Hello, I am new to this community and have a couple questions regarding soil pH in living soil. Below are the specs of my grows followed by my questions.
Medium - Gaia Green 1-0-0 super soil using
Fertilizers - Gaia Green dry amendments
Water - Dechlorinated tap water 270ppm, pH'd 6.4-6.7
Lighting - Veg Tent electric sky ES 180 v2 ; Flower Tent Electric sky ES 300v2.
Humidity - Veg room RH sits around 60 ; Flower room is more difficult to control. I aim for low 50s but it shoots up when I do any significant watering so I open the door.
Temperature - Daytime temp around 24C; Nighttime around to 19 - 21.5C
Veg tent is 2x4
Flower tent is 3x5
Lots of fans and ventilation
As for my questions:
1. I recently noticed that the pH of Gaia Green organic super soil is 5.8 out of the bag. Does the golden zone of 6.5 that growers hope to achieve matter in this case, or do microbes do all the buffering for my plants as long as it stays within life range? Should I be adding dolomite lime to my gaia green super soil prior to or during use to help manage the low pH?
I ask this because:
a. I currently have a plant in Gaia Green soil that has a pH of 5.5 - 5.8. I have added nothing but a few worm castings and perlite to the soil. This range is pushing it and I've just added some Dolomite Lime as a top dressing.
b. I have 4 other plants in various stages of growth all with a pH of 5.8 - 6.1.
c. During late flower of a past grow, I had two plants with a soil pH of 6.9 and 7.1 & two other plants with soil pH of 6.0 and 6.2. The same growing methods were used with all plants. Some of these plants yellowed early during flower and had some other signs of deficiency, mostly the lower pH ones.
Thanks for taking the time to help!
.png)
Microbes will do some buffering; also, if you keep watering in at 6.4-6.7 like you have been then you should see the pH drift up over the next few waterings.