[highgirly420]

Originally Posted by lucian

PH wonder
Hey All, my ladies (hopefully) have been growing for a month now and I've just transplanted them to a larger pot of soil. The water levels have been great, the miracle grow soil hasn't killed them, and they are growing at a reasonable height. The only problem for this new grower is that the PH is slightly acidic. I do remember reading somewhere that the more acidic the soil is the greater the chance for males. I also read somewhere that if the PH isn't high enough the plants can't absorb all the correct nutes.
I need to raise the PH half a point to almost a full point, as the soil is somewhere around 6.5. If any experienced growers have any great tips or a sure-fire way to raise the PH in the soil please let me know, thanks all.

Firstly do you have a good ph reader?

I would assume the soil is acidic from the miricle grow soil,if it has slow releasing ferts,they contain to much N wich is why your probably having this problem. The ph should be between 6.5 and 7.5 .so if your at 6.5 your not in a danger zone yet.

Adjusting your soil pH :
Once you have checked the pH of your soil with a good tester, you can fix the problem with alot of decent products from your local garden center.

Adjust your pH slowly , and check pH often .To quik a change in pH can cause osmotic shock damage to the roots.

Lowering soil pH (to make it more acidic)
If your soil needs to be more acidic, sawdust, composted leaves, wood chips, cottonseed meal, leaf mold and especially peat moss, will lower the soil pH.

bloodmeal/cottonseed meal during vegetative/ bonemeal during flowering.

They also sell a product called ph down I would recomened a naturall one like this one from earthjuice .

Raising soil pH (to make it more alkaline)
Its easier to make soil mixes more alkaline than it is to make them more acidic. The addition of dolomite lime, hardwood ash, bone meal, crushed marble, or crushed oyster shells will help to raise the soil pH.


Stabilizing pH with Dolomite lime

The best way to stable PH is by adding 1 ounce of Dolomite Lime per 1 gallon of planting soil.

Dolomite Lime is available in garden nurseries. Buy the fine Dolomite powder (There may be several kinds of Dolomite like Rough, Medium, Fine)

Dolomite Lime has been a useful PH stabilizer for years, since it has a neutral PH of 7 when added to your soil it stabilizes your soil at PH 7.

Mix the dry soil medium and dolomite together really well, give the mix a good watering then after the water has had chance to settle and leech into the soil a bit give the mix a really good stir. Then water the soil/lime mix and give it another stir

Best plan is to mix fine dolomite lime into your mix before planting. Fine Dolomite will help stabilize your pH; however, if the ph becomes unstable or changes, you can then use Hydrated Dolomite Lime. Add some of the hydrated lime to luke warm water and give it a good stir then water your plants with it. Give the plants a good watering with this hydrated lime added

and your PH should fall or rise back to 7

Other Benefits of Dolomite Lime

Dolomite lime is also high in two secondary nutes that can often be overlooked by fertilizers; dolomite is high in both (Mg) Magnesium and (Ca) Calcium.