New Grower Ok, ive been debating it, but heres my 1st grow journal.

[Jackal]

A silica product such as Silica Blast from Bontanicare makes for a great pH up.

 

[growbewan]

thanx jackal, i just checked it out, its nice and cheap too! less than $5

 

[AndyBotwin]

A silica product such as Silica Blast from Bontanicare makes for a great pH up.

Interesting Jackal, I did not know that. Big Bloom is an organic fert that also raises pH. But in my experience it will only bump a solution around .3, so it's not enough to offset a full dose of nutes.

 

[The Squid]

So should I stop using my GH ph up and down? I haven't heard of these possible problems until now.

 

[growbewan]

i asked the guy at the hydro store about that, and he said that if you dilute it first, then use the diluted water to adjust the ph, you should be ok. in other words, Put just a drop or two in a gallon of water, shake it up, then use that water to slowly adjust the ph in the water your gonna use, then the solution will be diluted to the point that it wont effect your organic nutes..or you can just go get organic ones like andy said..i just hate the fact that i wasted money..

 

[growbewan]

Ok, update...yesterday was a great day, i went to the local hydro store, (i love that, always fun!) and i picked up 3 more 54 watt 4ft T5's. So for the plants that are already in the 5 gallon pots, ill have 3 t5's which seem to be working awesome, and I bought 2 more for the seedlings that i have to transplant today, as well as a couple more seeds im germinating right now. im stoked cuz this gives me the necessary blue spectrum i wanted to get these babies going nice., plus i was running outta light for the amount of plants and rooom I need. (5 gallon pots are too big...haha). Anyways, i also got some irritating news about my pots.. when I bought the pots, i specifically bought white, with the intentions that it will provide great reflection at the top where the walls meet the soil(around the plants), but i guess that was a bad idea. I totally didnt think of it, but white pots will let in light through them, which subsequently will eventually get through to the roots, and stunt the plants. GOSH! something so small that i missed. So now, im cutting 6 inch strips of duct tape, literally hundreds of them, and slowly and carefully placing them around each and every pot to block the light. damn, its SOOOO time consuming, but necessary. Not only that, i need two layers to be effective, one still allows alot of light..haha..this sucks..oh well, want to make sure i cover my ass now, before its too late! ill show pics in a while, gonna go mountain biking for a few hours with the wifey! Oh yeah, my babies are starting to smell a little bit! i love it!

 

[AndyBotwin]

i asked the guy at the hydro store about that, and he said that if you dilute it first, then use the diluted water to adjust the ph, you should be ok. in other words, Put just a drop or two in a gallon of water, shake it up, then use that water to slowly adjust the ph in the water your gonna use, then the solution will be diluted to the point that it wont effect your organic nutes..or you can just go get organic ones like andy said..i just hate the fact that i wasted money..

Yeah, that's probably a safer way to use it if you have no other options. Just to clarify, the problem is not that the chemical pH up/down will effect the nutes, but it kills the microorganisms that you're trying to grow in the soil with organics. There's a Q&A section on the GO blog and they tell people point blank not to use these products in organic grows. Of course they got many replies requesting an organic alternative, but the GO staff insisted that you never need to adjust pH with organic grows. I personally don't buy into that so I got the Earth Juice stuff and adjust like I always have. If you are using the chemical pH adjuster, it would probably be a good idea to give the soil some kind of root drench that replenishes the myco. Though that would probably cost around the same as some organic pH adjuster.

I have some white pots also, and I just spray painted the outside black because the tape was taking forever. The paint doesn't stick too well to the plastic so it will come off if you scrape the pot on something, but it works well enough.

 

[The Squid]

Sorry for your troubles growbewan. Sadly, it's best to get used to that, at least for the first run. Now that I know this about the GH Ph and down I have to figure something out. I do have GO's Bio Root so I think if I have that in all of my feedings just lightly, and if I drench it with that before I plant new babies, then I will be ok with using it. Whadya think Andy?

If so, that could work for both of us growbewan. And hey at least you're catching stuff early man, the sooner the better for prevention and troubleshooting. Take care

 

[growbewan]

thanks guys..ok i ran into a problem. actually two. literally happened "overnight". i woke up this morning, mind you I added the extra t5 last night, not adjusting the sight, and the leaves are starting to slightly yellow..Ive got 3 t5's sitting only 3-4 inches from my plants, so im not sure if its a slight light bleaching or not, i also may have over watered a little bit trying to get rid of my bug problem a few days ago with mosquito dunk. im gonna post a few pics in a sec...also, one of my seedlings that i just repotted is drooping very badly. not only that, the leaves feel very dry, almost brittle. NOT GOOD. It was looking great yesterday, vibrant, but it too was just a couple inches from the light, and I noticed when i repotted it that the soil seemed very dry..im hoping that is just the problem, but i watered her about 5 hours ago, and just took the pic im about to post 10 min ago- no changes. well here they are, please help!

 

[growbewan]

1st pic is the dry, drooping one, and the other two have the slight yellowing both on some and around other leaves..let me know what anyone thinks i can do to help/correct this in a hurry! thank you!