Tips needed on 2rd grow!

So after first failed grow, reasons being bad soil, bad ph, bad water etc. I want to make sure about the second one being successful, so every detail is looked after.

First of all here are the conditions the plants would be growing in:

DR60 tent, 60*60*140cm

Lamp: 250w HPS in a cooltube

1 gallon pots, probably 4 plants in the tent

Seeds: Sensi NL fem

Bio-Bizz or Plant Magic Soil Supreme

Bio-Bizz grow and bloom nutrients, start feeding probably 2 weeks after sprouting with half strength and go up from there, and feed every second watering

Next, I'm getting pH and PPM meters, and keep the pH at 6.5 (I had a manual pH testing kit before, and it's not that accurate and not as easy to use)

Some questions:

What soil would be better to get BioBizz All-Mix, Light Mix, or the PM Soil Supreme?

I'm not sure what my tap water PPM is, (the pH goes 8+), would a PPM meter be necessary, and what PPM values should I keep the water at?

Also would BioBizz Grow and Bloom nutrients be enough for the plants, and would they get sufficient micro nutrients from tap water? Since I'm not too good on money right now can barely afford to buy anything more


Thanks in advance to anyone who reply

Your tap water has dissolved solids in it, I wouldn't use it. RO water and distilled water are cheap. Why spend money on everything else but go cheap on the most important thing? My tap water has lime in it to prevent corrosion of the main water pipes, which can buildup in the soil and really mess with pH. Sounds like yours does too if the tap pH is 8.0+.

Your pH is too high. Soil grows should be around pH 6.0-6.3, with 6.5 being the high limit and if you're going to spend money on a pH meter then you MUST get a good one, cheap ones are inaccurate and more trouble than they're worth. I've gone back to using drops, far more accurate than the $20 pH meter I was trying to use and I spent far more time trying to calibrate the meter than using it.

EC (PPM) meter? Absolutely essential if you're going to add anything to your water.

Okay, so I'll keep the pH at 6.0-6.3, and I'm planning to get 36£ (60$) pH meter, http://goo.gl/rjiDjS this one to be exact

I can't really afford a RO filter right now since they're going for about 150$, so I'd probably be buying distilled water, but I used it the last time and I think the problem I had was underfeeding since I didn't add nutrients to it at the time (plants were a little bit young), I don't really know when and what nutrients I should start adding to distiled water, I should probably read up on it a little bit more

I disagree w above 6.4-6.6ph are good numbers. 6.0 is almost to low. Distilled water is garbage no benefit at all. Ro water sure but still not needes tap water is just fine. It beeds ti ve b ubbled or sat out for a minimun of 24 hours for chlorine bubbling is best as it oxygenates water. Once nutes are addrd your ph will drop alot. I cant helo with your nutrd as I have never used nor above soils.

Call your local water municipality just to verify they use chlorine and not chloramene( not sure how to spell that word). If your well water you might have to much solids like above and be bad but tap water is usually ok. All I use is tap water. Itbhas calcium magnesium iron etc in it. Less chanve of a deficiency. Catch rain water and use that as well

Nutes in tap water? A bunch of minerals in unknown quantities is good? With distilled water you know exactly what you're giving your plants, no question mark. Not to mention, tap water minerals can react with hydro nutes and lock some of them out.

I'm of the opinion that nutrients are only ever neccesary when trying to diagnose a deficiency. It's too easy to fuck up, I don't use them now.

anzohaze said:

Call your local water municipality just to verify they use chlorine and not chloramene( not sure how to spell that word). If your well water you might have to much solids like above and be bad but tap water is usually ok. All I use is tap water. Itbhas calcium magnesium iron etc in it. Less chanve of a deficiency. Catch rain water and use that as well

Click to expand...

I live in Portland, Oregon and I have been using tap water here for 6 years with no problems what so ever. It contains chloramine. I grow in soil. I agree to check with the city you live in and get the reports on the local water. 8+ pH is not an issue. Adding salt nutrients will lower the pH. Most likely you will have to add pH up to adjust. A pH pen and ppm meter are essential tools when mixing synthetic nutrients.

Most would agree that a pH of 5.5-6.5 is acceptable. However the proper pH depends on the style and medium of growing. Hydro, soil etc. Lower pH is ideal for hydro. The acidity of a low pH helps to keep bacteria from growing in the water. This is not of a concern in soil since the water is readily replaced with frequent waterings. I run my grow with a pH of 6.4 and adjust as needed by checking the run off water and no pH or nutrient lockout issues. In my aero cloner bucket I run it with a pH of 5.5 and it works perfectly every time.

Also get a complete nutrient regimen. This doesn't mean go buy the whole line up of a particular brand. Just make sure it is complete and balanced. A good grow/ micro/ bloom baseline nutrient is a good start. Add amendments from there.

As far as soil, any soil you find in a grow store is better than some at walmart. I tried several brands before setting with Fox Farm Happy Frog and Ocean Forest. I cut that mix 50-50 and add perlite to lighten it up. 4:1 soil to perlite.

Yeah the soil used was a generic brand from tesco, probably gonna get BioBizz All-Mix, it includes soil 20%, compost 35%, worm castings 10% and 30% perlite, which I guess is good enough

So let's say I use tap water at 6.4 pH, let it sit 24h, if I test the PPm of it and it would be around 200, would that would be good enough? could I use distilled water to bring it down if it's too high?

And I already got grow and bloom nutes, is micro essential?

And if anyone here is using BioBizz grow/bloom, what micro nutes are you using?