Good Day to All: Starting a new indoor grow. I’m using Smart Naturals “Happy Frog” soil, I tested the run-off H2O using test strips which shows 6.0 pH. I’m using well water, which is very hard and measures between 7.0/7.4 depending on the rainfall. Should I keep watering in the hopes that the water will bring the soil pH up, or should I amend the soil? It’ll be a week or so until I transplant the seedling. Also, after I transplant, is it wise to keep the soil moist using straight water, and fertilize only close to the seedling? As the seedling doesn’t have alot of root structure and isn’t capable of using the nutrients. what concerns me is maybe toxifying the soil.Thanks
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Hi @OldSmoker. I’ve used Happy Frog before, and I never bothered to pH the soil at the beginning. It’s a pretty mild soil, so most strains I’ve grown in it react well. You certainly could water it with some higher pH water to bring it up beforehand, but you’d be ‘rinsing’ away some of the goodies in it, too. I recommend getting a digital meter to test pH for the best accuracy. You’re aiming for a range between 6.3 - 6.8 in soil.
Have you tested the TDS in your well water? How many PPM? You might want to invest in a small reverse osmosis system, depending. I would pH the water just to 6.5, and the soil’s pH will come up. You should water only for the first few sets of leaves. The cotyledons, the first round set of leaves, contain everything the plant needs for the first part of its life. And they don’t drink a whole lot at first. You just want to water in a ring outside the plant, so the roots will reach out for it. And let it dry almost completely before watering again. They react better to too little than too much water. The fertilizers in the soil will last a couple weeks. They’ll let you know when they start to get hungry. I’d wait for that, rather than accidentally overfeeding them. You can always add more…
Best of luck in your grow! Tell us more about your setup…what lighting are you using? Do you have fans for ventilation and exhaust? What nutrients/fertilizers are you using?
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Thanks for replying,and the advice: I’m growing Bruce Banner in a 2’x2’ closet in the basement,it stays around 70*F, using a ViperSpectra 600W light, and using Fox Farm Big Bloom, Grow Big, and Tiger Bloom. I have a small humidifier as the humidity runs 45%.
I just harvested another plant, all factors being alike, and it was mediocre. I’m trying to correct my mistakes. As the well water goes, it’s really hard,and changes depending on our rain amounts. I use purified water for drinking, and can do the same for the plant if you think it beneficial. I did have problems initially getting water to saturate the soil, the turgidity is high, so I used a drop of Dawn to break the soil tension. My last grow, the plant was really root bound when I pulled it, eventhough it was in a 10 g pot, I had a colony of earthworms which seemed content. All in all I think my biggest issue stemed from pH problems. I brought my water to 6.5 using pH down prior to watering, and used a Walmart tester to test soil, which consistantly tested at 6.8, but never tested the runnoff,and that was most likely where my problems were. Thanks
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Was it one of those probes that you stab into the soil? Those aren’t very accurate usually. It sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it. I bet with better water and testing the runoff/adjusting feedings from that, you’ll improve on your last grow for sure!
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I haven’t used happy frog, but have been using ocean forest for a while. Are your plants showing signs of nute lockout, excess or deficiency?
I suggest doing a slurry test of the soil before trying to fix anything. Take a teaspoon of soil from around the root area, place it in a container with 2 ounces distilled water, mix thoroughly, let sit for 15 min, then test the pH. This will give a much more accurate reading on your soil pH.
I’m not a big fan of the test strips. A proper pH meter is much more accurate.
If the pH is still reading low you can amend with dolomite lime to raise/stabilize the soil pH.
Also, don’t forget to follow the fox farms flush schedule if you’re using their nutes.
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Thank You, Happy Trails
Thank You …Happy Trails!!
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Where I live the municipal water supply is in the “damned hard” category: 550 ppm. That’s actually high enough that a less expensive water filtration system might do. I would recommend running a low solids water if for no other reason than to be able to load the plants with nutes when they need it.
You can grow good cannabis without treating water but in your case you would likely see some benefits. I love the earthworm idea and did that myself when I was growing in soil. I don’t know if it helps but it didn’t hurt.
I would recommend you invest in a good PH meter, calibration solution and PH up and down. A decent TDS meter that reads in PPM is also a very smart investment.
This is the one I recommend.
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Hi, I am just now back from a long journey and will get a grow on soon and have the worst hard water where I live now. I bought a shower head filter (around 10$) that will improve the water quality. Good for me, and my future plants. I have not gotten my meters yet, so I can’t give you any numbers, but I know the difference is great just from my last shower. I bought a 12 stage filter that adjusts ph, removes junk, etc. Good luck on the grow; I will keep watch.