Question about PH

[Afghi420]

I have a questiong concerning PH. For the first little while i didn't have a ph pen and wasn't checking my ph at all. I live out in the country near the bottom of a mountain and am on well water. I've got to say for the first couple weeks, while the plants went through germination, and seedling growth into veg and all that, they were extremely healthy and vigorous. It seems up until i started actually feeding my plants they were perfectly green and healthy. Not that they were affected badly whern i started feeding them, i experienced slight burning on the leaf tips, and the odd messed up leaf. Thing is now that i am checking my PH i realize my well water is 7.9-8.0. Im sure my pen is reading properly, i was using an old one i got from my father, and just bought a new one. Both are reading within a .1 of each other, the new one was just calibrated and is reading almost perfectly in tune with the older one, and they both read properly in the 4.1 and 7 PH solution that came with the pen to help calibrate it, so im sure they are reading properly. Now my question is how did my seedlings stay so healthy with such a high ph?? I have been using ph down when i give my plants just straight water because it always reads high, so i usually ph my water down to around 6.6-6.9 . Im just wondering how the plants survived and even thrived during the first couple weeks when i was just giving them straight water with a 8.0 ph?

 

[bobby]

Maybe when the plants were young, the ph of the water was fine for the types and amounts of nutrients it needed.

 

[mcpuff]

where I live we have wells all over the place, my water has same ph properties as yours, it contains a hell of alot calsium and magnesium, according to the water company annual report.

 

[AdvancedBioHydroponics]

Your soil media will provide a "buffer" that will help maintain proper ph, but as you can see that will only last for so long. You need to stay on top of pH as it is what determines which nutrients are available to the plant for uptake.

Measure your run off water for ph and also you want to keep an eye out for salt build up which is what will come next if left un-checked.

You run off water should be around the ph values of 6.2 to 6.5 for soil.....

Watch your plants and develop a feed schedule.....something like feed, water, water, feed or similar.

It would be VERY wise to get a water sample checked from your well so you know what you are dealing with and this information will greatly help dial in your nutrient program. Otherwise you have to do trial and error and still your mostly making guess work out of your nutrient feeding regiment without knowing what and how much is in the source water. Your starting source water is oh so very very important, especially when dealing with "unknown" well water. Well water can either be your biggest asset OR your worst nightmare depending on its contents.

Most likely with well water you will want to use a "Hard Water" formula due to all the minerals that serve as micro-nutrients already present in the well water. Well water is usually very rich in mineral content.

Getting a water sample checked is by far the best 10 to 30 dollars you will EVER spend!

 

[LexLuthor]

Nutrients are available at different ph, N for example, is available in soil from a range of about 6.0-8.0, so with your water being about 8.0 and your soil being in the 6.something range your plants were still able to absorb the N. Thats just 1 example and every nutrient is different, but eventually like AdvancedBio said your soil will lose its buffering properties so keeping your ph in check is very important. I just wanted to let you know thats most likely how your plants were thriving for the 1st few weeks with such a high ph.

 

[Sir Puffs Alott]

My tap water is 8.0, I lower it to 6.5 using Vinegar, it works great.o_O
I use a RO tube and trickle tap water into a Rubbermaid garbage can, let it sit out over night, so the baddies can evaporate, then PH it with the Vinegar the next day.
Seems to work fine and is relatively stable.:eek: Unlike me.

 

[LexLuthor]

My tap water is 8.0, I lower it to 6.5 using Vinegar, it works great.o_O
I use a RO tube and trickle tap water into a Rubbermaid garbage can, let it sit out over night, so the baddies can evaporate, then PH it with the Vinegar the next day.
Seems to work fine and is relatively stable.:eek: Unlike me.

How much white vinegar do you use per gallon???

 

[Sir Puffs Alott]

How much white vinegar do you use per gallon???

The garbage can is 20gal. I use 2oz. of Vinegar to get it to 6.5

 

[LexLuthor]

The garbage can is 20gal. I use 2oz. of Vinegar to get it to 6.5

Thanks alot bro, so thats about a 1/2 tsp per gallon, my tap water is about the same and I'm bout to use it because I'm sick and tired of buying distilled water.

 

[Sir Puffs Alott]

Thanks alot bro, so thats about a 1/2 tsp per gallon, my tap water is about the same and I'm bout to use it because I'm sick and tired of buying distilled water.

:D No prob, happy growing. ;)