Wildy different ph results

Hello all, this is my first grow. I have recently purchased a cheap ph meter. I used strips before hand. I made up some new phd water according to my new meter at 6.55, watered my plants with it, and the yesterday the leaves started cupping at the base by the stem. I did have my light a little close but I had moved it up a couple days ago and yet the problem is getting worse. Today, since she looks not so happy, I took my ph strips and tested my water. The strip went blue green...about a 8 or 9. I calibrated the meter and still getting the same result differences of at least 3-4 points. Is it safe to assume that the meter is trash and the strips are correct? Or is it the other way around? Humidity has been an issue this winter as well, even with a humidifier. Attached is a pic, she is 21 days since germination, light is 1000W LED 24" away, not in a tent so shes at room temperature or slightly under. The part of the leaf that is missing had turned a blackish grey color, and dried out. Im fairly certain its a ph problem but I just dont know which way.

21 days and she’s still small? My gals I have in right now are 2 1/2 weeks old with about 3-4 nodes already.
Your looking at stunted growth, you want to keep your humidity around 70-75% until they hit veg, then lower it just a tad bit. You do not want to experience humidity below 50% at really any time because this will stunt growth.
Measure your runoff water and see what the ph of that is.
I would invest in an actual PH/TDS meter that can measure way better than any cheap ones. This is something you do NOT want to go cheap on as too high/low ph will stunt growth.
Light isn’t the issue here at all, however are you using CFLs or that 1000w light?
It could also be your temps, what are they kept at during the day? What about night?

Shes working on her 3rd node, growth did get stunted for about a week, im guessing due to wrong ph and severely low humidity. When I got my hygrometer in, I was blown away when it said 27%, I spent two days keeping the room humid manually by running electric kettle, hanging towels etc. I got a good humidifier and shes already responding better, but I cant get it past 65%. Its just too damn dry in the room and I didnt want to buy a tent just to grow one plant. We are due for some snow this week finally so hopefully that will help me out when it melts. The light is 1000w led, and I have a 100w led for supplementation. I will look into getting a good meter. Should I just keep trusting the strips then in the mean time? Them fancy meters are $100+ i have asked my friend to take my meter and test it for me against hers. She doesn't have ph issues. I havent yet watered this plant to RO because its so small. Last thing I want is over watering on top of everything else. My EC measured at 525 ppm with no nutes, I was told this was okay.

Ittybittybabygrower said:

Shes working on her 3rd node, growth did get stunted for about a week, im guessing due to wrong ph and severely low humidity. When I got my hygrometer in, I was blown away when it said 27%, I spent two days keeping the room humid manually by running electric kettle, hanging towels etc. I got a good humidifier and shes already responding better, but I cant get it past 65%. Its just too damn dry in the room and I didnt want to buy a tent just to grow one plant. We are due for some snow this week finally so hopefully that will help me out when it melts. The light is 1000w led, and I have a 100w led for supplementation. I will look into getting a good meter. Should I just keep trusting the strips then in the mean time? Them fancy meters are $100+ i have asked my friend to take my meter and test it for me against hers. She doesn't have ph issues. I havent yet watered this plant to RO because its so small. Last thing I want is over watering on top of everything else. My EC measured at 525 ppm with no nutes, I was told this was okay.

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are you saying that your water comes out of your tap at 525ppm?

I haven't had good experiences with the cheap meters in my past, so id trust the strips. yet in soil you'll find that you wont need to worry about the PH of your water.

the high EC on the other hand concerns me a bit. especially if that is what it tests at straight out of your tap.
if the strips are correct, plus the high EC, im willing to bet your water has a LOT of minerals in it, unless you can look up your local water report, you might not know what those minerals are and at what levels.

you'll also have to watch out for chlorine and chloramine, a carbon filter combo will be useful for that.

what was your plan with the grow as far was watering/feeding etc? are you trying to use synthetics or are you trying to build an organic living soil? either are viable ways to grow, yet both require very different tek.

Is your 1000w led really 1000 watts? Seems overkill for one plant.

Also, the picture leads me to believe it's in a bucket and from the looks of it the bucket edges are pretty high... maybe the plant isn't getting enough airflow?

maranibbana said:

are you saying that your water comes out of your tap at 525ppm?

