[PaulieWaulie]

Im sure this has been covered somewhere in this sub forum, currently catching up on all the stickies but haven't seen this addressed.

My Soil Mix is at 7.3 PH

It is mainly the compost portion that is at 8.0 and Ive been trying to bring it down as much as possible by adding more peat moss and pine needles but can't get it lower than 7.3

Ive been watering with Rainwater that has 0 PPM and ph it to 6.3, run off still comes out at 7.3.

Is PH an issue with an organic living soil mix ? Please share your experiences with PH and your mix and your results.

All I can do next if I do indeed need to get it to 6.5 is to add Aluminum Sulphate which I want to avoid. And Elemental Sulphur takes too long. And no I did not add any Dolomite Lime to my mix! Nothing with calcium, as I do plan on watering with hard water that has 130PPM Calcium, once I get my ph in check in the mix.

[Americangrower]

you answered your own question...ADD dom lime

[Americangrower]

oh just to add ..It is nearly impossible to overload on Cal but ph to high or low will for sure lock cal/mag out and plant will suffer.

[PaulieWaulie]

Originally Posted by Americangrower

oh just to add ..It is nearly impossible to overload on Cal but ph to high or low will for sure lock cal/mag out and plant will suffer.

We are told that Dolomite Lime Buffers, but everything that I have seen reading deeper into this actually just says it will bring acidic towards neutral. But doesn't bring it back down if your over 7. Thats why I said I did not add dolomite lime, that would make my mix more alkaline and even more resistant to going acidic because its a buffer. Anyone with actual experience proving the opposite please post!


Im not necessarily asking for anyone to be able to help adjust my mix. I just want to ask everyone the question, Does PH Mater in Organic Soil in your experience?. I hear people saying they don't even use there ph meters ,and many sources say that lots of compost will make ph not matter as the bacteria work it all out. Meanwhile its my compost that is so alkaline and I don't want to add more. Its a really good compost so its a shame I can't use more.


Also here is my full mix:

VERSION 2.1
- [x] 4 Parts Pro Mix HP
- [x] 3 Parts Compost
- [x] 3 Parts Guinea Pig Manure/Pine Needle Bedding
- [x] 3 Parts Perlite
- [x] 2 Parts Expanded Clay Pellets
- [x] 2 Parts Vermiculite
- [x] 2 Parts Cannabis Stems
- [x] 2 Parts Horse Manure
- [x] 1/4 Parts Charcoal


and my more recent adjustment - both mixes are testing at same PH

VERSION 3.0 ( 1 Cubic Foot)
- [x] 50% MIX 2.1
- [x] 50% PRO MIX
- [x] 1 Cup Bonemeal
- [x] 1 Cup Kelp Meal
- [ ] 1/2 Cup Alfalfa Meal
- [x] 1/2 Cup Blood Meal
- [x] 1/2 Cup Glacial Rock Dust
- [x] 1/4 Cup Azomite

[Americangrower]

well I grow organic soil. I have never had my soil go over 7 it has always gone lower. I do know that I got lockout for the 1st time in 20 years this year. I never ph my soil or water but used Budswell and Gnatrol for the 1st time. They dropped my water below 5 (yes I had to buy a cheap ph pen) So I can safely say if you want to lower your soil ph add some Gnatrol it will drop it and no gnats is a plus.

[moose eater]

It's my understanding that dolomite lime can move acidic ph toward neutral/7, and alkaline ph downward, toward neutral/7.

I, however, test all the dolomite lime I buy, with my own ph test kit, as I've bought dolomite lime before that tested 8+, and wasn't likely what the package -said- it was (*You know how much hassle goes into quality control with human food products, right? How loose do you suppose it gets in the garden amendment-marketing world, if we can't even keep shit out of our food supply?)

That said, Burn1, if I understood his posts correctly, stated ph doesn't really matter in organic growing.

That said, I've found it to be important, and while I often fall a bit shy of the standard and accepted 2-TBSP/gallon of soil, I use dolomite lime regularly when I build soil..

I typically aim for a ph of 6.5 to 6.8, though a fractional point to either side of that won't cause me to lose too much sleep. (*Hell, I hardly sleep anyway.. Who am I kidding??)

[growingcrazy]

Do not add dolomite, you don't need to raise your ph any further.

You can add gypsum to help lower the ph a bit, it isn't going to work miracles.

If you have plants in the mix and are trying to help with pH, top dress with a low pH medium if you can find it. Then water that in with a low pH solution and see what your run off is at. What does your rain water test at? If it is low pH, use that to water with.

If you don't have plants in the mix you can just mix it up with the low pH soil and retest. It is much easier to raise soil pH (lime) than to lower it...

