ph from flush water?

I am having issues with getting things going. first grow really sucked for quality. Leaves are splotchy brown turning to brown. Lower and large leaves are effected. I was using ro water, and adding cal/mag supplement, and also dyna pro-teck on one of them. I have used Alaska kelp at recommended dosage at the beginning of flower. Didn't seem to help at all. ph from the faucet is about 7.0. Used ph adjuster to get around 6.5 ph, I have some new autos about 2 weeks into flower.

Today I did a flush on a couple of them and checked the ph of the flush water, and it is around 4. Is this an accurate measurement of the soil ph? PH soil probe never did work very well as it always reads around 7, no matter what I water with.
I use 5 gal root bags, organic soil from store mixed heavily with perlite (60/40 or so).

Beforef you get too confused and sidetrack yourself I'd suggest you read through this carefully.

https://www.rollitup.org/blogs/blog17764-ph-your-tap-water-soil.html

get an aquarium ph vial and drop tester from a pet shop. they work everytime. soil looks good tho, wood ash will raise ph but use it in small doses ,1-2 tablespoons per gallon untill the ph gets back mid 6 . once the plants recover stop using it or it will drive the ph up up and away

sativa indica pits said:

get an aquarium ph vial and drop tester from a pet shop. they work everytime. soil looks good tho, wood ash will raise ph but use it in small doses ,1-2 tablespoons per gallon untill the ph gets back mid 6 . once the plants recover stop using it or it will drive the ph up up and away

Click to expand...

I think you are referring to a small bottle you fill with water and add solution (3-5 drops) and compare to chart? that is what I used to test the flush water that read at ~4 ph level. Wood ash like from my from my fireplace?

yea wood ash from your fireplace works wonders as a natural ph up

AimAim said:

Beforef you get too confused and sidetrack yourself I'd suggest you read through this carefully.

https://www.rollitup.org/blogs/blog17764-ph-your-tap-water-soil.html

Click to expand...

Oh joy, more reading. I have been reading forums and articles for months now. almost info overload due to so many conflicting "views". But, thanks, i did read it and it answered the question of flush water accuracy.
I have a well and the ph is about 7.5 and only around 200-250 ppm but can jump to around 400 ppm after heavy rains. When I would let water straight from the well sit overnight you can see impurities settled in the container. I live in Florida and aquifers are high in limestone/phosphates. I stopped using it and switched to ro with cal/mag additives because of the stuff settled in the water after sitting, and it also has a slight sulfur smell. I filter and soften the water when using it in the house, but didn't want to use that because i was thinking the sodium from the softener would be too much. Regular plants in the ground outside do pretty good with the straight well water, I will switch back to it on a plant and see how it compares. Maybe I was wrong to stop using the well water.

I would add some lime to the soil for a long term stabilizer. Go to a garden store and get some dolomite lime for potted plants, the finest powder you can find and mix a small amount into the first couple of inches of your dirt. It's very hard to add too much, just read the instructions.. That should do the trick, and you could add hydrated lime to your feed water, which has a faster response time. Any of these will bring your soil to 7, which is neutral and ok to grow in. Merry Xmas and good luck

rain water is also a good alternative to well or city water. It collects all types of heavy metals in the air on the way down, also known as polluition actually helps some plants and gives them micro nutes. Wood ash is loaded with almost every heavy metal you can think of, natural micro nutes per say. My local college tested different types of wood ash.... soft wood like pine, birch and poplar ,,,, and hard wood like maple, and oak. the hard wood had the most build up of metals in the ash. I use it every grow and dont think ive seen a micro deff. for yrs, I still use a micro fert as well but I like wood ash cause its free. Just keep plastic, oil, gas, wax and such away when using it for plants.