Everything is fine, should I worry about pH?
PH is certainly something to be aware of in order to prevent the plant from
showing nutrient deficiencies, but honestly “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!”
If your plant is growing fast and all the leaves look green and healthy, there’s
really no reason to change anything. That being said, if you start noticing
nutrient deficiencies in your leaves, the very first thing to check is the root pH.
Do I pH the water before or after adding nutrients?
Add nutrients first, then pH the water.
You should test the pH after you add nutrients to the water (if adding nutrients).
The nutrients will often change the pH of the water, and you’re concerned with
making sure the pH of the water is right, as experienced by the roots.
If not using any nutrients for this feeding, simply adjust the pH of the plain water.
How Easy is it to Use Liquid Nutrients and Maintain pH?
Liquid nutrients for plants are simple to use (usually consisting of 1-3 bottles
for all stages of life) and don’t take up much space. These nutrient systems can
be used to provide exactly the right nutrients for your cannabis plant at each
stage of life.
Learn about nutrients & get customized nutrient schedules for growing cannabis
Many growers use liquid nutrients made for soil to supplement their soil grow.
There are also nutrients which are made to be used in hydroponic setups to provide
all the nutrients the plant needs throughout its life, even without soil.
Whether made for soil or hydroponics, all liquid nutrients are used in a similar way.
The Hydroponics vs Soil debate continues to rage on, but no matter what your
choice, the nutrients available today have exactly what’s needed by a cannabis
plant to thrive at all stages of life, coasting perfectly to harvest time.
For soil growers, being aware of pH is important, especially those using liquid
nutrients. For soilless and hydroponic growers, liquid nutrients and pH management
are required tools that give growers a greater ability to affect plant growth –
for better or worse.
Note: Some soil growers will add a handful of dolomite lime as they’re mixing their
soil. Dolomite lime can help buffer pH and keep it from getting too low, while also
adding a source of calcium and magnesium. But lime should be added before you start
your grow so it has enough time to break down, so this method is not recommended
unless you’re mixing up your own soil. Learn how to mix up your own soil for growing cannabis.
Is it Hard to Maintain pH?
No way, maintaining pH for your cannabis grow can be easy and intuitive!
Learn all about how to check and adjust your pH for cannabis
Measuring and adjusting the pH is as simple a process as mixing up the nutrients
them selves. The pHing process can take less than a minute, and the results you’ll
get in better growth and bigger colas are worth the few minutes it takes to pH.
Basically you take a small sample of your water and test to find out the pH.
You can use a pH Control kit or a digital pH tester. The pH control kit has you
add a few drops of a special solution to your small water sample and match the
resulting color to find the pH. A digital pH tester can be stuck directly in the
water to get the pH printed on a small screen, but requires regular calibration
and proper storage with storage solution to stay accurate.
Whether you’re using a pH control kit or a digital tester, basically you use
your water sample to learn the pH. You have “pH Up” or “pH Down” solution to
adjust if it’s too high or too low.
How to bring pH up or down outdoors
Great for outdoors, these options for adjusting pH are not recommended for
indoor growers unless you know what you’re doing ??
Note: There are other methods of natural pH management besides the ones that
follow, but these are the ones we know will definitely work. They are intended
for growers who are growing on larger patches of land and need to change the
pH of a lot of soil.
Bring Up pH
Lime is one of the most proven ways to bring up the pH of soil outdoors.
Use agricultural or garden lime in soil to bring up pH (the smaller the particles
of lime, the sooner they will become available). This type of lime (agricultural
or garden lime) adds pleny of Calcium, too, but not a lot of Magnesium.
Dolomite lime will add plenty of Magnesium in addition to Calcium. Many cannabis
growers like to add handful of dolomite to their soil when mixing it up to buffer
the pH and provide a steady source of calcium and magnesium.
Mix lime thoroughly with the soil, and keep it relatively moist to “activate”
the lime. The finer the limestone source, the quicker it will be absorbed – powdered
lime works much more quickly than larger sources of lime, which take time to break down.
Liming to bring up pH and enrich with Calcium/Magnesium should be used at the
beginning of the grow before plants are placed in the soil. Cannabis likes
slightly acidic soil, so it’s important not to go overboard and bring the pH
too high (soil for cannabis should be pH 6.0-7.0, so pH 7.0 and above is too high).
Don’t use lime unless you follow the directions closely, you don’t want to
cause a bigger problem than the one you’re trying to fix.
Adding lime in the middle of a grow can cause or mask a bigger problem with
the nutrients and salt buildups in the soil. You’ll get the best results if
you add the lime to moist soil 2-3 months before growing, so the lime has
time to break down in the soil and adjust the soil pH.
However, some cannabis growers do add lime to their flowering cannabis plants
grown in soil to help buffer the pH and keep the pH from dropping. When adding
lime in the middle of a grow (after you’ve established that there’s too-low ph in the soil)
do not add more than 1 teaspoon (5 ml) per gallon of soil.
Bring Down pH
There are a few common way to bring down the pH of soil:
Aluminum sulfate – works more quickly
Elemental sulfur – tends to take longer
Alkaline soil needs to have the pH lowered to grow cannabis. Cannabis needs a soil
pH of 6.0-7.0, and alkaline soil has a pH above 7.
