Soil ph

[Cfv1959]

Growing in 5 gallon buckets, using Foxfarm Ocean Forest that has a ph of 7.0. I flushed the soil with 6.5 R/O water with 5ml calmag per gal. Ran 2 gal of water thru and soil is wet. Upon testing the soil for ph I've been getting readings of 5.5 / 6.0? Its been 2 weeks and it's the same. What is the best way to get my soils ph to 6.5? Plz help,ty

[SirSmksAlot]

Do you have any ph up and down?

[Toker1]

Are you using a soil PH tester? They are not accurate. What you want to do is test the PH of water going in, then test the run off water that came out. That will give you a good idea of what the PH is like near the root zone.

[Weed Pharma]

What stage are your plants in?

[Cfv1959]

My plants are only 3 weeks in and yes I have a soil ph tester. It's a 4 way, with a long probe

[Toker1]

They are very inaccurate. Check out the method I detailed above. PH adjust water to 6.3-6.8 and check the run off water. You want to compare the two to get an idea where the root zone PH is at.

[Weed Pharma]

Here are the pH ranges I use in soil for each stage:

Seedlings/early sprouts -5.5
Vegetation stage -5.8
Pre-Flower stretch -5.9
Blooming stage -6.0-6.2
Late flower - 6.3-6.4

That said: I do not shoot for exact numbers and like to start out where potting (Roots Organics Original) soil is- usually around 5.5-5.8 and then range up during each stage.
I accomplish this on most grows, by adding water/nutrients pHed @ 6.0-6.5 throughout the plants life.

[Toker1]

I use fox farm ocean forest soil as well. The soil manufacturer recommends 6.3-6.8. This soil is a bit hot for seedlings IMO. I mix half happy frog with half ocean forest together .Then I mix 50% perlite 50% soil mix for seedlings and fresh clones.
A well developed teen can handle the full ocean forest load with out burning the leaf tips.