The Hidden Problem Wrecking Your Plants

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

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[@Gardening.shorts]

This never worked

[@anro8659]

Link worked 4 me

[@julierobertson148]

Yours is the most useful houseplant channel I've found. I hove a BS in chemistry, so i "knew" the chemical end of horticulture. What I'm learning from you is what all that means in the real world and how to use that knowledge. Thank you SO much.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

You know much more than me then! 😅

[@deborahwarren6710]

Just started a plant hobby. These are the best plant video’s out there, love your humour too

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@davidweed_delusions]

One thing you should have mentioned is that you should always check the ph of your water after you add nutrients. Nutrients can and will change the ph of the water,so always check the ph of your water AFTER you add nutrients.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

👍

[@gailwhitlow4976]

See 7.15 - he talks about pH of water.

[@davidweed_delusions]

@@gailwhitlow4976 while he does mention ph,what he failed to do was mention WHEN to check the ph. This was the point of my comment. Many fertilizers and additives,organic and synthetic,can and will change the ph of your water. For example fish fertilizer will decrease the ph by .5,this decrease could mean the difference between a plant getting all of the nutrients it needs to getting only some of the nutrients.

[@Spyder6664]

@@davidweed_delusions ph is a flowing thing ok. Fluid .... every second it changes. All my plants ( only been keeping a few since Sept 23) only get fish tank water (waste some may say) .... In a fishtank .... i can lower it ... I increase it in seconds. Nitrates. Warm water .... Easy as that.

[@johna8973]

​@@davidweed_delusionsright , and Add PH neutral Amendments

[@hf7rj]

I'm new into plants, however I read and watch a lot and your videos are the best and most relatable. So, Thank you!

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Love it!

[@laurachristianson1688]

Hey we’re studying my soils and soil fertility class with Mr Jusdson in my hort/ ag classes a few decades ago, ah the memories

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Oh nice so I didn’t get it all wrong??

[@danw8586]

To adjust soil ph you can use lime to raise the ph balance or sulfur to reduce it, but this needs to be monitored as it will naturally revert back to type overtime.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Sure. I imagine it's hard to know the quantity needed?

[@danw8586]

@@SheffieldMadePlantsit is dependent on the type of the growing media being used, the more free draining the less needed.

[@TheLostOne172]

Fun fact! You dont have to worry about nutrient lockout if you dont put nutrients in the media! This only aplies to certain plants.

[@Alwaysherethere]

I learn something new with every video!❤

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Great stuff 👍

[@GenRN]

My pH is 7.8 out of the tap. I know this because I’m a fish keeper. It is great for keeping cichlids! I recently bought a water distiller for my diva plants and I have to clean it out after each gallon and I have to use citric acid to clean off the crunchy water stains. I joke that my water is so crunchy I can eat it with a fork.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Sounds like a delight 😂

[@blowitoutyourcunt7675]

Brita pitcher filter for the diva houseplants and a water softener for my patio hose! I considered a distiller but thought it might be overkill and take a lot of time/effort... Cheers

[@jillianleblanc9370]

Thank you for sharing beautiful and amazing plants lovely collection beautiful houseplants lovely

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Thanks for visiting

[@louisejoel]

Insightful video thank you. Since the tap water here is obviously quite hard due to the intense residue it leaves on my reading glasses, I'm getting out my old human PH strips for my plant friends and they may be getting a small dose of apple cider vinegar as well. Or I'll just give them rain water and filtered water. Luckily it's raining tonight and I have an Esky outside collecting water.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

A nice treat for them 👍

[@PlantPerson58]

I have a combination light/pH/moisture meter. I confess I rarely have used the pH meter. I’ll be testing my soil today. Thanks!

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Great stuff 👍

[@ThatGirlShelbyy]

I have one of those, and when I've tested and compared to my ph strips from amazon, its not nearly as accurate/reliable as the strips :/

[@nealmiller4801]

Great video. I just figured out that this was the problem with my plants a couple days ago and this was great timing for the info. Thank you Sheffield🤙

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Happy to help!

