Mohican

Well-Known Member
I am late to the conversation on pH.
When I measured rainwater and saw that it was 5.7 it totally changed my idea of how to water my plants.
My hose water measures 8!
Now I mix with phosphoric acid to 5.7. Eventually I will set up my watering system to automatically titrate the water as it moves to the sprinklers.
I have a Blue Lab pen I use for measuring pH.
It is late and I must get up early for work.
TGIF!
Cheers,
Mo
 

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
I will have a better report when flowering hits for sure! Funny you say quantum boards cause I'm currently building 4x 132 QBs for roughly 250 watts. (Im at about 230$ spent) I just have to drill the holes and I'm done! I like the QB132s because I can spread the watts more evenly throughout my 4x4. I dont have too much electricity to work with so I have to maximize!
View attachment 4109584
And here are my plants as of a few days ago, the dynamite diesels are the 3 in front and 2 stunted ones in the back left. The back right is completely unknown.
View attachment 4109587
@thccbdhealth nice!!!
 

Kushash

Well-Known Member
I am late to the conversation on pH.
When I measured rainwater and saw that it was 5.7 it totally changed my idea of how to water my plants.
My hose water measures 8!
Now I mix with phosphoric acid to 5.7. Eventually I will set up my watering system to automatically titrate the water as it moves to the sprinklers.
I have a Blue Lab pen I use for measuring pH.
It is late and I must get up early for work.
TGIF!
Cheers,
Mo
From your post I gather that you feel the 5.7 ph was caused by acid rain.

What I'm reading is unpolluted rainwater actually has a pH of about 5.7 and acid rain has an even lower PH of 4.

Cheap distilled water purchased from a pharmacy usually has been exposed to air bringing its PH into the 5.7 range before the bottle is opened by the consumer.

I could be wrong, I have to say that because the smartest guys in the room are on this thread and I am a student not an educator. :peace:
 

Mohican

Well-Known Member
The reason I recommend the acid rain article was to see how extreme the pH of rain must be to be considered acid rain.

I thought 5.7 was extreme until I read the article.

Volcanic areas have the most amazing soil and botanical production. Acid rain and high CO2 levels are present.
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
I am late to the conversation on pH.
When I measured rainwater and saw that it was 5.7 it totally changed my idea of how to water my plants.
My hose water measures 8!
Now I mix with phosphoric acid to 5.7. Eventually I will set up my watering system to automatically titrate the water as it moves to the sprinklers.
I have a Blue Lab pen I use for measuring pH.
It is late and I must get up early for work.
TGIF!
Cheers,
Mo
Definitely gonna look into it. Just got done chopping 3 plants (one large no-till in there)... man I am whooped! long day. One more no-till to go tomorrow, and then I have room to get the next run into flower!

Hope all has been well Mo! Good to see you around :)
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
As predicted... the Confidential Cheese bounced right back from their defoliation, and you can't even tell that it was done one week later. Day 27. Checked pH on these today, still sitting 7.0/7.1, so I gave them another peat extract (i didn't last weekend, gave them coconut water instead). So hoping that I'll see another dip in pH by next weekend.

ConCheeseSIPDay27.jpg

ConCheese.jpg

Brainwreck in no-till, day 13 I think. Checked pH on these today, coming in 6.8/7.0, which is showing improvements. Gave another peat extract (these also got coconut water last weekend instead of peat extract). Hoping to see more improvements in pH next weekend on these also.

BWNoTill.jpg
 

elkamino

Well-Known Member
As predicted... the Confidential Cheese bounced right back from their defoliation, and you can't even tell that it was done one week later. Day 27. Checked pH on these today, still sitting 7.0/7.1, so I gave them another peat extract (i didn't last weekend, gave them coconut water instead). So hoping that I'll see another dip in pH by next weekend.

View attachment 4111485

View attachment 4111483

Brainwreck in no-till, day 13 I think. Checked pH on these today, coming in 6.8/7.0, which is showing improvements. Gave another peat extract (these also got coconut water last weekend instead of peat extract). Hoping to see more improvements in pH next weekend on these also.

View attachment 4111489
I realize you are looking for improvements man but your leaves look very healthy! I’ve been watching you because I’m similar in some ways. I’ve been recycling the same organic soil for three years mostly amending Coots style but not no-til. I’m mostly water only in flower and happy with my buds but my leaves fade too early plus they’re nowhere near as shiny as those on your confidential cheese! But you’ve got me thinking I should check my pH... as a living soil grower it’s something I’ve never done... Supposed to just balance itself out in organic living soil right?! Sorry if you already talked about this but have you tested your soil? If so who?

Good luck in the pH quest ShLUbY, hope you get it dialed soon :joint:
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
I realize you are looking for improvements man but your leaves look very healthy! I’ve been watching you because I’m similar in some ways. I’ve been recycling the same organic soil for three years mostly amending Coots style but not no-til. I’m mostly water only in flower and happy with my buds but my leaves fade too early plus they’re nowhere near as shiny as those on your confidential cheese! But you’ve got me thinking I should check my pH... as a living soil grower it’s something I’ve never done... Supposed to just balance itself out in organic living soil right?! Sorry if you already talked about this but have you tested your soil? If so who?

