Basic organic issues, need help.

Distilled is best. I never pH adjust my plain water, just my nutrient solution. When I have tried to adjust my plain water, it's proven to be difficult. Since good distilled or R/O water has basically nothing in it, just a couple drops of pH adjuster can drastically change the pH of a large amount of water. I find that with soil plants, if you have a good soil with some Dolomite Lime in it, the pH will stay within range.

 

Some how I missed what nutes you are using. Are they liquid or what? I ask because on my aborted seed run, in soil, I never ph'ed anything the entire time and had no lockout issues, BUT, I used only bat guano as a fertilizer. When I grew in soil and used the gh nutes then yes, I ph,ed my stuff to between 6.5 and 6.8.

 

I'm using roots organics grow/bloom/trinity....I use earth juice microblast when needed. I am using fox farm happy frog soil also.


Interesting responses, I have been buying spring water as I figured it would be the most natural source of water in relation to what's found in nature. I see the ph is roughly 7.5 at 70 degrees F...i've had it as high as 8.0. I have not been adjusting it but wondered if that would cause ph shifts. I use a hanna ph meter also.


DW

 

I've used distilled water without any issues. I now have an R/O filter, but as long as you start with healthy soil and are feeding additional organic nutes, how is distilled water detrimental to your soil? It's not going to add anything as far as trace elements but it certainly isn't going to hurt anything. Nothing wrong with using spring water either, but I don't see how distilled is bad.

 

Need a camera my brother...but i'll be getting one this week then I can bug you guys about how to embed the images lol!


I do check the water and there is a fluctuation in ph from 7.0-8.0 as I stated. But my logic is different...I look at it like it's water, if I didn't know the ph I would still be using this water. I also believe, and this is my strongest argument, why add stuff to something that should be correct? Especially if I know it was run through filters. Am I missing something? Educate me, i'm open to anything. My logic very well could be wrong.

 

roots Organics


I started using that soil I found it I'm using Organic nutrients 6.1 to 6.5 works well with your choice of soil. I would water them Up to 30 days if you use in a 5 gallon container And if you start using a little molasses And protec in the second week. Earth juice up :thumbs-up:

 

Hey everyone, just wanted to update and say that I went with the spring water as RR made a really good case for it. Now am I correct to assume this water is not treated? Meaning, I do not have to let it "sit out" because of chlorine do I?


Also, I was reading in Midnight Gardens thread that he was having an issue with hard water having too high calcium and locking out mg. Well I am having some issues that I believe are mg related and i'm not sure if it's a ph issue, over nute issue, under nute issue....i'm reallly going through it to make a determination.


I am going to get a camera in the next day or two and post pics in here or a new thread asking for some help with this.

 

spring water doesn't have chlorine in it but it could well be hard. Usually organic nutes wouldn't lock out Mg in and of themselves as I understand it, and don't quote me on this but I believe Ph would affect other nutrients being taken up before it would Mg. And I've been out a while but I think water temps would affect other nutes first... cal and mag tend to be pretty stable from what I recall.

 

The source of a nutrient isn't quite as important as the quantity in which it's present in your medium. Regardless of where the Ca came from, if you add so much calcium to your soil so as to jack up the Ca:Mg ratio to 20:1, you're facing Mg lockout.


Throw a buncha bananas in your soil, add too much blackstrap molasses to your water, or mix too much of a K supplement intended for a hydroponics system; These all cause soaring potassium levels. All three of these options as well will cause a magnesium lockout.


The only difference is that the first scenario described locks Mg out at the medium level; it prevents it from ever entering the roots. The second scenario allows Mg to enter and move about the plant, but renders it useless for all metabolic purposes.


Short and skinny: Lockout is a possibility and you should not rule it out based solely on your medium type or nutrient category.

 

Thanks guys, Really appreciate the feedback. Clearly the best thing to do is get some pics up here and then we could narrow this down better. These sweet tooths are just looking terrible. I'm buying a camera today after my buddy comes by, so i'll have pics up tonight assuming I get this thing before the lights go out.

 

Sometimes I found myself doing too much, too fast. Often the problem was that I was meddling too much trying to find the optimal temp, humidity, ratio of nutrients, etc. Sometimes backing off nutrients for a week helped.


It is really good to know what is in your tap water. I had a water co employee come to the house when I started a medical indoor grow in Oregon. I got a print out and started balancing ph. It really does make all the difference. Chlorine levels can get high depending on where you live.


Good luck to you.

 

I think in my mind, I want to eliminate all the variables. For example, I may go to distilled water simply because I don't know what's in my tap or bottled. I am trying to do the least amount of tinkering as possible because that was my downfall in the past, thinking too much, lol!


I found my old camera, I took pics and now I need to upload them. I know how to use the upload manager but how do i embed them onto the page?

 

:F-A-Q: You read all the FAQs, as you've been advised about 8 times now, before you ask any more questions


go to the picture in your album and copy where it says "BB Code" at the bottom.


Then you go read the FAQs before asking anything else.

 

start out light


What I always say is When in doubt flush it out And add 1/4 nutrient. But as a wise man told me unless you have a megawatt of light and 50 tons of CO2 emitters most plants won't take full nutrients strength and read the f a q but actually the worst thing I ever did when I started was to read that damn bible.


I'm gonna write a book Called ph and parts per 1,000,000

 

That's where i'm at! I have read overgrows FAQ 20 times at least since 2005. I have used your faq, which is redundant slightly because a lot of these charts and ideas are 100% recycled. That's really not a big deal though, the problem is that every time you read something and you truly understand it, you realize that a lot of info conflicts. I get more confused reading because of this....so, I would rather tell people my situation and have them help me based on MY NEEDS! Am I crazy to think this way? Rhetorical question because I know damn well this is the best way for me to learn.


Anyway, as far as the embedding, ognenny was right, I got it in the faq. That is info that will never conflict (shouldn't anyway)....I will have pics up tonight. Just got back from a show this weekend.


Thanks,


DW

 

Dowork I actually feel your pain regarding conflicting information in FAQs. I still sometimes question the validity of information when I can't seem to find agreement when reading through articles, posts, or w/e. I concede that in your situation I typically ask for help as well.


What you may eventually find is that there are reasons for the seemingly conflicting information that the authors, through experience growing, took for granted and omitted. There are certain subtleties in style and preference that dictate deviations from "standard protocols". I personally am still too wet behind the ears to fully appreciate all the reasons for conflicting info.


Then again sometimes people straight up post bad info cuz their inflated sense of growing prowess is unwarranted (cough I'm guilty of this cough cough) :icon_confused:

 

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