Just like lime, using aluminum sulfate or elemental sulfur to bring down pH can be
tough to get just right. Don’t use lime unless you follow the directions closely,
you don’t want to cause a bigger problem than the one you’re trying to fix.
While aluminum sulfate is effective at lowering the pH in a relatively short
amount of time, elemental sulfur should only be used at the beginning of the
grow. You’ll get the best results if you add the elemental sulfur to moist soil
2-3 months before growing, so the sulfur has time to break down in the soil and
adjust the pH. Depending on where you live, Sulfur (or “Sulphur”) is also known
as “soil sulfur,” “powdered sulfur” or “flowers of sulfur.”
How Do I Learn More About My Local Water?
Check with your water company to learn more about your tap water. They will be
able to provide you with lots of important info.
You can also do some testing on your own such as…
pH
PPM: What It Is and How to Track It
Special Water Won’t Help Your Grow Unless You Need It!
Many growers don’t need special water. Some growers think that special water
will somehow give them better results when it comes to cannabis growth and
harvest. The truth is, special water is not going to help your grow unless
you actually need it.
What options do you have if your water is not good for growing cannabis?
1.RO (Reverse Osmosis Water) – RO gives you nearly pure H2O. Everything has
been taken out of the water, including minerals. With RO, you have a blank
slate to start with, so you have 100% control over the water in your grow.
However, with RO water, there’s less buffer to help prevent pH fluctuations.
PH tends to swing up and down more easily in RO water. RO also tends to be
associated with calcium and magnesium deficiencies (since these minerals are
normally found in water), so adding a Cal-Mag supplement is usually beneficial
for RO growers.
2.Filtered or Store-bought drinking water (treat similarly to tap water)
3.Rain water (treat similarly to tap water – some rain water isn’t good)
How Can I Get Out of Managing pH?
Growers who rely on using properly amended and/or composted soil are the least
likely to be hit by nutrient deficiencies caused by pH problems. The more organic
matter in the soil, generally the less the soil pH matters as far as nutrient absorption.
The natural process of soil breaking down helps make nutrients more available to the roots.
But cannabis needs very specific nutrient requirements to get the best results.
Growing in Soil? You may not need to worry about pH
If you want to grow cannabis without worrying about pH, you’ll likely want to
grow using amended, composted soil. Read about composting your own soil for
growing cannabis. However when it comes to composting soil, it generally takes
a bit of time, space and mixing before your soil is ready to use.
Mixing Super Soil with Jinxproof and Mr. Spliff - two famous organic marijuana
growers and teachers
No Time to Compost Your Own Soil? Liquid Nutrients are Easy, Cheap & Effective
A lot of growers don’t have the time or space to mix up their own soil, which
may involve amending, understanding how micro-organisms in the soil affect nutrient
absorption, maintaining a compost pile, etc. Because growing in soil can involve a
lot of prep work (or for those who live in a city where there’s not enough room for
an organic, composted soil grow), there are hundreds of liquid nutrients which can
be much more convenient for cannabis gardeners.
Liquid nutrients provide plants with everything they need at all stages of life. By
following a simple nutrient schedule, growers are able to use the perfect amount of
nutrients at the right time to power the growth of the plant, leaves and buds.
Whether you’re growing in soil or hydroponics, you can use cannabis nutrients to make
sure your plants have all nutrients needed, without having to mix up any soil yourself.
Just follow the basic instructions for the nutrients, and your cannabis will thrive.
For many growers, liquid nutrients make growing cannabis more simple, straightforward
and satisfying.
Who Should pH? Everyone Who Uses Liquid Nutrients
Paying attention to pH is pretty much required for any cannabis growers using liquid
nutrients. Even soil growers using liquid nutrients should pay attention, though soil
growers tend to get more of a buffer from all the organic matter, especially those
starting with great composted soil that has been made for a plant like cannabis.
Unless you’re willing to learn about soil for cannabis and mix up your own soil, there’s
often no way you can get out of pH management – if you refuse to manage pH, your only
option is to just try it your way to see what happens.
Some growers get lucky winging it, and if you’ve successfully grown a plant like tomatoes
or corn, you’ll probably be able to provide for your plants using what you already know.
But if you’re just thinking about buying standard potting soil from the local garden store,
or using soil you found around your house, you’re probably going to need liquid nutrients
to supplement your cannabis grow for the best results and yields. Maintaining pH is one of
the best tools you have to get the most from your nutrients.
This colorful nug is here partly because the grower chose to check and adjust pH
Summary: What You Need to Remember About pH & Growing Cannabis
1.) Always test the pH of water you give your plants (it takes under 5 minutes).
Testing – you can use digital pens or a pH Test Kit with drops or strips
Get a bottle of pH Up & pH Down – these magical bottles of fluid give you a way to adjust
the pH up or down quickly and with precision
2.) If you are using nutrients and still seeing nutrient deficiencies, the first thing to
do is check is the pH, since the wrong pH can prevent plants from absorbing nutrients effectively
3.) You may need to flush plants with extra water if the pH is way out of whack
4.) Add all your nutrients and supplements before testing/adjusting pH. Many nutrients/supplements
can change the pH of your water. Make sure to add everything to your water before you attempt to
test or adjust the pH.
5.) It’s okay/good to let pH drift up & down as long as it stays in the right range – Soil pH
should be between 6.0 – 7.0. Hydroponics pH should be between 5.5 – 6.5