What to use to pH water if using Happy Frog soil(microbes)

I’ve got 5 sour D autos in 5 gal grow bags. A mix of happy frog and Ocean Forest for soil. I just ordered a pH up pH down set but I am reading that these minerals will kill off the microbes in my soil. How bad off will I be if I use the up and down anyway ? I’m not sure if I am misinterpreting Fox Farms description of the soil but it says not to worry about pH with these soils. Also as far as water goes, why can’t I use distilled water for the life of the plant?

If it’s soil I prefer spring water. You can adjust pH with vinegar and other natural things

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Using those products according to the directions and at the small amounts you actually need you will not harm your microbes. Its usually just a few drops of either needed to adjust.
For instance pH down is usually phosphoric acid which is just another plant nutrient. In fact its used in soft drinks as well.

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I agree, I now just use the pH down and don’t guess I have ever had to use the pH up as lime in the soil mix always holds the pH to 6.5 to 7 but later when flowering starts I lower mine to 6.2 for proper calcium uptake as I notice a few orange specks on my leaves if I don’t.

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You can. I use reverse osmosis which is basically the same. Just water with little to no minerals.
At some point you will need to add plant food, (nutrients), and then you will have to adjust the pH.

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Awesome ! Thanks for taking the time, I feel so much better lol it feels like becoming a father all over again haha I just care so much about this life I have made and am caring for, I think seeing them thrive will give me greater joy than the fruits of my labor…although the end product is a big deal to me too lol thanks again!

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Thanks very much! Each day they grow I worry about more and more lol I just want the best for them

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I use PH up/down every watering/feed and my plants are fine. I grow in Happy Frog.

It’s so hard to find correct information online… I’ve read everywhere that during flowering we’re supposed to raise the PH, not lower it… is this wrong? I also don’t get how the ranges vary so much. Like people will be like “anywhere between 5.8 and 7.2 is perfect, but my plants prefer a PH of exactly 6.6743” like wtf ever even made you give them that :man_facepalming:t3:

Ha, I hear ya. In Coco most shoot for 5.8 to 6.2 in soil it’s gonna range from 6 to 7. This year for some strange reason I’m having to raise the PH. I had one drop to 4.8 Find what works for you and roll with it

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Plants PH needs are different throughout the grow.

In Coco most veg around 5.8 but move toward 6.2 during flower.

In soil lime holds the PH closer to 7 so during flower in soil with lime you drop the PH.

I hope that clears that up for you @Kingdom_Living The medium is the big factor in the PH of the plant.

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You’re saying you want a higher PH during veg and a lower PH during flower? What’s with all the mixed information online?

I’m saying during veg with lime I don’t even check it as I know it’s between 6 an 7 but as we transition to flower I’m shooting for 6.2 to 6.5 in soil on my feeds.

Many just try to hold it at 6.5.

What kind of issue are you having other than a point or two?

Look up PH on the search bar as pulling info from all over the internet is gonna give you an assortment of answers. Your on the best cannibis forum In my opinion. The answers for simple things like PH are well discussed on the ILGM website. The PH for Coco, soil and others are all different.

The ideal soil PH is 6.5 with the range of 6.2-6.8 for nutrient uptake

Shoot I’ve been having all kinds of issues with my runoff. My runoff is consistently 5.5. I’ve added dolomite lime to the top coat twice. I also use cal-mag. I grow in Happy Frog and water at 6.5. I can’t seem to figure out what the problem is for the life of me.

I even flushed one of my plants for hours straight last week. Finally got runoff to 6.3 and went to bed at 1am. Hadn’t given the plant anything all week, then yesterday I went to feed/water again and runoff was 5.5. I give up. :man_shrugging:t3::man_facepalming:t3: I think it’s due to Fox Farm nutes and salt build up. Maybe also the PH down building up in the soil or something, idk. But no matter what every time I water to runoff I get 5.5. Even if my plants aren’t showing any problems (that I know of). This plant is showing problems though and idk what to do. Idk how long she’s got either, maybe a couple more weeks? This is the one I just flushed and the re-fed this week. Someone suggested I give her recharge today so I did but idk if it’ll help.



pH up and down r massively diluted when mixed in the nutrients or water alone so much that it should not hurt the microbes. If u were to drip drops of it on the soil yes it would kill off microbes fast but diluted u r good. pH up takes a bit more drops to raise the pH than the pH down. When using pH down start off with a drop or 2 at a time as the down drops pH a lot lot faster than the up does.

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100% facts. Like 100x faster lol :joy: I will probably go through 5 bottles of PH up before I ever go through my bottle of PH down

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Hell I still have my first lirre of pH up about third full still lol went thru a gallon and a litre and a half of down tho. Rarely have to use up here unless I eff up :sob:. Jacks and ro and or rap here just use down about 10ml per 5 gallon bucket maybe less. Almost exact Everytime tho so I kinda eye it in the water first before I mix anything and usually fall within perimeters after nutes r added where I kill off nothing with the adjusters

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Same. Shoot after nutes most of the time I need to use PH up

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What nutes do u use. I run jacks big bud bud candy tribus recharge the main ingredients. Some days I’ll throw in some fulvoc some days some humic and kelp mostly jacks with. Ig bud and bud candy tho.

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Happy Cannaversary @Mark0427 !

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