'm glad to hear the way I do it recommended by you. Lol. Know I'm doing it right then. Lol. A question to the above post as well as I'm curious, and your smarter than I. Might answer some questions for OP as well.
So if I understand it, a living soil should self regulate it's ph over time. But can't it still change quite a bit either from top dresses, and or other ingredients involved from prior amending? IE: I had soil of a 6.5 ph before needing to topdress some various bone meals and bird poop for a P increase for hungry plants. Had to avoid any K inputs. Already had a bit of K burn from a bad decision i made that they were recovering from. 3 to 4 weeks go on, they got better, P def left, K burn mostly subsided and then worse, a lot of micro defs and Ca especially. Checked ph and it had climbed to a bit over 7. I've had this happen in an outdoor grow awhile back, the ph rise from amendments. This was my solution then with no ill effects so tried it again now. I did a elemental sulfur watering at the following ratio. A half cup/gallon into hot water, really hot water, power mixed with drill and paddle, let cool, mixed again. A total 3.5 gallons mixed. Watered all 9 plants well, a bit of runoff from each, equal distribution to each. 24 hrs now, ph down to the 6.5ish range, a couple closer to the 6.2 range. Plants dramatically happier already. Would the soil in either situation have eventually resolved itself and gone back down had I given it a lot more time? Or is it also possible that the mostly peat based soil I have, recycled 4 yrs now, has lost its acidity? Similar to what you had happen I've read in your thread? So then did the liming just take over? Eventually will the bacteria or liming counteract the acidity of the sulfur I've added or further break it down adding to the ph drop? Or did i just speed up the equilibrium of the whole thing? Curious about all that. Ill test soil ph again tomorrow and update any changes. Here's a 2 days ago and a today pic for comparison.

 

[ShLUbY]

I'm glad to hear the way I do it recommended by you. Lol. Know I'm doing it right then. Lol. A question to the above post as well as I'm curious, and your smarter than I. Might answer some questions for OP as well.
So if I understand it, a living soil should self regulate it's ph over time. But can't it still change quite a bit either from top dresses, and or other ingredients involved from prior amending? IE: I had soil of a 6.5 ph before needing to topdress some various bone meals and bird poop for a P increase for hungry plants. Had to avoid any K inputs. Already had a bit of K burn from a bad decision i made that they were recovering from. 3 to 4 weeks go on, they got better, P def left, K burn mostly subsided and then worse, a lot of micro defs and Ca especially. Checked ph and it had climbed to a bit over 7. I've had this happen in an outdoor grow awhile back, the ph rise from amendments. This was my solution then with no ill effects so tried it again now. I did a elemental sulfur watering at the following ratio. A half cup/gallon into hot water, really hot water, power mixed with drill and paddle, let cool, mixed again. A total 3.5 gallons mixed. Watered all 9 plants well, a bit of runoff from each, equal distribution to each. 24 hrs now, ph down to the 6.5ish range, a couple closer to the 6.2 range. Plants dramatically happier already. Would the soil in either situation have eventually resolved itself and gone back down had I given it a lot more time? Or is it also possible that the mostly peat based soil I have, recycled 4 yrs now, has lost its acidity? Similar to what you had happen I've read in your thread? So then did the liming just take over? Eventually will the bacteria or liming counteract the acidity of the sulfur I've added or further break it down adding to the ph drop? Or did i just speed up the equilibrium of the whole thing? Curious about all that. Ill test soil ph again tomorrow and update any changes. Here's a 2 days ago and a today pic for comparison.View attachment 4291507 View attachment 4291509

I'll get back to you this weekend. Gotta do some studying. You're on the right track though.

 

[HighGradeNoTilliDie]

I got thrips
Blasted them with mighty wash and neem oil with a small amount of dishsoap and baking powder(for mold) seem to have disappeared for now. My ph meter still hasnt arrived so havnt checked ph yet. Or watered but they still damp. Ive got three still going. Ive low stress trained and they seem ok got shoots coming out i didnt top them im just wrestling them down daily lol defo not having much luck indoors haha ill put some pics up tomorrow. Hope everyones high.

 

[ShLUbY]

I got thrips
Blasted them with mighty wash and neem oil with a small amount of dishsoap and baking powder(for mold) seem to have disappeared for now. My ph meter still hasnt arrived so havnt checked ph yet. Or watered but they still damp. Ive got three still going. Ive low stress trained and they seem ok got shoots coming out i didnt top them im just wrestling them down daily lol defo not having much luck indoors haha ill put some pics up tomorrow. Hope everyones high.

dont sweat the thrips. they're the easiest thing to get rid of out of all the pests.

 

[Jesselikes2grow]

Keep em alive and you'll get it figured out man.

 

[HighGradeNoTilliDie]

Hey guys
Im still here lol week 2 into flower now. All ive done is buy a new ph meter and have been watering plain water for the last few weeks (once a week) ive been letting them dry out beetween waterings they seem to like it better. I think i had a faulty meter. My rain water is 10.
The big plant seemed to have too much nutrition for abit but ive been giving them plain rain water(ppm 0)
And ita gone bettwr colour now. Flowers are forming. Its the slow release organic nutes i added. The other 3 are slow but they seem to be growing again one has a flower forming the other two are behind a little. Ive low stressed trained and topped two of them but others ive not topped just going to let them finish. Im running out of time as im
Off on vacation in 8 weeks so had to flip to flower.
Makes me wonder was it a ph issue the whole time?
But i didnt think it mattered in organics as much. I mean the rain water grows everything else outside in the yard.
Thanks for everyone's advice ill let you know how it goes.
Peace out tokers!

 

[HighGradeNoTilliDie]

Sorry about led pic i cant get a lifht on them other then when its lights on time haha

 

[HighGradeNoTilliDie]

Hi guys sorry for late update. I managed to get a a small harvest of these girls. I think i had put way too much fertiliser what stunted their growth. Also the ph pen i had at the time was bunk! I ran out of time as i was going on vacation. I flipped to flower and 9 weeks later got a small amount of ok bud. Not great but ive had worse. The blue og was really nice but i only got about 3 grams dried. Will defo check that strain out again. Just harvested my outdoor lemon skunk(picture). Think i have a good ratio of npk worked out for my next attempt indoor. Just wanted to thank you guys for your advice again. My shit keeps getting danker and its only internet help i can get you the real og’s

 

[HighGradeNoTilliDie]

Hi guys sorry for late update. I managed to get a a small harvest of these girls. I think i had put way too much fertiliser what stunted their growth. Also the ph pen i had at the time was bunk! I ran out of time as i was going on vacation. I flipped to flower and 9 weeks later got a small amount of ok bud. Not great but ive had worse. The blue og was really nice but i only got about 3 grams dried. Will defo check that strain out again. Just harvested my outdoor lemon skunk(picture). Think i have a good ratio of npk worked out for my next attempt indoor. Just wanted to thank you guys for your advice again. My shit keeps getting danker and its only internet help i can get you the real og’s

 

[iMavrick92]

That’s a nice little harvest you got there from that run. Kudos for logging your experience it can be a real pain in the ass with living soil.