So I sent off for some lab results on my local water supply and some garden soil/compost we recently acquired for some new raised veggie beds.
Since I already had a shipment going out, figured I’d toss them a sample of FFOF and see what it came back with.
I don’t really understand the requirements for cannabis quite yet, but perhaps some more educated of you can enlighten us based on these results.
Yeah no clue what im looking at, hopefully someone will elaborate. I love learning 
My biggest takeaway is that looks extremely acidic. A pH of 5.1 is essentially 1.4 points from a good soil range (I’m not surprised, Fox Farms has been hit and miss long enough now that acidic is my expectation).
I believe the rest looks alright - the Calcium is double the magnesium (which is the ideal balance to allow appropriate calcium and magnesium absorption). The potassium seems good, while the phosphorus seems a bit low. Low doses of micronutrients (sulfur, boron, manganese, copper, zinc) are good for your girls.
I’m unsure about the nitrate reading - I feel like I’m missing what the ** means. The report indicates plenty of N, but the PPMs seem low on paper.
Thanks for that.
My understanding then, based on what I’ve got in front of me, is that FFOF is pretty hot, which I think we all sort of inherently knew but it’s good to see it verified independently.
I would suggest trying to get the pH of the soil up with a dry amendment known to be a bit more alkaline - garden lime is my usual suggestion but it does add more calcium to the soil, so perhaps someone has some insight as to ways to increase pH without garden lime or baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, which I inherently don’t recommend due to the sodium, it would take a while but eventually you could overwhelm the plant with sodium and kill it).
Maybe @Roadsideorganics.ok has a thought on good dry amendments for soil? 
@Graysin pointed out the soil’s low ph. That is why limestone is being recommended. I’m not sure how to convert 60#/1000sqFt to 5 gallons.
FF soil having a low ph is often sited in the forum.
.33lbs per sqft
Love the way you are dealing with this, and i agree completely. With how hot FFOF is naturally hot adding anything, even jut to adjust ph, is tricky without pushing it to being to hot or out of balance. My best thought for increasing ph without using lime would be to use oyster shell flower, with a balance of calcium and magnesium may work better without throwing off the nutrient balance. Will also help condition the soil. Could also add some Kmag/langbeinite to bring up the magnesium to balance the calcium without adding to much readilly available potassium.
Any advice on what the ratios should be? I was planning on grabbing some langbenite next time I was at my local nursery.
Is 5.1 pH from a well or from a public water system?
That’s outside of normal range of 6 to 9 for public consumption. 5.1 is almost 10 times more acidic than 6.0
What lab did you use if you dont mind me asking??
This is for soil, not water.
Sorry, can’t divulge the lab. I’m in a frowned upon state.
Not 100 on this but wouldnt the soil ph be controlled by your water input. The nutrients have a base pH that is factored into the type of water used. If its a tap water based nutrient based formula then the standard 7.0 pH would ultimately mix with the 5.2 creating a 6ish pH. I know thats how it works in Hydroponics. If your runnoff is getting high or low you adjust your water right?
I wonder how big the sample is. The nitro level seems low to me. My plants are always really dark green with fresh ffof. I doubt it is mixed perfectly and even where a “sample” be 100% accurate. Ive had the 1100 ec level but after three weeks of growth with healthy transplants.
These readings are why I quit using OF. Inconsistency. That nitrate level seems way low and the calcium and magnesium seem too high. The issue I had with OF was calcium and magnesium depletion, every time.
How did you correct your acidic soild ?
Dolomite Lime and my soil run-off is now too high.
I was also using 6.8 input water.feed.
6.3 now
My sample was about 2cups of two large bags of FFOF that was thoroughly mixed.
Strange, bc like i said, i check and water to runoff at 3 weeks in and are around 1100 tds at 500 scale with calibrated apera ec20. Makes you wonder, the bags are obviously all over the place in quality. (From ff) and the sample should be adequate at that amount as well.
Extremely inconsistent soils, ive heard complaints all over the board on ther soil. Alot of it spends very long time in storage as well
My thoughts exactly.