The question of does pH matter... if it didn't we wouldn't have so much discussion about it. Is it required in all situations, no. Will it help in all situations, you bet. With all the hassle we go through, why not dial every aspect.

EDIT: After reading the details of what went into your 3.0 mix, you just added 800+ ppm of just nitrogen alone. Some food for thought.

Have you ran your base mix to see what it does on its own?

EDIT DEUCE: Also, no calcium has been added at all to this mix in any way?

[PaulieWaulie]

Originally Posted by moose eater

It's my understanding that dolomite lime can move acidic ph toward neutral/7, and alkaline ph downward, toward neutral/7.

I, however, test all the dolomite lime I buy, with my own ph test kit, as I've bought dolomite lime before that tested 8+, and wasn't likely what the package -said- it was (*You know how much hassle goes into quality control with human food products, right? How loose do you suppose it gets in the garden amendment-marketing world, if we can't even keep shit out of our food supply?)

That said, Burn1, if I understood his posts correctly, stated ph doesn't really matter in organic growing.

That said, I've found it to be important, and while I often fall a bit shy of the standard and accepted 2-TBSP/gallon of soil, I use dolomite lime regularly when I build soil..

I typically aim for a ph of 6.5 to 6.8, though a fractional point to either side of that won't cause me to lose too much sleep. (*Hell, I hardly sleep anyway.. Who am I kidding??)

Il take a look at some of the burn1 posts. So even if ph mattered. and dolomite lime brought ph down from alkaline towards neutral, it still wouldn't do me any good because Im trying to go past neutral to 6.5

[PaulieWaulie]

This backs up everything that I have been learning recently. Been reading a fair bit lol. I highly suggest clicking the link for a full explanation. Dolomite Lime is not an option if your soil is alkaline! I think the reason why its such a standard component of mixes and often suggested is because mixes tend to go acidic easily depending on nutrients, and people might not have enough calcium, because they are using RO water or something.

In my case my water is 200PPM and 138PPM is calcium, so I have more than enough being given every single watering. If you think about my calcium in my nutrients if bottled, or compost and amendments, than you don't need to throw in dolomite lime at all even for the sake of calcium. And as I have suggested, Elemental Sulphur seems the only option to lower it ( bacterial ), will take a few months to kick in. and Aluminum sulphate for instant effect.


" If your pH is too low, you need to add lime to bring it up where it belongs, and you may need to add a few hundred pounds per acre of gypsum (calcium sulfate) to provide both soluble calcium and sulfur (which is also often lacking in our soils). Both lime and gypsum will provide calcium, but only lime will raise the pH. Soils with high pH values generally also have very high calcium levels. Applying lime to a soil that already has too high of a pH is never a good idea. If the pH is too high, and we apply lime, we haven’t corrected the original problem, only made it worse. If you have a soil with too high of a pH but you need to supply some sulfur, I usually recommend applying elemental sulfur. This is a material that is consumed by a particular type of bacteria in the soil, and when that happens, they convert the elemental sulfur to hydrogen sulfate, or sulfuric acid. That sounds extreme, but it’s exactly what these soils need to help bring the pH down a bit. In this process we also supply the sulfate ion, which is exactly the same form of sulfur we apply with gypsum (and the form of sulfur that plants actually take up)."

https://onpasture.com/2014/06/02/when...mental-sulfur/

[PaulieWaulie]

Originally Posted by growingcrazy

Do not add dolomite, you don't need to raise your ph any further.

You can add gypsum to help lower the ph a bit, it isn't going to work miracles.

If you have plants in the mix and are trying to help with pH, top dress with a low pH medium if you can find it. Then water that in with a low pH solution and see what your run off is at. What does your rain water test at? If it is low pH, use that to water with.

If you don't have plants in the mix you can just mix it up with the low pH soil and retest. It is much easier to raise soil pH (lime) than to lower it...

The question of does pH matter... if it didn't we wouldn't have so much discussion about it. Is it required in all situations, no. Will it help in all situations, you bet. With all the hassle we go through, why not dial every aspect.

EDIT: After reading the details of what went into your 3.0 mix, you just added 800+ ppm of just nitrogen alone. Some food for thought.

Have you ran your base mix to see what it does on its own?

EDIT DEUCE: Also, no calcium has been added at all to this mix in any way?

I don't think gypsum lowers ph? Its essentially just a source of calcium. I don't need calcium in my mix.
As far as nitrogen, are you referring to 1/2 cup of blood meal that went into 8 Gallons of Soil ?, I think that is the only source of high nitrogen, and 1/2 cup to 8 Gallons is on the low end. I checked quite a few recipes on here... Ive got about 20 of em saved on my comp....lol