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

[Alter Ego]

The cheaper $10 knock off models are just that.. cheap, but they do work. I used mine for a long time. I packed it in a box for nearly a year, and unpacked it when new one broke. When I went to calibrate it, it was only .1 off from being accurate.

Hannah have a cheaper model.. I think called the hannah checker or something, and I've heard reviews of it being good, but no first hand experience with that. and I don't know if it auto corrects for temperature, which is an important feature since water temperature will affect the ph of the water, and it needs to be considered and calculated to determine the exact ph, which the auto temp models do (like the one you found on Craigslist, and the Hannah phep5)

Hope that helps

Yes sir! It definately helps! I would like to get 2 testers so I can compare/contrast. I was wondering if you had a link to the $10 eGay one some I can buy the exact one you are referring to. Muchos Gracias.

Twenty years ago or maybe more this story is unfortuantely true. I dare anyone to come within 10 points of this stupidity.

I am a really cheap person who's inherent miserly instincts are the death of me. I went to the local feed and seed store in the area. The merchant knowing I am one cheap bozo told me he had a deal for me. All the ripped bags of grain fertilizer i could have for $10 and there were at least 10 of them. You betcha I said and loaded them into my pickup.

I picked one out 20-20-20 sounded about right and spread it all around all my plants just in time for the rain coming that night. A few days later I thought do the tour thinking how great the plants were going to look. When I came apon my first plant it was hanging limp and looked to be only a few days from being totally dead. All the plants were that way. I let out a moan.

I went back to the bag of fertilizer and seen the words with BLWK. What the hell is that. I phoned up the merchant and asked him. He told me that is fertilizer with broad leaf weed killer. I poisoned all my plants and my whole crop was dead.

OK now that Ego feels better. Can anyone beat that for stupidity?

Haha, I had to contain myself at work as I read this in the office...I was snickering after the punchline and I was getting oddball looks.

So let me get this straight....out of the 10 bags of fertilizers, you just so happened to pick out the only one that is specifically designed to kill the plant you are trying to grow???!!! Wow...talk about OOPS! Good one man, I needed that!

Yup, as stated, I highly recommend this one.>http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/hanna-grochek-phep4-phtemperature-tester-p-435.html

They make one that does ppm with all of that too, that's the one I have, Muddy uses it too, but they're over $100, so this one is great at $75 brand spankin' new and from a great company.

Apparently, Muddy is some sort of guru around here, so if he's using it then...I guess I'll have to look into it. I don't care about PPM since I am trying to grow fully organic. It's just my pH I am worried about.

Alter-
It's gonna be fine. That Hanna that Squid likes is probably the best. Here is an alternate from Amazon... http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-PH...G102/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337730820&sr=8-1
Andy Botwin(on this site) has this one I believe, and he really likes it. If you are an Amazon Prime member, it could be here in 2 days, no shipping $.
I have a Martini meter that was $80 on Amazon. I like it fine.

You never know what bottled water runs. Depends on source, I guess.
Ozarka spring water runs about 5.5
Nestlé Pure Life runs about 7.2
My tap water runs 7.8

Wait, so bottled water is the same thing as rain water!!?? I guess that makes sense, spring water is just a large collection of rainwater in that source anyway right? Hmmmmmm...I just collected as much rain as I could during the last storm that came through thinking I could use it. I didn't know it was highly variable. I am going to stick with my pH nuetral distilled water from this point forth. I know for a fact that it has a pH of 7 and my plants loved it when I used it. I love to learn and try new things and apparently I went way overboard this time around.

Should I flush with distilled water in an attempt to bring the pH back down? Also, How soon can I notice the effects of the soil acidifier?

...while you are pissin' away money, there IS a reliable soil meter on the market. It's the CWP Accurate pH 8. I got mine for $45 plus freight from www.horticulturesource.com.
It's a big motha, about 14" long. Tests ph and moisture level.

We like everything bigger in Texas. I like this tester, the price is good and I like the moisture meter too. I think we have a winner. I think I'll also pick up the $10 ebay just so this one doesn't get lonely.

Man, the Spring water I get from wal-mart, which is always from a different source depending on your area, is like 8.1. Hmm. Seems to be just fine though.

This is the info I was looking for, I do have a "soil master" pH tester from wal-mart. It is one of those needle readers and It always read around 7.5-8.5 and I just assumed it was broken so I chunked it.

Things are starting to make sense now.

Ditching rainwater.
Going back to distilled.
Buying "accurate" pH tester.

Now all I need to do is hope that my plants pulls through untill I can get the ball rolling.

Thankssssss everybody!

 

[stashmouth]

Be aware that distilled water will be lacking minerals(calcium, magnesium), spring water is better. RO water from Kroger or Safeway might be a good choice too. See if they have a dispenser on the drink aisle.
Get a 5 gal bottle and job done. Most of those companies, like Culligan, post their water test info online.

Also, just wanted to make sure that you know that a good soil meter won't eliminate your need for a pH pen. If you're only going to get one or the other, go with the ph pen.

 

[Alter Ego]

Here a few pics of the plant to see how she is yellowing...What do you guys think? I ordered a few pH pens and a the soil tester Stash recommended. I can not check the pH for another 4-5 days.

