Phing nutes is so last week! .
GROWant Journal - SIPs & Living Organic Soil - Sub Irrigated Planter
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Dank Purple
New Member
Hey. I still ph. But when I learn enough on this topic I too will be doing LOS sips.
I would caution you to know what the pH of your water is out of the tap. Even though I grow in organic soil, my water pH is 9.2-9.3. I get a better result with my soil pH'ing down to a 6.5 to 7.0 range. Only takes me a second to do that. If I had water like Gee's at 7.1, I wouldn't pH it either. Just use caution if your water is really high or really low, sometimes an extra minute or two of work is worth it.
Guy Cavallero
Well-Known Member
100%....thanks for the clarity my friend. I know I have 7.1 from the wall.
Skullman420
Well-Known Member
9.2-9.3 from the tap? Wow! I thought I had problems wirh my 8.5 pH well water. My water taste like crap. How does your taste? I run everything I drink through a reverse osmosis filter
The plants however seem to love this bad tasting water, so i don't R/O the water i feed them. Been considering it but I don't usually fix stuff that ain't broken.
Yeah 9.2-9.3 and not the slightest bit of exaggeration when I say my plants don't like it. I won't drink or use the water out of the tap for cooking either. They backflush the pipes every month or two and I see the crap that comes out of the pipes when they do. So I have the big 5 gallon jugs of water delivered to the house for my consumption.
I have tested using the water from the tap on two male clones from the same plant. The clone that I used the un-adjusted tap water didn't grow as fast and wasn't as healthy looking as the clone I was feeding pH adjusted water. I switched the water on the crappy looking clone and his growth rate increased and his green darkened back up just like his brother. That was enough for me to ditch the whole "you don't have to pH the water if you are growing in soil" concept.
So for me, I take the roughly 30 seconds it takes me to add this much of my Earth Juice crystals to get my water to an acceptable range.
And this is how much I have to use, I just eye ball it and my plants are much happier
My water is so bad that I am working on some sort of huge rain water catch system for my outdoor garden. If I don't get regular rain to offset the watering from the house water, my plants go to crap.
With that type of pH Guy, I wouldn't worry about it.....you should be fine, but always learn to listen to what your plants try to tell you.
Skullman420
Well-Known Member
Re: GROWant Journal - SIPs & Living Organic Soil - Sub Irrigated Planter
I always pH the water as well. For soil i go for around 6.5 and in hydro I go for 5.5-5.8
I always pH the water as well. For soil i go for around 6.5 and in hydro I go for 5.5-5.8
I Did got a nute buildup in my girl outside. Probably because of the ph? Since I ph her water Everything is fine..
Guy Cavallero
Well-Known Member
Yes I have definitely noticed when I PH my water or even if the pH fluctuates from feeding to feeding only by .2-.3 that the plants show a noticeable burn like appearance on their leaves.....almost rusty colored. Even when they are in what I consider to be a reasonable range. I usually try to pH between 6.3 and 6.7 through my soil, the concept of not doing that seemed strange to me. That being said, I have never had a living soil.
It's funny because I was coming on to ask what makes pH fluctuate so much like that? Naturally, out of the ground..... Is it mineral deposits?
It's funny because I was coming on to ask what makes pH fluctuate so much like that? Naturally, out of the ground..... Is it mineral deposits?
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- #152
GROWant
Well-Known Member
If you are using synthetic nutrients you definitely need to worry about ph. If you grow in a super soil, no till, or los. Problems with Ph and nute lock out are not an issue.
Everything is in your soil already. The plant takes what it wants,when it wants.
Your soil changes its ph to accommodate whatever it needs.
I am lucky that my tap water is only 7.1 and has a ppm reading of about 150.
When you have extremely high or low ph issues may occur. I've seen people have 500 ppm's out the tap. That is way to high. This can also lead to probs.
Everything is in your soil already. The plant takes what it wants,when it wants.
Your soil changes its ph to accommodate whatever it needs.
I am lucky that my tap water is only 7.1 and has a ppm reading of about 150.
When you have extremely high or low ph issues may occur. I've seen people have 500 ppm's out the tap. That is way to high. This can also lead to probs.
