Should I PH water for soil???

Smokenpassout

Well-Known Member
I have always used distilled water straight out of the jug on plants. Recently I got a PH pen and measured the PH of my distilled water. Looks like about 6.8. Should I go rough the trouble of adding a little PH down for better nutrient uptake? What os the best PH range for soil plants?
 

Kalebaiden

Well-Known Member
It's a teeny tiny bit high, 0.3 actually so it won't cause a lockout. You'll want to check the pH again after you add nutrients then buffer as needed.
 

AimAim

Well-Known Member
If you are growing in a healthy soil, it will buffer itself to about 6.5, no matter what you dump on it, water-wise.

Runoff water pH does not mean shit.

Distilled water is not good. It has no additive value to the soil solution,. Normal tap water has available Ca and Mg plus innumerable micronutrient metal ions.

Or, just try to micro-manage the weed, and watch how it reponds to whatever you do to it's soil environment.
 

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Most bagged soil should already be ph balanced- you shouldn't need to worry too much about ph unless you are using an unknown or self made/ recycled soil. It is the amendments in your mix that determines the ph -not the water you use- that is, unless you are using a soilless hydroponic medium like coco. Synthetic nutrients do however contain ph buffers so with heavy use the chelated salts could potentially build up and cause a ph imbalance so if you use nutes be sure to flush every so often with clean water to avoid this.
I use distilled water from my dehumidifier in my organic grow which as aim points out contains no macros so I add an organic calmag which offsets the lack of macronutes. While tap water does contain macros most systems also use chlorine or chloramine which kills off the microlife in the soil.. This is why many growers have to rely on synthetic nutrients to feed their plants. Another option is to simply collect rainwater which is the best you can use IMO.
 

JDGreen

Well-Known Member
I grow soil and ph ing my water just caused problems. Let ur tap water sit out for 24 to evaporate chlorine,this will.protect added mircos. But thats it. And my water is pretty high and ive never had an issue. Soil is a great buffer. The distilled caused issues too. Since i switched to dechlorinated tap ive had no.issues
 

Nullis

Moderator
Absolutely no need to adjust the pH of any irrigation or most fertilizer solution in good soil.

Depending on the planting mix you use the pH is usually supposed to be about 5.8 to 6.5. Sphagnum peat moss is acidic and liming agents are used to counteract the acidity. Hard water is really just water with limestone dissolved in it: as calcium and magnesium bicarbonate.

If you're going to use a purified water source (even rain water), or you're mixing/amending a soil I'd recommend mixing in calcitic/dolomitic lime or pulverized eggshell.
 

Lo Budget

Well-Known Member
Testing the ph of distilled/ro water is going to get boring after a while. xD

I would say anyone not fully organic should ph initially, especially if using new or unfamiliar nutes, just to get a baseline. Synthetic nutes can be alkaline or acidic. Water supplies vary from place to place, etc. I wouldn't obsess over it like the hydro guys do :mrgreen: but I think even soil growers need to know what they're putting on their plants, at least out of the gate.

I was having problems with rain water and a liquid MG product that all the other plants and flowers loved, but the cannabis wasn't having any of it. Turns out this MG product was alkaline(~9) out of the bottle and it was causing severe lockouts. Adding some cider vinegar to the mix solved the problem. I'm saving the rest of it for the plants that like it as is, but had I not checked the ph I think the plants would have eventually died. The problem wasn't the ferts, it was my fault for assuming it would be acidic.

Ph testing can be a useful troubleshooting tool for soil growers but otherwise it's unnecessary,imo.
 
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