Yeah, classic hard water, Ca and Mg. I wouldn’t necessarily adjust the water going in, but I’d account for how much dolomite went into the soil
Who says you shouldn’t ph water for no till? I’ve never heard that.
You shouldn’t have to if the ph isn’t too far off, and your no till set up is right.
But I ph my RO water down for my no till bed, it seems happier since I started. Only started because I had to for my clones.
In using organic growing you have a few “organic” natural pH down products you can use…
Firstly I’d recommend Citric Acid!
It’s very cheap and effective…it’s also a chelator and will help break down organic compounds in a usable form for your plants…
Vinegar will also work well
Lemon juice too
For me I mix up my nutrient solution, pH adjust, then add on my myco and amendments…to not cause any potential harm to my beneficials…
A no-till expert, not me …
That’s fair- diversity is king.
There’s lots of useful info here in OG, it’s just a matter of searching for it, this could help also with this issue …
If your plants look healthy then keep doing whatever it is you’re doing.
If you have a balanced soil with plenty of microbial life, you don’t need to PH adjust water. Water PH doesn’t directly affect soil PH. Total Alkalinity in your source water is what I would focus on. If your source water contains high levels of carbonates, that will raise soil PH over time and could potentially cause problems.
You should get a water test to see what is present in your water. Then you can better understand what you may need to account for.
Ok I didn’t see that. I would get your own done , it would be more accurate. There not that expensive. If the total alkalinity is accurate, I would periodically get soil tests to see how it is affecting soil PH and make adjustments accordingly. Are you growing in beds ?
I am in a 25 gallon pot that I’m using for a bed yeah. I do plan on soil tests I just cannot narrow down a place near me that does them.
Interesting idea, so pH out of range affects only those using bottled nutes because they cannot get the food but in organic microbes do that job and there’s no need to adjusting it?
Yes and no. PH in the substrate is more important for both. In organic soil all your nutrients are in the soil already and there are usually plenty of buffers so the PH of water going in doesn’t matter. The PH of the soil is what matters most. The problem in soil is typically from excess carbonates from source water that will cause PH to climb over time and could potentially cause a problem. It’s not the PH of the water alone. You could use water with a PH of 5.5 or 7.5 with a low carbonate level and never have a problem. For soil that is.
Synthetics are a tad different. Nutrients are soluble so PH of solution is a bit more important but again, substrate PH is just as important. Carbonates from source water can still build up and cause issues in the substrate. PH of nutrient solution won’t matter if carbonates cause substrate PH to rise. If you have Hard water , that can be avoided by using a acid type fertilizer that usually contains ammonical nitrogen to acidify the medium. That’s why a water test is an important tool.
Thanks, appreciate the guidance …
That is some good advice.
I’ve used Apple cider vinegar with Mother to pH down my water with no problems…
Yes, I’ve been using Apple Cider Vinegar and LABS/EM1 to lower Ph. I’ve thought about using fresh lemon too…
Kelway meters are made in Japan. I’ve had mine for several years now and as long as you use the green pad to clean it with, they work just fine. I didn’t see the importance of the green cleaning pad at first and had problems, but after I started using the pad, it was just fine. People that say that Ph isn’t important in organic soil just don’t understand what they are saying. For instance, my soil is known to be super high in K, so if my Ph is low I know it needs Ca/Mg. If your Ph is above 6.5 you should start looking for micronutrient lockout. Micronutrients are immobile, so they will appear in the new growth.
Very true.