pH issues! Help!

I made my own soil and here is the mix:
70% Canna
10% Perlite
10% Worm Castings (1-0-0)
10% Bat Guano (9-3-1)

I water with Distilled water (which should be a pH of 7), but when I check the irrigated water with my pH tester it says that its an 8!
I'm confused by this. I was under the impression that these amendments were all acidic.

I'm guessing it's the Bat Guano, did I maybe use to much?
All of my plants seem fine, and are growing at a seemingly steady rate to me, but this is really my first attempt.

Please Help!

wouldent overly wory about it seens the plants look ok ! PH ing can be a pain in the ass at the best of times though it as to be done !
never done my own mix before just buy a bag of ready made for growing the herbs ! then PH my water to 6.5 and hope all goes well !
ive had some odd readings myself in the past from the run off but as long as the plants look ok then not so bad, hopefully someone who does there own potting mix will advise ya on what to throw in it if anythink to amend !

i think you're mix sounds great. nice and rich, but lacking in a few minerals:
garden lime
azomite
humic acid or leonardite
epsom salts

i also think you're tester may be off. if you stick it in the soil/glass of distilled water overnight you should get an accurate reading. shoot for 6.8 on soil grows. and i'd like more perlite in the mix. but you can feel that out through trial and error

just keep working on 6.5-7 and you should do mighty fine............

dannyboy602 said:

i think you're mix sounds great. nice and rich, but lacking in a few minerals:
garden lime
azomite
humic acid or leonardite
epsom salts

i also think you're tester may be off. if you stick it in the soil/glass of distilled water overnight you should get an accurate reading. shoot for 6.8 on soil grows. and i'd like more perlite in the mix. but you can feel that out through trial and error

Click to expand...

^^^^^^THAT^^^^^^

Quit with the distilled water, it's just not good for soil. If your tap is that bad, use spring water, but not distilled or RO.

I think your meter is whack also and you are chasing a incorrect reading.

Get the garden lime at least and quit worrying about pH completely. This is available at HD or Lowes. Epsom salts at the drug or grocery store. Snag the other stuff as you can since you will probably need to order online.

Wet