I sprinkled cinnamon on my soil

powderful

Member

• Jun 28, 2017

• #1

I saw an ant in the soil of one of my plants soil so I decided to go online and find out what organic thing would keep them away and without thinking too much i sprinkled some on the top of my soil.

My question is, would this be something that could put the ph of my soil out of whack or do you guys think this is a deficiency?

Grow details:

About 4 weeks in veg
bagseed (supposed to be critical haze)
250w HPS cooltube
plagron lightmix
biobizz bio-grow
temp: 70-75f
RH: 62-70%

Water comes out at about ph 7 from the tap (well water) and after adding nutes it stays at about 6,2-6,5

water starts at about 80-90 ppm and is around 400 ppm after nutes are added.

 

WelderDan

Well-known member

Veteran

• Jun 28, 2017

• #2

What is the PH of the run off?

Cinnamon is just tree bark. It should mulch ok like any other bark, but I have no idea how it would effect the PH when top dressing.

Check the PH of the run off. That will tell you. It looks like the PH is off to me.

If you want to ward off ants and snails and other bugs, top dress with DE (diatomaceous earth). You can get it at pool supply stores or even walmart. It's used for pool filtration and as an organic pest control. It won't screw with your PH. It's cheap too.

 

powderful

Member

• Jun 28, 2017

• #3

the ph of the run off is pretty much the same as the water going in (6.3-6.5). Maybe that is a little high?

PH stated on plagrons site: 5.5 to 6.9.

I tried with just pure run off and tried to add some soil another time(slurry) but ph did not differ from the water going in after about 5-10min of standing before tested

 

WelderDan

Well-known member

Veteran

• Jun 28, 2017

• #4

That PH range should be ok. Your nutes might be a little hot. I'd flush with PH'd water and skip a couple feedings, just water, then go with half strength nutes if they start looking up.

 

powderful

Member

• Jun 28, 2017

• #5

I tried giving one of the plants a flush with pure water about ph 7 while another got a regular feeding of 6,4 ph water with nutes. I will see how they compare and start only feeding every other watering. I usually water every 3 days or if they get a little droopy.

Actually thinking about it that would possibly allow them to drift a bit in ph if I alternate feedings. Would that matter even though I'm using organic nutes?

 

BOMBAYCAT

Well-known member

Veteran

• Jun 28, 2017

• #6

I saw a bunch of ants outside so I threw on some Diatomacious Earth (DE). No more ants. It washes off the soil pretty easily so I don't know how it would do in a flower pot. I have heard of people using a layer of DE on grow media of indoor plants to kill Fungus Gnats before but they didn't mention any Ph problems.

 

billb

Active member

Veteran

• Jun 28, 2017

• #7

Yeah just don't get it wet. It works only while dry. It's silica like little glass that gets in their skin and kills them. After the top layer drys out just add more.

 

powderful

Member

• Jun 28, 2017

• #8

BOMBAYCAT said:

I saw a bunch of ants outside so I threw on some Diatomacious Earth (DE). No more ants. It washes off the soil pretty easily so I don't know how it would do in a flower pot. I have heard of people using a layer of DE on grow media of indoor plants to kill Fungus Gnats before but they didn't mention any Ph problems.

Click to expand...

Yeah I will pick up some if I ever see any ants again. Will definitely not use cinnamon again though

I gave all the plants pure water and will do it again before giving them some half strength.

Btw: according to this website cinnamon can be used to prevent resurgence of mold in soil but I am stilll unsure of the ph effects of adding it

https://dengarden.com/gardening/Moldy-Potting-Soil


Thanks for the help guys, what a wonderful community this is!

 

Green Squall

Well-known member

• Jun 28, 2017

• #9

What kind of ants are we talking about here? I have tons of red ants in my garden and they don't seem to harm anything.

 

O

Orrie

• Jul 3, 2017

• #10

Not in the soil bro
Put the cinnamon on the outside of the container as a deterrent to the ants. AFAIK, it won't change PH but may harm microlife so best not mix it in your soil.

cinnamon is useful as a fungicide against damping off , just a pinch is all it takes