Noob question regarding Soil. (Using Fox Farm)

So im using Fox Farm Ocean Forest for my beautiful ladies, i just got everything ordered up tonight and i know i want to keep the pH level of my water at around 6-6.5.

Am i right to assume that if i keep the pH of my nutrient water at 6-6.5 that the pH level in my soils will stay around those levels as well or is there something else I will need to do to find and watch the pH level of my soils?

Can anyone help?

Fox farm is supposed to be at a good pH for doobie, but I don't know the actual number. Your nutrient water pH will have an effect, but buffered soil tends to return to its original pH, with maybe some change with the water. You should be fine if your goal is to grow ganja in soil as long as you're not fixated on that exact pH, i.e. the whole thing might settle out at 6.7 or something.

Did you order some lime?

elduece said:

Did you order some lime?

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This. Lime will help if you encounter any ph issues. Although I ran a grow in FFOF feeding RO Water and the GO Line never once using a ph meter for anything. In a strong soil, your army of microbes shall act as ph buffers.

As advised previously, use dolomitic\calcitic limestone or pulverized eggshells. The exception to this is if you're using tap water and live on the west coast or other parts of the country where there are natural limestone deposits near the aquifers... which cause your tap water to be higher than neutral.

dolomite lime, 4 dollars at www.ahlgrows.com

Ajjax

Noob question regarding Soil. (Using Fox Farm)
i want to keep the pH level of my water at around 6-6.5.​

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Soil runoff pH is the "something else" to pay attention to. Your runoff pH is what should stay in the 6-6.5 range. You will be surprised at what a good buffer organic soil and its microbes can be. Basically compare your input and runoff pHs and adjust your input pH accordingly to get your runoff pH to be 6.3ish. Be aware that always adding pH up (to hit a target pH in the 6s if using RO plus acidic nutes) can accumulate over time and cause the runoff pH to climb out of range. If you are in a living soil target pH (of the input nutrient) is not really necessary so long as the runoff pH is in range. Lime is optional and does work well.

Ok, i will have to keep an eye and test the run off water for the ph, but i got an up/down and tester so I will make sure the ph is balanced before any feeding with my nutes or the distilled water.

I am kind of confused... you asked for help, five people told you to utilize lime, but you still seem to want to be anal about pH and add drops to everything.

We're trying to tell you that you really don't need to do this when growing organically in soil. In fact the pH Up could interfere with your soil biota (the cornerstone of organics) if you end up having to use a shit-ton of it. In soil there really isn't such a stringent pH requirement... anywhere from 6 to 7 or slightly over is most likely going to be just fine. If you have a properly limed mix you should be able to water in fertigation solutions that have a pH from 4-5 no finicky adjustments necessary.

optimal ph is between 5.5-6.5 there is a lot more wiggle room than people realize

Wont the ph level of the soil be raised by the Lime addition though?

Somewhat but that is the point. Pulverized limestone is very forgiving and while it isn't impossible to over-do it, it is quite difficult to.

What you need to understand is that dolomite, pulverized oyster and eggshell are all forms of lime which work to neutralize acidity over the long term. Calcitic limestone is calcium carbonate, while dolomitic limestone also contains magnesium (calcium magnesium carbonate). Oyster shell and eggshell are also composed primarily of calcium carbonate. I make my own 'eggshell flour' by pulverizing eggshells in a coffee grinder and shifting through a screen.

Any of these things will work as a liming agent provided the particle size is appropriate . With a tablespoon or two per gallon of mix there shouldn't be any problems with the pH being too high. Lime is practically insoluble in water, and basically the acidity (H+ ions) reacts with the carbonates (in the lime) and so the acids are neutralized. With enough lime and the activity of micro-organisms in the soil the pH will be kept in check for quite some time.

This works so well because most organic fertilizers tend to be acidic, as well as components of potting mixes such as sphagnum peat moss (which is also acidic). You probably wouldn't want to use too much lime and at the same time frequently apply solutions which also have a pH well over 7. For example, tap water from certain areas of the country which is considerably hard and has a high pH because it already contains carbonates (as a result of natural limestone deposits near aquifers).

Ok, so I should mix some dolomite in my fox farm ocean forest, probably once i transfer to my 3 gallon bot, do i mix it completely in the mix with some perilite im going to mix in or should i just sprinle it and leave it on top? Im going to ph test my tap water (moreso out of curiousity just to see where its at in this city as i havent dont know) but are you saying that I shouldnt do anything ph wise with my water and ferts mixed in because the soil will handle itself?

To FF Ocean Forest I add in about a tablespoon of micronized dolomite lime and a half to a tablespoon of pulverized eggshell, mixed in thoroughly (I also add coco coir to OF). You could just add in 1-2 tbsp of dolomite or pulverized eggshell, whatever you have available. I make eggshell flour to use along with the dolomite just because I usually have a number of eggshells laying around and like to put them to good use. Eggshells also contain other minerals\trace elements.

But anyways, mix whatever liming agent you're going to use into your base mix thoroughly. When you are transplanting using the mix it certainly doesn't hurt to scatter some additional lime and organic nutrients onto the 'floor' of the container (for the floor I prefer the eggshell). This is one of my (and others) little secrets, since I believe a homogenous soil mix is stagnant and boring for the plants and that they'd much rather be able to experience different nutritive 'zones' with slightly differing pH's.

For example, I'll thoroughly mix up a base mix, limed as previously described. Say the base is Ocean Forest along with my coco coir and a bit of additional dry organic fertilizer, the lime and whatever else. When I go to transplant I'll through down a few inches of the base mix onto the bottom or floor of the container. Then I'll take some Peruvian Seabird Guano, sprinkle that on the bottom, add a little more soil, sprinkle in some kelp meal, maybe a little more dry plant food, a tablespoon of eggshell flour and just kind of swirl it around with my fingers a tad (so these amendments aren't evenly distributed), then put down as much more of the base mix that I need and finally in goes the plant I am transplanting. This way the plant roots will slowly grow down into the more nutritive inhomogeneous zone, and only regular unadjusted rain or bottled water is required on my part (often with blackstrap molasses added).