PS, I bought a clearance green galaxy monstera for $10 at Walmart. It was so sad, I just had to save it. I’ve never had a monstera before and have been wanting one. He seems to be snapping out of it. I’m so excited for him to get huge! One of your videos made me be on the lookout for a monstera!
There's quite a bit more to ph than what the video explains. Tapwater ph highly depends on water hardness, more specifically carbonate hardness or kh, which is the amount of calcium carbonate in the water. The more you have the higher the pH, but it will also help stabilise it and prevent swings, which is something you really don't want to happen. The south and south East of the UK has very hard water, while the rest has medium to soft water. If you have hard to medium water the best way to adjust your pH is by changing the ratio of RO/rain water to tap water you use. If you use 50/50 for example then your water hardness will be halved and ph lowered compared to pure tap water. The reason you want to be careful with pure ro water is that fertilisers and other decomposing organics are fairly acidic and will swing your ph wildly without any kh in the water. If you have soft water you can add crushed coral or bicarb to increase your kh. I'd suggest aquarium drop tests or at least test strips for accurate measurements, you can even test ammonia and other nutrients this way. Similarly aquarium related articles and videos will go into far more detail about water chemistry for obvious reasons.
Sorry, just have to note: you said to "add bicarb" to acidic water. To be clear: Do NOT use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to "boost pH" for anything, because of the _sodium_ - salt. Not for plants, aquariums, or your own drinking water. _Calcium carbonate_ is your best option. And it's what crushed coral is made of, as OP noted, but there's nothing special about it being sourced specifically from crushed coral vs buying a jar of calcium carbonate. It's not like "natural" versus "synthetic" or anything, and crushed coral is more likely to have impurities. You can find calcium carbonate as a saltwater reef aquarium supplement, used for boosting calcium, pH, &/or kH (carbonate hardness). Powdered is always a better bang for your buck than liquid. (Ig liquid is "pre-mixed", but you'll still mix that into your watering can, so.) Anyway, just that. Cheers.
@@mookinbabysealfurmittens good point about the bicarb, only in very small quantities. A tiny bit of salt can be quite beneficial for freshwater fish. I like crushed coral because you can just add it in a mesh bag or as part of the substrates and have long term buffering for full hydro for example, without much work.
@@anne8663 Oo, yes! Washed crushed eggshells are great for garden beds! (As you surely know, but for anyone who doesn't: boosts calcium and pH.) Another good kitchen waste fertiliser is used-up coffee grounds (which you can run through the coffee machine at least twice, btw) but they are notably acidic.
The p.h strips aren't very accurate, they're fine for most plants but for any that are a bit more sensitive they can be a little vague. It's a bit of an initial outlay, a worthwhile one though, but get yourself a bluelab p.h pen, Apera also make a very good one. worth the money. In my experience, the cheap ones available online drift out of calibration pretty quickly and you'll end up replacing it many times and maybe spend the same as you would have on a good one.
Also she'll out a few dollars for an electronic pH meter that can be calibrated. The plant versions are terribly inaccurate. Check your local aquarium stores and ask the owners about this.
We have hard water here in the Ozarks. I filter my water using a Brita pitcher. So far so good because my Calathea has no brown leaves. I've had this plant for a couple of months and it has tripled in size.😀.
I moved to plant surge. Magnetic contraption I hook up to my hose. I now use it for all plant watering, inside and out. I do still fertilize inside plants monthly. Outside quarterly. That plant surge?! Huge difference in watering.
I never knew this! Interesting. Been reading the comments. We have a 4x6 man made fish pond with 7 very large fish. I’m wondering if I could use that water for my plants. Adding some test strips to my cart!
Leave the strips alone and get a ph meter that can be calibrated. I've been the same meter from Aspera for about 3 years now. Saves money on strips and you get a more accurate reading
@@N0C0MPLY Blue labs are pretty much the best at the moment and you need to calibrate them monthly, says so on Blue labs website. I've never found a digital PH metre that was reliable other than Blue labs and never came across one that you could calibrate once or twice a year.
yes plus the strips are hard to read you basically can't see the exact number you may see that it's between 6-8 but with s pH plant you can get the water to 6.2 every time
Those with fish tanks will probably be familiar with PH and other measurements of the water, I like using the tank water for my plants, it doesn't have chlorine and the plants love it.
