edwmax
02-07-2017, 12:37 PM
If you don't have one, get one. I got a PH meter yesterday at Tractor supply (Burpee). This morning I found out how valuable it was.
I've been having some problems with my potted plants over the past month (45 days?). I thought was due to depleted fertilizer and lack of nutrients and was making adjustments to correct. ... I checked the PH. A couple of the pots were 6.5; other were at 5 or 5.5 (slight acid); one pot was at 3 (very acid). I didn't under stand this since I treated all the pots the same.
I mix 2 teaspoons of lime to a quart of water and added a little to all the pots. The one pot at 3 suddenly had a very strong smell of ammonia; which meant a problem with the soil. A Chem reaction making excess nitrogen, all not good.
This problem pot was my Truly Tiny. It suddenly died back this past month; but it was growing a good looking pup. So I have repotted it.
What I noticed is my potting soil was not reacting with the lime. I think when the Truly Tiny was repotted last November, the nursery soil was not removed from the root ball and I fill in around the root ball in a larger pot. This was the soil with the ammonia smell and I believe it was composting in the pot causing nitrogen lockup. ... Anyway there were a lot of healthy roots after washing the root ball, so I hope for a couple of more pups soon.
I plan on going back to that nursery tomorrow for 2 more Tinys and I will be asking about their potting soil and mix. I saw their mix had a lot of large bark chips which I think indicate they use fresh bark in the potting mix.
I consider the $18 meter more than paid for itself today.
I've been having some problems with my potted plants over the past month (45 days?). I thought was due to depleted fertilizer and lack of nutrients and was making adjustments to correct. ... I checked the PH. A couple of the pots were 6.5; other were at 5 or 5.5 (slight acid); one pot was at 3 (very acid). I didn't under stand this since I treated all the pots the same.
I mix 2 teaspoons of lime to a quart of water and added a little to all the pots. The one pot at 3 suddenly had a very strong smell of ammonia; which meant a problem with the soil. A Chem reaction making excess nitrogen, all not good.
This problem pot was my Truly Tiny. It suddenly died back this past month; but it was growing a good looking pup. So I have repotted it.
What I noticed is my potting soil was not reacting with the lime. I think when the Truly Tiny was repotted last November, the nursery soil was not removed from the root ball and I fill in around the root ball in a larger pot. This was the soil with the ammonia smell and I believe it was composting in the pot causing nitrogen lockup. ... Anyway there were a lot of healthy roots after washing the root ball, so I hope for a couple of more pups soon.
I plan on going back to that nursery tomorrow for 2 more Tinys and I will be asking about their potting soil and mix. I saw their mix had a lot of large bark chips which I think indicate they use fresh bark in the potting mix.
I consider the $18 meter more than paid for itself today.