Yogurt Whey

Okay, so I've scoured the internet and I can't find an answer, so I thought I'd ask here.

I make yogurt at home, then strain it to make it Greek yogurt. The yellow liquid that drains off is sweet whey, and it's mostly carbs. People add it to house plants, and when I spray it on the dog's food, he freaks.

The whey has a low ph, and my tap water ph is 9. I have 5 plants with just a few weeks of veg each and had nute burn, non-ph'ed water, transplantation into better soil, overwatering and overheating (this is my first grow. I have also murdered a strawberry bush and a fig tree). There's new, non-burned growth everyday now, so I think they've recovered.

I just put them in Fox Farms Ocean soil a week ago, so they don't need nutes for awhile, but can I add the yogurt whey on my next watering? I'm thinking the yogurt whey will have the same effect as molasses, yes? Will the extra carbs help my battered little plants grow better now, or should I just water?

One batch of yogurt, made with a quart of whole, grass-fed, hormone free milk, gives me two pint jars of whey (and two jars of Greek yogurt). A tablespoon or so is enough to lower the ph for each watering, so I'm hoping I can use the whey instead of pricier carb nutrients AND ph Down.

Am I insane? Does this make sense?

I would say if you have lots of plants give it a try on 2 or so

Otherwise it sounds like a bad idea , if you just burnt your plants they should be good on nutes for some time

For lowering PH in soil one off the best options is lime 6$ for 50 lbs. at any hardware store

I thought whey was mostly protien not carbs ???

Either way , if your new to gardening now is not the time to try out all the 'exotic methods' .

Oh, lime. Thank you. I feel like I'm giving myself cancer with the amount of ph down I have to use.

My grandma taught me how to make yogurt, and she always dumped her whey into her watering jug. The protein stays in the yogurt - it's why Greek has lower carbs and more protein than regular yogurt - trust me, Weight Watchers has drilled that info into my head - and the sugars/carbs are in the whey. With cheese I think, you get more protein and you shouldn't use cheese whey on plants.

I'm going to try it on one - not the healthiest one - and see what happens.

Update: I raised the light, waited longer between waterings and added yogurt whey to the water instead of PH Down. My crispy little plants have quadrupled in size and are now lush, beautiful bushes with happy leaves. The plant I didn't use the whey on is still small, and the new growth isn't as quick and bright green like the wheyed plants.

Thanks, Grandma.

You should pitch this to yogurt companies since the whey disposal is big problem for them. Soon we could see a Chobani super plant additive. I'm guessing it would have quite a bit of calcium and you may need to keep an eye out for a Mg lockout or other deficiencies. Bonus if it still has a little whey protein in it that's what the nute companies use for L-amino acids additives. Good Luck