[@claptonhousecat8092]

Very helpful! A soil meter is on its way as a stocking gift for my alocasias. The calatheas are getting ph sticks.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Sounds great!

[@daym8]

A bit of alum say an inch works well to increase that acidity for a pot of 10inches. You can crush it into tiny granules or poke the piece into to soil , either way.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Thanks for the tip

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

3:20 Different houseplants want different pH. If you're trying to grow wheat as a houseplant (...why?), it has a very narrow near-neutral pH tolerance - if you have acid soil, amend with ash. An ericaceous plant is so called because it shares with the Erica genus an affection for acid soils. Amend with sulfur.

[@Gkrissy]

Great topic of ph. Because I’m in North America, at the end of the growing season, as sulfur to my lawn because of the alkalinity in our tap water. For plants, I have used test stripes in the past but I mainly use rainwater and filtered water occasionally.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Very good 👍

[@Gardening.shorts]

Hey Sheffield ! Thank you so much i received my first email from you ! 😃

[@Gardening.shorts]

It was an email for a light meter there is an app called PictureThis it’s so good a five star rated app for plants that’s what I use

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Great!

[@Gardening.shorts]

9:18 I’ve been subscribed for ages cause i know you’re the best KZbinr ! 😉

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Legend!

[@Gardening.shorts]

Pleasse can you do another plant tour I love watching your videos!

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Coming in the new year

[@Mockingbard]

6:45 Pine needles don't typically decrease soil pH substantially. Pines do better that most trees in acidic soil, and pine needles are slightly acidic, but this acid doesn't really leech into the soil at an appreciable rate (especially when the needles have already browned). This is a very helpful video, though, soil pH is very important!

[@Foxglove88]

I flush the with the flower pot draining into a bucket & test the run off water then re adjust the water in the bucket & re flush it as many times as it needs until the right ph & ppm is in the bucket.

[@Spikypotato.]

This channel is literally an antidepressant🤓😍

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Cool 👌

[@liltsummerlin423]

Whoever said "getting into plants is a stress reliever" is far from smart 😂

[@vickykent353]

My God, truer words have never been spoken!! 😅

[@liltsummerlin423]

@@vickykent353 😂😭🌱🌱

[@peterpv0001]

What I remember from my days when I had fish in aquariums: distilled water is slightly acidic! How can that be? Well, some CO2 (carbon dioxide) present in the air will dissolve in the distilled water. This then acts as a slight and weak ACID. To make water really neutral (PH = 7.0), add some Calcium carbonate (for example: ground limestone)! The Calcium will then bond with the CO2 or any other acid and keep the water's PH at 7 (or slightly above but never so much that it will be an issue).

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Thanks for the knowledge bomb 👍😁

[@Gardening.shorts]

4:45 that was hilarious 😂

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

🤣

[@laregimbal]

Thx for name checking a Canadian channel! 😊 I love your channel and find it very useful, but sometimes I just need advice closer to home... ❤❤❤

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Sure thing!

[@ravensdotter6843]

One point from here, across the pond: different regions have different proclivities in the water. For instance. Florida often has very alkaline water. But not so for other areas of the country.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Yep

[@worldgonemad1977]

Doesn’t it also depend on whether the plants are acid or alkaline lovers before amending Ph levels?

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Most tropicals prefer slightly acidic

[@jimmyjo1375]

I test the water runoff with a PH pen to keep check on it. Difficult to do when bottom watering unfortunately.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Yeah I bet

[@EZRA-k4r]

Thank you, this helped a lot!

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

You bet!

[@Hiforest]

I live up the road from Scotland Well, which, according to legend, cured Robert the Bruce of leprosy. But alas,I googled the ph level and it's 8.3 (which i now realise isn't ideal thanks to your video). I've ordered some ph strips, thank you for helping me become a better parent.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

You bet!

