pH, Cal-Mag or Acid Rain...

[OlderNOTwiser]

Got pH strips this morning. Had a bit of rain as well so I checked it. Granted these are kind of generic readings with colors for each but the rain comes in about 5.5 - 6! damn near vinegar in my mind. My tap water is dead on at 7. After adding nutes we're back in about 6. I added some baking soda and it came up to just over 7 by my best guess. I went ahead and watered/fed until runoff was evident. Amazing how much it took to get to that with such a small(ish) pot. Anyway, the initial runoff (what I assume I'm displacing from this mornings rain and low pH feedings prior) was again high 5 to 6. I'm guessing a couple feeds at more normal pH will slowly bring soil pH up and all should be good.

[9fingerleafs]

dont you worry, you are doing great and im sure youre learning a lot, just keep on growing

[OlderNOTwiser]

Thanks for the quick response. I was hoping that was it but I'll still check when the kit arrives. Ounce of prevention and all that. The pot is about 5 gal or just slightly less. I NEVER in my wildest dreams anticipated that this single bagseed would grow to begin with much less be a pretty little Lady to boot so it is in the biggest pot I had available at the time.

(And to my shame and horror it is in MG potting soil. If I knew then what I know now...)

[9fingerleafs]

your plant has no issues, that mild discoloring is normal on the older/lower/shaded leaves that the plant is not using anymore, your plant looks very healthy dont worry about that. rain has such a low concentration of ions that the ph doesnt really matter, it will become whatever ph is your soil once you water. the fox farms big bloom contains a lot of trace minerals and calcium so dont mix with calmag. another thing, being a big big plant in a small pot you gonna need to feed constantly specially if it rains and nutrients get washed off, just keep an eye for yellowing of the entire plant, not a few leaves on the bottom. hope this helps, again the plant looks very healthy youre doing a great job

[OlderNOTwiser]

I have pH kit coming this week so can't address it specifically but the picture points to cal-mag or nutrient lock to me. On the other hand, the plant seems to be in overall good health. It needs another day to dry out after t-storms and I initially thought it was too wet but the discoloration is spreading (very slowly thankfully).

Until I can check the pH I'm stuck I guess. I was using water from my dehumidifier which I "assumed" to be about 7.0 pH.Tap water is slightly hard and I switched to it over the weekend hoping to get some calcium in there. But if rainwater is still acidic (duh) I started at a deficit in the soil and really didn't give it a thought at the time I started. When I get the pH readings and begin to square that up will I need to still add a cal-mag supplement or will fixing the pH allow it to use what I believe is already there for it? Using the FF trio and have been at 1/2 strength. Switched to flower nutes (tiger bloom) this w/e as well since it is transitioning. (Leaf coloration preceded these changes)

So, am I in a wait and see 'til I get the kit or is there a pro-active method to pursue 'til then?

Thanks.