I haven't had good experiences with the cheap meters in my past, so id trust the strips. yet in soil you'll find that you wont need to worry about the PH of your water.

the high EC on the other hand concerns me a bit. especially if that is what it tests at straight out of your tap.
if the strips are correct, plus the high EC, im willing to bet your water has a LOT of minerals in it, unless you can look up your local water report, you might not know what those minerals are and at what levels.

you'll also have to watch out for chlorine and chloramine, a carbon filter combo will be useful for that.

what was your plan with the grow as far was watering/feeding etc? are you trying to use synthetics or are you trying to build an organic living soil? either are viable ways to grow, yet both require very different tek.

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Yes that's straight out of the tap. Is that ridiculously high? Should I water with distilled instead? I took some soil, and put it in a cup and put some distilled water in, let it sit for about half hour and tested the water and it came out at 8+ with the strips and 5.5 with the meter. Tbh diagnosing issues is hella frustrating‍ i have synthetic nutes but I havent added them yet. Im considering starting a compost in the spring tho.

GrowOR12 said:

Is your 1000w led really 1000 watts? Seems overkill for one plant.

Also, the picture leads me to believe it's in a bucket and from the looks of it the bucket edges are pretty high... maybe the plant isn't getting enough airflow?

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Okay so I had no clue how that stuff worked and someone on fb had pointed out its only like 150 real watts and is a good enough light for now, but won't have a good enough footprint for flower.

Ittybittybabygrower said:

Yes that's straight out of the tap. Is that ridiculously high? Should I water with distilled instead? I took some soil, and put it in a cup and put some distilled water in, let it sit for about half hour and tested the water and it came out at 8+ with the strips and 5.5 with the meter. Tbh diagnosing issues is hella frustrating‍ i have synthetic nutes but I havent added them yet. Im considering starting a compost in the spring tho.

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what kind of soil are you using in there?

yes, straight outta the tap @500+ppm is a bit high, without knowing your water report I cant be for sure but based on the results of your soil slurry test plus the ppm of your tap id say your water is highly alkalizing, it will push your water PH up no matter how much you down it. being so high in minerals the constant watering will eventually build up and possibly cause some things like the PH of your soil to get wacky which makes the microbial life not too happy.

if you plan on using bottled nutrients then you will eventually need to water to run off, it helps wash out left over salts and replaces them with the balanced new feed..

if you go the organic living soil route, because of your only water source being very hard, you could either purchase water or buy a water filter that will lower your ppm to 150-200 max. I would continue to water the baby every other day, with plan water. your ph will eventually balance out after a few waterings of your distilled/ro water. if you choose to go this route I don't recommend any runoff when you water. a little is okay but not the 20% you shoot for in synthetics. grab a bag of GOOD quality earth worm castings, and spread a few and fulls around the plant, this stuff is packed with yummy stuff for the plants and will boost the microbe life which in turn helps regulate the PH of the soil as well as the nutrients the plant might need which is why many find that in living soil you need not worry about the PH, the microbes handle it . The only reason we worry about your water is not so much the ph but rather it’s ppm/mineral content. we are just learning how to feed the soil life and keep it balanced and fed, and then the soil food web feeds the plant, plant dies and feeds microbes etc etc etc etc

very basically explained but there is science behind it that im not that great at repeating lol...

either direction you choose to go, from here on out I would grab filtered water and just give it to her every other day, she will bounce back no need to PH your distilled water, I promise you.

the reason its not needed esp with distilled/RO water is bc often the water has 0ppm, having nothing in there as far as minerals to stabilize the water means that its PH can be altered easily, with distilled/RO water you'll find that you can add mere drops of your PH up or down and it will change the PH drastically. if you take that 0ppm water and put it into your soil it will change to the PH of the soil. that being said your soil is at 8+, yet the microbes will still enjoy a fresh drink of 0ppm. enough times and you will rebalance. with that light I wouldn't worry about it being too close

Completely agree with post above.
Also I know these meters seem “too expensive” but they’re three in one.
That meter is $60 and usually found in your nearest hydroponics shack or hydroponics store. I drive 70 minutes to my nearest hydroponics store but it’s all well worth
It comes with the two very important things
Ph AND TDS so you can measure ppm while you measure ph . I do NOT trust those strips. They give you an idea but they do not measure accurately. Not as accurate as you need it anyway.

the water here has over 440 parts per million which is an Insane amount.Always use RO water! You want your gals drinking the best

Damn city water. I have distilled on hand all the time, I just didn't know I should be watering plants with it. You might have solved all my issues. I'll start the distilled watering process tomorrow. I'll also get a good ph meter.

