soil/water ph level; confused...

efp

Active Member
hi all,

Im a bit confused on this whole ph thing. I know that the optimum water ph is 6.2-6.3 but what i dont uderstand is the soil ph.
If my soil has a ph level of 5.1 do i have to add on to that so its 6.2? Im totally confused!

Sorry for such a stupid question.
 

SmokeMedprop215

Well-Known Member
I would just make sure to ph your water I dont know what kind of soil tester you have but the cheaper ones are usually wrong in my experience I think that you want your soil somewhere around 7.0 but when I did soil I never checked the ph of soil just the water and they all turned out great. What kind of soil are you using ?
 

bonz

Well-Known Member
dolomatic lime will raise the ph. i would keep my ph of my water between 6.3 and 6.8. nutes are more avaliable to the plant in that range.
do you use nutes
 

efp

Active Member
I would just make sure to ph your water I dont know what kind of soil tester you have but the cheaper ones are usually wrong in my experience I think that you want your soil somewhere around 7.0 but when I did soil I never checked the ph of soil just the water and they all turned out great. What kind of soil are you using ?
Just ordinary Miracle grow. Apperently its ph is 5.1. I havent had time to go down and check in the shop. so dont worry about the soil ph?

dolomatic lime will raise the ph. i would keep my ph of my water between 6.3 and 6.8. nutes are more avaliable to the plant in that range.
do you use nutes
I also read that baking soda can do that. Thats ok right?
No i werent planning on using anything besides molasses, unless i have too.
Im going by the book: Marijuana BUDS for less, 8oz pretty much.
The Miracle grow which i was planing on getting has 3 months worth of nutrients. Apperantly that should do me alright.

What'd ya reckon?

PS-Do the Digital water ph testers test water ph and soil ph?
 

bonz

Well-Known Member
aaaaaaahhhhhhh. sorry stay away from mg. it`s harsh stuff unless thats a;ll you can get i realy dont recomend it. there are better nutes to buy even at a home depot or what ever you have there.
yes you definately need to worry about soil ph. and mg is nasty on the ph and salts
 

efp

Active Member
aaaaaaahhhhhhh. sorry stay away from mg. it`s harsh stuff unless thats a;ll you can get i realy dont recomend it. there are better nutes to buy even at a home depot or what ever you have there.
yes you definately need to worry about soil ph. and mg is nasty on the ph and salts
Im in uk. we got B&Q instead, n homebase. I could go down to a hydro shop but its quite alot further. And MG sounded good because of the 3 months of nutes it had.
If i was to go down to the hydroshop what soil would you recomend? do they have nutes inside? I dont really want to put any chemicals or anything in soil just organic stuff.

EDIT; im using CFL's for my entire grow.
 

bonz

Well-Known Member
sweet, i`m all about organic.
i use pro mix hp, with worm castings, kelp meal, lime, actualy quite a bit of good stuff. but if you want a simple mix pro mix, perilite, vermiculite, lime.

those slow release nute ones are the worst thing for us. you will have salt problems burning lock out. some people will argue with me i will guarantee that, some people can work it but not recomended
 

efp

Active Member
sweet, i`m all about organic.
i use pro mix hp, with worm castings, kelp meal, lime, actualy quite a bit of good stuff. but if you want a simple mix pro mix, perilite, vermiculite, lime.

those slow release nute ones are the worst thing for us. you will have salt problems burning lock out. some people will argue with me i will guarantee that, some people can work it but not recomended
Im looking at my hydroshop's catalog and theres acctually not that much to choose from. They dont have pro-mix. They do have Bio-Bizz All-Mix.
Code:
Bio-Bizz All-Mix is unlike anything you will find in a garden centre. It contains a blend of baltic peat moss, compost, worm castings, perlite and a special 'pre-mix' which is a blend of biologically active organic ingredients. The active ingredient Pre-Mix is more than just another additive - once it is blended it is then stored in a warm storehouse in the Netherlands for a 6 weeks where it is fermented into the potent mixture it is known for. Once added to All-Mix, it makes this soil a seriously effective organic growing medium that is hard to beat. If you are going to grow in soil then this is the soil mix you want to use.
That looks quite good, would it be ok? Thay have a couple others but they only come in 50L and thats too big for me!
What nutes would you recommend?
 

bonz

Well-Known Member
ya thats good stuff. i would recomend the perilite and vermiculite also if it dosn`t have it. for nutes i use botanicares pure blend pro. the veg, bloom, cal-mag+, liquid karma. sweet is nice but is basicaly the same as molasses.

does your store have a web site, if so post it so i can look at what they have?
 

efp

Active Member
ya thats good stuff. i would recomend the perilite and vermiculite also if it dosn`t have it. for nutes i use botanicares pure blend pro. the veg, bloom, cal-mag+, liquid karma. sweet is nice but is basicaly the same as molasses.

does your store have a web site, if so post it so i can look at what they have?
ye, its got 30% perlite. would i still need to add vermiculite?
the website is: GroWell > Hydroponics, Grow Lights, Grow Rooms & Plant Lighting
 

bonz

Well-Known Member
i would. especialy with peat based soils. i believe this is?
i haven`t used any nutes they have but have heard of a few using the same brand as the soil you have. i know i have some info on this stuff and some feed schedule from a reputable source. i`ll look it up and let ya know.
i`m sure someone hear has used it and will speak up
 

efp

Active Member
thanks bonz.
and ye, it does appear to contain baltic peat moss. How much vermiculite would you say i should add? 8 parts of All-mix to 1 part verm? or something.?

also do black colour pots make any difference instead of them brown ones?
do they keep more warm?
 

bonz

Well-Known Member
i use black. dont realy matter.
i would also recomend putting some stones in the bottom of the pots to help with drainage, like lanscaping stones. put about 2 to 3 inches. nice incase you need to flush.
soil 50%, perlite 35%, vermiculite 15%.
 

efp

Active Member
ok.
i was gonna put a layer of perlite. Would that make much diff instead of rocks/peagrit?
 

bonz

Well-Known Member
never done it. i wouldn`t think it would be good. you dont want to retain water there. i used small gravel and sterilized it
 

efp

Active Member
yea i guess that would make sence.
ok ill get some gravel/rocks.
How did you go about sterilizing it? Cook it? :D
 

bonz

Well-Known Member
ya just boil`em a bit. it dont need much.
just incase thiers bugs or contaminants, i just took mine from my yard, looks kinda bare in ereas now. oops,lol
 

efp

Active Member
hehe. im sure ill find some somewhere.
Last question for today(need to go sleep)
I've read in some places that nutes can raise the ph, is this true?

PS- look what i found :D
 

bonz

Well-Known Member
i`m to stoned to turn my head sideways and read that right now. lol
but i will say yes and no. some will raise and some will lower, depends on ph buffer of the nute that is used. i found most lower it
 
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