Alistair
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- Jan 29, 2008
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I've a plant that I over-fertilized. It doesn't look terribly over-nuted; I've seen a lot worse. Well, I decided to flush a bit in order to wash out the excess. I had no intention of tossing three times the water as soil; I had planned on about three gallons of RO water, pH around 6.5. After the first gallon I tested a sample of the runoff. The pH was 5.9. So, I gave it a second and third gallon, yet, the pH remained steady at 5.9. The water was a bit yellow, so I kept on flushing with an additional two gallons of water, but the runoff held a stubborn 5.9. Common sense telling me that a lot of the excess had been washed out, and the fact that it was way past my bed time and I had lost patience, I gave up.
I've seen plants that were over-nuted before, and with a couple of gallons of water for a flush, and a few days later, the plants looked good again. I didn't measure runoff, but the plants regained their health. So, that is also why I gave up tossing water on it.
So, I realized that something was buffering the pH, and unless I tossed another seven gallons of water on the thing, the pH wasn't going to budge. Now, I don't know if what I measuring was an accurate representation of the overall soil pH. I'd say that after letting the plant drain, I recovered at least half a gallon of runoff after each flush. Each time, the amount of runoff was about the same. I wonder if it was too dilute, which would mean that the actual soil pH was even lower than the measured 5.9. If it wasn't dilute enough, then the actual soil pH was probably higher than 5.9. All I could think of was the dolomite lime in the soil was buffering the pH. But, isn't lime supposed to maintain pH at about 6.3-6.8? I wonder if the 5.9 is the real pH of the soil? I dumped five gallons of water on the plant, and each time the runoff was a stubborn 5.9. I'm going to wait a day or two and see how the plant responds before tossing more water on it again. It's hard to imagine that it was way over-fertilized, because I know how much fertilizer I gave it, and I've enough sense not to poison it too much. I might have overdone it a bit, but I certainly didn't toss way too much fertilizer on it.
What do you all think? When I finished, the water was still a bit yellow, but less so than when I started the flush. I don't like measuring runoff, because I don't seem to know how to.
I've seen plants that were over-nuted before, and with a couple of gallons of water for a flush, and a few days later, the plants looked good again. I didn't measure runoff, but the plants regained their health. So, that is also why I gave up tossing water on it.
So, I realized that something was buffering the pH, and unless I tossed another seven gallons of water on the thing, the pH wasn't going to budge. Now, I don't know if what I measuring was an accurate representation of the overall soil pH. I'd say that after letting the plant drain, I recovered at least half a gallon of runoff after each flush. Each time, the amount of runoff was about the same. I wonder if it was too dilute, which would mean that the actual soil pH was even lower than the measured 5.9. If it wasn't dilute enough, then the actual soil pH was probably higher than 5.9. All I could think of was the dolomite lime in the soil was buffering the pH. But, isn't lime supposed to maintain pH at about 6.3-6.8? I wonder if the 5.9 is the real pH of the soil? I dumped five gallons of water on the plant, and each time the runoff was a stubborn 5.9. I'm going to wait a day or two and see how the plant responds before tossing more water on it again. It's hard to imagine that it was way over-fertilized, because I know how much fertilizer I gave it, and I've enough sense not to poison it too much. I might have overdone it a bit, but I certainly didn't toss way too much fertilizer on it.
What do you all think? When I finished, the water was still a bit yellow, but less so than when I started the flush. I don't like measuring runoff, because I don't seem to know how to.