[@TheGizby]

Very useful thanks . Takes me back to my school days. My water meter has two probes, The other is for pH which I've never used before. Now I'm going to test the soil in all my plants.. Ferns keep dying on me and I've tried hard with right light, watering and humidity. Wonder if that's because of the wrong ph.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Be interesting to find out

[@cloud__99]

Those ph strips should totally work on your soil too as long as it’s damp! Totally unrelated but is there a video about powdery mildew on house plants on your channel? I’m dealing with an outbreak on my Kalanchoes, never had that before 🥲 For my outdoor plants I’d spray them with milk but after your milk desaster video I’m scared to do it to my indoor friends 😅

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Sorry no video. You might need a fungicide

[@HERODANTE2]

You channel is super casual, in terms of being wisdom-heavy its like 10%, whereas gardening in canada is a total oposite, like a plant-nerd :)

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

I like to keep it that way mainly because I’ve not got the knowledge of GIC 😅

[@leovicious6992]

Love the channel. any suggestions on what i could start on the back of toilit?

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Thanks. Not sure what you mean though?

[@DragoniteSpam]

One of my science experiments in elementary school involved watering plants with sulfuric acid (nominally to make a point about acid rain, but mostly because I wanted an excuse to do weird stuff with plants). I think I win the award for "worst pH imbalance in a houseplant."

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Poor plants 😂

[@srinivenkataraman2413]

I have been enjoying your videos. One thing that bothers me is that the size of root ball vs pot size. People complain the plant is not growing. The reason I found mostly is inappropriate pot size - like 1” root ball in 10” pot. Pl make a video for this aspect. It will be greatly helpful

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

👍👍👍

[@Tminus89]

My mind is screwing with me... Somehow, straight after reading the title, I imagined a mini you in a gnome costume jumping out from behind the couch with a sinister laugh. Imagine an army of that, living in our homes to screw with our plants so we come here to find solutions😋

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Now that’s a scary thought 🤣

[@hf7rj]

On another totally unrelated note, what is the watering can you are using? I love its design!

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

The grey one?

[@josearredondo5023]

For anyone with aquariums you can use your aquariums water to water your plants. It has natural nutrients in it made by your fishes.

[@karajalbert6074]

Help. I cut off the tops of my rubber trees instead of growing new leaves, they are rotting from where I cut them and I'm not watering them only rarely 😢

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Cut back further with sterilised pruners until there is no rot in the trunk. Hopefully that'll save it

[@kaitlenredner4897]

Lemon or baking soda also change the ph of water. A little goes a long way

[@sallofatani]

I wonder if humic acid works, I use it once a month specially if i forget to water and soil become hydrophobic

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Not read up on that

[@Gardening.shorts]

6:20 that never worked I put my email in a couple of months ago and never received a single email 📧

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Checked your spam folder?

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

If not then I can add you manually if you send me an email

[@Gardening.shorts]

Ok I’ll have a look at my spam folder

[@Gardening.shorts]

@@SheffieldMadePlants checked my spam and it’s empty

[@Gardening.shorts]

@@SheffieldMadePlantswhats your email please ? I can’t find it

[@dreamlovermimi9458]

Gardening in Canada is the best plant channel out there! she backs up everything on botany/ Plant and soil science.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

💯

[@hectorskmetija3015]

On the subject of pH levels, have you thought about growing some of your houseplants in a fish tank?

[@benjif2424]

/aquaponics

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Not so much. Mrs Sheffield wouldn’t be pleased 😀

[@firassayegh2584]

Using venigar can help lower the soil ph in the other hand if its much acidic u can add some wood ache to the soil

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Quite hard to judge quantity though

[@firassayegh2584]

@@SheffieldMadePlants it should be kind of balance not much or little for both

[@alinajustme11]

I had long struggled with acid loving plants such as gardenias and camellias i killed at least 5 gardenias before i gave up, and it would always die in the same exact way following the same exact process .I would repot it in acidic soil specific for such plants but after a certain time it would start to decline again i think it's because of the alkaline water eventually decreasing the acidity of the soil in the pot, so i had to also figure out a way to turn the water acidic lol In the end i decided it was not worth the trouble

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Sometimes it's not i guess

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

"gardener's sulphur"

[@StarPaths_7]

I just used tap water yet but i thought about using a mix of tap water and destilled water to be on the safer side. Could this work?

