There are a couple different options for testing your PH. papers, drops, meters with probes made to go into soil, or my favorite a PH pen. There are tons of options for everyone's pocket size. Although I do recommend spending your money on something nice and most importantly waterproof. You can not pick one up out of your reservoir and stick it in the oven to dry it out like your T-Mobile Sidekick. Most likely that dip in the water has rendered it useless.
You always, always mix your nutrients before adjusting PH. They will most of the time make it more acidic. Every ones water is different, yours may be at an 8 while mine is maybe a 7. Nutrient lines can be made to get you right in that sweet spot just from the mixture, but that is in saying that your PH is starting at, lets say an 8. Not always will you be so lucky. If your not, don't be discouraged. There are products out there that allow you to raise and lower your PH in minutes. You can purchase whats so cleverly named PH Up or PH Down from your local hydro shop.
Some say PH rarely needs to be decreased but in my own personal experience, PH Down was my best friend. Depending on which medium you are growing in some prefer a little lower or higher then the optimal level. I start low. In rockwool I would drop it down to a 5.5. I would check my levels daily if not twice a day. It is important to keep an eye on this in order to avoid issues like that nutrient lock out I mentioned earlier. If you experience this you will need to leach your growing medium of built up salts and start fresh. Just adjusting will not do you any good at this point.
See below, what I call the "sweet spot" graph of PH and how it relates to nutrient absorption
As you can see the optimal range for "most" plants is between a 6 or a 7.This is the most neutral and allows your plants to get the most out of your nutrient supply you pay so much for. Keep in mind your optimal range will also depend on which growing mediums your using.
No comments
Post a Comment