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water what's your water ph?

When I did Ebb & Flow hydro last year I had good success.
This year total crap out with coco coir.
The major difference was with hydro, I would adjust the ph to 5.5-6.0.
With coco coir I didn't bother adjusting the ph.:banghead:

I took a reading of my tap water and it's at 7.5-7.7 with 134ppm.
That's way too high! ph should be between 5.5-6.5 anything below or above will lead to nutrient deficiency.


What's your tap water ph ?
 
Habman your water ph is way to high and the plants did not absorb the nutrients. It had nothing to do with the coco coir. I was just thinking of posting about this because since I have been lowering my ph of my water to exactly 6.0 my plants have taken off. I learned just how important ph is with doing hydro myself, but all plants hydro and soil should have the ph adjusted water. Great topic and I hope more people check their ph for the ideal uptake of the nutrients we feed them.
 
My PH is neutral around 7 and I rarely adjust when growing in soil. There are buffers in the soil I use though.
 
Pepper Ridge Farm said:
Habman your water ph is way to high and the plants did not absorb the nutrients. It had nothing to do with the coco coir.

That's what I'm thinking. this year with coir I had all kinds of problems likely to be nutrient deficiency.

Pepper Ridge Farm said:
I was just thinking of posting about this because since I have been lowering my ph of my water to exactly 6.0 my plants have taken off.

Damn it I should have adjusted my ph back then. But my stupid cheap ph pen broke. I just bought a new one.

FYI don't by this crap it breaks too easily.The guy at the hydro shop warned me but the price was right.
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With some cheaper coir you need to wash out the salt.
With the premium coir , It's already done for you.
You do need to buy special coir hydro fert( that's what I used ) that contains extra micro nutrients because the coir adsorbs alot before releasing it.

PH guide
http://www.simplyhydro.com/ph.htm
 
checked my tap water ph this morning..... 6.9...and I don't do anything to it....
 
Should I be adjusting the PH on my tap water if I'm using soil?

Can anyone tell me how to lower it / raise it with something I could buy at Home Depot / Lowes? Nurseries aren't open yet here.
 
i know i used to lower my ph with a little bit of lemon juice before i bought some ph down. i have never had to raise my ph before
 
A few drops of vinegar will do it, too; but I really mean a few drops. Like about a tablespoon in a gallon of water, I think, but let me look it up when I get home.
 
klyth said:
Should I be adjusting the PH on my tap water if I'm using soil?

Can anyone tell me how to lower it / raise it with something I could buy at Home Depot / Lowes? Nurseries aren't open yet here.

Test your tap water first.At ph 7.0 you should be fine.
For some reason my tap water is at 7.5 but last year when I tested my tap water it was at 7.0 dunno if the fact that it's winter has anything to do with it or if the water cie screwed up.
I'll keep testing.
 
habman said:
Test your tap water first.At ph 7.0 you should be fine.
For some reason my tap water is at 7.5 but last year when I tested my tap water it was at 7.0 dunno if the fact that it's winter has anything to do with it or if the water cie screwed up.
I'll keep testing.

I tested mine last night and it was 7.5

Pam said:
A few drops of vinegar will do it, too; but I really mean a few drops. Like about a tablespoon in a gallon of water, I think, but let me look it up when I get home.

Uh oh. I had to use a bunch of vinegar to get it down to 6.5 (probably because I used distilled white vinegar which is ph 6.0). Maybe 1/6 of the bottle in a couple gallons of water. Are my plants going to be dead when I get home?
 
klyth said:
I tested mine last night and it was 7.5



Uh oh. I had to use a bunch of vinegar to get it down to 6.5 (probably because I used distilled white vinegar which is ph 6.0). Maybe 1/6 of the bottle in a couple gallons of water. Are my plants going to be dead when I get home?


Uh...I honestly don't know, I've never done that before.
 
Pam said:
Uh...I honestly don't know, I've never done that before.

I kept testing the water to check to see when it hit 6.5. If I'd only used a couple spoonfuls, my ph would still have been 7.3 or 7.4.

Damnit. Is there a safer way to lower my water ph by a whole point if I'm using too much vinegar? Maybe the lemon juice method?
 
can't you go to the local pet store, get some ph down from the fish area and use that, or are you trying to stay all natural/organic?
 
DrHavanger said:
can't you go to the local pet store, get some ph down from the fish area and use that, or are you trying to stay all natural/organic?

I'd like to stay organic. I buy organic food, so there's no reason to not grown organic produce. Chemicals scare the hell out of me. I'm kind of a food-freak. Some people are germ-freaks, I'm a food-freak.
 
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