Good luck in the pH quest ShLUbY, hope you get it dialed soon :joint:
Thanks elkamino :) I agree, the leaves look amazing (especially the cheese, every time)...

but, that's been the most confusing part.... and I can only conclude that the mix starts out ok, and then gets slightly alkaline a few weeks into flower. I attribute this to the Sulfur in the gypsum neutralizing several weeks after putting plants into a recycle and re-amended soil, assuming the peat has been neutralized, because sulfur increases acidity in soils. So once the sulfur wears off, the soil starts to climb (kind of like the opposite of not having enough OSF or Dolomite in a fresh peat based mix). I hope I get it solved too man. I will say, the plants I transplanted in veg into one gallons, with a brand new mix... I haven't seen veg growth like that in several runs... so I think i'm onto something here. Also, maybe the organisms have enough ability to create acidic micro climates that are enough to get the plant most of what it needs, but not enough for it to go to full potential... that is another thing I'm attributing the good looking growth to... time will tell I suppose

I have never sent the soil out for a test/analysis but I'm starting to think I should with the stuff I just put into the recycle pile, but have not re-amended yet. I think it would be 30$ well spent. But for checking the pH of the soil, I have a Bluelabs Soil pH Pen, and I really like it. Breeze to calibrate, and instant readings without having to remove any soil from the container.

The plants I just put into flower, a recent run of pumice sips in a combination of 5 and 7 gal plastics, that have the old soil mix are going to be topdressed with fresh peat, and I'm just going to top water them once a week to help rinse the acidity into the container, and use SIP method the rest of the week. Hoping that will help me throughout this run. One plant is in a brand new mix, so that will be my comparison plant. I will be checking pH once a week and logging the data. So hopefully I will learn something through all of this :)
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Also, Frank is doing just fine! Finishing up the last bit of scraps from the fairly large feeding about 2 weeks ago. The other bin got a big pile of leaves today from harvest, with some compost layered on top. The bin pictured here is going to get harvested in another 2 weeks, gonna let them scrounge the rest of what is in there. I'm gonna build a little worm trap to lure them into so I can harvest the castings easier. Will bait them in with their favorite in some fresh bedding... Avocado!

Frank.jpg

Also I've been being tempted by Greenpoint Seeds @Gu~ with all kinds of delights lately! Soon I will be starting a Grow Journal for Greenpoint products done organic :fire::fire::fire:. Been very impressed with everyone's photos in the greenpoint thread and I'm very much looking forward to running some of this gear.... now to just make some room... and decide which strain to start first... and try not to buy any more (but likely will LOL) :wall::wall::wall:

Greenpoint.jpg

Dynamite Diesel still on the way haha...

:leaf::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::leaf:
 

CaptainSnap

Well-Known Member
Glad to see things are in the up and up shluby! Your girls are very lush and bushy....don't mind me staring! Also you don't happen to have a YouTube channel? I was following a guy that always referred to his worms as frank in his video is why I ask!
 

elkamino

Well-Known Member
30$ is similar to what MustangStudFarm was getting done. I looked at a place in Ohio online, results within a few days. I may have to send one in here soon just for piece of mind.
Very worth it I would say!
IS it really worth it? And is it even accurate? I assume you two probably know more than me but I’ve read that testing rich soil full of organic material fails to result in accurate nutrient profiles... Dunno if it’s true and don’t recall why but it’s kept me from committing to sending away for testing.
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Looking good man! Yield may be low on the DQ but looks Fire so who cares
I feel ya man, definitely worth it! Gonna look beautiful dried in a jar :) Cheers bongsmilie

Glad to see things are in the up and up shluby! Your girls are very lush and bushy....don't mind me staring! Also you don't happen to have a YouTube channel? I was following a guy that always referred to his worms as frank in his video is why I ask!
No I don't have a channel, but you're probably referring to Herbin Farmer, where I got the "Frank" name from as well :)
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
IS it really worth it? And is it even accurate? I assume you two probably know more than me but I’ve read that testing rich soil full of organic material fails to result in accurate nutrient profiles... Dunno if it’s true and don’t recall why but it’s kept me from committing to sending away for testing.
Well, these cheap tests won't be an end all be all by any means imo, but I'm interested to see what the results have to say. Especially for a mix that has been "spent" and not recycled after the most recent grow. I might let it just compost for the next 30 or so days, adding water when necessary, and then after 30 days mix it all up together (there's about 40-50 gal worth), and send in a sample of that.

I too often wondered about these tests and the high amount of organic matter in the soils that we use for cannabis. That's why I think it will be good to use a mix for testing that has not been re-amended yet... should show nutrient profile more for what is bound to cation exchange sites rather than stuff still in whole organic form. I'll be doing some looking around at tests over the next month or so!
 

CaptainSnap

Well-Known Member
lol YEPP that's the channel I was watching for awhile! I always laugh that he calls his worms frank!! Anywho happy gardening shluby! I think your onto something by having spent soil tested and then it tested after amending it
 
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