New Grower Soil ph questions.

[gbd]

Hi all,

Getting ready for my first attempt and just want to get clarification of a few things beforehand.

To check the soils ph should I check it dry with a soil test kit, or water it and check the runoff with a liquid ph test strip?

Am I looking for the overall (runoff) ph to be 6.5-7 or the soil and the water independently of each other. Sorry if I'm overcomplicating things here. I appreciate any advice you have. I'm using the soil mix provided in the 'FD growing hefty autos in closed spaces,' minus the seaweed kelp, and crushed egg shells.

Finally, are coffee grinds safe/stable to use to lower ph?

Thanks in advance.

 

[The Squid]

Hey there man and welcome to the AFN. I suggest testing both if you can, but the soil needs to be wet to check with a soil meter. Try to stay as close to 6.5 as possible with soil. You can waver a little up or down but try and keep it spot on. Not sure about the coffee grounds although I do recall seeing that somewhere. I would use powdered or pelleted sulfur to lower your ph in the soil. You need some ph up and down to regulate your water and feeds too. I don't know your setup, but there are a lot of things you need and need to know before getting started. I suggest researching a lot more if this is your first time, trust me.

 

[gbd]

squidherb,

glad to hear you're safe buddy! thanks for the reply. is ph up/down readily available? is it a product for fish aquariums? it seems the distilled water i purchased seems to test around 6 on the ph scale, and the soil is around 7.5. tap water here is around 7. i'm using a cheap soil test kit found at one of the big chain stores and aquarium ph test strips, so i'm guessing neither are terribly accurate.

keep off your feet and keep your head up!

 

[gbd]

i've been lurking around here for a while and read your post about getting out of the hospital the other day ;o)

 

[The Squid]

Thanks man!

The strips and liquid tests are OK. They will never lie that's for sure, but I recommend a good digital meter. They are a little pricey, but so worth it. Distilled is OK, but lacks mineral that your plant can use. Tap should be ok as long as you let it sit out for a day and bubble it as FD says. I do think that ph up and down are available for pools and aquariums, but I am not certain. It's available at local grow/hydro shops if you have those...and on the net of course. General Hydroponics makes some that a lot of growers use and there are organic ones too.

I know it takes a while and you wanna get started but I can't stress enough how important it is to research a lot more than you know now(no offense at all) before you even get started. You'll just get pissed and disappointed if you don't trust me, I learned the hard way. Go through other growers grows. People with rank and green bars that are really good. Go read through threads from Jackal, Muddy, L3V3R2000, JM, Joe Dirt, Thai Buddah Man, Andy Botwin, Captain Cure, gah there are so many but those are great.

 

[gbd]

no offense taken! i appreciate the honesty and the fact that you're pointing me in the right direction. going to read now. )

 

[The Squid]

Yep. You'll thank me later. I learned a lot and I have only been here since February. Soak it up like a sponge man. Patience is key here. Ask anyone.

 

[ElGuapo]

Make sure you ph any water or nute mix and adjust it before you water it in. Nutes are generally acidic and some will drop your ph considerably. The minerals in tap water act as a buffer and I've noticed that the ph swings more readily with RO water than with the tap water. If I'm going to be giving my plants a heavy feeding, I'll start with bubbled tap water (mine routinely is over 8). For watering and light feeding, I use RO.

For ph down, I use white vinegar, for up I use baking soda.

 

[gbd]

elguapo,

will do. i'm planning on getting the fox farms trio pack shortly. thanks!

 

[gbd]

squidherb, do you have any specific suggestions for a digital meter?