What does everyone here do about the ph of the water they use on their plants? My tap water ph is 8.2 and I’ve been adding a tsp of ph down to every gallon of water. Is there an easier/cheaper alternative or is reverse osmosis my only option?
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pH issues were my living nightmare for quite a while about 15 years ago.
So do you have municipal (city) water? If so, they’re probably adding too much of whatever they use to increase the pH. What’s your PPM?
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Just buy a bottle of ph down of amazon for $25 and for the love of god dont add tsp. It’s really strong stuff and my ph is 8.0 and I add about 7 drops to get to 6.5
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Yeah it is city water and I’m not sure about ppm. How would I find that out?
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A PPM meter. I invested in a nice one since I was having such issues with my water, but you can get them pretty cheap. If you’re in the US, here’s a cheap one on ebay:
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Yeah I dont actually use a full teaspoon but it is a couple plastic droppers full.
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Cool. Thanks
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So the reason I ask about PPMs is because if they are high, then by running your water through an RO system, you will be eliminating everything but pure water. As a result, the pH of your water will most likely come way down, perhaps to a level that doesn’t require any additional attention.
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Not sure if this helps you at all but the nutrients i use (Greenleafs maga crop sweet candy. And cal mag) bring my ph down too.
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My tap water comes with a pH level of 8.1 and I use it to water my plants and have never experienced pH issues doing so.
Growing mediums have buffers in them that lower the pH of the water used.
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Tap of 8.1 an RO will roughly lower your water to 7.5ish depending on the water chemistry. Some nutrients will also lower your ph so ALWAYS test your water after adding anything
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My tap pH is about 8.2
If you let it sit out a bit it usually lowers to 8.
I add less than half a tsp of pH down to 5 gallons to get pH to 6.0, after adding nutrients.
pH down is nutritive, assuming phosphoric acid. 1 tsp/gallon sounds like a lot.
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I ordered the ppm tester. I was thinking before about Reverse osmosis because I go through so much ph down. looks like a big investment though
Check ebay for complete 4 stage RO systems. You can get them pretty cheap and you’ll never regret the cost. You’ll need to replace filters, but they aren’t that expensive.
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alright thanks
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I use sulfuric acid. Sold at the auto parts store as battery acid. Dilute with your water to a concentration that works for you.
If you have a big res I’d just do straight acid. I used 3-4 cups into a 2L bottle. So 2.5 ml to a gallon takes me from 8’s to 6.
Add acid to water never water to the acid. Someone please check this statement, I don’t twanna give some bad advice. @anon32470837. I think you told me about the battery acid.
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I use pH minus powder from GHE. No issues at all.
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What product do you use?
Phosphoric acid is unbelievably cheap and available so strong you’ll need to mix it with water first
Nitric acid also cheap. No need to pay hydro store markup.
My filtered (20 micron kdf) tap water is around 7.5ish, I usually add a tbsp of homemade apple cider vinegar to a gallon of water and that brings it down to around 6
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That is by far the least expensive option for PH down, and yes - always add acid to the water.
NEVER add water to the acid.
I use 1 cup of acid to 1 gallon of water.
As far as PPM meters, if you are growing in soil, most folks just go by the directions that come with the nutes - then cut that in half or even by 1/4. Then adjust as necessary depending on how the plants look. So a PPM meter is a good idea, it isnt all that critical for soil growing.
PH on the other hand isnt something you can guess at and call it good enough. If your tap water was closer to, or under 7, it would be no big deal, but yours is way hi.
I would recommend you get a decent PH pen so you can adjust your PH correctly. For soil, most recommend around 6.5, but between 6 and 7 is probably fine.
I absolutely do NOT recommend those cheap PH or PPM pens. They are crap. If you do get one, you absolutely must get some calibration solutions so you can check them to see if they are even vaguely in the ball park.
Id recommend you get one of these for PH. Its the cheapest option thatwill actually give you a correct reading.
That kit comes with calibration solutions, but you will need some storage solution as well.
If thats outside your budget range, then some PH drops will be the next most accurate way to test.
At the hi end, you can get a combo PH/PPM/EC meter. This is the Apera, but there are several other brands just as good.
EDIT: Always check PH AFTER you mix up the nutes. The nutes will change your PH to some degree when you add them, so mix well, then adjust PH to the desired range.
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