New Grower First Grow, South Texas: WOS Pakistan Ryder/Strawberry Blue

[stashmouth]

Epsoma Soil Acidifier - Home Depot. If it's pelletized, you can crush it for faster absorption. You can also crush and add to water for faster/temp fix.
Should be $5-6 at Home Depot. Crush it up. Carefully remove 1st inch of soil. Add 1 tbsp for each gallon of container size. Replace soil and water. Test run off at NEXT watering, if high still add crushed product to water and give it a good flush.
Sleep easy.

 

[urban/ninja]

Right on stash I use a couple epsoma products and I've been happy with them so far

 

[Alter Ego]

I am on it Stash!!!! You the man, I would rep you but the site wont let me!

Look at this non-sense. I am running out of time...yikes!



One question though...Since I watered this morning, should I wait to water it in a few day or should I water right away after adding the Espoma product to the soil? If I wait, am I risking more damage versus water now and end up overwatering?

 

[stashmouth]

Water asafp, consider it a flush. Ph to about 6.3, 6.2. Maybe you can get run off at 6.6 or so. Consider it a flush and water twice the capacity of your container. 2gal. Container=4 gal. Flush.

 

[stashmouth]

Need pics of the whole plant as well.

 

[Alter Ego]

On it. Will be back shortly with situation. Thanks neighbor!

 

[Alter Ego]

The Pakistan Ryder is in a 5 gallon bucket so I added 4 tablespoons of soil acidifier in the top of the soil, mixed it all in with a stick then water with as much rainwater I had. Last watering I added 1/2 tablespoon to a large jog of water and drenched it for the last time. I did not have 10 gallons on hand like you suggested but I water untill tons of water was gushing out of the bottom

The Strawberry Blue (smaller plant) is in a 3 gallon bucket so I added 3 tablespoons of soil acidifier and poured tons of rainwater in there...I also added acidifier to the last jug of water.

I don't know if this helped or if I just commited murder. How soon can I expect to see the effect?

The pics you requested are below. Thanks everyone for the input/help.

 

[stashmouth]

Oh shit! You didn't tell a brotha you were using a shitty, completely unreliable, cheapo soil meter to determine ph. You can't believe a word that thing says unless you cross check it with run off tests using a proper pH pen. I kept mine, but just for fun.
You should have been testing the first bit of run off during the flush and then testing the last bit to compare.
If you don't have a ph pen, you are just going to have to save your pennies until you can get one. Look for automatic calibration, and auto temp compensation. A good one will run $60 and up, plus you will need calibration and storage solutions.
It's a must have, really.
You can get away with ph test strips and maybe even the drop tester for a while, but a good pen is required to grow well.

Assuming your soil IS alkaline, you didn't hurt it. With that tester, it just may not be nearly as alkaline as we think.
Do you know what the ph of the rain water is going in??

 

[Alter Ego]

Ughhhhhhhh, I'm so fed up with this.

Man dude, I didn't even know my tester was crap. I just bought what I could find. I can go to Ace Hardware and pick up the ph test strip thingy for right now.

Now I'm pissed, the leaves are yellowing even faster now. I think I may have just doomed my first grow. Sucks...

You know, I suspect that my rainwater may be crap too. But I was under the assumption that rainwater is slightly acidic? Like between 6-7. Is it possible for it to be alkaline? I didn't think so, so I used it. I do have a some distilled water that I used to use and now that I think about it, when using distilled was when I saw the healthiest growth. I really fudged up here guys...

I guess I'll wait till the plants dry out and then start using distilled water.

Any PH testers you guys could recommend that won't break the bank?

 

[Nelson]

Hey be kind to yourself. Not your fault it is live and learn. I did the sutpadist thing to my plants and I will describe it if any one wants to hear it. What is your budget for a pH tester.

Ughhhhhhhh, I'm so fed up with this.

Man dude, I didn't even know my tester was crap. I just bought what I could find. I can go to Ace Hardware and pick up the ph test strip thingy for right now.

Now I'm pissed, the leaves are yellowing even faster now. I think I may have just doomed my first grow. Sucks...

You know, I suspect that my rainwater may be crap too. But I was under the assumption that rainwater is slightly acidic? Like between 6-7. Is it possible for it to be alkaline? I didn't think so, so I used it. I do have a some distilled water that I used to use and now that I think about it, when using distilled was when I saw the healthiest growth. I really fudged up here guys...

I guess I'll wait till the plants dry out and then start using distilled water.

Any PH testers you guys could recommend that won't break the bank?