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High ph problem

Jase4224

Jase4224

I've posted here a few times now looking to solve my flower drop/lack of fruiting problem. So I had my tap water and rain water tested to see what the ph was.

Turns out my tap water PH is 8.05! And chlorine is 0.67ppm. Even my rainwater has a PH of 6.84.. I use tap water all the time though as rain water is very limited.

Half of my potting mix is coco coir which would be soaking up this high PH water. The other half of my potting mix is commercial pot mix and some manure.

I'm thinking that after two to three months of watering with a PH of 8.05 that my PH is high in my soil which may explain the flower drop and some nutrient deficiency my plants are begging to get. Early on my plants grew like weeds but now getting paler leaves and some go yellow and drop off.

I will get some PH Down and prepare a large drum of my tap water maybe bring it down to 5.5-6.0. Anyone have any opinions or advice?
 
Why do you want to go so low with your pH? 6.5 is excellent. 7 is ok and can easily be lowered safely if need be. 8 is rather high but can also be made workable. What is the pH of your growing media? or for that matter anything else you add to the mix.
 
pH may not have anything to do with blossom drop. more often then not it is temp related.
 
To be honest I'm not sure what the PH of the media is, I've tried soil testers before but had trouble using it. I'm assuming it's high as a result of the high PH of the water going in.

This is my soil mix not sure if it helps but..
46% coco coir
23% potting mix
18% perlite
13% manure
5% sand

The temps here have been mainly in the low 30's C/high 80's F the plants have handled the heat really well.
Also I have not been adding anything but the occasional feed of Chilli Focus.
 
These are a little pricey but are awesome.
https://www.bluelab.com/home
 
I recommend getting one and you will never again not know the pH of anything you are growing in or adding to your grow.
 
By temps, I also mean sudden changes to below 70. Or spikes above 90.
 
Thanks CAPCOM I will look into purchasing something like that when my finances allow.

Also the temps here have been within those ranges and have been quite consistent for the last couple of months..
 
Flower drop probable causes:
 
1. Day temp too high >95F
2. Night temp too low <65F or too high >85F
3. Too much nitrogen fertilizer
4. Too much water
5. Low light levels (reduces fertility).
6. Very low humidity (reduces fertility)
7. Poor air circulation (air circulation contributes to pollination).
8. Lack of pollinating insects.
9. Size of pot
10. Too much mineral in feedwater.
11. Too much grower attention/anxiety.
 
Flower drop probable causes:
 
1. Day temp too high >95F----Nope
2. Night temp too low <65F or too high >85F----Nope
3. Too much Nitrogen fertilizer----Nope
4. Too much water----Doubt it
5. Low light levels (reduces fertility)----Plenty of light
6. Very low humidity (reduces fertility)----Has been humid
7. Poor air circulation (air circulation contributes to pollination)----Quite breezy/windy in their area
8. Lack of pollinating insects----Definitely
9. Size of pot----5gal and 12 gal pots
10. Too much mineral in feedwater----Unknown
11. Too much grower attention/anxiety----Water when plants are still wilted at the end of the day or when I know it's gonn be quite hot. Normally pots are light from lack of water.

I've seen this list a lot. I've been slowly trying to rule out each point to find out what's causing my flower drop. PH is not on the list but the fact is it's likely way out due to my water sauce, which 'may' be part of the problem.
 
its normal for tap water to be above PH8
if it wasn,t, then all the taps and piping would rust :)
 
I used to put citric acid in my water that I watered with. That got old pretty quick when I had to fill about 20 x 3litre jugs to water my plants once!
 
I decided the better option was to buffer the soil against rising PH, as opposed to lowering the PH of the water every time, which gets tedious when you have lots of plants.. 
 
Flowers of sulphur would be my choice...a sprinkle of that on the top of the soil should see you rite. (sulphur will actually lower the PH, so it will work to buffer the soil against the high PH water)
 
nzchili said:
its normal for tap water to be above PH8
if it wasn,t, then all the taps and piping would rust :)
 
I used to put citric acid in my water that I watered with. That got old pretty quick when I had to fill about 20 x 3litre jugs to water my plants once!
 
I decided the better option was to buffer the soil against rising PH, as opposed to lowering the PH of the water every time, which gets tedious when you have lots of plants.. 
 
Flowers of sulphur would be my choice...a sprinkle of that on the top of the soil should see you rite. (sulphur will actually lower the PH, so it will work to buffer the soil against the high PH water)
Click to expand...
Thanks for that info very handy to know. Does the flowers of sulphur have any other effect on the plants or soil?
 
Jase4224 said:
Thanks for that info very handy to know. Does the flowers of sulphur have any other effect on the plants or soil?
Click to expand...
It increases acidity.
 
I prefer to neutralize the growing media and then adjust all the additives/water that go into the media thereafter. Then I know fairly close what I have. Add too much sulfur and you can toxify the media at the other end of the pH scale.
 
http://www.sunset.com/garden/garden-basics/acid-alkaline-soil-modifying-ph
 
Ok so if I add a 1inch layer of cow manure on the top of my pots along with a (very) light sprinkling of sulfur would that be ok?

I will get some PH down and adjust my water to 6.5 too
 
a level teaspoon of sulphur wont hurt a plant in a pot say, the size of a 10l house hold bucket.
sulphur itself is a required nutrient.
it also helps break down other nutrients and minerals in the soil, due to its acidity.
 
another good, quick, safe method would be to mix some peat into the top layer of soil. That will also lower/buffer the ph
 
CAPCOM said:
What is the pH of the cow manure?
You are attempting to blindly make corrections, Not recommended.
Click to expand...
Fair enough point there
nzchili said:
a level teaspoon of sulphur wont hurt a plant in a pot say, the size of a 10l house hold bucket.
sulphur itself is a required nutrient.
it also helps break down other nutrients and minerals in the soil, due to its acidity.
 
another good, quick, safe method would be to mix some peat into the top layer of soil. That will also lower/buffer the ph
Click to expand...
Thanks for your help
 
PH-levels above 7.5 can surely be a problem, maybe even leading to a "chlorose". Most fertilizers have a given specific ph-range which they work fine with. Casual fertilizers (as Compo Hakaphos Color-Series for example) already lower the PH-Level by some tiny amount - but since you cannot always fertilize, this might indeed become a problem.
Perfect PH to deliver the most nutrients should be somewhere between 5.8 and 6.5 with going lower, the problem turns from the other side round (see this topic).
 
PH-level at about 8 binds practically all nutrients, the given water contains (if it's not lowered by the fert you add). I don't know if citric acid (in homeopatic dositions) and stuff are to sour for the roots...
 
Thanks germanico, I have purchased PH down and lowering my water down to 6.5 so a few weeks should see improvement hopefully
 
Hey there, @Jase4224!
 
I have just about the same exact tap ph as you. What I like to do is I water my plants directly with my tap, but I fertilize them almost every other watering (or two, or sometimes three in between feedings). The fertilizer I use is nicely ph balanced, so every time I feed, the soil gets a perfect ph level recharge. Since the fertilized water is stronger than the regular tap feeds (takes more to change the ph when the ppms go up), the soil is likely to be pretty good on ph.
 
To counter the salt build ups and and over fertilizing, I just feed them really lightly and kind of often.
 
I have a potted plant in my garden window that gets this treatment since it's located right next to the sink, and it's so easy to use it. And the pot is small compared to plant size, so it sucks up water quickly. I have been doing this since last Spring and the plant has been producing regularly. 
 
Just thought I would share my experience with similar tap ph. 
 
 
 
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