seeds 5.5 ph water for watering seedlings?

[Adamkaijorg]

My buddy owns a machine that controlls the ph output of water but I can only choose 5.5 and 7.0 water. Would it be safe to stick with 7.0 I know 6.5 is where you wanna be but at the moment I have no ph test strips or ph down. Is 5.5 too acidic for soil growing? I know people do hydro from 5.5 to 6.5. I am using ocean forest potting mix for my seedlings at the moment. Also the machine is hooked up to a water softener, any benefits or dangers In using this water? It does originate from tap.

 

[DMF]

Some soil pHs (like in Atlanta) are that acid and plants do fine there, so I don't think 5.5 is too low.  I think I'd stick with 7.0 for most of the time and switch to 5.5 occasionally. 
 
Ocean Forest, which I started using this year and really like, has a lot of peat and compost, so should have a natural pH in the low 6s.  7.0 wouldn't change that.  Not enough to notice, anyway.
 
Now what about this machine?  I'd love to produce 7.0 water instead of mixing acid into this 8.5 stuff.

 

[Spokanepepperman]

Some soil pHs (like in Atlanta) are that acid and plants do fine there, so I don't think 5.5 is too low.  I think I'd stick with 7.0 for most of the time and switch to 5.5 occasionally. 
 
Ocean Forest, which I started using this year and really like, has a lot of peat and compost, so should have a natural pH in the low 6s.  7.0 wouldn't change that.  Not enough to notice, anyway.
 
Now what about this machine?  I'd love to produce 7.0 water instead of mixing acid into this 8.5 stuff.

I use a reverse osmosis filter always runs 7.0 and 0-15ppm that 15 ppm let's me know its time for a filter change

 

[Adamkaijorg]

Some soil pHs (like in Atlanta) are that acid and plants do fine there, so I don't think 5.5 is too low.  I think I'd stick with 7.0 for most of the time and switch to 5.5 occasionally. 
 
Ocean Forest, which I started using this year and really like, has a lot of peat and compost, so should have a natural pH in the low 6s.  7.0 wouldn't change that.  Not enough to notice, anyway.
 
Now what about this machine?  I'd love to produce 7.0 water instead of mixing acid into this 8.5 stuff.

all good info to know and thankyou! And the machine is pretty sweet but it ain't cheap. My buddies moms a nurse so got it at a good price. It's this bad boy: http://www.amazon.com/Kangen-Water-Machine-Sd501/dp/B00O13953U
It goes from something like 2.5 I think to about 9.0 .

I use a reverse osmosis filter always runs 7.0 and 0-15ppm that 15 ppm let's me know its time for a filter change

I might Stick with 7.0 and put 5.5 when they get a little bigger. I also started the seeds in moss pods so I am sure there's probably enough acidity at least for now

 

[stevie]

imo i would stick with 5.5 if i had to choose. peppers prefer more on the acidic side, between 5.6 and 6.2 is "ideal"
 
PURE unpolluted rain water has a PH of 5.0 to 5.6.. http://www3.epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/phscale.html

 

[DMF]

That site says that "clean rain" is 5.6 (not 5.0)  (vs. "acid rain" 4.2-4.4).  Clean rain CANNOT BE PURE since it has a pH.  Rain collects a number of compounds and ions as it falls.  "Pure rain" would be just like pure water: 7.0 pH.
 
Further, you're assuming that natural rain is desireable for container plaints.  'Taint necessarily so.  Depends greatly on the buffering capacity of the contents, the size of the pot, the type of medium, etc.  In the ground, rain is a fact of life.  In a controlled environment like a pot with an unnatural growing medium and unnatural nutrients, it may not be desireable for the plant.

 

[stevie]

water in the a natural rain forest is not 7 where plants thrive in a natural habitat where the atmosphere is much cleaner., it might be much lower or higher in the city due to air pollutants as explained in the EPA site..

 

[Adamkaijorg]

That site says that "clean rain" is 5.6 (not 5.0)  (vs. "acid rain" 4.2-4.4).  Clean rain CANNOT BE PURE since it has a pH.  Rain collects a number of compounds and ions as it falls.  "Pure rain" would be just like pure water: 7.0 pH.
 
Further, you're assuming that natural rain is desireable for container plaints.  'Taint necessarily so.  Depends greatly on the buffering capacity of the contents, the size of the pot, the type of medium, etc.  In the ground, rain is a fact of life.  In a controlled environment like a pot with an unnatural growing medium and unnatural nutrients, it may not be desireable for the plant.

here in southern California I am assuming we have a lot of contaminants. Especially because we are in a pretty severe drought. It just so happened that we are getting some rain right now but won't last for long.

imo i would stick with 5.5 if i had to choose. peppers prefer more on the acidic side, between 5.6 and 6.2 is "ideal"
 
PURE unpolluted rain water has a PH of 5.0 to 5.6.. http://www3.epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/phscale.html

I will try 7.0 on some small habs and 5.5 on the same plants if different pots and see if there is any noticeable change. I need to get test strips to be sure.

 

[DMF]

water in the a natural rain forest is not 7 where plants thrive in a natural habitat where the atmosphere is much cleaner., it might be much lower or higher in the city due to air pollutants as explained in the EPA site..

 
I don't dispute that at all. What I dispute is the assumption underlying your post - and frankly, most of the psuedo "eco-science" today - that "natural" is ipso facto a good thing. 
 
In the "natural" world, people get eaten by tigers.  Not a good thing.  We create un-natural environments, where "natural" conditions and events do not have the expected or desireable result.
 
 
That said, though, I don't know that 5.6 pH rain is bad or good.  Just that you shouldn't believe to be either just because it happens in nature.
 
 
 
Think "lava".
 

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I will try 7.0 on some small habs and 5.5 on the same plants if different pots and see if there is any noticeable change. I need to get test strips to be sure.

 
That's the spirit!  Find out for yourself. 
 
Good luck.

 

[Adamkaijorg]

I ended mixing some hydro ferts at half strength with filtered water. The ph ended up being around 7.0+ so (not sure it's ok but figured it couldn't hurt) used about 3 drops of lemon juice to 500 ml of my half strength fert solution to bring the ph down.


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