 

[stashmouth]

Alter-
Send a quick PM to Muddy and ask if he would kindly move your journal to the "new growers forum". You will get a ton of help over there.
The girls look a little pale. Check my journal where Muddy thought I should foliar feed a little N. I think it might benefit you at this point too. Wish Muddy was here to chime in on that though.
Other than that, things look pretty good. The girls should dry out nicely with the heat and wind this weekend.

Btw- when I said a little pale, I meant just a little... Don't over correct.

 

[Muddy]

Your plants don't look bad and should be fine once you get your pH in check. Nothing wrong with using rain water, it's what I always use, as long as your soil is the proper pH and you balance the pH properly before you feed. No need to spend money on store bought water. My rain water usually reads right around 8. I'm using the AN ph Perfect nutes and when I add it, it brings the feed pH down to about 6.2, which is fine. I use sulfur in my soil mix to first balance it's pH, so I'm starting with soil that is right at 6.4 - 6.5. I use a Hanna Combo meter for liquids and a CWP Accurate 8 to check the soil.

pH is the biggest challenge that most new growers face. With out a good liquid meter at the very least, you're shooting in the dark. Get a good meter, check your run off and adjust your feeds properly and you should be fine.

Also, moving your threat over to the New Growers forum so I can keep an eye on it.

 

[stashmouth]

I told you, Muddy is the shizzle!
Look forward to a lot of help and some expert advice in the new forum.

 

[Alter Ego]

Your plants don't look bad and should be fine once you get your pH in check. Nothing wrong with using rain water, it's what I always use, as long as your soil is the proper pH and you balance the pH properly before you feed. No need to spend money on store bought water. My rain water usually reads right around 8. I'm using the AN ph Perfect nutes and when I add it, it brings the feed pH down to about 6.2, which is fine. I use sulfur in my soil mix to first balance it's pH, so I'm starting with soil that is right at 6.4 - 6.5. I use a Hanna Combo meter for liquids and a CWP Accurate 8 to check the soil.

pH is the biggest challenge that most new growers face. With out a good liquid meter at the very least, you're shooting in the dark. Get a good meter, check your run off and adjust your feeds properly and you should be fine.

Also, moving your threat over to the New Growers forum so I can keep an eye on it.

Sir, thank you so very much! I realize that pH is extremely important. I do want to point out that I am trying to stay as organic as possible. I am using various kinds of organic soil with Alfalfa meal, Kelp meal, Greensand, 4 different kinds of Bat and Seabird Guanos, rootinoculators, etc...I will not be using bottled nutes...just water. Anyway, I didnt think pH was going to be such a huge deal since I am organic, apparently, I was dead wrong. Since my new pH tester(s) wont be here till next Wednesday, I am pretty much a sitting duck. I don't think the soils the problem, I am guessing that the water I have been using has too high a pH causing lockout. But like you said, it is all speculation at this point.

This morning, I realized that my soil was pretty dry and the yellowing was proceeding to ever higher and higher up in the plant soooooooo I stuck my index finger in about knuckle deep, felt pretty dry....I then grabbed some Aquafina bottled water from Randalls and watered it with that until I saw some decent runoff.

Now. Before anyone jumps on me, Aquafina uses hydro-slate 7 to pruify their water with a consistant pH of about 5.8-6.2. No chlorine, soduim, or any other crap. I used that to water her again today in an attempt to bring down the pH to a acceptable level. Now....I play the waiting game.

Alter-
Send a quick PM to Muddy and ask if he would kindly move your journal to the "new growers forum". You will get a ton of help over there.
The girls look a little pale. Check my journal where Muddy thought I should foliar feed a little N. I think it might benefit you at this point too. Wish Muddy was here to chime in on that though.
Other than that, things look pretty good. The girls should dry out nicely with the heat and wind this weekend.

Btw- when I said a little pale, I meant just a little... Don't over correct.

I cant thank you enough for the advice! I read your post right after I watered my plants with Aquafina. I just got up, grabbed my bag of high N Mexican Bat Guano. Took 1 capful of guano to 17 oz. of distilled water, 2 drops of dishwashing soap, shook the bottle for about 5-10 minutes and sprayed/misted both my plants down. Lets see what happens! I hope I didn't goof up again....

 

[Muddy]

With that many amendments to your soil I wouldn't even venture a guess as to where your pH is. An organic mix like that is probably low and will most likely require the addition of dolomite lime to raise the pH and provide a buffer. Once you get your meter and find out where you're at, we can make some recommendations on what action to take.

Before you start your next grow I would suggest you mix up your soil, put some in a pot, water with pH balanced water and let it sit for 4-5 days. Then check the pH and adjust it to a good level before you put your plants into it. I've done my share of creating my own organic mixes and have found their pH can vary quite a bit so best to know where you're at before you start.

 

[Alter Ego]

Hey Muddy!

Well just to give you some quick details on my soil. I used the lady bug vortex organic potting soil. It has 5 kinds of compost, rice hulls, humus/hadite. Then I added 1/2 cup of each, alfalfa, kelp and greensand. No guanos. I just use that for foliar feeding. Oh, and before using the soil, I watered it with rainwater and let it bake in the sun for about a month, I was hoping everything would have composted by then...guess I was wrong.

I have an unopened bag of Espoma Garden lime. Should I top dress with it?

 

[stashmouth]

Wait for Muddy.
My guess is that you'd be shooting blind unless you wait on your meters to arrive.