HELP! pH question

[Novice]

I am growing in soil. Initially I was using General Organics Go Box nutrients. I was having problems with nutrient burn and was not certain if it was from mixing the four nutrients together or not. A friend suggested I use Dyna-Grow 7-9-5 and it appears my plants are now doing fine. I pH my water in and out. My last watering the pH in was 6.5 but coming out it was 6.2. Can someone explain to me what is happening?

Thanks!

 

[Toker1]

Yes, your ph in the root zone is lower than 6.2.
Lets say your root zone ph was an even 6.0 (just throwing out a number here). When you put 6.5 water into the soil, the root zone PH will increase and the water PH will decrease. They will meet somewhere in the middle (like 6.25). The runoff is a combination of root zone PH and water in PH. The one you are most concerned with is root zone ph. Which seems a bit low.
What does your soil manufacturer recommend for ph? I use fox farm ocean forest and the manufacturer recommends 6.3-6.8. If it were happening in my soil, I would flush the soil with 6.5 until the runoff is equal to the water in.

 

[Canuck147]

Did you mention you are mixing your nutrients together? Then putting it all in water?

 

[Novice]

Thanks for the explanation. Maybe I should adjust the pH going in a bit higher to make certain the root zone pH is a bit higher. I strive for a root zone pH of 6.5 - 6.8. When I was using the Go Box nutrients, I was adding each directly to the water, not mixing them together, then adjusting the pH. The Dyna-Grow is a one part nutrient. All of the nutrients seem to lower dramatically the pH of the water, which from my tap is 7.8. After adding the Grow Box nutrients, the pH drops to about 5.5 and I use pH Up to adjust. With the Dyna-Grow nutrients, the pH usually adjust to about 6.5.

 

[HappyDaze]

When I use G.O.'s lineup, I use RO and don't make any pH adjustments, works great. I don't think that adding phos acid or potassium hydroxide to an organic solution is a good idea. And regardless of what nutrients you're using, they should always be diluted in solution, never mixed together al full strength. If the manufactures of any nutrient line could mix the base nutrients in a single bottle without them reacting, they would.