Fed wrong pH

[s62]

So I accidentally gave my young ladies some un-pH’d water by accident last night. They each got between 1 and 1.5 liters of water. I realized my mistake after and tested the water: 9.7! From a tap!
So should I do anything special, or just give them pH’d water like usual next time? pH should be around 6.5 to 7 for the KindSoil I’m growing in.

[pacodelahoya]

I've done it once or twice, did not notice any longterm negative effects. You should be fine just watering like normal.

[az2000]

How much ph down does it take to move (say, a gallon) 3 points? When I used to ph, it was maybe 3 drops(?) which isn't much. The soil has buffers, which will cause plain water to move (to the soil's ph) much more than plain water will move the soil's ph.

IMO, ph'ing nutrients in soil is unnecessary. I haven't phed in 5 years. To, the key was to not overfeed. If the nutrient solution were strong (500-800ppm), it would pull the soil's ph (more than the soil's buffers would pull the nutrient solution). This was mostly due to unused nutrients building up, acidifying the soil. The irony of all this is that the ph-up and down products themselves are nutrients. They aren't labeled as such because they aren't sold as such. But, the stronger the nutrient solution, the more ph-up/down it would need, which added even more salts/ppms to the nutrient solution -- which resulted in more unused salts accumulating in the soil, causing more acidic soil, causing me to ph-up even higher to combat it (adding even more unnecessary salts to the soil).

For me once I dialed in my nutrient strenght, the ph of the nutrient solution didn't seem to matter. Soil ph swings a full point from wet to dry. It's not like a precise state (like hydro is). There's pockets of different ph in the soil.

Anyway, even if it was un-ph'ed nutrient solution, I don't think it would have an effect unless you feed strong (even then, just once, probably not a problem). But, plain water shouldn't be a problem at all. I never ph'ed plain water (because it only took a drop to move it, which seemed pointless. The soil's buffers are vastly stronger than that. This may depend on the water's chemistry. I mix tap and RO water to get 150ppm (+/- 50). If your water is 400ppm, it could have some buffering that would require larger amounts of ph-down.).

[Farmall]

That is some ALKALINE water. I thought mine was high at 8.4 but I too have not seen any crazy issues but I do keep the water at 6.2 - 7.0 and on occasion, I use spring water to refresh my own thinking but I did learn that in class. Kind soil does say to keep your pH within the specifics you mentioned so ...DONT DO THAT AGAIN !

[s62]

Hahaha, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! What can I say. It was late, we had been camping the day and night before, and I was high lol. Classic combo for forgetting stuff!

[s62]

I’m using KindSoil (super soil), so I don’t check ph with regard to nutes, ppm, etc.. I just check it before watering (and pH it down with citric acid) because the KindSoil folks say pH of water should be 6.3 - 7. They say you can run into lockout otherwise. Didn’t know about soil buffering pH, so that’s good at least!

[az2000]

What is the PPM of your water? If you're in the US, your water provider is require to provide an annual water-quality report. You can usually search google for it. That can be informative, for example if your water has a lot of carbonates versus sodium (or sulfates, etc.). It tells you more than just your ppm measurement. (If you're not in the US, you should be able to call your water provider and they'll provide that info. It's common chemistry that water people deal with in their sleep.).

I'm not trying to convert you to no-ph. It probably doesn't hurt to ph. Especially if you use citric acid. (I was referring to the better-known hydro-oriented ph-up/down products. Those are actual salts like a nutrient product. Citric acid probably doesn't add salts to the soil. I've never used it.). But, understanding your water would be a first step.

Something that helped me to stop ph'ing my nutrient solution (never did ph my water because 150ppm water doesn't have much "gravity" to affect the soil, compared to 600ppm of nutrients added t it.) was a ph soil probe. Not the cheap ones at the store. I spent $70 USD on a Control Wizard Accurate 8. (The Canadian Flinn company sells a nice looking ph probe FB0549.). That showed me a lot about the soil ph, and how it's not effected much by the ph of what you pour in. I found that my runoff ppms strongly correlated to the ph probe's readings. I.e., unused salts accumulating in the soil affected the ph. (And then using the typical ph-up products exacerbated the problem by adding more salts.). That experience caused me to back the nutrient strength down to a level I would have probably never have reached under my own power. Once I did that, everything was perfect. The plants had enough nutrients, no buildup, no need to ph the solution.

Phing probably helps in way, like managing tent temperatures by 2 degrees. If a ph meter were as simple as a ppm meter, I'd probably keep doing it. But, probe calibration, cleaning, storage solutions. Phing felt like an endeavor unto itself.

The soil probe is fun to use. For one thing, I learned the plants liked the soil to be aerated/disturbed. I made a small-diameter rod with a rounded tip to aerate the soil (without using the ph probe). But, it was interesting to see the ph at different states of wet/dryness. Once I realized it's moving range of ph, it made even less sense to try to make the solution precise.

I'm not familiar with kindsoil. If it has dolomite lime, that's part of the buffering. I add dolomite to my soil. (I mentioned I'm growing in Kellogg Cactus potting mix right now. It's essentially soilless. I was worried it might not be as forgiving. I added 1.5 tablespoon/gal dolomite to one of the containers. The other is cactus mix out of the bag. I haven't noticed any difference between them. The runoff ppms seem higher for the dolomited plant. It may be reacting and breaking down into ca and mg, and that's what I see running off. But, the plants seem similarly healthy.

[Weed Pharma]

pH in soil grows is very misplaced and overhyped. There is a place for it in coco/hydro grows.
The soil will buffer as mentioned above.
I stopped routine pH adjusting and checking about 2 years ago. For one year I checked pH at week 5 in flower and was always fine.

Mephisto Genetics states:
"We never PH in organics, ever. Not before feeding, nor after feeding. The medium is the buffer, so that's why it's key to start with a suitable one.
We would however recommend checking your water source."

That said:
If there is an issue which isn't easly fixed- I would check the pH.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Man that's high, and you might have some problems from it, but I hope not.
You will know in about 4-5days, if you did.
Yeah soil has got plenty of buffers, but I'd still keep my fingers crossed, as young as your plants are.
Long ago, when growing outdoors, we used rain water, or Ms.River water, and never phed anything.
I still don't ph my water , but the first few times I grew in KindSoil, I did, just to see, and if your ph is way off, you are gonna have problems.
KindSoil is kinda finicky, imo, Phil used to say between 6.0-7.0, and that's what it's supposed to be. Now he has changed it because of some growers advice.
Anyway I hope you don't have any problems, I've used Ro,water an added calmag, plenty of times , using KSoil, and never had any problems either, .
You sure need to get you some EarthJuice crystals, if your tap water is that high..
GoodLuck.

[Farmall]

I fill a 5 gallon bucket every day since flower for 8-10 weeks and with an 8.4 I drop to around 6.3 to 6.8 . I figure about 200 gallons of water since flower and with Earth Juice, I don’t think I’ve used more than 4 tablespoons from that quart sized bottle.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Farmall your right about that EJuice, it damn sure don't take much.lol
Bro. You got me worried about that Lyme disease, from this mornings chat ,that's very bad stuff, sure hope you ain't got that.

[Farmall]

39 years.... sometimes you’d never know....other days can be a bitch... they like checking me out since I’ve had it so long.