"Just add water" questions

[Stilg7]

Hey everyone, I'm looking for a little help with my first organic grow. I've been growing for 2 years now and I decided to switch to a completely organic grow from using coco coir and nutes. I ordered the Nature's Living soil (autoflower version because I only grow Mephisto Auto's) from Amazon. I recently followed the instruction given on this website and mixed the bottom third of my pots with 2/3 Living soil and 1/3 coco loco. Now, the company suggests using 1 lb per pot. However, after following the directions that are mentioned here I was only able to fill up two 5gal smart pots. Is that normal to only get two 5 gal smart pots worth of the 5lb bag of Nature's Living Soil (mixed at the bottom 1/3) when following this websites instructions?

My other concern I have is that the only spring water that is available in my area is bottled by a company called Crystal Geyser. It's ppm is right around 150 and the ph seems to fluctuate in the low 8's. From what the tutorial says the ph should be closer to 7 and a little lower but that's the only spring water I can get. I've read on other fully organic grows that people use spring water and don't bother with the ph at all. I know I can drop the ph but atm I only have GH's ph down and from what I read that is a no no to use when going fully organic. Is the Earth's Juice ph down the only safe way for me to lower the ph of my spring water? I'm kinda pressed for cash at this time so any alternatives would be great. My tap water doesn't contain chloramines and comes in around 185 ppm. I do have an RO system that has a ppm of 10 as well. With all of that mentioned which would you choose and how would you prepare the water? Also, the ph of my tap water and RO water comes in pretty high at about 10ish.

As of right now my plants look healthy, no burns or deficiencies but they have been a little droopy for the past 3-4 days. My biggest learning curve going from coco to organic soil is going to be changing my watering habits but I had them in nursery bags about the size of a solo cups and was watering them once a day about 250-300ml. The nursery bags would feel really dry and I was afraid of the soil becoming hydrophobic so that is was I was watering every day. Could the drooping be from the spring water's ph that I use or is it more so that I watered too much.

I'll keep it short for now but I would like to be able to ask questions as I go and hopefully get some good information and headed in the right direction so my first organic grow can be a success! I'm open to any and all suggestions. Thanks in advance everyone!

[cybersmib]

You can use Citric Acid (same stuff as in Citris fruit) probably same stuff that’s in Earth Juice but generic). It’s in amazon. I’ve grown organic and this is what I used

[Stilg7]

Thanks cybersmib, after doing a little research it seems that earth juice’s pH down is nothing more than granular citric acid. Could you add a little more about what water source you used when growing organic? Do you use spring, tap or RO water? What ppm does your starting water have and what pH do you aim for?

[Going2fast]

Hello Stilg7 . Check out my last run of Memphisto autos. Im still experimenting with my water only setup but I can tell you that 5 gallons of soil can only buffer so much so you do need to get your pH closer to 6.5. I usually use dolomite lime to help but didn't on that run and had issues mid flower. My water pH is 5.5 and I mix it with creek water to 6 but the soil still ran out of buffer. I'm running 10 gallon planters this round and added lime. They are definitely bigger. My mango smile is 3' across at 45 days. Good luck.

https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum/growing-community/534738-memphisto-run

[TOKABIGONE]

Hello Stilg7 there are several approaches to growing in living soil and diff recipes for mixing but the big advantage to all of it is if done correctly you eliminate the need to chase pH completely. You need to read a bit about the role of the microbes and fungus in your soil and charging your mix with their spores. They are important as they assist your plant roots to intake the soil nutrients without regard to the surrounding pH. I never checked or adjusted my pH through my just completed auto grow and had great results with healthy vibrant plants. I use plain tap water from a four stage carbon filter which removes all the bad chlorines and more but leaves the healthy minerals in. RO water is unhealthy for that very reason as that method removes everything including good and bad. You can check my journal the AutoToka grow for more detail. Good luck, Happy Pharming!

[cybersmib]

At the time I was using Walmart spring water ( then it was .60 a gallon. I would order 60 gal at a time online and they would bring it out to truck (60 gal =2 grocery carts) they have raised price to .90 and I currently grow DWC.