pH

[Ganja Kaiser]

I have a confession to make. Not once during my current soil grow have I checked the pH of my water...

So I thought I best get a pH pen and some pH down (hoping these are what I need).

I don't know a thing about pH so this shall be a new learning curve.

Any and all tips are welcome, thank you. lol

 

[Gazza]

Ph 7.0 is neutral

6.0 is the magic number

 

[Raniformis]

You're in soil yeah? Bit different to hydro, test some runoff before you do anything, get a rough idea of where the pots at.

 

[Ganja Kaiser]

You're in soil yeah? Bit different to hydro, test some runoff before you do anything, get a rough idea of where the pots at.

Yep. Alright, I'll grab some and test.

 

[itchybro]

yeah as rani said GK soil is very different to hydro growing especially using a living soil methodology
you don't want to be using any PH up / down on anything cos it will only kill the life in the soil your paying to have

water source is important & rain water is preferred over fluoridated tap water
you need to think about the type of system you want to use cos i would suggest to you , if you PH probe multiple points
around a plants root zone you'll get multiple PH readings depending on which microbes are in which area

i don't PH anything & i can use EM-1 which has a PH around 3.5 & potassium silicate which has a PH around 11 / 12
the plant & soil life control PH when you let them , keep in mind if you over water you'll change the PH because your
forcing the root zone to go anaerobic which is another set of microbes that prefer to thrive in systems without oxygen
our plants prefer oxygen & aerobic organisms

talk to the people your buying bagged soil from & get there perspective on how best to utilize those soils , i'm pretty
sure they won't be telling you to use any PH adjusting liquids

 

[Anoma]

yeah as rani said GK soil is very different to hydro growing especially using a living soil methodology
you don't want to be using any PH up / down on anything cos it will only kill the life in the soil your paying to have

Thanks, Itchy. As someone about to go from coco to soil, I didn't know that and still have leftovers and would've used them.

 

[Ganja Kaiser]

yeah as rani said GK soil is very different to hydro growing especially using a living soil methodology
you don't want to be using any PH up / down on anything cos it will only kill the life in the soil your paying to have

water source is important & rain water is preferred over fluoridated tap water
you need to think about the type of system you want to use cos i would suggest to you , if you PH probe multiple points
around a plants root zone you'll get multiple PH readings depending on which microbes are in which area

i don't PH anything & i can use EM-1 which has a PH around 3.5 & potassium silicate which has a PH around 11 / 12
the plant & soil life control PH when you let them , keep in mind if you over water you'll change the PH because your
forcing the root zone to go anaerobic which is another set of microbes that prefer to thrive in systems without oxygen
our plants prefer oxygen & aerobic organisms

talk to the people your buying bagged soil from & get there perspective on how best to utilize those soils , i'm pretty
sure they won't be telling you to use any PH adjusting liquids

Good to know. Thanks, mate. Really appreciate the info.

I only have access to tap water unless I buy water specifically for this ($$$). I don't have a rainwater tank either.

I usually use tap water I've left in a bucket for 24 hours.

 

[Donothing-garden]

Spot on info Itchy. I'll add to the pH in soil conversation. It totally matters, however getting pH right in soil is about cation / anion balance, the pH should sit around 6.3 to 7. (Coco, hydro etc of course is different and should be lower). Forget trying to test runoff or anything like that, it won't give you any reliable or useful information. Laboratories use a 1:5 or 1:4 (depending on lab) to water extraction to get a reliable soil pH reading. A cheap Bunnings probe or even an expensive Bluelab meter just isn't going to give you any useful data to make an informed decision. Testing runoff of a nutrient dense "modified soil media" like my living soil will be all over the place. Fun and interesting maybe to look at, but useless data.

 

[Donothing-garden]

Good to know. Thanks, mate. Really appreciate the info.

I only have access to tap water unless I buy water specifically for this ($$$). I don't have a rainwater tank either.

I usually use tap water I've left in a bucket for 24 hours.

Hey, lots of municipal water supplies in Australia are now unfortunately treated with Chloramine... can't evapourate

 

[Ganja Kaiser]

@Anoma where did you get your water source? (if you don't mind me asking)

 

[Ganja Kaiser]

Spot on info Itchy. I'll add to the pH in soil conversation. It totally matters, however getting pH right in soil is about cation / anion balance, the pH should sit around 6.3 to 7. (Coco, hydro etc of course is different and should be lower). Forget trying to test runoff or anything like that, it won't give you any reliable or useful information. Laboratories use a 1:5 or 1:4 (depending on lab) to water extraction to get a reliable soil pH reading. A cheap Bunnings probe or even an expensive Bluelab meter just isn't going to give you any useful data to make an informed decision. Testing runoff of a nutrient dense "modified soil media" like my living soil will be all over the place. Fun and interesting maybe to look at, but useless data.

Looking forward to your soil shipping so I can use it next.

 

[Donothing-garden]

Hey, lots of municipal water supplies in Australia are now unfortunately treated with Chloramine... can't evapourate

I've heard a simple compost extract or good humic acid can neutralise chloramines.

 

[Gazza]

Get a small rainwater tank if you have a back garden, natures own distilled water.

 

[Ganja Kaiser]

Hey, lots of municipal water supplies in Australia are now unfortunately treated with Chloramine... can't evapourate

Do you have any suggestions aside from a rainwater tank?

 

[Donothing-garden]

Looking forward to trying your soil. Looking forward to it shipping.

Thanks for your patience! Promise it's getting picked up tomorrow. Massive back order of online stuff in the last couple weeks. Will throw in some extras for you

 

[Ganja Kaiser]

Get a small rainwater tank if you have a back garden, natures own distilled water.

The only access I've got to my backyard is through a regular sliding door. Would one fit?

 

[Donothing-garden]

Do you have any suggestions aside from a rainwater tank?

Try using humic acid via quality compost or just a good humic acid when you water.

 

[Gazza]

The only access I've got to my backyard is through a regular sliding door. Would one fit?

Yeah mate you can get them in all sorts of shapes and sizes, depending on how much you want to spend. But definitely heaps of options out there.

 

[Anoma]

@Anoma where did you get your water source? (if you don't mind me asking)

I ran a hose from the laundry to the balcony. Had 4 x 80 litre tanks and added the Canna Coco nutrients and Ryzo to that.

 

[Raniformis]

Ahha but where are the do nothing plants?