# What I have learned.



## Locked (Oct 15, 2018)

So after taking quite a bit of time off and then starting up again again I have to post some thoughts. 

I think the most obvious thing that keeps new growers from succeeding is PH. It's the most crucial link to a successful grow. As long as your soil is neutral getting your PH right is the only thing keeping you from having a good grow. Don't skimp on your PH meter. Get a good one and check it often. If you can keep your PH in range and you feed your plants when they are hungry you will succeed. 6.5 is the sweet spot for soil. 

All the other stuff can be off a bit and it will not be much of a problem. But if your PH is off you will struggle. Deficiencies don't happen if your PH is on and you are using quality nutrients. 

Again I can't stress enough how important a good PH meter is  It is literally the difference between a successful grow and a stressful grow. 

Hydro growers can probably get away with a lot more. Most good nutrients have buffers in them that leave your nutrient solution in the desirable range. That is not true for Soil growers. No matter what my tap water PH is when I mix my nutrients up they usually hover around the 6 range. Too low for soil


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## KSL (Oct 15, 2018)

That's great advice that I should have read a few years ago.  I started with a cheap pen style meter, upgraded to a slightly better version when that stopped working, and did the same thing over and over again for the first few years I grew indoors.

There was once a time I had become all too confident in the stability of my mixes, using the same water and nutrients for several years.  My regular checks became occasional, and then almost non existent.  I got away with it for longer than I should have probably but it came back to bite me none the less.  At the time I had five or six plants in flower that took a sharp turn for the worse, all of which ended up spending extra time flowering in my vain attempt to let them recover.

To sum it up I learned two lessons from that, check my ph regularly, and don't get cocky


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## dark_horse_ (Oct 29, 2018)

Hamster Lewis said:


> So after taking quite a bit of time off and then starting up again again I have to post some thoughts.
> 
> I think the most obvious thing that keeps new growers from succeeding is PH. It's the most crucial link to a successful grow. As long as your soil is neutral getting your PH right is the only thing keeping you from having a good grow. Don't skimp on your PH meter. Get a good one and check it often. If you can keep your PH in range and you feed your plants when they are hungry you will succeed. 6.5 is the sweet spot for soil.
> 
> ...


Do you recommend a good P.H. meter I remember the few grows(all autos)  I had couple years back I used the cheap ones off amazon they worked well for me


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## Locked (Oct 29, 2018)

dark_horse_ said:


> Do you recommend a good P.H. meter I remember the few grows(all autos)  I had couple years back I used the cheap ones off amazon they worked well for me



I used to buy the pens but after a while, they would become inaccurate even after recalibrating them. Now I only use the units with the detachable probe that can be replaced for about 35 bucks every 2 years or so. I paid around 125 dollars US for my current one. I believe it is a Milwaukee.


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## R1ch (Nov 13, 2018)

Thank you for your valuable experience


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