# lowering ph in soil question



## fruity86 (Mar 17, 2011)

hello guy's i need abit of help for a friend's soil grow, the PH of the soil is 7.2 it has been this for 3+week's now and it's lead to iron def, since im a hydro guy i dont realy now how to drop the soil PH, he has a bath full of water ready for when i get there if i PH the water to 6.0 then run 5x the pot side through each plant will this bring the soil PH down ? 
thanks fruity


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## 4u2sm0ke (Mar 17, 2011)

adjusting the water to make the run off correct?...good luck..why are we checking the run off?...I make sure everything going into my soil is 6.5-7.0

and have never checked the run off....what are his plants telling you?..when ya get there  can ya snap some picks?...I would like to see the PH issues...you can add lime to the soil...

take care and be safe


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## Jericho (Mar 17, 2011)

Yeh, lime will bring down soil PH, How are you checking the soil PH?

I do the same a 4u2 and make sure my nutes going in are at 6.5ish. I dont check the run off. 
If the soi is going to increase the solution going in then just lower the solution PH a little to correct it. This is not what i would do as i dont check my run off.


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## nouvellechef (Mar 17, 2011)

Garden sulphur. Be careful. It can lead to more probs, when you start swinging the PH. Assuming hes not organic. I see all too often people running chem nutes that have all kinds of probs with PH. The buffers in them should keep it in check. As long as your PH'ing the water to 6.5 each and every time. GL


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## Locked (Mar 17, 2011)

Everything that goes intonmy soil has a ph of 6.5.... The result? No ph problems and no deficiencies...jmo


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## Wetdog (Mar 17, 2011)

+1 on the how is he measuring the pH question?

Sounds like one of those useless prong type testers.

Unless you are in the ground, west of the rockies, most native soils and practically all bagged soils/mixes are on the acidic side.

Wet


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## trillions of atoms (Mar 17, 2011)

Get a good digital PH meter if you dont have one, the others are near worthless along with the color tests...

The soils PH could be higher or lower than 6.5, that is why you check runoff...If he has no lime if the soil and the mix is peat based... his runnoff might be 6.8 or higher yet feeding with a solution of 6.5. The solution will maintain 6.5 but only until the other elements and the medium interact with it- causing drift. If feeding at 6.5 and the runnoff is at 6.5 you know the roots are in the zone.If feeding @ 6.5 and runoff is 8.0 you know there is a problem. Usually looking at the leaves will tell you there is a PH issue but that takeslearning and exp. Its OK to let the rootzone PH swing as it will when the plants feed.  keeping it in the right zone without to much ph swing, while adjusting the feed solution back to the right level in small increments is whats important.

It doesnt matter what you do it matters what the person you are helping is doing and what they are working with to give the right advice.

Test runoff and adjust feed solution to compensate the PH in the rootzone, Use dolomite lime as a topdressing to help the drift and stay on top of the whats going in and out of the containers from now on. Next time you pot use just under a cup per gallon of DL in the soil or medium of choice to help the PH buffer itself later on in the grow....

Kudos!


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## nouvellechef (Mar 17, 2011)

You mean 1tb per gal. Not cup? Actually about 1.6tb per gal will last 17 weeks.


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## trillions of atoms (Mar 17, 2011)

^^ yup!

 thanks chef....good lookin out, i didnt even catch that one.


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