So I’ve heard a wide range of opinions on this that boil down to either that ph down will kill your microbes or that it will have no effect because of the dilution. I have continued to ph down my water after going from salts to organic because it is ~8.0 out of the tap. What are your thoughts?
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I pH down my water before I add it to my tote… Mine comes out of the tap at about 8.5ish… my microbes and worms and everything else are just fine
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It might be a good idea to get some distilled water and run it through a pot of your soil. Check the runoff pH. If it’s low, you’re probably better off using the higher pH tap water.
The best plants I ever grew were in organic soil and using Earth Juice Bloom & Grow mixed in high pH tap water. When mixing those nutes with water, it takes the pH down to the upper 3’s to upper 4’s. That would seem to be way too low for good results, but I would feed every other watering, and water with straight high pH tap water every other watering, and the end result was excellent.
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You are fine adding PH down, I have no issues. I add molasses and send it
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I would like to do this but my raised bed is a 25 gallon pot with intentionally undersized plants so I would be worried about drowning them if I did water to runoff.
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I dont water with any liquid fertilizers. I just do a compost tea once they hit 4 weeks flowering and or top dress with some 2-8-4 and kelp if the strain is a going to be more than a 9 weeker.
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If your are running notill beds you should get a soil tester
Just take a small amount from the larger container.
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I can’t believe I never thought of that 
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I have definitely thought about it but they seem pretty costly. I’m assuming you don’t mean the 15 dollar walmart ones right?
If possible, get some from an area well below the surface and away from an edge. I think a pint or up to a quart of soil would be plenty.
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Once I harvest my current run I’m planning on taking a couple inches out anyway so that will be a good time to do it I think.
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Depending on what type of acid that is used, it’s possible it may have some effect but I doubt it is anything that would cause great harm. Phosphoric and citric acid are commonly used which should not do much harm
I would have a water analysis done and then determine what you should do, if anything. Knowing Total Alkalinity is probably where I would focus since that factor can have a big impact on your soil long term
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Lately I’ve been a fan of FPJ as my pH down. Citric acid is my second choice. I hear brown rice vinegar (BRV) is good too. I’m not a fan of phosphoric or sulfuric acids in organics.
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I add about 1 teaspoon of dolomite to my 5 gallons of water. It will be all you need to absorb chlorine and chloramine in the tap water.
@Purple-N-Hairy I’m talking about soil probe, not sending soil out to get tested.
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If you don’t wanna use ph down adding some gypsum would help the high PH water. I’ve used all of it citric, sulfuric, and phosphoric acids. I’ve even omitted dolomite lime when making my own soil, letting the water offset the acidity of peat moss.
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I remember @Shadey speaking about pH being buffered with organic soil if your pot is over 15 gallons 
, have you any problems or is it just being cautious? 
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Not having any issues yet, I just hear about how you should never ph water in no till fairly often and was wondering if there was any merit to it.
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Before I decided what to add I would try to discover what was already present in my water causing it to be so high.
Water at pH of 8 is 10 times more alkaline than water at pH of 7 since the pH scale is logarithmic. Have you received a water analysis, or found one conducted by your local municipal water department?
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If it’s not broken, don’t change it, I think it’s not an urban legend and with big pots as yours you shouldn’t have any problem …
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