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Hard to say. Could test it and see

[@karenfreedman9180]

What about rain water? I collect my plant water in a rain barrel. It’s always measured neutral. Could this water cause nutrient block-out?

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Not if it’s in the right range

[@Gardening.shorts]

Wait a sec… can I use baking powder on my plant ?

[@gladysperez8156]

No. He’s just given a scenario, as example. Ph has something called hydroxyl which is composed of sugar and fatty acid. That’s also called hydrogen( H2O). H2 have two ( oxygen , hydrogen) these are the molecules for surviving. Everything’s depends on the environment for all the organisms to be balance and plant grow. ( by the way I’m no scientist. I just understand based on his explanation).

[@louisejoel]

You can put some on your zucchini

[@laurawhigham8492]

I used to use baking SODA to adjust pH in my fish tank water. Aquarium pH test kits used to be simple, cheap and accurate. Now all pH testing supplies are super expensive. I don’t know why. Guess I’ll have to make the investment for my house plants.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Nah 😅

[@Gardening.shorts]

5:28 bloody hell £576! Why so expensive?

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

I know but your plants deserve it right?

[@Gardening.shorts]

I guess

[@SahilSharma-dw5lq]

Please,Make a video on 'Hydrogen Paroxide' use in gardening. 😊

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Don’t know if there is much to say on it?

[@scwheeler24]

I think this is the problem with my snow queen philodendron. It just isn’t growing and my meter said it was pretty alkaline. Would using coffee grounds or old coffee work?

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

It’s hard to judge quantity. You’re better off adjusting your water I think

[@SysterYster]

I have a big beautiful hibiscus that I bought a few years ago, then made a baby from it two years ago. It's growing like crazy, and it was thriving a lot. This summer though, just like my deciduous bonsai trees (they were standing on the balcony together), many started getting yellowing leaves. Or... they got pale leaves, and stunted growth. They have the same treatment as always, which has always been good, but suddenly they started looking... sad. And they're dropping leaves more often than they should. I'm not sure what it is. If it's a germ, tiny invisible bugs, or a disease. What do you think? :/

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Sounds like it could have caught something but not sure what. Have you checked out the roots?

[@SysterYster]

@@SheffieldMadePlants No, since it was replanted in the spring, and I haven't had the energy to do that again. ^^; Maybe I should. But it was growing really well, so I don't think it's the roots. Especially since it affected like half my bonsai trees too. I'm hoping the cold winter will cure the trees somehow, but the hibiscus has to be indoors. :/ I'll check the roots though.

[@MarisaAndChew]

It sounds like an iron deficiency. Does your fertilizer of choice have chelated iron? It's the most easily absorbed by plants. It could also be the plants bleached out from the sun but look up chlorosis in plants. Alkaline soil makes it harder for plants to absorb iron so if you do decide to test your pH and it's above 6.5 you can very easily grab some pH up and down from a fish store and make sure your water is around this even after you add nutrients. Source: I used to keep planted fish tanks and have very alkaline (hard) well water so I had to pay chemist a lot! My pet snails at that time would tell me if the water had taken a swing as they would climb out of the water as the water would be hurting them. A quick check and some chemicals to make the pH good and the snails would plop right back in! Obviously, you don't want to add snails to your houseplants though 😬

[@Holywell88]

Dear mr Sheffield. I was wondering if yellowing leaves should be removed as soon as you see them, or should i wait till they go crisp and brown. Do plants reabsorb nutrients from dying leaves!? Regards EtheltheFroh Doncaster

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Don’t think it matters too much. Prune if they bother you. I leave em till they are easy to pull off

[@faithcomesbyhearing724]

This makes sense. Our bodies can be to acidic or to alkaline. Another clue to why our plants have trouble. Have a blessed day.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Thanks you too

[@NailahRoberts]

Why did you show a clip of the liver buildings when you were talking about Yorkshire water?