Oh and im fairly certain the soil is complete shit in itself. I sent the husband on a job that I shouldve done lol. Im considering getting new stuff and transplanting her, might be worth the shock at this stage. As you can see I kinda ran out of soil in the first place...5 gallon buckets dont look so big until you fill them with a whole bag of soil and there's still room. Im learning from my mistakes I swear lol!

Ittybittybabygrower said:

Oh and im fairly certain the soil is complete shit in itself. I sent the husband on a job that I shouldve done lol. Im considering getting new stuff and transplanting her, might be worth the shock at this stage. As you can see I kinda ran out of soil in the first place...5 gallon buckets dont look so big until you fill them with a whole bag of soil and there's still room. Im learning from my mistakes I swear lol!

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To go off subject here, what’s the reason for soil and not something more extravagant like hydroponics? Nothing shaming growing with soil of course

No reason at all actually. More or less because I thought hydroponics was really expensive to set up, I've been looking tho, and its come down a lot in price in canada. Not cheap still but not the soul of your firstborn anymore. I mentioned to my husband tonight how I think I want to try hydro out.

Ittybittybabygrower said:

Oh and im fairly certain the soil is complete shit in itself. I sent the husband on a job that I shouldve done lol. Im considering getting new stuff and transplanting her, might be worth the shock at this stage. As you can see I kinda ran out of soil in the first place...5 gallon buckets dont look so big until you fill them with a whole bag of soil and there's still room. Im learning from my mistakes I swear lol!

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Hey I fucked up so much and still make mistakes and I don’t think we stop bc that’s how we grow and learn etc but I’m sure you know that already! Keep it up. In less than a year you will have a good feel for your plants.

do you remember what brand or kind it was by chance? It’s not a big deal but will give some insight as to what you’re starting in.

Ittybittybabygrower said:

No reason at all actually. More or less because I thought hydroponics was really expensive to set up, I've been looking tho, and its come down a lot in price in canada. Not cheap still but not the soul of your firstborn anymore. I mentioned to my husband tonight how I think I want to try hydro out.

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I’ve been doing tons of research on hydroponics.. set mine up and I’ll never grow in soil. It may be a little more on the pricey side (I spent $150 for nearly everything not including my original setup and other things). Wasn’t too expensive but it takes a minute to get a hang of.
Plus. It is so. Much. Easier. To maintain at the very least.

Ittybittybabygrower said:

No reason at all actually. More or less because I thought hydroponics was really expensive to set up, I've been looking tho, and its come down a lot in price in canada. Not cheap still but not the soul of your firstborn anymore. I mentioned to my husband tonight how I think I want to try hydro out.

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Try them all out find what you feel works best for you, of course funds for it tho haha

maranibbana said:

Hey I fucked up so much and still make mistakes and I don’t think we stop bc that’s how we grow and learn etc but I’m sure you know that already! Keep it up. In less than a year you will have a good feel for your plants.

do you remember what brand or kind it was by chance? It’s not a big deal but will give some insight as to what you’re starting in.

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I cant remember what it was. Something I have never hear of, from Walmart or home depot im sure. My goal for my first grow was never to yield shit tons, but more so to even get it to produce anything at all, would be a win in my book. I dont have a natural greenthumb lol!

Ittybittybabygrower said:

I cant remember what it was. Something I have never hear of, from Walmart or home depot im sure. My goal for my first grow was never to yield shit tons, but more so to even get it to produce anything at all, would be a win in my book. I dont have a natural greenthumb lol!

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In that case, find a solid nute line for soil, find the feeding chart, feed at half the dosages and work up.

maranibbana said:

In that case, find a solid nute line for soil, find the feeding chart, feed at half the dosages and work up.

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I'll start nutes as soon as I have this ph nonsense figured out. Let's not add lock out to this mess too haha!!!

Oy