Difficulties with checking pH of my soil with líquid pH tester

mrmayconcr
mrmayconcrstarted grow question 5y ago
Good day, growers; I having issues with PH, my TAP water is 7.2, when i mix it to a same volume portion of my soil, it becomes 6.6, can I deduce from this data that my soil is appropriate for growing? Around 6, as the water become acidic?? I really dont know how pH really works.
Solved
Week 1
Setup. Other
likes
Organoman
Organomananswered grow question 5y ago
I wouldn't worry about it, but move your plants to black/dark pots, roots need absolute darkness to develop and clear or thin white containers are a no-no. pH affects nutrient availability in the soil, but unless your soil is below 5.5 or over 7.5, 95% of nutrient availability is still possible. Anywhere between 6.2 and 7.2 is fine when growing in soil, most commercial soil mixes are perfectly adequate and unless you dump a ton of a single fertilizer on your plants, I would not even bother worrying about pH, I haven't for 25+ years! I spent the first 10 years of growing trying to get everything exact, including pH, and found it was not that critical when growing in soil that is well balanced and does not contain too much of any one single ingredient. For the last 25+ years I have refined my soil recipe to a point that I know it is well balanced and "just right" for growing cannabis, and if it is 6.6 or 7.1, (not that I check!), my plants never fail to flower exceptionally. If your plants are growing fine, then you need not get too concerned with pH when growing with soil. pH is far more critical when growing in coco or hydro, where nutrients are in a "suspension" and are designed to be "released" from the "suspension" at certain pH values. (a suspension being nutrients dissolved in water) pH can be likened to static electricity, whereby if it is extreme it "holds on" to dissolved nutrients and when in the middle range will "let go" of the nutrients so that the plants can absorb them. The middle range is wide and forgiving when growing with soil. It is far more critical to get your watering correct, evenly moist but not wet, and feeding only when needed. Feeding is better when done more often and with weaker strengths rather than once in a while with full strength, in my experience. That is to say, if your fertilizer says every 2 weeks, I would give half strength every 7 days instead. This may give you some ideas, but if you get stuck, feel free to send me a message. Hope this helps, Organoman.
1 like
Complain
Selected By The Grower
Greenwolvesfarmer
Greenwolvesfarmeranswered grow question 5y ago
Hello! The overall soil pH is looking pretty good! But the truth is that the input pH is very high, which means that if your irrigation water solution has a small error in EC and/or temperature, it will be super complicated for your plant to absorb nutrients... ideally, everything should go from low to high... pH of 5.8 up to a maximum pH of 6.6 (irrigation water), and hopefully the soil and the runoff water are similar... The pH is directly related to the feeding and nutrient absorption that the plant requires; at a pH lower or higher than what was mentioned, the plant will not absorb the total nutrients provided and its roots will get 'blocked'... please it's up to you to correct it... cheers!
1 like
Complain
ChitownCannaChica
ChitownCannaChicaanswered grow question 5y ago
That’s more about the feeding. 7.2 is too high
1 like
Complain
Ezzjaybruh
Ezzjaybruhanswered grow question 5y ago
Yeah that’s a valid deduction I would say.. you’re basically doing what’s called a slurry test - which is a way to test the acidity of the soil. I’d say its a good soil to grow in as far as that’s concerned but if it’s not commercial soil, and it’s something from your yard or something - you’ll likely want to add something to help aerate it. If it’s a commercial soil, most are in a good pH range from the get go.
1 like
Complain
Similar Grow Questions