can anyone explain to me how do i Test PH level in Soil? What is PPM and why it is Important? New grower im 3 weeks in on 3 fem
Please and thank u
Do you have a pH pen/ meter?
Cannabis thrives in soil with a pH of 6-7 (although I think 6.2-6.8 is about as far as I’d push it.). I aim for 6.4-6.5.
Ppms will give you an indication of what level of nutrients are in your soil, how much you’re adding, and what your plants are using
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I know about Ph in water but how do i check PH level in the soil? And how do i use ppm? Any med price pom meter?
You can do a soil slurry test to determine the ph of your soil. Grab a clean glass jar and fill it about 1/3 full with your soil mix. Next bring some water to a ph level of 7.0 neutral. Add some water to the jar to bring it to nearly full. Put a lid on the jar and give it a good shake, sit the jar down and go and have a pipe for 10 minutes to let the sediment settle to the bottom of the jar . Take another ph reading of the water in the jar and it will indicate the ph of your soil. Ideally you want to be as close to 6.5 as possible for the best nutrient availability. In regards to ppm readings, this is a measurement of the strength of your nutrients. Start taking records of your nute strength and watch your plants leaf tips closely for signs of nute burn . If you give your plants 800 ppms and you notice nute burn before the next feed you know your nutes are too strong for that plant. Try 600 ppm next feed and watch for signs of nute burn on the new growth. It takes a while to get a hang of it but becomes easier if using the same clones over and over.
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What if the soils ph isnt 6.5 do i add Ph up down to the Soil? Explain if u can just dont want to fuck up… should i get a ppm meter? I sort of understood what u said how do i measure the ppm to what? Nutes itself? Nutes mixed in water?
If the soil tests between 6 and 7 you can buffer your water or nutrients slightly higher or lower to compensate to reach the magic 6.5ph. If the soil tests outside 6 0r 7 there are additives which will alter the ph more significantly. dolomite lime will help to raise soil ph levels. Iron sulphate or magnesium sulphate will help lower soil ph… Next time you mix a batch of nutrients at the full strength recommended on the bottle test the strength by using you ppm meter . Take note of the reading and write it down, feed the plants and over the next few days watch the leaf tips for any sign of burn. If there is no burn it indicates the plant can tollerate a higher dosage of nutrients so next batch mix at a higher concentration than last feed.If after the first feed there is sign of nutrient burn mix your next batch of nutes in a less concentrated ratio.
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@BayAreaCookie hello my new friend. This is exactly what i just went threw myself. 1st i used to only test the ph of the water then add my nutrients and that is wrong. 2nd PPM TDS EC are all numbers used to measure the amount of nutrients are in the water. You can use these to see how your girl is eating. ( i am still learning exactly how) for soil but in Hydro if you put in 500 ppm water and in a day you check and the ppm has dropped to 450 you know your plant is eating.
You want to get a set of ph and ppm meters they are pretty cheap on amazon i got a set of both for 24 bucks including shipping. You want to check the ph of the nutrient rich water in soil you want it at 6.5 ph and in Hydro you want it at 5.8 This is the optimum range for nutrient uptake. Make your normal ph feed water and give her a good watering you want run off of at least i think its 20%. Then use a turkey baster and suck up the run off water and test it.
If your target ppm is say 1000 and the run off has a ppm of 1250 you know you have abundant nutrients left in the soil so your next feed might be at 750 ppm giving you a balance of 1000 ppm.
Also check the ph of the run off if you put in 6.5 ph water and the run off is 6.8 you know you have slightly alkaline soil so you make the adjustment of .3 so the feed water going in next would be a 6.2 and the run off will come out at the magic number of 6.5.
in my grow i had a run off of 1795 my soil is slightly alkaline so i make my water at 6.2 to get 6.5 out. Since i had such a high ppm i only used ph water to leach/flush out some of those nutrients. After i learned how to correct the ph my plant really took off. hope this helped you understand ph and ppm the guys and gals here really helped me to understand how important it all was.
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Take a little time to read and understand your pH meter very important to have your pH meter calibrated and setup correctly. Good luck
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So heres a guide and a link that will help explain how to check ph and why
Imho a slurry test is best and reading runnoff is next
Always ph water in and nutrients in to excepable range 
Happy growing
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You guys are all so helpful i tried youtube but most videos are years old… thanks fpr the Advice i will buy ppm and ph meter .
I’m very interested in learning more on this subject. So a friend sent me a TDS meter for Christmas and now I’m trying to get a better understanding of it. I guess my question is would you use the General hydroponics pH up or pH down to adjust your water and when flushing the roots is that the only solution used? ( no nutrients) Second would you use that same technique with soil? Because currently I have a girl that is deep into flowering using a DWC system and the rest of the girls are in fabric soil pots, long story doesn’t relate to this particular article. However I am very interested in hearing more on your feedback
I know this is an old thread but I’m about to do this slurry message and wanted to thank you and let you know I bookmarked it 