Page 1 of 10 1 2 3 4 5 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 95

Thread: The PH myth

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    eastern us
    Posts
    9,782
    Thanks
    87,992
    Been Thanked: 50,169 Times

    Default The PH myth

    It's a touchy subject. Most of the internet and the forum disagree with me. But relying on soil to buffer PH is not a good approach to growing anything in my opinion. Especially not your prized plant.

    Sure if you have lots of living soil it will buffer... up to a point. This is why I see so many late flower ph issues.

    When I worked on an organic produce farm my boss paid attention to the soil PH and the PH of what was going in. He would compensate for the PH of the rain by adjusting the ammemdmemts in the soil.

    This is beyond my skill set. Adjusting the PH of what goes in is easy and does not kill micro life.

    Compost tea should have a neutral PH. Microbes grow best in a neutral PH. My compost tea has a PH of 8.4 Lemon juice brings it to a 6.8 where microbes can grow and my plant can utilize.

    When taking the water only approach to organic growing PH is still important. If your water is above 7 then over time the soil will eventually raise to over 7.

    For water only growing i use fresh squeezed lemon to lower the water to a 6.4. I no longer see the late growth PH issues.

    Go easy on me.

    Cheers Talkers.

  2. The Following 19 Users Say Thank You to CityDweller For This Useful Post:

    AND (03-04-19), Bin man (03-04-19), British green (02-04-19), Bud Lightyear (02-04-19), Bundy75 (02-04-19), C-Rex (19-05-19), Cleargreen (21-04-19), G' (19-05-19), gardro (02-04-19), Gaz (03-04-19), GEORGE (02-04-19), ggotch (02-04-19), happyjack (15-05-19), Mac (15-05-19), M_C (02-04-19), SmobyToker#1 (02-04-19), Stickysticky (02-04-19), Valentina (02-04-19), Wags (02-04-19)

  3. #2

    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    62,173
    Thanks
    177,540
    Been Thanked: 196,779 Times

    Default

    TBH I've never had any issues growing organic in soil...

    However, choosing a good soil goes along way to preventing problems.

    My soil of choice comes out the bag at PH 6.5 (or so the company tells me!) & I amend it with Dolomite lime. I realise that the Dolomite will try to increase my soils PH towards 7 but as my tap water is PH 7.8 it will also pull that down towards 7. Add in soil buffering & we are near as heck

    IMHO the quality of the soil is as important as anything else....
    It's Not What You Know, It's What You Can Prove

  4. The Following 11 Users Say Thank You to M_C For This Useful Post:

    AND (03-04-19), Bin man (03-04-19), Bud Lightyear (02-04-19), C-Rex (19-05-19), CityDweller (02-04-19), G' (19-05-19), gardro (02-04-19), GEORGE (02-04-19), ggotch (02-04-19), Mac (15-05-19), SmobyToker#1 (02-04-19)

  5. #3

    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Star Command
    Posts
    26,693
    Thanks
    65,467
    Been Thanked: 79,865 Times

    Default

    The game has changed...Using fully organic nutes and a decent compost and you will have no issues with tap or rain water in the uk as far as pH buffering goes...However some nute manufacturers are using semi synthetic nutes for compost which could need pH amendment it usually states this on the bottle...My advice is to follow the manufacturer's directions...


    Regards BL

  6. The Following 14 Users Say Thank You to Bud Lightyear For This Useful Post:

    AND (03-04-19), Bin man (03-04-19), British green (02-04-19), C-Rex (19-05-19), CityDweller (02-04-19), G' (19-05-19), gardro (02-04-19), Gaz (03-04-19), GEORGE (02-04-19), ggotch (02-04-19), M_C (02-04-19), rassensi (03-04-19), SmobyToker#1 (02-04-19)

  7. #4

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Never Eat Shredded Wheat
    Posts
    5,632
    Thanks
    7,668
    Been Thanked: 5,993 Times

    Default

    I totally agree with you all, whatever works for you, theres no right or wrong answer on it, i have seen soil ph grows do amazing and i've seen org's do amazing, but i've equally seen both do terribly. I think we tend to blame things when they dont go our way and so, this that or the other gets the blame, when infact it could be as simple as giving too much or too little.

