The Irish Growers Thread!

Mellogreenman

Mellogreenman

Member
Hi guys, I got a quick question regarding rain waters PH level.

Do any of the you Irish lads use rain water and if so have you been collecting it recently?
The reason why I'm asking is because the last 2 times I grew the water was testing at 6.8 (first grow about a year and a half ago), 7.2 (second grow in Jan) and now for my 3rd grow I've collected a bucket full and it's testing out at 8.4.. Maybe my PH meter might be on the blink but I re-calibrated it just the other day.

Does any one have the same problems with high PH in their rain water at the moment and is it safe to use shop bough bottled water (if so, which brand??) or even the water from the kitchen sink if left out in the air for 24 hours, it's just that I need to get this seed germinated ASAP.

Cheers in advance.
 
ghostdogalpha

ghostdogalpha

Well-Known Member
Mellogreenman said:
Hi guys, I got a quick question regarding rain waters PH level.

Do any of the you Irish lads use rain water and if so have you been collecting it recently?
The reason why I'm asking is because the last 2 times I grew the water was testing at 6.8 (first grow about a year and a half ago), 7.2 (second grow in Jan) and now for my 3rd grow I've collected a bucket full and it's testing out at 8.4.. Maybe my PH meter might be on the blink but I re-calibrated it just the other day.

Does any one have the same problems with high PH in their rain water at the moment and is it safe to use shop bough bottled water (if so, which brand??) or even the water from the kitchen sink if left out in the air for 24 hours, it's just that I need to get this seed germinated ASAP.

Cheers in advance.
Click to expand...
Hello @Mello. Welcome on board. As regards the rainwater, I think a lot depends on how its collected/stored. I went down the rainwater route once and it had a high ph value(I am based in Ireland). Also found that if it was sitting for a long time it tended to attract algae.But thats just my experience of where I was at.
I was using store bought water for a very long time (mainly budget tesco) and had good results. But in the long term it was a pain in the ass dealing with the amount of waste plastic bottles.
Now I just use tap water left to sit for 24 hours. I no longer obsess over ph values and just wait for the plant to tell me whats going on.
But each to their own and I am sure the others will have their opinion.
Whats your setup by the way? What are you planning on growing?
 
Mellogreenman

Mellogreenman

Member
ghostdogalpha said:
Hello @Mello. Welcome on board. As regards the rainwater, I think a lot depends on how its collected/stored. I went down the rainwater route once and it had a high ph value(I am based in Ireland). Also found that if it was sitting for a long time it tended to attract algae.But thats just my experience of where I was at.
I was using store bought water for a very long time (mainly budget tesco) and had good results. But in the long term it was a pain in the ass dealing with the amount of waste plastic bottles.
Now I just use tap water left to sit for 24 hours. I no longer obsess over ph values and just wait for the plant to tell me whats going on.
But each to their own and I am sure the others will have their opinion.
Whats your setup by the way? What are you planning on growing?
Click to expand...
Cheers for the reply, I will be growing an auto ak from royal queen seeds, setup will be soil, Biobizz light mix, with around 400 watts of cfls ranging from 2700 to 6400k, a couple of 120mm pc fans for outtake and passive holes on the bottom for air intake. I have grown before, last try was bag seed a few months ago but turned out male, before that was the same as I planning on now ak.. My only problem now is the water I have filled 2 buckets of water with tap water and the reading on the ph meter is 7.1, so I'm going to leave it like you said for the 24 hours and maybe notch it down to as close to 6.4 as I can get it. I would love to get one out above soil before the end of the weekend and the I plan on starting one every 5 weeks so as I'll always have something to smoke..

A pic from my last ak grow

IMG_0335.jpg
 
R3l@X

R3l@X

Well-Known Member
I leave tap water in a open 2ltr bottlefor 24 hr n ph to 6.5 but this isn't necessary when germinating seeds just straight tap water does the job

I found the light mix well light lol great for starting em off but u need to feed her fairly early on with the light mix n if ur not 2 fussy ur soils ph is 6.3 so she's gonna be fairly forgiving as in if u water with 7.1 the soil will buffer it out
 
ghostdogalpha

ghostdogalpha

Well-Known Member
Mellogreenman said:
Cheers for the reply, I will be growing an auto ak from royal queen seeds, setup will be soil, Biobizz light mix, with around 400 watts of cfls ranging from 2700 to 6400k, a couple of 120mm pc fans for outtake and passive holes on the bottom for air intake. I have grown before, last try was bag seed a few months ago but turned out male, before that was the same as I planning on now ak.. My only problem now is the water I have filled 2 buckets of water with tap water and the reading on the ph meter is 7.1, so I'm going to leave it like you said for the 24 hours and maybe notch it down to as close to 6.4 as I can get it. I would love to get one out above soil before the end of the weekend and the I plan on starting one every 5 weeks so as I'll always have something to smoke..

A pic from my last ak grow

View attachment 3205136
Click to expand...
Dont go getting your head bent out of shape over ph and stressing yourself out. I grow soil too, and like @ReLaX says, it acts as a buffer as long as you not using battery acid. If you want, just get the 5lr bottles of Tesco water that has the ph at source written on the side, cant remember brand, and boom, no more worrying. The cfl's shouldnt gen too much heat.
Remember, you are meant to enjoy growing!!
 
Mellogreenman

Mellogreenman

Member
R3l@X said:
I leave tap water in a open 2ltr bottlefor 24 hr n ph to 6.5 but this isn't necessary when germinating seeds just straight tap water does the job

I found the light mix well light lol great for starting em off but u need to feed her fairly early on with the light mix n if ur not 2 fussy ur soils ph is 6.3 so she's gonna be fairly forgiving as in if u water with 7.1 the soil will buffer it out
Click to expand...
Yea mate, I noticed that the last grow the water I was putting in was sometimes going in at 6.5 - 6.7 (that was as close as I dare to try and get it at using the ph down, it was all too easy to put too much ph down in and ruin it). but it was coming out of the bottom of the pot at around 5.9- 6.1. And yea I have to agree with you about needing to feed them early using the biobizz light mix, the time before when I grew the ak auto I left it a little bit too late too feed and it started to starve, this time I'll be feeding much sooner like after a week and a half (last time I left it for nearly 3 weeks)..

When you say straight tap water for germination, are you talking about not needing to leave it settle for the 24 hours and that it's okay to use that because I could get cracking right now if that's the case?
 
Mellogreenman

Mellogreenman

Member
ghostdogalpha said:
Dont go getting your head bent out of shape over ph and stressing yourself out. I grow soil too, and like @ReLaX says, it acts as a buffer as long as you not using battery acid. If you want, just get the 5lr bottles of Tesco water that has the ph at source written on the side, cant remember brand, and boom, no more worrying. The cfl's shouldnt gen too much heat.
Remember, you are meant to enjoy growing!!
Click to expand...
Cheers mate, I know yea but I don't want to ruin this grow, I am only really worried about the water that I'm going to use to germinate it in, I am going to use the shot glass method left on top of my router with newspapers under the glass so as the glass doesn't get too hot (my router gets really hot, like more than 85 deg f so ill need to cover it up to control the heat a bit).

I will go and get that water tonight...

Cheers
 
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