Ganjamann2020
Active Member
I just read that plants only uptake certain nutes at different PH levels, I have no idea myself, but I got this info from several different places including different breeding sites.
PH'ing tap water
- Thread starter Ganjamann2020
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Ganjamann2020
Active Member
Just recalibrated my PH meter and the tap water I PH'ed with white vinegar 4 days ago still reads under 6, I double checked the meter by using a 3 way test kit for PH and the color is lighter than the scale allows for, and also a pool time test strip reads under 6.2. It may be degrading and the PH going up but it should work for long enough if I'm hand feeding daily, also want to see if the changing PH levels during different stages makes any difference.
Ganjamann2020
Active Member
It may be overkill on my part, I tend to make it more complicated than it needs to be.
Ganjamann2020
Active Member
I just got an EC meter and my tap water EC reading is 0.984 and has a PPM of 492 with just vinegar added.
Nutrients are usually acidic. Might still be the pH. Can't be sure.
Ganjamann2020
Active Member
Just saw where my tap water has 240 PPMs of sodium, should I invest in an RO unit or will this be ok for my plants?
Whats the source of the chart? The problem with those charts is there are many, and there are significant differences between them. Which of them is correct? Does anyone believe that a plant won't take up any phosphorus below 5.25 or above 6.0?
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Billy the Mountain
Well-Known Member
Agreed, that's a very misleading chart and will cause many growers more harm than good.
In short, the tails are far too short in the chart above. I've gone whole runs with my pH at 5.8-5.9 and had no issues; according to the chart posted, I should have experienced severe Ca and Mg problems.
A brief write-up on pH charts:
Thanks for the article, I was going to start a thread. Never trusted the charts, too many differences and I could never find a source.
Post #16 shows 24 ppm.
Ganjamann2020
Active Member
I just broke down and got an RO system now my base water reads .004 EC and .0001 ppms according to my EC/TDS meter
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Rufus T. Firefly
Well-Known Member
I can second this, I moved recently and went from county water to city water and my first grow on city water went to shit and couldn't figure out why until I found out the city water is super alkaline. According to the posted city test ( https://www.stlwater.com/water-quality/ccr2022.pdf )averaging 9.52 with swings from 8.25 to 10.21. Put on a two stage filter and still had problems so I sent the filtered water out for a test and it just came back at 8.2. I'm debating an under sink RO or just using the filtered water and ph-ing it down.
Beeswings
Well-Known Member
My city water is pretty much illegally bad as well 3rd world bullshit. They put so much chlorine in it smells like a hotel pool when you turn on a hot shower. I put an RO system in and once purify the water that much you hardly have to use much pH down at all. A few drops can move a gallon of really clean water.