    I agree that if you are going compost (organic) then acid should be kept out of it entirely and look more to having a decent microherd that will buffer the ph. I have completed 3 more soil grows since going coco and i never ever ph them now. And no problems
    FORMERLY TOBYSMOKER

    Big buddah cheese and blue cheese solo journey - https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-foru...ese-Round-Two-)

    Big Buddah Blue Cheese & Cheese Mentored by Budlightyear! https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-foru...-Bud-lightyear

    BREAKS & BEATS FOR THE MUSIC PRODUCERS OUT THERE!!! - https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-foru...d-check-it-out

  8. The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to SmobyToker#1 For This Useful Post:

    AND (03-04-19), C-Rex (19-05-19), CityDweller (02-04-19), G' (19-05-19), gardro (02-04-19), Gaz (03-04-19), GEORGE (02-04-19), ggotch (02-04-19), M_C (02-04-19)

  9. #5

    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    High as a kite
    Posts
    12,980
    Thanks
    48,800
    Been Thanked: 29,329 Times

    Default

    All I can do is laugh!
    NO-TILL Gardening with REDZ


    REDZ BUILDS LIVING SOIL!!!


    Redz & Ironjustice Do super lemon haze in rdwc for GWP

    https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-foru...n-rdwc-for-GPW(COMPLETE)
    LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  10. The Following 15 Users Say Thank You to redisiel For This Useful Post:

    AND (03-04-19), Bin man (03-04-19), British green (02-04-19), C-Rex (19-05-19), CityDweller (02-04-19), G' (19-05-19), gardro (02-04-19), Gaz (03-04-19), GEORGE (02-04-19), ggotch (02-04-19), Herbitual (02-04-19), M_C (02-04-19), TomKing (02-04-19), Valentina (02-04-19)

  11. #6

    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Stuck in the middle
    Posts
    4,773
    Thanks
    42,809
    Been Thanked: 23,218 Times

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by CityDweller View Post
    It's a touchy subject. ...Go easy on me.
    OOooohhh, hoo hoo hooo....

    Boggy soil is more acidic than loamy soil, so that is like why fleshy ferns are rarely found on exposed coastal areas, and big grasses are rarely found in forests, and even if they were planted there, they tend not to thrive. Different pH ranges, different microbes, light intensities etc.

    Likewise microbes operate at all sorts of pH'es, kinda like humans living in all sorts of climates. Imagine doing some mad house swap between an Eskimo and Masai Warrior. It would be extremely uncomfortable for both, but knowing how tough both parties would be, they would probably both survive the exercise but the people who initiated the house swap may not!!

    So just me thinking out loud here ... feeding compost teas to soils may not necessarily be the cure-all. (Also part of my reason for not buying into the bat-guano hype, besides carbon footprint and costs, I just think that they may not carry the most suitable microbes for the grows.)

    "Neutral" pH of compost tea... depends on what you mean by "neutral". Whether you mean pH=7, or the capacity to sustain microbial life and doing it well.

    I am sure there is some happy middle ground where human and plant can function, but it would be a multi factorial / faceted thing that we are all trying to dial into!
    One Love, and Mon The Talk!
    The Six L Rule: No Smell, No Tell, No Sell,
    And mind those deci-BELS

    May we all cross the line safe and sound, time after time, everytime.


    FORUM RULES

  12. The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to Valentina For This Useful Post:

    AND (03-04-19), C-Rex (19-05-19), CityDweller (02-04-19), G' (19-05-19), gardro (02-04-19), Gaz (03-04-19), GEORGE (02-04-19), ggotch (02-04-19), M_C (02-04-19)

  13. #7

    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Posts
    3,849
    Thanks
    12,972
    Been Thanked: 19,881 Times

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by CityDweller View Post
    It's a touchy subject. Most of the internet and the forum disagree with me. But relying on soil to buffer PH is not a good approach to growing anything in my opinion. Especially not your prized plant.

