Ph? Ph!!!!

Kikaida

Kikaida

So, wanting to get better results than last year I set off to learn a little more than just the typical "hope and assume" method that I've employed.
 
I wanted to see if this whole Ph thing would pass the acid test at a very basic level (puns intended).
 
Strips? Not very good. Capsules in water and comparing color? Meh. Bluelab combo probe? Yes, that's more like it (but ouch).
 
With the sweet spot somewhere between 5.5 and 6.5 I set out to check my water....8.1 !!!!  :shocked:
 
So I re-calibrated TWICE and checked it again...8.1. Checked our local water companies website and it suppose to range from 7-8. Dang! Still in disbelief, I used the dropper kit that came with my Ph up/down and it confirmed it as well (as close as I could approximate with the color).
 
So......After 5 healthy pipette squirts into my 5 gallon bucket of Ph down, it settled down to 6.1...and the dropper kit confirmed it as well (again, close as I could approximate)
 
This was a valuable lesson for me as I delve deeper into what makes plants healthy and proper Ph is obviously critical in nutrient uptake. Hopefully I'll see kickass results from this.
 
Second thing I'm hot on is preserving the microbiology in the soil....So I got a hose filter that removes chlorine and chloramines. Hopefully my microbes appreciate this effort. 
 
I had the same problem, PH 8.05 so now I use PH down and my plants are looking great again. I PH down to 6.5 in a 200L barrel that I use to water my pots.

I am also interested in the effect of chloramines as the are at .65ppm from my taps.
 
Thanks CAPCOM!
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Good point Jase, right now I have a collection of 5 gallon buckets that I've been using to gas-off the volatile chlorine and now those buckets are being used for Ph adjustments. I can see this is going to turn into a huge P.I.T.A. so I'll be picking up one of those 65 gallon, black pickle barrels from Craigslist and making one big batch of adjusted water at a time instead of bucket by bucket.
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The meter wasn't cheap...but I think an entire season of spinning wheels, marginal plants and random remedies is ever more costly.
 
So, what is the ideal ph of water for pepper plants?
 
I tested mine (I use filtered water) and it came out around 6.
 
That depends. however, lets say your soil is neutral (7.0) then water and water with nutrients should be 6.2 - 6.4. At least that's what I like to shoot for. but if your soil is high like 8.0 you will have issues. You will need to add sulfur and do a series of tests to bring it into ideal range. That is why it is best to have the soil tested and within your preferred range before the season starts.
 
At work we use a ph close to 11 for our boilers.. apparently boiling acidic water to make steam is hard on plumbing
 
I have a RO unit that puts out water about 7.9 and 10 ppm. After adding NOTG nuts I have to add pH up to get it to 6.4
 
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