Bhodi_22
Member
No ones responding to some of my questions at the end of the vinegar thread and since the questions have nothing to do with vinegar any how I suppose they warrant a new thread.
Question/Issue #1
I was having a lot of trouble diagnosing my girls sadness until I read a "diagnosis for dummies" article and decided among other things it was probably calcium toxicity. I know our towns water is loaded with it and probably other minerals as the water comes from an underground river.
So now "mama shiska" and her babies are mostly happy since I started lowering the Waters PH to 6.5 or so (hard to be 100% with die test kits) before adding my organic plant food.
Do you think my main problem is now solved by fixing the PH or do I actually have to remove the minerals from the water. I'm a low budget personal only closet guy who's pretty reluctant to invest in a reverse osmosis filter or start buying all my water.
Question/Issue #2
Of course I know one should test PH after adding plant food and before adding PH down however this to me has always seen to be impossible when I consider that the PH test relies on color and I use organic food that turns the water all brown.
So does anyone know how much fertilizer will lower PH. I know it would vary but a ballpark figure or rule of thumb. I always guessed about half a number or degree....i.e. I put my water to 6.5 guessing the food will push it down closer to 6, is this too low? I use Pro mix (or sunshine #4 when I can get it) Does anyone think food lowers it more than I expect it to?? Also I wonder if actual Litmus Paper would still work with brown compost tea water or if digital PH meters have become cheap enough yet for someone like I.
Question/Issue #1
I was having a lot of trouble diagnosing my girls sadness until I read a "diagnosis for dummies" article and decided among other things it was probably calcium toxicity. I know our towns water is loaded with it and probably other minerals as the water comes from an underground river.
So now "mama shiska" and her babies are mostly happy since I started lowering the Waters PH to 6.5 or so (hard to be 100% with die test kits) before adding my organic plant food.
Do you think my main problem is now solved by fixing the PH or do I actually have to remove the minerals from the water. I'm a low budget personal only closet guy who's pretty reluctant to invest in a reverse osmosis filter or start buying all my water.
Question/Issue #2
Of course I know one should test PH after adding plant food and before adding PH down however this to me has always seen to be impossible when I consider that the PH test relies on color and I use organic food that turns the water all brown.
So does anyone know how much fertilizer will lower PH. I know it would vary but a ballpark figure or rule of thumb. I always guessed about half a number or degree....i.e. I put my water to 6.5 guessing the food will push it down closer to 6, is this too low? I use Pro mix (or sunshine #4 when I can get it) Does anyone think food lowers it more than I expect it to?? Also I wonder if actual Litmus Paper would still work with brown compost tea water or if digital PH meters have become cheap enough yet for someone like I.