    Sure if you have lots of living soil it will buffer... up to a point. This is why I see so many late flower ph issues.

    When I worked on an organic produce farm my boss paid attention to the soil PH and the PH of what was going in. He would compensate for the PH of the rain by adjusting the ammemdmemts in the soil.

    This is beyond my skill set. Adjusting the PH of what goes in is easy and does not kill micro life.

    Compost tea should have a neutral PH. Microbes grow best in a neutral PH. My compost tea has a PH of 8.4 Lemon juice brings it to a 6.8 where microbes can grow and my plant can utilize.

    When taking the water only approach to organic growing PH is still important. If your water is above 7 then over time the soil will eventually raise to over 7.

    For water only growing i use fresh squeezed lemon to lower the water to a 6.4. I no longer see the late growth PH issues.

    Go easy on me.

    Cheers Talkers.
    This may be my issue CD mate. My tap water is 7.6 if I remember correctly. Can you use lime? I have a citrus tree which is crossed lemon and limes. Could I use them?

  14. The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to Wags For This Useful Post:

    AND (03-04-19), C-Rex (19-05-19), CityDweller (02-04-19), G' (19-05-19), gardro (02-04-19), Gaz (03-04-19), GEORGE (02-04-19), M_C (02-04-19)

  15. #8

    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    eastern us
    Posts
    9,782
    Thanks
    87,992
    Been Thanked: 50,169 Times

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Wags View Post
    This may be my issue CD mate. My tap water is 7.6 if I remember correctly. Can you use lime? I have a citrus tree which is crossed lemon and limes. Could I use them?
    Yes. Lime works slightly better than lemon because you can use less of it. I avoide vinegar because it takes too much to get the job done.

  16. The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to CityDweller For This Useful Post:

    AND (03-04-19), C-Rex (19-05-19), G' (19-05-19), gardro (02-04-19), Gaz (03-04-19), GEORGE (02-04-19), M_C (02-04-19), Valentina (31-12-20), Wags (02-04-19)

  17. #9

    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    eastern us
    Posts
    9,782
    Thanks
    87,992
    Been Thanked: 50,169 Times

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by redisiel View Post
    All I can do is laugh!
    That's exactly how I feel when people post photos of late growth PH issues and everyone responds "ignore ph in soil"

  18. The Following 12 Users Say Thank You to CityDweller For This Useful Post:

    AND (03-04-19), Bin man (03-04-19), British green (02-04-19), C-Rex (19-05-19), G' (19-05-19), gardro (02-04-19), Gaz (03-04-19), GEORGE (02-04-19), M_C (02-04-19), redisiel (02-04-19), Valentina (02-04-19), Wags (02-04-19)

  19. Default

    I'm with M_C on this one..it very much depends on the soil..not all soil is equal. I also think common sense should be used..if you think you're getting PH issues in soil then it's best not to turn a blind just because there shouldn't be an issue in soil, if it's a problem check for it and adjust.

    I've personally never had PH problems using soil.

  20. The Following 11 Users Say Thank You to IceCalibur For This Useful Post:

    AND (03-04-19), Bin man (03-04-19), C-Rex (19-05-19), CityDweller (02-04-19), G' (19-05-19), gardro (02-04-19), Gaz (03-04-19), GEORGE (02-04-19), ggotch (03-04-19), M_C (02-04-19), Valentina (02-04-19)

Page 1 of 10 1 2 3 4 5 ... LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  


THCtalk.com Disclaimer - You must be over 18 years old to view/use this site .THCtalk.com does not encourage growing Cannabis or possessing Cannabis. Learning how to grow Cannabis instructions should be for educational purposes only. All Information contained in this web site is for: Historical reference, Scientific reference and Educational purposes only. Visitors to this website are advised against breaking the law as It is illegal to smoke, grow, or possess cannabis in the UK and some US States