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

I can't remember i did 😅

[@NailahRoberts]

@@SheffieldMadePlants 😂😂 not complaining, I'm from near there ❤️

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

@@NailahRoberts I should know I went uni there

[@NailahRoberts]

@@SheffieldMadePlants me to, I still remember freshers week and the little paper magazine full of jokes and vouchers and I'm 51 now. Some of the best times ever.

[@antoniosamarzija7085]

You can buy pool testing kit for ph testing of water. Those things have dozer and you drop few drops it shows you ph level of water and chlorine in the water. It costs about 15eur. You can even buy bucket of ph- and ph+ to make your water more acidic or alkaline.. also in a store for outdoor pools

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Very good 👍

[@CistudeSuisse]

As an ex-aquariophile for South Asian fishes, I'm almost jealous you got natural soft abd aciditic water 😭 in Switzerland, because of the Alps, our water is quite hard. Making it acidic is a nightmare 😅

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

I’m lucky for sure

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

try reverse osmosis or distillation

[@Gardening.shorts]

2:00 😂

[@colleengaddy2958]

Wait... You don't have to add soap to your dishwasher??

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

🤔

[@peterpv0001]

Not soap, SALT! Depending on the concentration of (Calcium based) salts in your tap water you need to put dishwasher salt in the dishwaser (it will have a special container for that). This salt compensates for the salts present in the tap water. Many dishwasher detergents already contain such salts. To dissolve food residue you still need to add soap / detergent.

[@nicoleperron3315]

​@@peterpv0001oh how interesting 🤔 I've never heard of this. But then again I am the dishwasher

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

@@peterpv0001 Ah now i've got it 👍

[@chris-do6nr]

The pH of boiling water is 6.4. You can boil water and wait to cool and water rather than buy car loads of distilled water

[@WhatIsMisophonia]

Knew it was gonna be ph :P. Every environment is different, and it's odd that people think one size fits all except for the extremes. For example, is a succulent plant in largely sandy soil in nature going to want the same ph as a jungle plant? And yeah, I didn't think for the longest time about whether it's a good idea to water plants with hard alkaline water. Btw, if a greenhouse has little choice but to use hard water and find that acidifying it is cost prohibitive, they can still compensate by adding extra fertilizer. It's not just that plants don't want to operate very well in an incorrect ph, it's also that certain nutrients will be tied up by higher ph, while certain other nutrients will be tied up in lower ph. Sometimes this can be corrected by simply adding more fertilizer, though if ph is way off, acidifying/liming water and/or changing soil components are necessary.

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

I guess that’s why we have a safe zone to cover our bases a bit

[@jeanthornton2107]

Oh eck! More scientific stuff 😮

[@TheFloridaBikeVlogger]

frick! thank you tho

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

You’ve got this ✊

[@Jeromeeb]

Someone found a pot growers channel😅

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

Who's?

[@Jeromeeb]

@@SheffieldMadePlants lol I dunno man you tell me. If you are unaware checking your ph runoff when growing cannabis is a big thing in that community. You should watch a few if you haven't, they have some interesting ideas.

[@Gardening.shorts]

Hi second to comment

[@WendySS22]

4th

[@writegirl2937]

Alrighty, Sir Richard.😊You have given me yet another homework assignment.😂🪴 But you know what? I appreciate you for it!! So, Merci Beaucoup!😊👏🏽🧡

[@SheffieldMadePlants]

I know right! Back at school eh

[@writegirl2937]

@@SheffieldMadePlants 😊🪴