Absynth420

I am starting a new grow and I would like to do a full organic soil grow. My only problem is that I have trouble managing the pH every time I have tried to grow in soil indoors in the past. I end up with curled claw shaped leaves that eventually turn rusty, brittle and fall off. I always make sure the nutes I mix are a nice 6 on the pH scale, but when I last tested one of my plants soil, the pH was at 10! I applied liquid sulfur and all that did was make my room stink, the pH did not go down at all.

I put in a pic of what has happened (the plant was in BAD shap when it was given to me, I brought it back the best I could) this is the same result I always end up with when I try to grow in soil and I need to know what I am doing wrong.
Thanks in advance,
Abs

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farmergiles

What soil are you using?

What nutes?

How are you measuring the pH of the water and soil?

How are you adjusting the pH of your water?


Sulphur can be used to lower soil pH but-
so it probably won't help much.


A pH of 10 is very high indeed, I would be surprised if many plants could survive at all in such conditions so I suspect there may be some error somewhere in your measurements.

It is more common to have problems with low pH in soil grows- if soil contains too much rotting organic matter or if the soil becomes waterlogged and stagnant then the pH can drop.

Far as I can figure the pH would not be so high- unless the soil was alkaline to start with due to too much dolomitic lime or something, unless the water used was very alkaline or unless some alkaline substance had been added.

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Absynth420

i dont know which type , but it is a foxfarm mix. i am also using foxfarm grow big and tiger bloom on them. I check the pH of the nuted with a digital tester, but it wont work in soin so i have to use one of those cheap rods that have a green box on them. When i press it into the soil, the needle pins at the highest it can go, stops at 10 for a bit, then always returns to neutral. i have tried it outside in regular lawn soil and i do not get the same reaction, so i think i am reading it correctly.

farmergiles

Ok we can assume this is pH balanced for ganja.
Have you calibrated your meter recently?

But if it returns to neutral then what is the correct reading?

Don't worry too much about taking readings from the soil.

Calibrate your meter.

Next watering pH balance the water to between 6.5 and 7.

Check the pH of the run off water.

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Absynth420

yes, calibrated the meter the day before i posted this. and i try to calibrate it at least twice a month, sometimes weekly during flowering, as it is testing a higher ppm mixture.

and the soil pH tester i assume the correct reading is where it bobs for a few seconds after the needle pins at max, because no matter what i test it in, it always seems to return to neutral. I have 2 of them, slightly different models, one with a built in hygrometer and they both behave in the same manner.

i hadnt thought to test the soil runoff, i will do that tonight when i give her a feeding.

i checked the nutrient deficiency chart and it looks like it needs cal/mag, but i add it to my nutes once a month at 10ml/gal. someone else told me it looks like lockout from excess salts, but i flush monthly and before i put them into flowering, i used clearex one time.

i do not think it is over fertilization, since the foxfarm nutes i use are formulated for canna, i follow directions precisely.

i am out of ideas. i will report on the pH of the runoff this evening. until then if there is another culprit you might have an idea of, let me know. i really appreciate your help.

peace and love,
Abs

stoneric

I've had the same problem with soil testers. Was growing in coco and tried to lower ph because meter said 7.0 and the ph should be lower in coco. I damn near destroyed my plant trying to lower the ph believeing the soil tester and it wasn't a cheap one. I use my liquid tester now, checking nute solution and runoff.

farmergiles

This shows how pH affects nute take up in soil and in hydro. You can see that at pH 10 in soil no N would be available, also a lot of the micro nutes would become unavailable.



Soil should actually be easier as there is a greater viable pH range. Also the soil should act as a pH buffer.

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