WATER AT PH-8

Cannabinoid Froyd

Cannabinoid Froyd

Well-Known Member
I seen people say that growing in soil and having high PH is fine because the medium will buffer it. Is that true with a PH of 8?

My inside voice says, "No, ya fuck"

Was going to add PH down but wanted to hit up all you knowledgeable peeps first before I mess stuff up.
 
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GenericEnigma

GenericEnigma

Well-Known Member
I water my lawn, garden, and outdoor cannabis with well water: high ppm with tons of Ca and Fe (so much that my concrete turns white and my siding turns brown). I used it in my pool for years, filtering out rust and constantly fighting alkalinity with a very high, buffered pH (above the high mark of 8.0 on my testing scale).

I don't know where a breaking point might be, if there is one, or how long high-pH water would take to mess up soil.

Regardless, these clones were put in the ground at 8" tall about three weeks ago.

I hope this helps.
 

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FirstCavApache64

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
Cannabinoid Froyd said:
I seen people say that growing in soil and having high PH is fine because the medium will buffer it. Is that true with a PH of 8?

My inside voice says, "No, ya fuck"

Was going to add PH down but wanted to hit up all you knowledgeable peeps first before I mess stuff up.
Click to expand...
I use citric acid to bring my well water ph down to 6.3-6.8 depending on what stage the plants are in. I've been told many times it's not necessary with soil growing as well but I've found in my personal experience dropping the ph seems to work better. I know others run 8 and higher with no problems but I just like having it better controlled. I think you'd be fine as is but watering at a ph that the plants want to uptake nutrients in seems to make logical sense to me.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I only pH for hydro/coco. Soil gets water straight from the tap.

I have no desire to waste time doing things that are not necessary so I don't bother to pH my soil plants. Some like to fiddle around checking runoff and stuff. I've never bothered. Plants don't seem to care and that's all that matters.


I've been using this water for decades.

"Portland's water is currently treated to be at a pH of 8.2. The pH of Portland's water can vary by a small amount in the distribution system, but it generally ranges from about 7.4 to 8.4, with a median value of 7.8 to 8.1."
 
dubekoms

dubekoms

Well-Known Member
Depends on the alkalinity. If you have a lot of carbonates and reuse the soil - over time they might build up and affect the soil pH.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
tired_druid said:
whats the ec of the water there in Portland
Click to expand...
Bull Run water—Portland’s main water supply—is very soft. It typically has a total hardness of 3–8 parts per million (ppm), or ¼ to ½ a grain of hardness per gallon. Portland’s groundwater supply is moderately hard: about 80 ppm, or about 5 grains per gallon.
 
Budzbuddha

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Yeah … My cali tap runs 7.2 - 7.6 ( + or - ) but definitely heavy in calcium - ( faucet buildup ) . Most of the peat mixes I do handle it.
The Flouride keeps the plants teeth nice tho. :mrgreen:
 
MICHI-CAN

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
My city tap is between 8.2-10.3 depending on whether out o state company is cheap on time. Average 175-250 PPM solids. The ph's over 9 cause issues. The rest are fine unless cloning or starting a plant. Missing Mag here.
 
MissinThe90’sStrains

MissinThe90’sStrains

Well-Known Member
I have shit water here and I actually just got myself a table-top water distiller. Our tap water comes out at like 585 ppm and 8.5-9.0 ph. The water is very hard, to the point where we have a water softener. I’ve read that softened water isn’t great for plants, because it has a lot of salts in it. I’ve been having issues in flower, with Mg and K and from reading, think that the water and salt buildup could be related to the issue. I’m trying to switch to organic methods now, using distilled water with some cal mag, hoping that it alleviates the issue. Thoughts, concerns, advice? (Been reading a lot in the ROLS and organic forums). Big learning curve, but hoping to be cheaper in the long run and more flexible/sustainable with whatever is available locally.
 
bigskymtnguy

bigskymtnguy

Well-Known Member
It seems like in today's market, just average results are no longer acceptable. Everyone here is a snob and only wants A+ product. Thus, I go the extra mile to get the best possible re3sult. All of my water goes into 55 gallon barrels and warms up for about 24-48 hours. Airstones in each to disperse chlorine, and activate the very mild teabag solution used in each watering. Teabag solution varies by growth phase. Ph to 6.6, as my water from the tap along with tea comes out to about 7.1. The only extra time it takes is filling the barrels from the hose and well worth the effort.
 
Rubisco456

Rubisco456

Member
Your instinct is right, the " buffering" in soil based substrates is not the same as normal pH buffering and I find it's WAAAYYY weaker than using a real buffer like phosphate or citric acid like people have mentioned here before.

When you adjust your pH with something like a pH down or any other acid or base keep in mind it will increase your EC. The benefits of using something to keep your pH in check is a smart idea and will help prevent nutrient lockout in soil.
 
VincenzioVonHook

VincenzioVonHook

Well-Known Member
The pH of our tap water is 7.6-8 depending. Never had any issues myself. Last run went over 100 days on tap water without any pH monitoring or adjusting in a sandy yard loam/Coco/pumice and rock dust mix. The only time I end up with pH issues in potting mix is if I overfeed and lock out by accident.
IMG_20221009_124836.jpgIMG_20220925_162846.jpg
Current run day 36 from birth.
IMG_20221119_071610.jpg
I gave up monitoring pH, adding any feed or checking any runoff since I moved from Coco to yard soil based potting mix with added mineral buffers (fresh vermicompost for microbes). I check the tap water here and there though as we have flooding issues and on the odd occasion the tap gets to 450ppm. If that's the case I'll mix with some rainwater back to 200ppm, but apart from that I haven't checked a water parameter for ages.
 
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