Depends on what gets put in the soil. Like some plants love some of the nutrients in wood ashes, but wood ash will drive the pH up in your soil quickly if you aren't careful. I put some in one of the bins in my outdoor garden and my soil went from a neutral 7.0 to a 7.8, not good. I had shit for production from that crop that year. I learned that the nutrients that might have been in the wood ash (I do a lot of smoked meats so I usually have a good supply of wood ashes) weren't worth the difficulties they were causing. I really thought the soil would have buffered it a bit more than it did. Live and learn. Now couple bad pH in the soil (7.8) and my crappy water (9.2-9.3) and is it any doubt that I struggled with growing anything in there.
My tap is about 7,5 but I remember putting way to much Lemon juice in it because of a bad ph meter. So my story probably aint reliable to This. Also I am really curious about the clove you have on top.
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- #155
GROWant
Well-Known Member
In nature, when plants are hungry they let out chemical signals in the form of exudates.
-Jeff Lowenfels - Teaming with Nutrients
"Chemical signalling is used in order to change the relative concentrations of plant exudates in order to manage the microbiota around the roots in order to change the concentrations at which various nutrients become available: plants, in effect, farm microbes. Part of our job is ensuring the microbes and the nutrients are there in the first place. The plants will do the rest. "
I'll try and sum it up like this. With organics, if your plants want nutrients that are in the soil ph range of 6.6, they send out exudates which call certain microorganisms to come, which in effect changes the ph to the desired nutrient intake level it needs.
If your plant wants a nutrient that needs the ph to be 5.5. Once again it calls up a different set of homies that come over and change the soil ph to the desired level.
-Jeff Lowenfels - Teaming with Nutrients
"Chemical signalling is used in order to change the relative concentrations of plant exudates in order to manage the microbiota around the roots in order to change the concentrations at which various nutrients become available: plants, in effect, farm microbes. Part of our job is ensuring the microbes and the nutrients are there in the first place. The plants will do the rest. "
I'll try and sum it up like this. With organics, if your plants want nutrients that are in the soil ph range of 6.6, they send out exudates which call certain microorganisms to come, which in effect changes the ph to the desired nutrient intake level it needs.
If your plant wants a nutrient that needs the ph to be 5.5. Once again it calls up a different set of homies that come over and change the soil ph to the desired level.
Dank Purple
New Member
I find myself learning so much from this journal.I'm never gonna forget you guys. (You know who you are). You have all truly helped mold and shape the grower I'm becoming.. I'm smiling on the inside and don't have the vocabulary to express how cool that is without just cramming in curse words. I guess...love. Just love!
Amen to that! Never grown so fast in something I love so much!
Lets grow old together .
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- #158
GROWant
Well-Known Member
Short and Sweet making her appearance.
This is the Fast & Vast that's not in a SIP container. Looking a little stubby. Might just be from having probs shedding the seed casing. We'll see as the growth continues.
The other Fast & Vast appears to be a Tri- leaf mutant (whorled phyllotaxy) I've had this same mutation on photo plants and actually have a photo plant in veg right now that has this mutation. I'm anxious to see how that translates with an Autoflower.
Last pic is of the High Density. Definitely some lanky looking leaves.
Just over a week now. Avg temps have been 78-80° lights on. 70-72° lights off.
Humidity has been low during the day averaging between 53-58%.
Lights off humidity gets up to about 70%
Those are Some interesting seedlings. The stubby fast & vast looks like a fatty 
The other one Could be better I think? If he got 3 brenches on the whole plant it Could mean more buds right? Or is that to much thinking of me?
Its so good to see all these clovers and stuff dancing around the soil. Really curious How it Will grow.
Keep Up the good work
The other one Could be better I think? If he got 3 brenches on the whole plant it Could mean more buds right? Or is that to much thinking of me?
Its so good to see all these clovers and stuff dancing around the soil. Really curious How it Will grow.
Keep Up the good work
That tri leaf is interesting, never new what it was called, i have a Bedroom Cookie that appears to have self topped. Had Starkiller do that self topping thing a couple of times. Your babies are looking right at home.