Organics and Ph.

[relief]

My well water comes out at 230 ppm and PH of 11.6! We live on property with lots of limestone (sandstone) and the underground water source has pass through it raising the PH to such high levels.

To those who say PH does not matter, use my water for two weeks without ph correction and your entire crop will be dead. I've done it, thinking organic growers dont need to PH their water. I will never make that mistake again. And those you give advice not to worry about PH are going to destroy peoples crops. Yeah, its ok if its a little high 7.5 -8.5 but IT WILL LOCK OUT NUTRIENTS in the 9 and up range. Dont believe me, come get some of my water (do not correct the PH) and try it yourself.

 

[SMBDYSMWHRE71]

I don't know. I'm a mountain biker and to me, approaching growing like that is like a person who monitors heart rate, then charts and graphs it when they get home... buys all the latest whizz-bang nutritional supplements and calculates their diet like they're in the Olympics. I've been there, done that... and I won't knock it, but it ain't my style of mountain biking anymore.

I'm a soul rider. We ride until we puke and our eyes pop out of our heads. But I ride for fun. I ride to commune with Nature. I ride to spend time with my bros. These days, training and eating like I'm a pro athlete would only take away from the enjoyment rather than add to it.

I'm the same way with playing my music... music theory is interesting, but at the end of the day, I play for fun and for feeling.

My gardening is the same way. If it's worth it to you to become a scientist and treat your garden like a laboratory to gain 10% in yield or 2% in potency, that's wonderful. I'll ride the coattails of your experimentation and thank you kindly for what I learn from it... But for me, the buds I grow using old-school agricultural wisdom and a whole lotta Love... they suit my purposes just fine. If I fretted and fussed over pH meters and ppms and teaspoons and lumens... it wouldn't be any fun anymore. It would take the soul right out of it for me.

I'm not trying to create Frankenplants. I'm just gardening, getting my hands dirty.

Dig

well put

 

[THC123]

I'm left to the conclusion that PH doesn't matter for the type of grow that I have.

your're right , if the soil mix is right all things take care of themselves , like on auto pilot

 

[KnuckleHedd]

Even with organics you still need to check ph sometimes. A friend lives in a trailer park and they do their own water treatment. The ph swings wildly from one extreme to another. He has to deal with that. My water is a constant 7.8 after bubbling and I have much less use for the metre.

 

[THC123]

i just use rain water and never have problems , i collect it in 2 big barrels

 

[Carl Carlson]

Plant Development and Harvest Yields of Greenhouse Tomatoes in Six Organic Growing Systems
Janet F.M. Rippy1, Mary M. Peet1, Frank J. Louws3, Paul V. Nelson1, David B. Orr1, and Kenneth A. Sorensen2
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/greenhouse_veg/pdf/HortSciencePeetOrg.pdf

OG = organic
CV = conventional

From these results, it seems possible that substrate pH management is more critical for CV than OG systems. OG substrate pH was very high in S99 when the greatest harvest yields were produced. It was also high in F98 when low yields resulted. Interestingly, in F99, OG substrate was within the recommended range, but this season also resulted in low yields. CV harvest yields responded to substrate pH in accordance with generally understood pH management principles. When CV substrate pH levels were outside the range for optimum plant development (high in F98, low in F99), CV yields were correspondingly low. Likewise, CV yields were the highest when pH was within the optimal range (S99), Conversely, in this growing season, when OG pH was the highest, three of the four OG treatments produced greater harvest yields than CV, which were the same as those for the fourth OG treatment.​

 

[SupraSPL]

I read this entire thread and found lots of useful info so thanks to everyone that contributed!

I have only ever used the PH test drops to monitor runoff and when used correctly it is very accurate and will only run you about $5 for 750 tests.

 

[captinknots]

my recent expierience with organics and ph.....

what i learned is do NOT worry, no wait scratch that. Do NOT adjust Ph of your water or nute mix if you have a balanced soil mix. I Ph'd up my nute mix and my plants hated me for a cool minute. my soil has dolomite lime to ph buffer, so it wasnt necessary.. the fix was giving them nutes without adjusting the ph. they are coming back now. by the way, i also have some soil that i did not add dolomite lime to, but is said to be ph balanced, and those plants are doing the best! no ph'ing just from the bag of soil to my plants, fish emulsion in some water then on the plants. Kiss is working better and better for me.

 

[two22s]

I never had a problem until I bought a pH meter.
My problems disappeared when I threw that damn thing away.
Burn1

HA.
love it