Soil ph

I agree with Organoman sort of. part of the misinformation and overcomplication of the "soil" conundrum... PH is much more important in Hydroponics as there is no buffer. But that being said.. There is such thing as Alkaline soil so your approach may indeed be correct and I don't have 30+ years of experience.. But I can look at a map of soil PH globally and if he is growing in Acidic soil then his approach is 100% correct but if your soil is Alkaline then you could be doing the right thing.. Not all soil conditions are the same.. Not all soils are made in the same factory.. lol part of the reason I am so onto people checking their local water report is because water is a huge part of the whole equation and I don't know what your water is like. Anyway that's just my two cents.. Good luck with your soil growing and I hope you get thing balanced out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_pH

If growing in true soil, as opposed to something with high percentages of coir and perlite/vermiculite (and both of which should not exceed 5-10% by volume in my experience), which offer no nutritional benefit at all, as long as your soil pH doesn't exceed 7.5, everything should be just fine. Trying to get things exact in soil can take weeks as opposed to nutrient solutions used in hydroponics, which can be adjusted in minutes. As someone who has grown cannabis in soil for 35+ years, I spent a lot of time, money and effort at first trying to get an exact and stable pH, with that process, I am sure, causing more harm to the plants than had I just left them alone. For the last 25+ years I have not bothered with checking the pH of my soil mix or be anal and obtain an exact pH. As long as you are not using fresh manures or excessive lime and base your soil mix around something your grandma would use to grow tomatoes or flowers, everything should be just fine. In soil, "nutrient lockout" (which seems to be the bogey man in grow forums), in the true sense, does not occur until the soil is over 8.0 or below 5.5, with the optimum range being anywhere between 7.4 and 6.2. To harm your plants via pH, you would have to do something very drastic/very wrong to reach pH levels of 8.0 and above or 5.5 and below. I have never noticed any problems which could be traced back to soil pH for over 35 years and like I said earlier, I think I caused more problems trying to alter the pH of my soil than I ever did had I just left it alone. Altering soil pH is a long process, as soil has so many variables and is a long term project that far exceeds the average lifespan of a cannabis plant and is better suited to garden beds outdoors and not quick growing plants in pots. Trying to remedy an imagined "deficiency" with quick fix solutions will generally make your plants unhappy and (generally) by two weeks later, the soil is back to the same pH as it was before any treatment was given! Hope this helps,.... Organoman. P.S. - STOP watering your baby with water at 5.0 pH, this will likely kill it if you continue doing so and is like pouring vinegar on your plants. Like I said, altering soil pH is a long and slow process that can not be remedied overnight. Trying to adjust it with hyper acidic water will lead to death. There is no need to do anything drastic. Leave it alone and everything will be just fine!

http://www.plantsgalore.com/care/soil/00-soils-Preparation-03-pH.htm This is a chart showing nutrient availability at different soil pH intervals. If you continue to water with pH adjusted water (~6.5) the soil pH will come down to where you want it to allow for nutrient uptake to be maximized and mitigate lockout. But your seedling is fine at a slightly more alkaline pH while you work your way down through waterings. I would have to disagree with Drumsnbuds in that pH is vital to nutrient availability in any and all media... including soil. Most of what causes the alkalinity of soils is carbonate based compounds in the media (CaCO3 and MgCO3) ‘lime’ which will be neutralized easily through watering with pH adjusted water.

Growing in soil you don’t need to adjust your water ph. I did my entire last grow without adjusting my nutrient solution once and she turned out great. If it’s true that you’re runoff off water is over 7 ph then you need to lower your soil ph not water.

Often times, a raise in pH coincides with a drop in EC. This means you're not giving enough nutrients. If pH rises and EC remains constant, you are doing well. Just keep bringing it down slowly until eventually it is also static. In the germination stage, you shouldn't be using nutes, so I think you're doing just fine, keep up the good work!