Advice Needed. outdoor auto -low pH/bushy growth

WintersBones

Well-Known Member
Hey folks, so I'm trying my first outdoor greenhouse grow this summer. Hoping to get some feedback. Autoflower day 66 from seed. Amended black garden soil with home compost and EWC and I feed organic liquid fertilizer (5-1-1 through veg, now 2-6-5 in bloom) every couple weeks. LST to keep it wide and low but she's staying shorter than expected.

Overall she's looking pretty good at the moment but I'm checking the soil and its 4.5pH. (Using Bluelab soil probe, just calibrated) So I'm a little concerned about that. Added a few cups of dolomite lime into the soil a couple weeks ago but no change yet. Not sure if I should do anything else or worry too much however, she seems ok now?

I'm also concerned with how bushy she is. I had thought she would stretch out more but the node spacing has stayed really tight and she's really dense with the foliage and budding. Would you thin her out at all to increase airflow?

TIA
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NewEnglandFarmer

Well-Known Member
She looks happy to me. For what it's worth, I had my native soil tested (pH 4.9!) and had a conversation with the guy at the University Cooperative Extension about raising pH with lime. He said it takes time for the soil to absorb the lime (moisture helps) and that for me it would be a multi-year process since it can only absorb so much lime at a time. I ended up using mostly compost with a little native soil mixed in and added lime.

So if you add lime don't expect immediate results, it doesn't happen overnight. Also, keep in mind that Dolomitic lime has a lot of calcium and magnesium in it.

But since your plant looks good I wouldn't stress too much about it. I'll leave airflow comments to the experienced pros, this is my first year growing. I have read many times that you shouldn't do any thinning once flowering begins--don't want to stress her at this crucial time.

Good luck--you seem to be doing very well.
 
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