Suggestions for my water (Soil)

[bdeegan]

Hello all, thanks for reading. I’m chugging through my second grow, learning a ton and looking for a little advise on how to best manage my water for the future…

Currently growing in soil. I’m on a well, consistent ph 5.75 and 40ppm, so kinda soft and acidic.

Is there a better way than adding ph up and should I add a little something (calmag?) to my normal waterings?

Thanks in advance for the advice!
bd

[Fjeff]

There are natural ups and downs if that’s what your looking for, instead of the chemicals. As far as cal/mag I think it depends on the entire setup.

[OldManGrower]

Your PH for soil needs to be in the 6.5 range. There are items that will raise your PH other than PH Up but they are neither as easy to use nor as consistently effective. PH below 6.2 or so will lead to mineral lockout and cause symptoms that appear to be nutrient deficiency, which it is, but not for lack of nutrients. The nutrients are there just not accessible to the plant.

[Going2fast]

I too have acidic well water. I get water from the creek behind my house which tests in the high 7s and mix the two. Well water probably has plenty of calcium. If you added dolomite lime before planting you shouldn't need cal mag. A teaspoon of epsom salt every other watering won't hurt anything.

[bdeegan]

Thank you all for the reply’s; I really appreciate it!

Fjeff, yes a more natural way to adjust is what I am trying to achieve, more cost effect would be great too. What I have looked into sounds like what Oldmangrower talking about (being no easier and less consistent).

On Oldmans note, if your plants ph gets to the point of nute lockout, is that just while the ph is off or will that be a lingering problem even if ph is corrected on the next watering?

Thank you going2fast, I followed your freakshow grow, I hope you enjoy that harvest! I’m going to try to get some of those seeds for an outdoor, sounds like our growing conditions are very much the same. I really like the creek water idea. I have a spring on my property that I am going to test, maybe that’s my answer! I’ll look into those adds you mentioned too.

Thanks again everyone!
bd

[bdeegan]

So I think I found my answer. Didn’t get lucky on the creek water, just as acidic and even lower tds. We have small ice/water stands with filter water $1 for 5gal. I dechlorinate for a day and then run through a brita. I mix with my well water 1part well 2 parts city and I get around 6.8 (before nutes). I’ll fine tune with ph up/down. Also been adding some calmag or epsom salt (on alternating weeks) to help the the low tds. I transitioned the plants slowly and they are doing well. Thanks again for the advice!

bd

[Rwise]

Many water providers no longer use chlorine because it evaporates. Instead they use chloramine which does not evaporate. The only way to know for sure is to contact the provider. However both can be killed with lemon juice (which also gives a temporary PH down). Liquid potash can be used for PH up (and feed the flowers/roots), dolomite and or wood ash added to the soil helps buffer the PH.

[bdeegan]

Thank you kindly! I was unaware of the use of Chloramine, which I just confirmed our county uses. So back to the drawing board, lol. I did add some dolomite lime to the soil for the next grow (seeds currently in paper towels). I’ll check out the liquid potash too.

Thanks again!
bd

[bdeegan]

Hi everyone, I thought I’d share my recent watering practice, as it seemed to work. Although the last plant was a genetic disaster, it was a healthy misfit, and I used no blue juice!

I start with my acidic well water around 5.7, and aerate it for 24 hours with a small aquarium air pump and air stones. It brings the water to 7.4-7.5, and holds for at least a week. I then bring it back down with just well water, calmag and or nutes depending on the day. As mentioned above I also added some dolomite lime to the soil for buffer. I had a pretty constant 6.5 root ph with 6.6 avg ph going in.

I didn’t get to carry it through flowering to see what the ph did as it was a non-auto male (supposed to be f auto). I do have a couple of babies going and I’m excited to see how they do, so far so good.

As always thanks for reading; comments and suggestions welcome!

Happy growing
bd