My tap water from my well runs ph all over the place, generally between 7 and 9 pH.
For all the years that I have started my seeds inside I have always pH,d and ppm,d my nute mix but once planted in the garden, I just went with the water from the hose.
Now that I’ve turned my attention to weed and grow in tents I still regulate my pH and my PPM.
I grow in Canna and I generally use their nutes but sometimes I switch off and use cold war Organics products, just depending on how I see the strain progressing.
I always run at 5.9
Well my pH meter took a shitter tonight but I mixed my nutes close to what i usually do and fed anyways, because I probably wouldn’t be able to get a new meter for a few days.
What’s the general consensus on this ?
Do you guys all run strict pH in Coco or soil or is it really not needed ?
I run on Canna out of the bags, and pH is super important for the plant to develop properly and mature even better. Try to borrow a pH meter or go to the supply store and but a cheap $5 meter with the drops or strips
I have always been a fanatic about my pH I guess whether needed or not.
I’m just hoping I can get through a couple waterings by winging it, and not throwing off the plant until I can pick up a new meter.
I think it’s very important to stay within the proper pH range for your grow. Once I switched from using A.N. nutes, I had to check pH every time. Now it’s a habit, regardless of nutrient mfr. It took care of symptoms that I thought were due to over/under feeding. I agree with @MadScientist, You will be alright, etc.
I do think when using chemical nutrients being concerned with your ph is essential to get everything out of your nutrients. Especially when your water gets up to 9, that I would be concerned with, just doesn’t vibe with my style.
In live organic soil leave well alone. In Canna (soilless medium) as with all others having the correct PH range is vital (5.8 to 6.2 in canna) My current crop is suffering badly because of a bag of canna pro that was well out and flushing it is a waste of time although i did try it’s still saying 6.7 = calcium lockout!!
Water quality is something to consider whether using organics or ionic nutrients.
In organics, pH isn’t really an issue as the plant can adjust the pH in the rhizosphere by exuding sugars from the roots that attract specific bacteria and fungi.
One thing to consider is alkalinity, that is the ability to buffer pH changes. High alkalinity usually comes from hard water and can make it difficult for the plant to adjust the pH. If using ionic nutrients, this could lead to excess pH down being used. This is the reason I use filtered RO water on my indoor garden.
I agree it enables a lot of nutrients to be taken up by the plant a lot, and that “not needing to check or adjust pH” depends on the situation (tap water, nutrients, etc) a lot.
In my “no pH needed” situation I basically got down to like 6.0 after adding nutes, so it was close enough. After the plants sucked up some water it would go lower.
But some 14 years before that meticulously checking and adjusting pH.
I mainly wanted to point my case out because that pH meter costs money; If you’re a deadbroke first time grower, you shouldn’t worry about getting that pH meter, you can do without as long as your tap water isn’t too high pH.
I would say the only way to grow in hydro or even soiless mix without checking the pH is if you had done it many many many times before with the exact variables and you could maybe get close. But things can go bad really quick.
