PH/Rain Water - Adjust or leave be???

  • Thread starter GooberfrupstateNY
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GooberfrupstateNY

GooberfrupstateNY

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I've been watering with rainwater for several years, collecting it in barrels for use in my indoor grow. I've noticed since I began that rainwater is not always the ideal PH, so I end up always adjusting it, i.e., either raising it or lowering it to bring it to the optimum range. My question is this: outdoor growers obviously don't do any of that, they just let it rain and so be it. So since it's the [same] water, would it be alright to effectively do the same with my collected rainwater and skip the raising/lowering which is a pain in the but?
 
Peat_Phreak

Peat_Phreak

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Rain water is typically low ppm and zero bicarbonate. If so, you don't have to pH at all. Even if the pH is 8 or 4.
 
GooberfrupstateNY

GooberfrupstateNY

40
18
Rain water is typically low ppm and zero bicarbonate. If so, you don't have to pH at all. Even if the pH is 8 or 4.
Thank you for the reassurance. The reason I mention this is I did my first substantial watering last night and I have friends that outdoor grow while I do a kinda "hybrid" type grow in my outdoor shed in a grow tent and I never heard any of them mention adjusting the PH of their water (because it's impossible I gather) and the water I collect from my barrels comes from the same source. Thanks again.
 
GooberfrupstateNY

GooberfrupstateNY

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How far off is it?
I've been collecting rainwater for years and it's always different. I've even used melted snow and ice in the winter and it practically almost always needs minor adjusting. I wish someone would get in touch with the Almighty and establish a standard we all could live with, lol.
 
Peat_Phreak

Peat_Phreak

540
143
Thank you for the reassurance. The reason I mention this is I did my first substantial watering last night and I have friends that outdoor grow while I do a kinda "hybrid" type grow in my outdoor shed in a grow tent and I never heard any of them mention adjusting the PH of their water (because it's impossible I gather) and the water I collect from my barrels comes from the same source. Thanks again.
When water is very low ppm, like rainwater or RO, a very small amount of acid can drop a few gallons of water to a very low pH. Lower pH than we would normally want to use, but not dangerous because that little drop of acid has a trivial effect on the pH of soil or other media.
 
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