Thankyou for this video, I knew my water was too acidic because my hydrangeas were growing pink and not purple as they were when I bought it in the shop, I was going to add chicken manure, I wasn't aware of the chemicals you mentioned in this video, I'll definitely be buying those now, especially for my indoor plants, which I never gave a thought about the PH level. I'll be buying that PH reader as well, thankyou 🙂
Hydrangers creep me out .... they die so horribly. Big round blooms; just crisping and browning and dehydrating like severed heads on poles at theTower 😵💫
Dear Mr. Sheffield, I hope this message finds you well. Recently, I joined your esteemed plant lovers' community, and I am thoroughly enjoying the wealth of knowledge you provide. I wanted to share an interesting phenomenon I've encountered with a new plant I purchased, a Chinese Money Plant (Pilea peperomioides). Following your advice, I placed the plant in a location away from others, and as the soil was moist upon purchase, I refrained from watering it further, though I kept a close eye on it. To my surprise, after just three days, two small white mushrooms appeared in the soil. I have not seen a video on your channel that addresses this issue, so I thought it might make for a valuable topic. I would be happy to provide a video of the mushrooms if that would be helpful. It would be wonderful if you could consider making a video on how to address this issue. Thank you for your time and for the excellent content you provide.
Thank you for talking about this! I’ve been growing houseplants for 5 years & just found out about it this year! More plant people should talk about this! I’m always wondering how other RU-vidrs plants look way better & healthier than mine and I feel like this is truly the answer because I use the same fertilizer as most people.
I live in North America and yes, my tap water varies neutral to somewhat alkaline. I don’t usually do anything to adjust it and so far my plants usually do okay. I wonder if they’d grow better if I acidified the water just a bit.
I have a serious alkalinity issue with my property (outdoor soil at 8.5 ph), but the recommendation is simply to add sulphur to bring it down. Can't you use sulphur on houseplants?
Morning Rich, really good infor about the PH in this one. I just checked 5 random plants and they are all 7 or 7.5. Weird. Remember these are all new plants. O well, everyone have a great day enjoying your plants! Love and Peace.
Thank you for the informative video again! I have been scratching my head with my potted Camellia sinensis and its brownin leaf edges. Just changed its soil and used the type meant for acid-loving plants. As the problem only got worse, I had to buy a pH meter. The reading was 7, so now the plant is on an aluminium sulphate diet to get the pH back to between 6 and 5, which it apparently should be more happy about. A pH meter is a great purchase!
Biobizz is great stuff. I use a mixture for my flowering vegetables for a few years and I’ve have good success compared with other feeds. Some of them absolutely stink and are thick. I noticed when you mentioned about the pool tester strips, you spelt chlorine wrong.
You should mention to invest in a good ph meter if you want accurate results! Most stuff under 50 bucks is nonsense and shows different results every time you stick it in. Or just use test stripes for soil, much cheaper. ALSO check what plants you're trying to fix! Most aroids need slightly acidic soil. =)
I bought a moisture meter off of Amazon, it never read that it was moist, even after watering. I even stuck it directly into the water.. and it read dry. 🙄
I went to the site but there were 6 different fertilizers, which one is a good pick?? Also do you have any suggestions for hydroponic for the ones growing in water? Thank you for your help your videos are awesome!!
My water is definitely high in PH . I've been collecting rainwater and now I just use have half rainwater and half tap water . 1 part of each seems to being my PH to 6.5 .
Okay will this not work my tap water is Sky High dark blue on the test strips my filtered water out of my refrigerator is yellow acidic so when I mix half and half it's neutral I learned that from having a fish tank I know it won't take out all the bad stuff but will that work in the water part of having the water neutral?
Mr. SHEFFIELD, i lost all my plants because of heat. I leave in tunisia where summer is ver hot. I didnt use air condionner. However, all my plants are suffering and look sad. What could i do?
Dude you have been suckered, sodium bicarbonate & sodium biphosphate is all you need to raise or lower your pH levels. Store bought products are nothing but these with an eyewatering price added.
You used the aquarium hack when you dechlorinated/dechlormined water. new hack. buy a PH GH and KH test kit at your local fish store to test your water.
This goes a little beyond my line of basic (aka Lazy) plant care philosophy. I haven't run into any issues with my houseplants yet in life where new soil isn't able to rejuvenate a plant. I treat my water and maybe I've just been lucky with my climate in Canada.
