Flushing my plant with distilled water??
- Thread starter Johnd1
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LetsGetCritical
Well-Known Member
ph meter and ph up/down ?
matty357951
Member
Is leaving water outside in a can for a day good enuf? Because i read all the chemicals in ur tap water would have evaporated.
matty357951
Member
Red cabbage for testing ph
ThorGanjason
Well-Known Member
Well, letting water sit out helps chlorine and some chemicals dissipate (unless its chlorinated with chloramine, which a lot of city's use in their water. It can't be boiled or left standing to reduce the chlorine.
Even still tho, some tap waters have way too much sediment in them. A los Angeles suburb tested tap water with a ppm of 450.
And for flushing, depending on which definition you use, some say to use 3 times the volume of your soil. So if you have a 5 gallon bucket, flush with FIFTEEN gallons of water.
Now, personally I think that is way too much. Water it until it starts draining out, and then just keep on adding water and letting it run through. 4 or 5 gallons of water should be enough, you might not even need that much.
Even still tho, some tap waters have way too much sediment in them. A los Angeles suburb tested tap water with a ppm of 450.
And for flushing, depending on which definition you use, some say to use 3 times the volume of your soil. So if you have a 5 gallon bucket, flush with FIFTEEN gallons of water.
Now, personally I think that is way too much. Water it until it starts draining out, and then just keep on adding water and letting it run through. 4 or 5 gallons of water should be enough, you might not even need that much.
tusseltussel
Well-Known Member
Actually if you go back to what flushing actually consists of you will find that you need top saturate the soil then wait 15 min for the salts to dissolve them go back with another to flush the dissolved nutes out.... 1 gallon top saturate 1 to flush or 2 of you think it is really bad and that's how you strip nutes from a5 gallon pot
its actually better to flush with a low ppm nute solution or one of the way overpriced flushing products on the market.
Two reasons:
1. ion displacement. Salts are held by the soil media because of ion attractions, its easier to displace ions if you have some other ions to knock them loose.
Similar to the reason salt is used to flush ion exchange water purification systems. but don't use salt
2. You don't want the roots in a complete ionic void like distilled water. Negative osmotic pressures are not good for living cells.
Its kind of like the reason for using saline as an intravenous fluid, or a sports drink instead of plain water.
Assuming you have decent tap water , i would use tap water instead of distilled water.
lamopa
Active Member
Sure can. Distilled water comes right around 6 PH, tap water around 7 (at least mine does). 6 PH is just about perfect for soil or hydro (I know it is a little lower with hydro, and higher with soil - 6.0 is just a medium).
lamopa
Active Member
Do you have your own well or do you have city/town water? Your own well should not have chlorine, so you won't need to let it sit. Leaving it out overnight or whatever only helps to evaporate the chlorine, it won't do anything for your PH.
the ph of distilled water is meaningless since there are no salts, no acids and no bases in it.
The reason your distilled water is slightly acidic is probably because of dissolved CO2 in it which can vary a lot.
lamopa
Active Member
Well regardless, I use it for my seedlings and such. I PH-tested to see where it was at, and the stuff I had was right around 6. I have my own well and my tap water is 7, so when I use tap I need to lower my PH.
chuck estevez
Well-Known Member
you do know that you can't ph distilled water correctly, there is no buffers in it.
lamopa
Active Member
No, I did not so paint me stupid!! I just checked it before I used it, it came in right around 6, so I thought I was good to go. If you say different, well then it is what is! Thanks for the heads-up!
EDIT: This was with a liquid tester (http://generalhydroponics.com/site/index.php/products/maintenance/ph_buffers/ph_test_kit/) NOT a PH pen...
lamopa
Active Member
I found this from (http://www.stuart-equipment.com/adminimages/t11_001_ph_of_distilled_water.pdf):
pH of Distilled Water
Introduction
Pure water, whether from a still, deioniser or reverse osmosis system, is an excellent solvent and
will dissolve carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to form a very dilute solution of carbonic acid
with a pH below 7. The reason tap water is not similarly acidic is that the buffering effects of the
other contaminants in the water mask the effect of the dissolved carbon dioxide. In a water still,
this solution can form as the steam liquefies in the condenser, resulting in a distilled water output
with a pH which may be as low as 4, although pH 5.0 to 6.5 is more usual.
Acidity level
Many people are concerned about this seemingly highly acidic solution – but take a moment to
consider the actual level of acidity involved. A solution of pH 5 would be obtained by taking just
0.01ml of molar hydrochloric acid and diluting to 1 litre.
How much CO2 will cause a pH of 5 in distilled water?
pH is defined as the negative of log10 of the molar concentration of the hydrogen ion.
Therefore, if pH = 5, [H+
] = 0.00001g/l or 0.01mg/l
Since 1 molecule of CO2 releases 2 hydrogen ions, this concentration of H+
ions would be
produced by just 0.22mg/ml of CO2, i.e. 0.22ppm.
A pH of 4 would, therefore be caused by just 2.2ppm of carbon dioxide in solution.
An acidity of pH 4-5 does not mean that the water is grossly contaminated, as only very few
parts per million of dissolved carbon dioxide will result in a pH value in this range.
Neutralising or removing the acidity
In those applications where pH is critical, such as some microbiological and tissue culture
procedures, the effect of dissolved carbon dioxide can be overcome by the addition of buffer
solutions to the reaction mix but the effect on most laboratory procedures is negligible.
If absolutely necessary, the carbon dioxide may be removed by boiling the water but then great
care must be taken to protect the water from contact with the air until it has cooled, otherwise it will
very quickly redissolve.
pH of Distilled Water
Introduction
Pure water, whether from a still, deioniser or reverse osmosis system, is an excellent solvent and
will dissolve carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to form a very dilute solution of carbonic acid
with a pH below 7. The reason tap water is not similarly acidic is that the buffering effects of the
other contaminants in the water mask the effect of the dissolved carbon dioxide. In a water still,
this solution can form as the steam liquefies in the condenser, resulting in a distilled water output
with a pH which may be as low as 4, although pH 5.0 to 6.5 is more usual.
Acidity level
Many people are concerned about this seemingly highly acidic solution – but take a moment to
consider the actual level of acidity involved. A solution of pH 5 would be obtained by taking just
0.01ml of molar hydrochloric acid and diluting to 1 litre.
How much CO2 will cause a pH of 5 in distilled water?
pH is defined as the negative of log10 of the molar concentration of the hydrogen ion.
Therefore, if pH = 5, [H+
] = 0.00001g/l or 0.01mg/l
Since 1 molecule of CO2 releases 2 hydrogen ions, this concentration of H+
ions would be
produced by just 0.22mg/ml of CO2, i.e. 0.22ppm.
A pH of 4 would, therefore be caused by just 2.2ppm of carbon dioxide in solution.
An acidity of pH 4-5 does not mean that the water is grossly contaminated, as only very few
parts per million of dissolved carbon dioxide will result in a pH value in this range.
Neutralising or removing the acidity
In those applications where pH is critical, such as some microbiological and tissue culture
procedures, the effect of dissolved carbon dioxide can be overcome by the addition of buffer
solutions to the reaction mix but the effect on most laboratory procedures is negligible.
If absolutely necessary, the carbon dioxide may be removed by boiling the water but then great
care must be taken to protect the water from contact with the air until it has cooled, otherwise it will
very quickly redissolve.
tusseltussel
Well-Known Member
This stuff really isn't that hard people. hope you figured it out don't worry bout chlorine if it's safe for you it's safe fir r your plants.