Check ALL input and adjust. However, the important number is really your medium’s reading. When you know your medium’s pH, you know how to adjust the input. What you put in isn’t necessarily what the medium’s actual pH will be.
As your plants grow and you add water, nutes, etc to the medium, the medium’s pH will change. No matter how precisely you make sure your input stays at 6.4, your medium could be wildly off from that. That means your plants won’t have proper access to nutrients.
Oh, wait…you put seedlings directly into 5 gallon pots? Hmmmm…yep, I bet anything those other 2 started damping off a bit (a fungal infection).
OK, do you have any myccorrhizae? It’s a beneficial fungus that will help eat any bad fungus on your roots, plus it will protect your roots from farther infection, assist with chelating nutrients, and allow you to have a bigger pH range. Or some Real Grower’s Recharge might help, too.
Yeah we bought some recharge and it has all of those good bacteria and fungus in it… is that okay or should I just buy specific?
Nope, use that Recharge! Follow the directions on the package.
You might want to ditch this as they are worthless (unless buying an expensive one). The best method for testing soil is doing a slurry test: 1/4 cup of media in 1 cup of distilled water. Let stand for 5 minutes then test liquid.
Your watering issues is the chief reason I recommend potting up as the plant grows. The only exception would be autoflowering plants but extra care needs to be taken when small plants are in big pots. Fabric pots help too.
Well awesome! Thank you very much for that info because honestly I didn’t know about a slurry test! The woman in myself for discussing a similar process a couple weeks ago but didn’t know that this was how it was done! So next time watering comes around this is what I’m going to do 
thank you so much @Myfriendis410
Generally I don’t bother but you are in a custom mix. Runoff tests are about all I worry with but I’m in media.
@Myfriendis410… what issues will arise by just going from paper towel to 5 gallons? Sorry, hope it’s not a silly question LOL
Its easier to overwater in a big pot. But thats about the only downfall i could guess
You run into watering issues. Timed right the plant doesn’t even know it’s been transplanted. I would say as a new grower it’s better to pot up than start in a big pot until they gain experience. It’s just easier to get a good result.
For the slurry test, you can do it anytime, not just at watering/feed time. I’d recommend doing it asap so you get those numbers and can start fixing problems stat.
Okay. I’m going to get on that ASAP. So I’ll scoop out a quarter cup of soil from specifically down deep in the soil. Add that to 1 cup of distilled / natural spring water and let that sit for 5 minutes, “should I stir it and then let sit for the five minutes?”… and then check the pH ,correct?
Shake, shake, shake! Be careful not to disturb the roots when taking your sample.
I’m having tremendous success using 3 perlite to 1 rich organic top soil, a couple of my larger plants suck the planter dry and need a splash of water to get through the day, I’m using highly purified, extremely soluble, chemical compounds. (human grade where applicable). IMHO if you’re not watering once a day your canter is too large, I’m convinced from years of experience that you have more control doing transplants when needed, and a soil mixture with fast drainage that holds more water as the roots fill in thereby adding water holding capacity. I don’t let rain water shower the plants and load the soil with N during flowering, I move them inside on a cart with a fan for circulation and AC running. They’re too good looking and free of rot to allow anything to happen! If it were a crappy year I wouldn’t care! Nobody can get decent buds with endless rain and humidity when least needed! I even move them around the yard to avoid morning and after noon shading! FULL SUN IS THE BEST! It’s like running a marathon and I’m on the finishing stretch, I’m doing everything I can to get them over the finish line! (mason jars)
Good luck to everyone else! From my experience, WE NEED IT!
They are awesome!
So? How’s the grow?
Sun is waaaay more intense. So should help grow netter. Beware of accidental infestations tho.
Absolutely! I just moved the other small guy outside as well. We’re keeping the soil saturated with neem oil and applying directly on the plant in the evening hours when the Sun energy has dissipated! We have a whole nother set up that should be here sometime soon LOL consisting of a tent,FFOF, and all the other necessities. When the natural conditions outside become uninhabitable for the plants are going to go into the new tent as I don’t want them mainly in with the other two that are doing quite well in the tent by themselves! Any opinions I would greatly welcomed!
